Chapter 70 The Depths of Depravity

Whatever thoughts raced through his head, he came to the same conclusion: he needed to take out the man with the keys–especially while he was online.

With that in mind, he didn’t discard the idea of finding an alternate entrance, looking up to find an empty window sitting high above his head.

Quietly now…He told himself.

Wielding his staff, he focused as he silently manifested a slow protrusion of stone from beneath his feet, lifting himself up as he allowed it to rise at a crawl, making sure to keep as silent as possible.

Once the tower of stone brought him up to the window, he crawled through it, now looming right above the key-bearing man, who was nodding off in his seat.

If he could avoid killing, he would choose that. The same went for a spell-flinging battle, as he knew just how much noise it would attract.

The last thing I want to do is find myself surrounded…especially by Oswell, if he’s as strong as Reno said he is, he thought.

“–“

He jumped down without any second thoughts, opting not to use a spell nor his sword, instead using just his staff.

BONK.

With the force gathered by his leap downward, he whacked the bandana-wearing man on the head with a downward strike, using his spell-conjuring catalyst as a blunt weapon.

There was a clear cracking sound as the hulk of his wooden staff slammed against the skull of the man below; which, while he intended for a good impact, was definitely not a sound he was prepared for.

“Ghhh…”

The man slobbered as he slumped over, falling from his chair and onto the ground–snoring without putting up any sort of fight.

For a moment, he stood there in surprise of how well his stupid ‘plan’ worked, but was thankful it did as he used his staff the proper way this time, invoking stone magic as he created bindings of stone around the knocked-out man’s body.

Sorry, Celly…that definitely was not how you taught me, he thought.

It was eerily empty inside of the building–aside from dusty crates and vases of what looked to either be alcohol or oil–or both, which made it seem like they were definitely aiming to be as low profile as possible.

As he retrieved the set of keys from the unconscious man’s belt, he quietly moved forward before pulling the rug to the side, unveiling the secret hatch that he caught a glimpse of prior.

“–” He looked down at it.

Seeing the thick, metal passageway below, it was definitely an uneasy sight as he could only speculate what sort of sight was hidden below the sealed hatch.

…I’m sorry, Reno. If I would’ve known it was like this, I wouldn’t have even suggested this. You knew…yet you agreed to it anyway. I won’t let you down, he thought.

As he found the correct key to fit the lock, he gulped as he slid it in, turning the key as a click resounded against his ears. Though, what came next was the hard part.

Alright…How am I going to get this thing open? He thought.

It took the behemoth of a man from earlier to lift the metal floor-door open, and he was, being generous, one-fifth of that man’s size.

He grabbed onto the handles to the hatch, pulling up with all of his strength as he clenched his teeth. It felt like his arms were going to tear off just from attempting to place his strength against the door’s weight.

“Ghh-!”

Through his all-out struggle with deadlift what felt like a ton, he only managed to lift it mere perhaps an inch, at most.

He tried harder as his complexion reddened, but all he did was nearly pass out as he stumbled backward, unable to open the heavy hatch.

“–” He breathed heavily.

What the hell?! It’s so heavy! Or am I just that weak…? Either way, this isn’t going to work–not the usual way, anyway, he thought.

The problem came with finding an alternative way to open the hatch that was too heavy for the likes of his body, but out-of-the-box thinking happened to be his strong suit, or at least, that’s what he liked to think.

As he inspected the hatch for a moment, putting his hand to his chin, he nodded to himself, “…Alright, this might work…”

It was definitely a bit unorthodox, but unorthodox was the path of the mage; he pointed his staff down towards the hatch handles, invoking a manipulation of stone from the surrounding ground. This conjuration of stone came in the form of limbs of rock that curved around the handles, gripping them before extending upward and using the strength of rock to begin hoisting the thick, secretive door up.

“Yes…!” He let out in excitement and somewhat surprise that this worked.

It was something he’d never tried before, but its success was greatly welcome in this time of need. There was a certain difficulty that came with manipulating rock in such specific, small ways, so it was one of his lesser affinities, but still more than capable.

Though opening the hatch was only the first step, or perhaps even “step zero” as he stared down the dark, decrepit stairwell that awaited him.

“–” He gulped.

He stepped into the secret staircase, which was forged of weathered stone and surrounded by clammy walls that stunk of grime and mold.

It’s dark…He thought.

As he brought his shirt over his nose while descending the stairs quietly, he could see a small amount of light awaiting the bottom of the steps.

There was a level of complete unease that clung to his body.

I talked a big game before, but this is the real deal. It’s easy to say you’ll do this or do that, but in the face of real, life-threatening danger…It’s something else. These people are evil. They’re not afraid to do anything—even killing a kid like me. I have to be prepared to defend myself, even if it means less “gentle” means…He thought.

As he reached the bottom, listening only to the infrequent sounds of scraping that came from deep within the secret hideout, he reached a maze-like hallway.

A labyrinth…? You have to be kidding me…He thought.

There were a few torches spread out on some walls, but it provided only dim lighting to the grimy environment around him.

As he began to slowly walk by, he found that there was blood stained onto both the walls and floors, with chains and cuffs anchored to these walls as well. Even though there were cells, it seemed there were other uses for this hideout.

…What did I get myself into? What did I get Reno into…? He thought.