6.09 – Chasm

6.09 – Chasm

In the sprawling underground magma cavern labyrinth, there were plenty of splits, loops, and dead-ends. Zoey and Maddy worked by no particular methodology picking which way to go—though they marked where they had already explored. A variety of stone and fire-type monsters assaulted them, but having found a rhythm, they worked efficiently to clear a path.

Soon enough, they wandered into the next notable event. Taking a step through a small arched cavern entrance—the tunnel having narrowed and narrowed as they walked down it—Zoey blinked as she took in their new environment. With a ceiling so high up she couldn't see where it ended, and walls at least fifty feet to either side of her, she and Maddy had emerged into a massive space. A doorway was on the opposite side, with glowing orange bricks drawing her eyes there.

The problem? The hundred-foot chasm that sank into the darkness, its bottom, like the ceiling, nowhere in sight.

"Huh," Zoey said.

"That's ... a big hole," Maddy commented, stepping up to peek over the edge—apparently not afraid of heights. Zoey nearly reached out and pulled her away just from instinct. Even for a wayfarer of her advancement, that had to be a long drop. A fatal one.

"How are we supposed to get across?" Zoey asked.

Maddy frowned. She leaned back from peering perilously over, setting Zoey's nerves at ease. Her eyes flicked around the room as if trying to scour out an answer to Zoey's question. Some incriminating piece of terrain that indicated a puzzle to solve. A way to manifest a hidden bridge or something like that. But she saw nothing. Neither did Zoey. Despite the huge chasm and the faraway exit, the room was rather nondescript.

"Huh," Maddy said. "Not really."

"And I can't use my ice, somehow?"

Maddy tilted her head. "You don't have nearly the control needed to make structures. Just summoning one shape is difficult, much less a free-form manifestation technique."

"Right," Zoey said. "Just wondering." Though she probably should know better by now that just conjuring up new spells was far from a simple process. It had been the first thing to pop in mind, though.

"Not that you aren't good," Maddy hastily said, worried Zoey had taken the dismissal the wrong way. "That's just high-tier stuff. The mental control needed for free-form manifestation is crazy. Otherwise, everyone would use it."

"Gotcha." She wasn't offended. If anything, she found Maddy's quick assurances cute. She pursed her lips as she looked out across the stretching black chasm. "What about a potion?"

"A potion?"

"I have a skill that makes alchemy in shards easier. Potions are even stronger when made using ingredients gathered from inside the same shard. Might be useful here."

"But what would you make?"

"Dunno. Are there potions of flying?"

However, seeing how Zoey's shards often robbed her and her team's inventory, it was likely that there was a way past this obstacle with resources found inside the shard. Probably several ways. It wasn't all that difficult of a problem, having to cross an enormous chasm. Hence why Zoey figured her alchemy could crack the problem open with a little experimentation.

Sorting through her reagents, Zoey paused, eyes latching to one in particular. She frowned at a small jar of orange moss—it was pretty common inside these caverns, clinging to the shores near the magma lakes. Sticking a finger into the container and pulling a clump out, sticky vibrant-orange gel attached itself to her finger.

Not hot, but sticky.

Her eyes flicked to the wall.

Pinching her fingers back with a bit of effort needed, she noted: really sticky.

Maybe not jump or float. Why not just walk?

With Maddy standing guard, Zoey lost herself in the process of putting her idea to the test. As Sabina had suggested, intuition was invaluable, and hunches could often—though not always—be trusted when it came to one's class.

Squeezing the sticky orange gel out from the clumps of moss, Zoey went about catalyzing an experimental potion. The first batch failed to manifest into anything, but she didn't lose heart because of that. Even with skills to help, her current set-up was far from the pristine industrial equipment Sabina had trained her with. And she was an amateur besides.

On the third batch, she finally succeeded. Shaking the thin glass vial, she watched the murky liquid settle into a vibrant orange color. Focusing her attention on it, she requested a description—and finally got one.

[Potion of Stickiness]: Modifies the composition of one's self to become stickier. Can be as troublesome as it is useful.

"Huh," Zoey said. She studied the potion a moment longer, then faced Maddy, her eyebrows raised. "Check this out."

Maddy, having been watching guard at the cave entrance, looked over. Her eyebrows scrunched as she read the description.

"As troublesome as it is useful? What does that mean?"

"Guess we'll find out." Because the first half of the potion seemed to be exactly the effect Zoey had been seeking—her easier catalyzation skill had worked flawlessly.

Though, would the potion be strong enough for her to actually somehow stick to the wall as she traversed the chasm? And that it 'modified her body's composition' was also pretty weird—she'd been hoping just for her hands or feet, or something of that nature. Some potions could be applied rather than drunk. This hadn't turned out to be one, though.

Regardless, Zoey wanted to see what the potion did.

She uncorked the vial, then tipped it back.