themonasnovels Chapter 14: [ Near The End ]
Chapter 14: [ Near The End ]
Chapter 14: [ Near The End ]Alexander grabbed Fae’s shoulder, smiling.
"Well done, you surprised me."
He then looked around them, three corpses lay around.
The three swords they had weren’t better than the one they had already. Still, they grabbed one each, since he had no weapons and hers was chipped.
They had nothing significant for the taking, which truly let him down.
"I guess inner paths aren’t the best way to acquire items."
He sighed, and opened his profile.
[ Name : Veil ]
[ Level : 1 ]
[ Archetype : Specialist ]
[ Class : Beholder ]
[ Fate : — ]
[ Effects : Darkness ]
"No change..."
He stepped around the corpses, careful not to stain himself with their blood, unwilling to carry that scent with him for the rest of his journey.
He walked across the platform, toward the next.
With Fae right beside him, he walked over the edge, the bridge allowing them passage to the next fight.
It took some time, but they eventually reached it.
"Let’s just do the same thing," he said.
There were four goblins this time, with barely any change in their behavior.
They described wide and random circles toward the middle, unaware that they had even arrived.
He could still feel his head hurting from the previous fight. His vision hadn’t completely fractured, so he most likely could use [ Witness of All Paths ] again.
Just not as long.
He took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling.
The moment he did, his eyes quickly turned, every twitch unable to escape his gaze.
Almost instantly, he activated [ Reach Beyond ].
A tendril burst from the ground beneath the left-most goblin.
It reached out, swirling around its leg before leaping across its chest to finish around its neck.
In a quick succession, he repeated the same process with the next goblin, another tendril exiting a hole appearing on the ground.
He could see as Fae repeated the same pattern, gracefully running along the edge of the platform, bouncing with the wind.
A line fractured through his field of view, it was thin, but quickly followed by another one.
The tendril on the first goblin started clutching tighter, while the second one swirled faster around its prey.
I need to go faster...
Another line crossed his vision, then another.
He raised both hands. He grasped at the air, feeling the tendrils tighten with his fist.
He could feel the heat rising, his brain and the mark working in tandem to torture his mind and body.
His vision cracked like glass under pressure. The tendrils still moved, but each second felt like dragging his thoughts through a meat grinder.
He barely saw straight, but he kept holding onto the tendrils, until he finally heard the ’crack’ sound their necks made when they finally snapped broken.
Instantly, he let go of the witness spell, his blurry eyes scouring through the platform in
The next platform was the furthest yet, directly adjacent to the wall enclosing them.
Far below the platform—maybe 200 meters down—two massive tunnels were carved into the walls. Each was exposed, offering an open view of the spiraling descent inside.
One on the right twisted downward like a corkscrew, disappearing into the distance. The other mirrored it on the left, curling in the opposite direction, as if the two formed a double helix etched into the stone.
If the magical bridge could go downward, they could most likely skip the boss fight, and head straight for that tunnel.
If we were to jump down this far we would definitely die...
While his vision was still slightly fractured, it slowly fixed itself, a fascinating process for him who could see all the pieces slowly falling back together.
"Let’s stop here," he said.
Fae stopped walking, turning to face him.
"This place is as good as any. I don’t think my vision will fix itself in time, and I’ll most likely need it for what’s to come."
He could feel something that resembled relief coming from her.
He sat down on the chunks of rock.
It was uncomfortable, but it wasn’t like he could be difficult considering his situation.
She imitated his movement, and sat in her favorite position, holding her knees against her chest. This time, however, she was facing him.
He lay flat on the ground that floated above the abyssal hole, his thoughts going toward the imminent end of his painful adventure.
He had both arms under his head, his head slightly tilted forward allowing him to see his faithful companion watching over him.
"We’ll be able to leave soon," he said.
Her expression remained neutral.
"Don’t worry, you should be able to come out too. But honestly, I don’t know what’s awaiting us outside."
He did his best to avoid thinking about it, but it remained his reality.
"We’ll find a party, clear dungeons, grow stronger, get better gear."
He closed his eyes, his breathing slowing down.
His last thoughts before falling asleep went toward Sunder, his father, and Fae.
His head burning up, his vision, that pulling sensation.
If he was given the opportunity to grow stronger through dungeons, he’d be able to take control of it all. He truly believed it.