Chapter 26 - Ancient awakening
Descending into the Abyss was so much quicker than climbing out of it! If she hadn´t experienced the effect of the strain of ascending firsthand she would not have believed how liberating the entire ordeal felt. The missing feeling of constant pain or nausea was truly a blessing.
Heh, blessing...
Tanya had overheard Bondrewd a few times talking about the supposed "Blessing of the Abyss", but had paid it no mind. Of course she had remembered his every word; she aspired to learn from his success after all, but had not thought further about their meaning. When she had progressed far enough in her education to understand his wisdom then he would surely explain everything to her. Until then there was no need to worry about subjects that were too advanced for her.
Only one Umbra Hand accompanied her for protection, which she was thankful for. While that exposed her to greater risks without two more trusty meat shields to protect her from harm, it also provided an opportunity. Now that her co-workers had verified that she wouldn´t instantly succumb to the dangers of the lower levels she needed to prove herself as a capable delver and earn her promotion. Overcoming greater odds would also mark her has more capable in her boss´s eyes.
Even if something dreadful were to happen to her, she was sure that she could rely on Being X´s blasted "gift" to fix it (if absolutely necessary). The amulet that had been seared into the skin under her throat was a permanent reminder of the humiliation she had suffered from that bastard, but its power so far had indeed been incredible. Although she wanted to avoid using the relic as long as possible, it would be foolish to dismiss its capabilities just because it wounded her pride as a self-determined human being.
Of course the "Starflare" as her father had called it was not the only weapon in her arsenal. Tanya was reasonably proficient with a crossbow and throwing knifes. Her flare gun could be repurposed as a grenade launcher (although it could only fire once before it had to be reloaded) and her rock-charges served pretty well as hand grenades. They would protect her adequately.
For the trip through already familiar territory she felt less on edge then the first time, however she was no less cautious because of it. Arrogance could be just as deadly as the fangs of a Reverse Hedgehog. (A small predator of the fourth layer, named after its giant maw full of needle-like teeth that could administer a lethal poison if they felt threatened.) Dying now would waste her years of hard work!
After only two days she and her companion had reached Seeker Camp to continue their track with a few of Ozen´s "Subterranean Bandits" to collect some of the loot from the defeated Crimson Splitjaw. A promise was a promise after all and Tanya had no interest in breaking a deal when the first vulnerable bonds of trust were just being established. No matter how untrustworthy these "bandits" seemed they were Ozen´s employees so she gave them her best "business smile" and did her best to entertain them.
Byolo was rather quiet so she had to do most of the talking which – while annoying – was also an excellent method to carefully extract more subtle information out of them. They laughed about her earnest questions or tried to ruffle her hair, but ultimately indulged her inquiries into their professional life. (Tanya drew the line when one of them attempted to pinch her cheeks. Enough was enough! Only her father was allowed to do that.)
Advice like where to find clean water, how to identify rogue delvers or where thin parts of the netherworld´s force field existed, were invaluable. Bondrewd naturally had drilled all of that already into her brain. But getting a different perspective on things could only enrich her mind in the long run.
Alas, their shared time together was not long as the location of the dead monster was easily accessible from inside the cave network of the Great Fault. The distance that had initially seemed insurmountable on her way up practically flew by during their descent and after only another two days had they found it.
Not for the first time did she wonder if it was by design that escaping the Abyss was so much harder than entering it. The force field was most likely of artificial origin considering that this phenomenon had not been observed anywhere else on the planet and many discovered relics had clearly been artificially produced by a unknown civilization.
In that case this gigantic chasm appeared to function more like a Venus Fly Trap, luring in prey from the surface with promises of wealth and glory only to swallow them whole.
No! Tanya shook those thoughts away. What a ludicrous idea...
∞•۞˂Ű̷̹̐͗̓̚͠n̷̹͕͙̭̬͖͑̄i̷̟̱͎̻̟̓̍̔͒̑͜t̶͍͓͙͝ ̷͎̱̱̟̏̈́͗ͅ2̶͉̩͕͔͉̩͕̀̄3̵̧̰̦̈́̒̊̽̈́͝4̴͙̏̌̎͐͜͝1̵̬̣͔̹͈͗͗̎̆͂̃7̸̧̭̲̺̖͕̬̍̈̒͑̄̚-̵̨͔̳̗͉̑̀͜͝Ę̵͖̱̜̗̤̋̌͆x̴̰̥͛͐̈́͒(̷̨̘̼̫͇̩̻̊̑̆͋͛͒b̵̧̢̢̩͍̗̽̑̄̎̍̍)̷̨̮̣̙͓̄̄̈́̅̓͘ ´s point of view˃۞•∞
WAKING...
WAKING...
WAKING...
RESTORING CONSCIOUSNESS...
[Success]
Huh?
Why was it so dark?
What was happening?
"Where am I?" he asked, slightly scared.
Nobody answered.
He strained his ears to listen for any sign of movement in the darkness, but the silence quickly became too much. It was suffocating him! He needed to get out of wherever he was!
With all his strength he pushed against the invisible weight above him that pinned him to the ground. Slowly he began to hear cracking sounds until the material exploded around where he presumed his hands to be and light blinded him as if he had been physically punched.
Well, it was not exactly bright outside. After a few seconds his eyes got used to the soft glow of his surroundings and he slowly took in what he could see through the hole in front of him. Apparently he had been trapped in some sort of capsule or tomb, because he still could barely move. Outside of his prison a large, black hall stretched into obscurity. The giant room had been made from what seemed like smooth, dark stone that was intersected by faintly glowing purple and green lines. What was that? What did that mean?
He wanted to know! He had to know!
But first he needed to get out of the container he was stuck in.
"Ah, come on! Agh." he mumbled as he squeezed himself out of the opening, careful not to cut himself at its sharp edges.
"My, how fascinating."
What.
Who had said that?
Where were they?
His eyes erratically jumped from shadow to shadow to identify the source of the intruder. He redoubled his efforts to free himself from the capsule. If the voice belonged to en enemy then they would catch him vulnerable in his current state!
Suddenly a looming figure filled his vision. It was as if they had appeared out of thin air! They were so large and looming it was frightening!
Instinctively he flinched back and raised his hand [Į̸̮̤̱̭̼͚͇͙̞̩̘͌̔͜͜n̸̡̡̟̺͙̣͍̉̎̏͛̽̾͗͜͝ċ̶̼̠̠̗͑̉̆͑͋͜͝î̶̧̩͙̤͚̲͖̰͉̱̘̜̟̩̐͊́̆̉̄̚n̵͚̗̺͓̖̗̒͂̈́̿͋͊̏̾̚͝ẻ̴̲̰̥̺̜̜̿̊͊̚̕r̵̨̧̤͈̺͚͈̮̰͕̘̂̂̾͛̈́͑̈̽̓̚ä̴̼̱͕͉̲͖̟͔̬́̀̆ͅt̵̤̦̗͌ǫ̷̨̝͉̠͚̰̞̗̙͔̋͒͌̍̌ṟ̵̃̀̈̓̈́̊̓̊͠] and aimed at the possible threat.
"Easy there. I did not come to harm you. Can you understand me?"
Huh?
Was it a trick?
How would he know?
Had he ever been tricked?
He couldn´t remember.
[Failed]
What was that voice in his head just now?
"Do you not speak my language?" asked the ominous figure again and he was reminded of situation he found himself currently in.
"Uh... I do?" he stuttered lamely.
"It seems I have found a true treasure. A clueless boy at the bottom of the world. Hahaha..."
The bottom of the world?
So many questions! Everything was so confusing! Why couldn´t he remember?
"Let me help you out of there."
Large fingers grasped the bent metal of the opening and pulled it effortlessly apart. He would have fallen to the floor if the mysterious person had not caught him with startling speed and placed him on his feet again. This stranger was scary!
"W-what do you want from me?"
"Oh, I think we are going to have a nice long chat, ey? Come on clueless boy, I should still have tea left!"
What was tea?
With an ever-expanding list of questions without answers he stumbled along with his rescuer/captor, not registering lights behind him powering down forever.