Okay, let's get to the next chapter... and the next change of plans.
To be fair, I probably would've completed "The Cave of Trials" now if I hadn't had a lot of new ideas for the rest of this part of the story. Well, I had all these ideas, so it's become much longer than expected. Long story short, there will be four parts.
Last time, Akinym and Sinon made good progress in clearing a particular dungeon, and they got past all the obstacles they knew about thanks to Argo. So... Let's see how they will fare when they have no idea what's going to happen.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Akinym and Sinon's journey through the unexplored parts of the cave began with something they really hadn't expected to see here: a long corridor that was lined with stone slabs. Frankly, it reminded them of the corridors of the labyrinths. Well, at least it was spacious and the ground was even for once.
The floor of this corridor was slanted, making it a long ramp of sorts. The path to the left lead upwards, but there was a dead end about ten metres ahead. The path that led downwards bent to the left, and neither of them had any idea what might await them behind that turn.
Akinym checked the corridor for traps, and there was a "tripwire trap". That term had been introduced by players. Basically, when a player crossed the area where the tripwire trap was installed, an event was triggered – whatever the event might be. This particular trap area was several metres wide and spread across the floor from one wall to the other, so there was no way to bypass this trap.
Since they were apparently meant to (literally) walk into this trap, they decided to check what this trap did first. For that purpose, Akinym walked ahead while Sinon stayed at the entrance of the corridor. He cautiously entered the trigger area and waited for a moment to see what would happen. Akinym could hear the sound of something spawning behind him, so he expected some sort of monster. However, in reality, a massive, spherical boulder had appeared at the dead-end, and now it was rolling towards him.
Akinym immediately decided to keep it save and sprinted back to the doorway where Sinon was waiting as fast as he could. He made it just in time to leave the corridor before the boulder reached him.
Well, Akinym and Sinon agreed that this trap was a total cliché, but that obviously didn't change the fact that they had to put up with it. At the very least, they could learn something from this test run. Judging from the sound they could hear, the boulder kept rolling for a while, so the corridor had to be relatively long.
Furthermore, they could hear the characteristic sound of objects getting destroyed. There had to be obstacles of some kind further down the path, probably monsters. Moreover, they could hear said obstacles respawning shortly thereafter.
Akinym and Sinon discussed their options… Well, their option, to be honest. Neither of them could see any way to get past the next challenge other than outrunning the giant boulder. They kept their Teleport Crystals ready in case the situation would become too dicey.
Akinym ran ahead since he had higher Agility. Sinon was still fast enough to keep a distance between herself and the boulder that spawned behind them.
Just as they had guessed, there were some monsters in the way. To be more precise, there were several large golems in the second half of the corridor. They easily blocked half of the path.
In order to get past them safely, Akinym feinted to move to one side, tricking the AI of the golems. When the respective golem moved to the side to obstruct the way, Akinym quickly dashed to the other side of the corridor and ran past the golem. Sinon followed relatively close behind since he had lowered his speed. By the way, Akinym told Sinon on which side she could get past the monsters right before he started these manoeuvres. Just as Akinym had guessed based on their experience with golems in this cave so far, the monsters in this area were slow and sluggish, so they couldn't react in time to stop Akinym or Sinon.
After getting past five golems, Akinym saw the exit of the corridor ahead on the right side. They made it out of the corridor unscathed, although the boulder rolled past them shortly after Sinon had reached the safe area.
To be fair, it hadn't been a bad start, but there was also no doubt that a wide variety of stressful challenges awaited them.
For instance, at one point, Akinym and Sinon arrived at a scarp which they had to climb down. There were ledges that would provide a steady foothold all the way to the bottom, so climbing itself wouldn't be a problem.
The actual problem was the monsters. There were several holes in the wall in front of them, and once someone started climbing down, a group of bat monsters appeared from these holes and attacked that player.
The trap with the rolling boulder earlier was a test of agility and speed whereas this one was a test of endurance. The players couldn't defend themselves against the bat monsters while climbing down. The ledges were big enough for someone to stand on them, but not to fight on them. Furthermore, the monsters returned to the holes when their target climbed up to the top of the scarp again or reached the bottom.
Normally, only players with high HP and Defense would get past this point.
Well… Once again, Sinon's archery hadn't been taken into account. She could provide Akinym covering fire when he climbed down. Doing so with regular throwing weapons wouldn't have been effective enough, but Sinon could actually take out the bats with her Sniping skill.
Thankfully, the bat monsters didn't respawn quickly, so when Sinon followed Akinym, she could do so without problems. She certainly wouldn't have been able to survive their attacks.
Sinon's archery skill kept making clearing this dungeon a lot easier. For instance, Akinym and Sinon reached some kind of bonus stage at one point. It was a cavern with a comparatively high ceiling. A large group of bat monsters flew right below the ceiling, and killing them gave far more EXP than killing the average monster on the highest available floors did, and with the Slouch Hat of the Sage and its EXP bonus, it was a welcome opportunity to level.
Sinon could take more than half of them out without major issues. However, these bats were fast, and her hit rate dropped as the bats were decimated. Hunting these bats with ordinary ranged weapons would've been a huge pain, but with the Sniping skill, Sinon could kill two thirds of them.
Speaking of the bonus stage, while clearing the dungeon required a lot of hard work, it was also rewarding. For example, Akinym and Sinon found two treasure chests along the way. One of them contained fifty thousand col, and the other one contained a one-handed sword, which they'd sell to Agil later.
The most worrisome part of this dungeon raid began when Akinym and Sinon entered an area that might be described as a cylindrical shaft.
When they stepped into the strange cavern, they took a look around with bewildered expressions. The shaft was quite narrow, merely three metres in diameter. This place was also completely dark, and the ceiling was so high that they couldn't see it, at least not without better lighting than what their lamp could provide.
Sinon: Okay, SAO encyclopedia, what exactly is this?
Akinym [dryly]: I don't know everything about this game, you know? [slightly at a loss] And I've never heard of anything like this… I mean, this is basically just an empty room.
Sinon: So, is this the wrong way?
Akinym [mutters, slightly doubtfully]: I don't know… There was no other path, so this should be the right way…
Sinon hardly paid attention. She turned around and was about to leave when the exit suddenly just… disappeared.
Sinon: Huh? What's…
She stopped when she could hear the sound of water flowing, and she could feel her feet getting wet. There were numerous holes, which were about the size of a teenager's hand, in the wall near the ground, and water was pouring into the shaft through these holes.
Sinon: Huh, water? What… [slightly panicking] What is this?! What's happening?!
Akinym [worriedly]: Beats me. [upset] This place is crazy! Why is this cavern filling up with water?!
Sinon: That's because this is a trap, isn't it?! I should've known it… This is a trick!
Akinym [sternly, slightly reassuringly]: Hey, keep calm, okay? Think about it: I had checked this room before we entered, and there were no traps. The path led us directly here, so this is obviously supposed to happen.
Sinon [nervously, slightly upset]: Well, yeah, we were obviously supposed to walk right into this trap! I mean, you can't spot every trap in the game, can you?! [nervously, slightly worriedly] There was probably a hidden passage that we missed, almost as in an adventure novel… This whole thing was a test if we'd see through this set-up, and we've failed miserably!
Akinym: We don't know if that's what's happening! Come on, where's that cool head of yours?!
Sinon: This "cool head" is only there when I devise a strategy to shoot at monsters from a distance, not when I'm in an enclosed space, standing in water up to my waist, and the water level is rising!
Sinon wasn't exaggerating. The water already reached up to their waists. Well, to Sinon's waist, that is. In Akinym's case, it would take a few more seconds. The point still stood, though.
If Akinym had to be honest, he wasn't sure if he was telling Sinon to stay calm or himself. He knew that he – he of all people – wouldn't find a way out of this without thinking about one calmly. Taking a look at Sinon, whose eyes darted around the small area around them, Akinym figured that at least he should keep a level head.
Now he only had to think of something… Something… A way out of this… It was easier said than done. This was the first time in ages that he came across a threat he didn't know about at all with no time to think of a counter-strategy and with no easy solution. Well, maybe except for...
Akinym: Okay, let's… Let's call it quits! You're right, this is going too far, and we should know when to stop.
Akinym took out his Teleport Crystal. Seeing the emergency escape in form of an item, Sinon calmed down a little, and she reached into her pouch to take her own crystal.
Sinon: You're right. Let's get out of here! Teleport Arc Sophia!
Sinon stared at the crystal in her hand as… nothing happened.
Akinym: Teleport Arc Sophia! [frustrated] Ugh… Teleport Gykard! Nothing… Not even teleporting to the main city of this floor works!
Sinon [worriedly]: Great, it's an anti-crystal area! Of course it's an anti-crystal area… [frightened] What now? I mean, we lose HP underwater, don't we?
Akinym [slightly worriedly]: Yes, but that's not what you should think about right now! Seriously, stay calm! [slightly sternly] There's plenty of space above us, so we only have to make sure not to sink, and we'll be fine for a while! For now, put your weapon and the lamp away! They won't help us, especially if the water level keeps rising.
Sinon nodded and put these items back into her inventory without thinking. Akinym did the same with his spear. By the time they had finished that, the water reached up to Akinym's shoulders and Sinon's chin.
Without the light of the lamp, the place became pitch-black.
Sinon: You know, there's no light up there, so I don't think that this shaft leads up to the surface. There won't be any space left eventually, and that's only if we stay afloat long enough.
Akinym: Stop thinking about the wrong problems! A way out, that's what you should be thinking about! For now: You can swim, right?
Sinon: I… can keep myself from drowning immediately, I guess. I never got to swim very much, so…
Akinym: I see…
By now, Akinym and Sinon had to swim in order to keep their heads above the water level.
Sinon could hear Akinym swimming around, and judging from the direction the sound was coming from and the vibrations in the water, he was swimming towards her, approaching her from behind. When Akinym put his right arm under her right armpit, it startled Sinon so much that she shrieked.
Sinon: W-what are you doing?! Watch where you keep your hands!
Akinym: What I'm doing?! I'm trying to support you, so you, you know, DON'T DROWN!
Now that he mentioned it… Sinon had to admit that it was easier to keep her head above the water now. She also had to admit that Akinym wasn't touching her at any… questionable places. If anything, he seemed to take care not to do that, at least now that Sinon had complained.
Thus, she stopped struggling and accepted his help.
Sinon: I… I see. I'm sorry… and thanks.
Akinym didn't really pay attention. He focused on the matter at hand.
Right now, he wondered how long they'd manage to stay afloat. Swimming in SAO was a pain and more difficult than it was in the real world. Well, there was the skill Swimming, which could help, but its use was so situational that hardly anyone ever used it.
The fact that the water was unpleasantly cold didn't help either. Fortunately, it affected them only psychologically, although that was small comfort.
Regarding the question what they could do to get out of this mess, however, Akinym had no idea. He only saw the black, hopeless wall in front of him again. The complete darkness of his surroundings clearly suited this sight in front of his inner eye.
Meanwhile, Sinon was also at a loss as to what she could do. At first, she just prayed that Akinym would have an idea… as usual.
However, she wondered what this said about her. Was she really going to rely completely on someone else here? Receiving help was fine, but doing nothing felt just wrong. Right now, she wasn't even staying afloat on her own. Drowning in water was one thing, but drowning in sorrow...
Alas, Sinon had no idea what to do. Currently, she couldn't even think straight at all. She… was scared. It pained her to admit it, but she was utterly terrified, and the thought that she could do nothing about that only made it even harder to focus.
It wasn't her first life-or-death situation, not even the first one that was more like a death-rather-than-life situation. However, she could always fight back so far. Frankly, there had been situations where she had lost hope, but it had always been because her opponent had eventually overwhelmed her. This time, on the other hand, there had been no hope from the very beginning.
She hadn't felt so helpless since the last time she had tried to hold her model gun. Back then, she had been completely overwhelmed by the terror it had caused… Yeah, in a sense, the fear she felt right now wasn't so different from the fear she had always felt when she had been confronted with the post office incident.
This thought, however, made her wonder why she wasn't doing anything about it. After all, she had tried to do something about her fear of guns for a long time. Well, that had never really worked, so maybe it was that.
Sinon remembered her conversations with Akinym, though. They had given her a lot food for thought. She couldn't smash her fears with a hammer… It had been a weird phrasing, but the more thought Sinon had put into it, the clearer it had become that there was a fundamental truth behind it. She couldn't just get rid of her fears.
Thus, Sinon admitted to herself without regret that she was terrified. She reminded herself that it was okay to be afraid when she was stuck in an underground shaft that was filling with water. Beating herself up for being afraid in such a situation would only make things worse.
It was just that she should keep her chin up despite this fear. Well, figuratively speaking. This was different than her fear of guns. The danger might be more imminent, but it was less haunting. Maybe she could overcome at least this fear by regaining her "cool head" as Akinym had phrased it.
Now she was trying to think of a way out of this deathtrap while slowly getting closer to the ceiling with the rising water level. Wait a moment… Rising higher…
Sinon [slightly determinedly]: Akinym-san, swim towards the wall on the opposite side and search for a large opening!
Akinym: Huh? Uh… Why?
Sinon: I just wondered if you might have been right about this, and we were supposed to progress through this shaft or whatever it's supposed to be. The problem was that there is no exit, or at least it seemed that way. But what if there is one, and it was just too high for us to spot it?
Akinym: Ah, I see. Okay, I'm on it!
They swam to opposite sides of the shaft and began to feel for a hole in the wall that would be big enough for them to fit through. They did that for two or three minutes while they were getting higher and higher due to the rising water level.
The speed at which the shaft was filling with water had slowly increased over time for a while. All of a sudden, however, the water level stopped rising almost completely. At the same time, they started to hear the sound of water flowing out of the shaft.
Sinon: I think we've reached it!
Sinon swam over to the source of the noise, and Akinym could hear how Sinon climbed out of the water.
Sinon [slightly strained]: Yeah, there's… something here. [calmly] I guess it's some kind of passage, and it's big enough for us!
Akinym swam over to Sinon's current position. When he reached the wall, he could feel a ledge of sorts, and he figured that there was indeed a corridor that the water flew in. Sinon helped Akinym to get out of the water and into the corridor quickly.
Akinym: Well, I guess the ceiling wasn't so high to give us enough time to think. This… was actually too easy.
Sinon: Well, it's not over yet, so don't jinx it! Let's get out of here!
They walked down the corridor. After a short while, they bumped into a wall.
Sinon: A dead end? Really?! I was joking earlier!
Suddenly, they could see a faint light about three or four metres above them.
Akinym: Oh, I see. We have to climb up.
After a short climb, Akinym and Sinon found themselves in a dimly lit, extremely long corridor. Well, the route ahead was clearly visible, which was quite the improvement compared to what they had gone through right before.
Sinon [slightly hesitantly]: There… are even treasure chests. A few, actually.
Sure enough, there were four treasure chests, two on each side, just a few metres ahead of them. Neither of them was sure what to think about it.
Then, Akinym heard the sound of water crashing against the wall below them. When Akinym took a look, he had the impression that the water level was rising much faster again.
Akinym: It's probably a trick. After what we've just been through, I won't take any chances! What about you?
Sinon: Me? [exasperatedly] I just wanna get out of here! And frankly, I don't really trust this either!
Akinym [nods]: Let's go!
With that, they rushed through the corridor, ignoring everything they came across.
Well, they came across a lot of stuff. Aside from several treasure chests, there was also an area where the bat monsters from the bonus stage earlier, which gave a lot of EXP, gathered directly on the ground. There were also a few mining spots, which seemed to provide pretty rare ore.
Alas, they didn't know if they had any time to fight, and they couldn't even mine to begin with. Also, if they opened a treasure chest that was protected by a trap, they'd be in trouble, too.
After running for a minute or two, the end of the corridor came into view.
Akinym: A teleport device!
This teleport device was a true lifesaver. By the time they reached it, the water reached up to their stomachs, and the water level kept rising relatively quickly. They hurriedly put their hands onto the teleporter in front of them.
Akinym and Sinon: Teleport!
One moment later, they found themselves in a completely different cavern. This place was actually quite bright since it was illuminated by numerous luminescent crystals. However, most importantly, it was dry.
The same couldn't be said about Akinym, Sinon and their clothes. They were soaked to the bone.
Sinon: Ugh… Great. I'm normally not someone who gives up like this, but right now, I'm just done with this place!
Akinym: Well, I can sympathise with that, but…
Akinym took out a Teleport Crystal again and stared at it contemplatively for a brief moment.
Akinym: Teleport Arc Sophia!
The words echoed through the tunnels around them. The sound of a teleport was missing, though.
Akinym [exasperatedly]: Yeah… Figures. This is still an anti-crystal area.
Sinon: Just what was missing! [slightly worriedly] The remaining part of the dungeon is probably going to be even more dangerous…
Akinym [slightly contemplatively]: Yes, but that's not even my biggest concern. [looks around] There is no way to get back, is there? I mean, unless we find some sort of emergency exit…
Sinon [worriedly]: You mean… We're stuck here?!
Akinym: Well, I doubt that there would be a dungeon with no escape, so there has to be something, but right now… I have this feeling that we have to clear this dungeon now – just in order to leave it.
With no way to leave the cave in sight, Akinym and Sinon continued to explore this dungeon.
Well, first of all, they took a break and built a campfire to warm up. Akinym had taken all items they needed for that purpose with him. After all, there probably wouldn't be a way to warm themselves up in a cave if it was necessary – as right now – so Akinym had anticipated potential problems, which was why he carried all that stuff with him.
Building a campfire in this relatively enclosed, narrow space seemed bizarre, but since the smoke from campfires was harmless in SAO, it wasn't actually as questionable as it may seem. Well, it still made the air really stuffy.
As it turned out, no monsters appeared nearby, so they were in an essentially safe area. Therefore, Akinym and Sinon also used the time to dry their armour. They had spare sets, but they figured that they should use the best equipment they had.
To be fair, back during his days as an instructor, Akinym had given his students lessons in "fighting under uncomfortable equipment conditions", although Sinon wished Akinym hadn't reminded her of that. They could've fought wearing wet armour if necessary. In the end, both of them preferred to avoid that problem, though.
Neither of them was sure how long they rested like this, but when they continued the dungeon raid, it was already past 7 pm.
When they began to explore the surrounding area, they noticed soon that these tunnels were almost completely empty. It took about ten minutes until they found the first group of monsters – goblin-themed monsters, to be more precise.
Sinon managed to lure one of them away, but when Akinym intercepted the monster, they noticed something very worrying. The first attack was suspiciously strong. These monsters weren't just fierce attackers, they were also quite sturdy. In this situation, Akinym and Sinon decided to flee swiftly. Fortunately, the monster hardly chased them.
When they discussed this incident, they quickly came to the conclusion that these monsters were not supposed to be fought. Sinon's theory was that this was just another trap. If a party would attack them carelessly, that party would be overwhelmed in no time. Akinym, on the other hand, guessed that there was some kind of trick to get past them.
He thought that it would be odd if there was such a kind of trap here. If nobody was supposed to get past the monsters, why would that corridor be there in the first place? Sure, it could be a trap, just as Sinon had guessed. However, Akinym doubted that any players who made it this far would make such a rookie mistake and take on a large group of unknown enemies without an escape plan.
They came to no conclusion, at least not right away. After a while, they found two more spots with the same kind of monsters blocking the tunnel. Akinym's doubts became stronger, and Sinon began to question if there really wasn't more to it.
Well, that didn't answer the question how they might bypass the goblin monsters. While discussing this, Akinym mentioned that there didn't seem to be any other monsters in the area. Because of that, Sinon noticed that the bat monsters which had kept them from using Hiding so far didn't appear in this area.
Thus, Akinym activated that skill, and the monsters could indeed not detect him anymore. The corridors were relatively narrow, so Akinym had to watch out not to bump into any of the monsters. He even put his spear into his inventory, so it wouldn't get in the way.
It was difficult, but Akinym could get around all of these monsters, and he found some strange items in the depths of the tunnels. They seemed to be fragments of a mosaic or a mural, each showing parts of a coastal scenery or fish-like, humanoid creatures. In view of the lore of this dungeon, these "creatures" probably were the water spirits that inhabited the cave.
Shortly after retrieving all of these items, Akinym and Sinon found a large hole in the ground and some kind of ramp leading downwards into pitch-black depths. Given that they couldn't find another way to proceed, they walked down the ramp and entered the next stage: a completely dark labyrinth.
This maze was similar to the pitch-black area near the entrance of the dungeon, although there weren't any monsters here, which was quite fortunate. Finding the right way through the darkness was already hard enough without monsters that would distract them.
It took Akinym and Sinon more than half an hour to find the end of the labyrinth, but there was no exit. However, when they examined the wall, searching for some sort of mechanism or hidden door, they noticed a large mural. Given that they only had their small portable lamp, it was difficult to get the full picture. Well, literally. Anyway, the mural seemed to depict the arrival of the water spirits in this region.
The only thing that really stood out regarding this mural was the fact that a few parts had apparently been broken out of the wall. Remembering the fragments they had found early, Sinon had an idea. This situation reminded her of some adventure novels she had read, and she speculated that there might be a mechanism which could be activated by restoring the mural.
After a rather redundant discussion about how such a mechanism would even work, they tried Sinon's idea. In the darkness, it took a while to find the right place for each fragment in the large mural, but they made it.
When they had finished the mural, a faint light flooded the dark cavern, and Akinym and Sinon could see that a passage had appeared. Sinon wasted no time to rub it into Akinym's face with a smug expression. Neither was Akinym in the mood to argue about it nor did he even have the energy to do so.
Anyway, the passage led straight to the next area, which looked exactly like the section they had been in before they had entered the pitch-black labyrinth. Neither of them said anything, but at first, they feared that they had gone in a circle.
Thankfully, this hunch turned out to be wrong. They couldn't find any monsters, but there were a few treasure chests in this area, which weren't there in the area they had been in earlier. Furthermore, Akinym had the feeling that the layout of these tunnels was different, not to mention that they didn't have any map data for this area.
Speaking of treasure chests, Akinym and Sinon didn't open any of them. In fact, they didn't even go near them. After realising that they were in an anti-crystal area, Akinym and Sinon had been extremely cautious. They stayed clear of any suspicious areas, and when they couldn't avoid them, Akinym always made sure to check them for traps. To be perfectly honest, Akinym was checking the surrounding area for traps as often as possible at this point.
Neither Akinym nor Sinon really knew how long they were walking through these tunnels. They only knew that it was getting late… Well, very late.
Akinym suddenly stopped and stared at the map window with a slightly bewildered expression.
Sinon: What's wrong?
Akinym: It just appeared on the map, so there's not much to see yet, but I think there's a large cavern up ahead. Probably bigger than any other cavern so far.
Akinym stepped a little bit to the side, so Sinon could stand beside him and take a look at the map as well.
Sinon: Yeah, I think you're right. So, do you think it's a special area?
Akinym: I don't know, but I guess so. [tiredly] If anything, it would be great to find the final room already, even if it means that there's probably a tough boss battle waiting for us.
Sinon: That's true. To be honest, it's been a long, exhausting day, and it would probably be better to wrap this up before I… well, before we get even more tired.
They kept walking, and before long, they could see a huge cavern at the end of the tunnel. To be fair, the walls of the tunnel obstructed their view, so they could hardly see anything, but it was enough to figure that they had been right on the money.
They also started to hear the sound of gentle waves from the cavern. To be fair, the last time they had had to deal with water in this dungeon had been unsettling beyond words, but this sound gave off a feeling of serenity. Given that this cave was supposed to be inhabited by water spirits, it could also mean that this cavern was their dwelling. They could also see light shining on the walls of the cavern, and the lighting effect was characteristic for underwater light sources, delivering further proof that there was some sort of underground lake inside that cavern.
When they were about to enter the cavern, Akinym used Trap Dismantling to check the area for traps. He inspected the ground carefully, but there was nothing to be seen, so they kept moving somewhat confidently.
That confidence was crushed in an instant, though, when more than a dozen monsters suddenly spawned around them. Those were lizardmen, and they clearly set their eyes on Akinym and Sinon.
Sinon [slightly panicking]: Huh?! Where did they… Why did these monsters suddenly appear?!
Akinym had to parry attacks of two monsters before he could answer. Well, at least this tunnel was big enough to move around properly with his spear.
Akinym: Beats me! There shouldn't be any traps! But that's not important…
Sinon had to agree with Akinym. For now, they just had to get rid of these monsters. Sinon wanted to get ready to fight and shoot arrows at them, but she immediately noticed that the lizardmen were too close already.
What she – unfortunately – didn't notice right away was that they were also surrounded, meaning that there were two lizardmen behind her, and one of them prepared to swing its battleaxe at her. When Akinym looked over his shoulder to gauge their chances of escape, he saw that.
Akinym: Get down!
Akinym had to fight back one of the lizardmen himself, and after parrying a blow, he pushed the monster back as strongly as he could. Well, he could only make the lizardman stagger, although it blocked the path for the other monsters for a moment while it was regaining its balance.
Meanwhile, Sinon reacted to Akinym's warning as swiftly as she could. She threw herself onto the ground, and the lizardman's attack only grazed her shoulder.
Before this lizardman could get ready for another attack, Akinym turned around and charged at it. He thrust his spear at the monster, but he was in a rush, and it didn't turn out to be a horizontal thrust but a diagonal downward one, so Akinym hit the monster's leg.
These lizardmen were wearing pretty impressive metal armour, and Akinym could swear that he felt how heavy it was just from ramming his spear into one of them. Furthermore, these monsters were pretty good at keeping their balance. He instinctively figured that it might be difficult to take this monster down with one of his usual martial arts techniques, but he needed a quick way to get this monster (and the one behind it) out of their way.
Thus, he came up with a… rougher idea. When the lizardman swung its battleaxe at Akinym now, Akinym used Acrobatics for a forward dash, and the sudden jolt on its leg caught the monster by surprise. Its leg was yanked backwards, and it collapsed to the ground.
In the meantime, Sinon got back to her feet.
Sinon: What now? Any ideas?
Akinym: Run! They're too many!
Sinon just nodded and turned around to bolt. The last lizardman in their way was just a few metres away. Sinon did the first thing that came to her mind to get past this one and nocked an arrow.
Sinon: Seeing Stars! Let's go!
"Seeing Stars" was a codename for a Switching manoeuvre Akinym and Sinon had come up with. The term referred to the state of momentary confusion someone felt when suddenly being hit without warning, especially at the head. They had chosen this name because the technique was based on that phenomenon… and on that one time when they had "accidentally" pulled it off.
Sinon shot an arrow at the lizardman. She didn't spend much time on aiming, so the arrow hit a spot that was protected by the monster's metal armour. It didn't matter, though. The attack was only supposed to distract the monster's AI for a second.
They had discovered that the monster AI was relatively bad at reacting to sudden attacks with the Sniping skill, probably because it hadn't been designed for that purpose. It needed a brief moment to reassess the situation, and the monster also had to switch its target from Akinym to Sinon.
There was only one problem that Sinon hadn't taken into account. This distraction only worked for three or four seconds at best. Akinym had to rush in quickly to use a strong attack before the monster could react to it, and normally, he would've used his Acrobatics skill for that. Now, however, that skill was on cooldown.
By the time Akinym had dashed at the monster and prepared Horizontal Spear, planning to knock his foe to the side, the monster was ready to parry the attack. Sinon still had the opportunity to run past the monster without intervention, and she used that chance.
However, when she noticed that Akinym couldn't follow her, she stopped and turned around. She saw another lizardman catching up to Akinym and striking him in the back with its battleaxe.
A third one attacked from the side, but Akinym slumped to the other side to dodge. Since its AI hadn't seen that kind of evasive manoeuvre coming, the lizardman accidentally hit one of its comrades. There was a bit of a commotion, and Akinym tried to use it to slip past these monsters.
In the end, they knocked each other down, and one of them fell onto Akinym before he could get up. Akinym tried to struggle free, but the lizardman on top of him reacted and bit him in the shoulder. With the additional weight, Akinym couldn't get away.
He tried to shake the monster off, but that didn't work. Suddenly, an arrow hit this lizardman at the side of its neck. Sinon had shot this arrow as a means of distraction. In order to avoid accidentally hitting Akinym, she had aimed a little bit higher (and not at the monster's head), and the first shot had even missed.
The attack didn't deal much damage, but that wasn't the purpose anyway. The lizardman switched targets, and as a consequence, it let go of Akinym, who instantly used this chance to get away.
At the very least, Akinym and Sinon were faster than those lizardmen… but apparently not fast enough to lose them in these tunnels. To be honest, the lizardmen were strangely persistent, and Akinym wondered if they had to flee all the way back to the pitch-black labyrinth. These monsters seemed to have an advanced tracking ability. If the lizardmen still chased them at the labyrinth, Akinym and Sinon would have a problem.
It didn't come to that, though. Well, but not in a good way. They ran through the tunnels overall haphazardly, and they ended up at a dead end eventually. At first, they wanted to turn around and take another path, but even with their lead, they could hear the footsteps of the lizardmen getting closer.
This tunnel was relatively long, and Akinym and Sinon figured that the lizardmen might've already made it past the last intersection they had come across.
Sinon: W-what now?
Akinym thought about the problem for a moment, although his expression made it obvious that he didn't think about it calmly. In the end, he had only one idea, and he opened his menu.
Akinym: Try the Hiding skill!
Sinon nodded and opened her menu as well, searching for the option to activate that skill a bit frantically.
They activated the skill just in time for the lizardmen to come around a corner. The monsters were about twenty metres away now, but they stopped for a moment. It almost seemed as if they were confused.
Akinym and Sinon already thought that they could breathe a sigh of relief… Then, the monsters turned their gaze to Sinon, and they continued to charge forward.
Well, quite unfortunate. Not to mention that you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see how this scene will turn out.
I'll also skip the "Little Preview" this time.