Eijun backpedaled on the small platform he stood on until he was at the very edge and darted forward; as Eijun reached the opposite end, he lept. Using the toe of his boot, he pushed off the jagged edge and propelled himself up and onto the next platform with light-footed ease. Ahead of him, Tanba dangled off the lip of the scaffold that ascended higher up from the one Eijun currently stood on top of, though thankfully, with the assistance of Shirasu, he'll be able to make it up safely. Shirasu appeared to have taken it upon himself to wait on one of the harder-to-reach platforms to make sure everyone behind him landed the jump successfully.
Down far below was a thin layer of water; however, upon further inspection, they soon discovered that an ominous red light would quickly flash across the very surface of the water roughly every thirty seconds. No one knew what effect the light had to live creatures or inanimate objects but could only assume it wouldn't be good. If any of them were to fall, and survived the impact, then there was a high chance that the mysterious ray would be enough to finish them off. And, if, for whatever reason, nothing were to happen, that person would be stuck at the bottom of the room. With how high the drop was, there just wasn't any feasible way to rescue someone from the pit, which would mean they would end up abandoned.
With the way the rooms had progressed, they were no longer able to backtrack out of the raid and could only continue forward. While the general layout of each room had been similar, they had eventually come across several that, instead of two doors, entrance and exit, there would be one on each wall for a total of four. One of the rooms that opened before them, dropped them down into the next and left them no way to scale back up. They had no other choice but to push further through, though they hadn't really come across anything that left them in a dire state. Sure, they had triggered a multitude of traps that they managed to barely avoid, but no one had sustained any major injuries and all were still in high spirits, regardless. So at the moment, the thought of retreat hadn't even been a consideration. However, there was no way for them to know how long they would be led room to room before they eventually reached the Boss.
Their current room was longer compared to all the previous ones, with multiple platforms of various sizes and levels scattered between the entrance and exit. Some of the platforms very obviously wouldn't lead them to the other side while others, on the surface, appeared to be the easier path to take. However, they quickly discovered that the obvious directions were to influence them into a trap. Kuramochi, with his high mobility, was the first to venture across the chasm with an ease that deceived. He made it almost halfway without incident when one of the platforms he landed on triggered an invisible rune that glowed to life and released a green, toxic ooze and coated the entire surface. Thankfully, Kuramochi was agile enough and hopped onto the next platform before the rune fully activated. The rest of the group watched from the outcrop in front of the entrance as Kuramochi picked his way around the platforms to find the safest, and correct path. Only once Kuramochi landed on the outcrop in front of the closed exit door, did the rest of them retrace his harmless path.
The formation that was agreed upon was to cross one person per platform to avoid any accidental collisions and to allow people the space they needed to successfully perform the jump. Of course, the exception being the one Shirasu was stationed on as it was the one that may cause someone to miss and plummet into the shallow pool of water below. Yuuki, on the other hand, decided to be the last of them to cross, to make sure everyone ahead of him was successful. Unfortunately, while the way they crossed was the safer option, it was also the slowest as everyone had to wait on the person ahead of them to hop to the next platform.
Eijun waited as the line moved forward until it was his turn again and eyed the rather daunting leap ahead of him. While he watched everyone else attempt the jump, he managed to convince himself that it couldn't be that hard, but now that it was before him, he couldn't help but peer down to what would potentially be his demise. He swallowed hard and glanced up to where Shirasu waited for him; patiently and with an encouraging smile.
With a deep, calming breath to muster up his courage, Eijun spun on his heel to walk back to the opposite end to give himself room for a running start. In the process, Miyuki, who was on the platform directly behind Eijun, instantly caught his eye. Miyuki stood with a hand on his hip and a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. In reflex, Eijun narrowed his eyes at Miyuki in a glare, daring him to make a comment, which only caused the smirk to evolve into a toothy grin. With a huff, Eijun turned his back to Miyuki; determined to ignore him and focus.
Eijun inhaled once again, and slowly let it out through his nose as he steeled his nerves. Without allowing himself a second to overthink, Eijun darted forward, feet pounding stone before he reached the very edge and propelled himself as far and as high as his legs would allow.
In the moment of weightlessness, panic quickly began to set in; his mind racing:
I'm not going to make it!
This is how I die-
No sooner than Eijun thought that, his hand desperately latched onto the ledge of the next platform; fingers digging painfully into stone. Shirasu was quick to reach for Eijun's free hand, and together, they fumbled Eijun fully onto the safety of the platform.
Shirasu placed a hand on Eijun's shoulder, "See?" He began, and patted him placatingly, "That wasn't so bad."
Eijun would beg to differ, but he wasn't going to say otherwise.
Before he could even respond, Eijun felt a burning gaze on his back, and immediately knew it had to be from Miyuki. He refused to turn around and acknowledge Miyuki and whatever snarky comment he conjured up, to instead, laugh. His voice echoed off the walls, filling the room with his bellows, "Thanks for the assist, Shirasu!" Eijun said amidst his laughter; slapping Shirasu on the back to further show his gratitude.
Shirasu's eyes widened slightly, but otherwise had nothing else to say.
And thus they continued their slow progress of moving everyone from one end to the other.
Eijun was grateful his next jump was a lot simpler. It was so much easier to hop to a platform that was lower compared to trying to gain as much altitude as possible, and still have a high probability of missing. This time, Eijun basically only had to fall to continue forward. Though he did teeter precariously once he landed, but other than that, it was a success.
He couldn't help but glance back to the previous platform, where he could just see the top of Shirasu's head.
Abruptly, Eijun was hit with a sudden thought that filled him with dread.
What would happen to their party if Miyuki failed?
While Eijun would admit he wasn't the most knowledgeable when it came to classes other than his own, he did at least know that tanks were the most important class to have other than a healer. Parties could make do without healers with the use of potions, though they could be costly and took time from combat to open the bottle and consume its contents in a relatively safe corner before jumping straight back into battle.
It was possible to run normal dungeons without a tank, which was still dangerous, but doable.
Eijun has never heard of anyone successfully clearing a high-level raid without a tank before. Without someone to keep the Boss' attention while simultaneously blocking and absorbing damage, would lead to a slaughter feast for the Boss. They would only be able to run circles around the Boss for so long before they either tired or slipped up and got caught in an unavoidable attack.
He vaguely recalled hearing that Warriors had some minor capabilities to tank. Masuko had already reached the exit, so they still had him. However, like how Eijun and Summoners had a few healing abilities, it wasn't enough to fully replace a healer. Eijun's heals were more to help support a healer, not to sustain an entire party himself. It had to be the same for Warriors. Masuko would be able to tank Adds summoned by a Boss to keep them off Miyuki and the rest of the party members, but not be able to take the powerful hits dealt from a Boss as easily.
Suddenly, a wave of annoyance washed over Eijun. If Miyuki managed to die first and leave them on their own, Eijun would find a way to revive him to kill Miyuki himself.
Shirasu's head vanished from view for several long seconds before it reemerged, this time, accompanied by the mess of Miyuki's stupid hair.
Eijun released a breath of relief at the sight, only for his prior annoyance to shift onto himself. He adamantly told himself he wasn't relieved for Miyuki's sake, but for the sake of having a tank to finish the raid. His first raid, even. Eijun didn't want it to end in disaster.
Miyuki's head drew closer until Eijun could perfectly see his face, and immediately, they made eye contact. Miyuki raised a questioning brow at him, "Worried about me, Sawamura?" He teased as the all too familiar smirk graced his lips once again.
Face hot, Eijun spun back around, "No! I was hoping you would fall!" He heard Miyuki chuckle lightly and a full blown laugh that sounded like Kuramochi from up ahead.
"Just admit you were concerned for me," Miyuki insisted, mirth heavy in his voice.
Eijun whirled around to face him, "Don't make me come up there!" He pointed his finger aggressively at Miyuki, "And I'll push you off myself!" This time, Miyuki fully laughed, throwing his head back as his amusement reverberated around the room. Eijun could do nothing but seethe up at him.
Thankfully, everyone managed to safely reach the opposite end, and as soon as Yuuki landed on the outcrop, the room began to shake as the door slid open, hitting them all in the face with a strong gust of wind that nearly sucked the air right out of Eijun's lungs.
Once the initial blast died down slightly, they ventured out onto the open pathway that sloped downward. The path was nearly as wide as the room they had just left, and unlike the previous hallways in between rooms, this one was suspended by columns, a few of which had broken partway up, leaving the whole ones to support the majority of its mass. Though in retrospect, the entire labyrinth was supported merely with walls or columns, they just hadn't been able to witness the true scope until now.
Eijun couldn't help but gawk at the view bestowed to them. They had yet to really see how high up they were, only catching a few glimpses of the sky that peeked out from gaps in the walls. Now, they had a clear, unobstructed view.
It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Eijun couldn't spy ground through the thick, puffiness of the clouds, and the bits of darker blue he did manage to see made him think they were somewhere above the ocean.
Pink and orange hues dyed the horizon all around them for the best sunset Eijun had ever seen. He glanced up, taking in the gray, stone structure that stretched high above their heads. The labyrinth snaked out in every direction, revealing its true size and scale. They had only seen a dozen or so rooms, but those were only a drop of water in comparison. Eijun could only imagine how long they would be led around its maze, and whether or not there had been raid units that never reached the Boss and never made it out. How many had been led through its depths for days or weeks? Most parties don't plan to camp out inside the raid and wouldn't have any of the basic necessities to survive.
Seeing its true size from its deceiving innards, really had Eijun questioning how something of its size was able to simply float immovably in the sky.
The path flattened out at a ninety-degree before it continued downward, and would lead them back inside through an open archway. Even as they reentered, the path never reconnected with the walls, leaving the space around them open to the sky. There were two more arches that merged with the path, suggesting that those were other ways they could have come from. They reached the intersection where they all connected and where another path branched off, leading them further down into its bowels.
