Cursed Explorer of the Arcana

Just thinking about the boost Identify could’ve gotten if I wasn’t so stunned… Argh, I’m so stupid. What was that thing even and why did the world react like that? It was powerful, no, beyond what the word power can describe, beyond even the head of the Fist, I’m certain. And yet I doubt it was a God.

Gods never show themselves, not even to their most devout followers or even in the most dire situations. Never. But then-

“What is this thing?” Valka’s voice breaks me out of the chaotic world of my mind.

She seems far less hung up on what we just witnessed, holding the small metallic orb like a piece of rock and looking at me questioningly. I envy her attitude. Sure we can’t do much more than ask questions and we should be thankful we got out of this unscathed but instead of answers even more questions is all I’ve got.

Well, no point in searching for answers when I know so little. Savant is of no help here and I doubt Valka is any wiser. As a matter of fact, I have very little hope of receiving an answer even from Martha. But first…

Elyssia

Age: 12

Celestial Elf

Mana: 4220/4220

Free Points: 10

+458/hour

Might: 7

Intelligence: 462

Mana: 422

Speed: 101

Focus: 522(+77)

Willpower: 458

Endurance: 80

Dexterity: 30

Fortitude: 80

General Skills:

Savant lvl 53

Identify lvl 67

Dodging lvl 59

Pain Tolerance lvl 30

Premonition lvl 64

Survival lvl 42

Maintained Magic lvl 44

Serne Spellcrafting lvl 56

Martial Instinct lvl 7

I. Class: Mystical Daredevil - Arcane lvl 72

Arcane Mastery lvl 72

Armory of the Arcane lvl 69

Mana Perception lvl 71

Elemental Burst lvl 55

Arcane Focus lvl 69

Chaotic Touch lvl 47

II. Class: *Locked*

III. Class: *Locked*

Pretty close to my ideal for a Class up but more importantly, I’m absolutely super certain the spirits sucked every bit of mana out of my body, and yet… Valka received a cool metal ball and I got my mana back, is that supposed to be it? A piece of junk and something the Hadron crystal in my bag could achieve without all the fanfare?

No. It was different, not the simple soothing feeling like an icy cold drink in the summer, not the usual. Heh, I hoped for answers and more questions are all I got.

“Let me see that.” I crawl over to check the gift Valka received since whatever I got isn’t really tangible. If I got anything in the first place other than a mana recharge…

A solid silver-colored metal orb about the size of an apple with some blueish hue. Identify gives back nothing however Mana Perception reveals something much more wondrous. The orb has a mana weave, no, an entire mana field of its own unlike products of a Craftsman reinforced and shaped by a Skill. It’s solid, complex, and incredibly elegant.

Like a magnetic field.

“So?” Valka pokes my cheeks.

I get that she’s curious and I’ve been just basically staring at the thing for a while now but she really needs to learn so bare-bones basic manners.

“Cool piece of metal you have here. Would make a fine sword.” My shit-eating grin is world-class because it's clear Valka never used any weapons to fight in her life and probably never will.

Yet the reaction is nothing like I expected. “But the arm said it's something to solve loneliness.” She mutters with eyes locked on her small treasure, probably the only thing she can call her own.

“Well, many people consider their weapons and armor as companions.” Now I feel a little bad and start bullshitting. “Or maybe it has some other sentimental value. Something from your home?”

It’s pretty obvious my comment gets us nowhere and I can very much understand her frustration with our lackluster boons after such a grandiose entrance but at the same time, I don’t think we deserve to be mad. We did barely anything, like, smashed some glass and had my mana slurped up but that’s it.

I’m still curious how the spirits did that by the way. I heard void sodden materials can do something along those lines but to have someone not only steal your magic but also the mana right out of your body… Wild.

“We should go.” Valka reaches over to the bag on my shoulder and drops the only piece of loot we got in this entire labyrinth, tomb, secret city… whatever this place is. Pretty weak I’m not gonna lie.

With one door hiding the city, one the now empty prison of the spirits we only have the leftmost one to explore with the staircase and hopefully our ticket out of here. There’s no doubt a curious itch in both of us, whispering glory and riches if we were to just follow the stairs down but… That itch needs to be burned, not scratched.

“After you.” I gesture my brute to enter, providing the light in the form my a gentle ball of fire.

“I’ll remember that order when it comes to getting our meals served.” She huffs, walking past me without any actual complaints.

She knows I live longer when she acts as my shield and it’s pretty obvious that she herself will have a greater chance at surviving whatever we face if I’m there to have her back. We’re barely allies, definitely not friends but clearly in need of one another.

Unlike the intact hallway leading up to the three metal gates, this place is in complete shambles. Worse than the tunnels we wandered for hours as a matter of fact. It’s pretty spacious so we won't have much problem when it comes to combat but the walls have already collapsed here and there and the edges of the stairs look like they…well, as old as they are.

Step after step, after step after step…

“I hate stairs.” I complain and we haven’t even been going for a minute.

***

I’ve always preferred staying in a city and dealing with the crowds and stupid people over wandering the wilds and giving up all the luxuries civilization has to offer for the freedom outside. But anything underground definitely tops the list of most undesirable places in my opinion.

Caves suck because they smell and are dangerous without an exception and as it turns out the artificial stuff is no better.

“How many steps was that?” Valka ask as we’re currently resting for the fourth time on our way up on the endless stairway.

“I stopped counting after seven hundred.” I admit, massaging my poor legs and cursing whoever built this place.

It doesn’t even add up. The spike trap was about three stories deep, we only walked for a few hours maybe in the tunnels without any serious slopes and I would’ve noticed if we were teleported at any point in time. There’s just simply no way.

“Are you down to start digging?” I ask, completely out of options and patience at this point.

“Absolutely!” She growls before hopping up and punching the wall right in front of us with a resounding boom.

And the wall collapses revealing even more darkness on the other side.

“Oh don’t tell me…” I feel my will to live dip instantly. “Wait here!” I tell Valka and begin running down the steps.

Please don’t do this to me, please don’t do this to me, please don’t do this to me!

I know if I’m wrong the climbing back up will be quite a hassle but I’d love to be proven wrong this time. I’d even pay for it.

But it turns out I’m right, as usual.

While rushing down the light of the fire finally illuminates a figure a little taller than me and with white fur covering its upper part.

“How did you do that?” Valka’s incredulous voice almost makes me want to cry,

This is a loop, one of the simplest traps using space magic and one I’ve joked about when we scoured the tunnels just hours ago. It’s a dumb and obvious little trick that is almost completely harmless, and quite easy to notice if you know what you’re looking for…

But that’s the thing… the cracks on the walls, the imperfections on the steps, or even the tilt of the tunnel… none of them are repeating themselves. I made sure. Which means… I don’t know what it means but I’m sure any and every scholar would be drooling even at the idea of studying inscriptions like this.

“What now?” Valka asks glancing between me and the hole she punched in the wall.

“Just keep punching, the stairs are a dead end.” I answer with my, attention already elsewhere looking for the lines of power fueling this prison.

Dead end… Well, walking forever without reaching your goal does sound like a dead end to me even if it doesn’t actually have an end.

Savant can answer many of my questions regarding the mysteries of the world however I never found a common ground between it and the different inscription languages. How they turn mana into actual magic with only a few twirls or cute little pictures. I know some methods are derived from songs or the mana vessels of the living and so on but… why does it work? That always interested me.

Despite Mana Perception being able to sense irregularities in mana most people have no clue about, I still fail to find anything substantial. That is until Valka smashes a hole big enough for us to fit through into the wall.

At first, I thought there was only endless darkness on the other side, a lightless and cruel emptiness just like our parents painted the Abyss to be. But now that the hole got wider that presumption turns out to be… pretty accurate. Even with my flame working hard to illuminate what’s on the other side I can’t make out anything other than the radiant outside wall of the infinite staircase stacked with many layers of inscriptions. Lines and symbols completely foreign to me.

I’m definitely coming back here in the future, scholars would pay entire fortunes to study something like this. I think.

“There’s nothing.” I mutter after staring into the great emptiness for a while.

“No.” Valka sniffs the air vigorously. “Drop the fire!”

Drop it? Like extinguish? Or…

I pump some more juice into the flames, increasing its size, heat, light, and everything before commanding it to fall below. You can’t really drop fire, it’s not a torch.

Watching the fire plummet along the inscription-clad tower is just… weird. It feels like someone turned the usual dropping something into a well situation just turned inside-out. A bottomless well.

“Is there really bottom to it?” Valka asks as the fire grows distant before slowly disappearing.

“There isn-” I’m about to answer when something finally happens.

[You have triumphed over the enemy [Copper Spider].]

The corners of my mouth curve into a devious smile when a message pops up, only to return to its original state of an irked frown after reading through the entire thing.

“I hate spiders.” I mutter, eyeing the tower before sighing and climbing out of the hole.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Valka pulls me back like a ragdoll in fright.

I’m not used to this treatment, to being manhandled… me. She saved my ass, proved somewhat useful, also ate all my food, and tried to kill me once… Yeah. Maybe she does deserve an earful. But that has to wait until after we’re out of here.

“I hope you’re good at climbing because there is something down there.” Then I pop my head through the hole, turning my gaze upwards. “Yeah, the only way is down.”

After all those steps, the endless stairs and my aching legs… and the fucking tower end just a little above us, clearly broken like a snapped twig. Spatial trap aside, we’re still pretty deep underground and going downwards is the last thing that would come to my mind when it comes to reaching the surface.

“You first.” Valka grins fiendishly as she mirrors my previous gesture.

Not that I can argue with her on this one.

***

I really can’t complain this time, we had an easy climb down the side of the tower. A long one but without any traps or things trying to take a bite. Creating footholds was child’s play with Chaotic Touch to erase the inscriptions followed by a little nudge of earth magic to create the protrusions. I’m a master at climbing beyond my elven heritage and the brute is basically made for this so the journey was simple yet tedious.

“Ugh, maybe we should just head back to the tunnels.” I propose after finally catching a glimpse of what’s waiting below us.

“Yeah, and how do you plan on navigating in the moving maze?” Valka yells down sarcastically before almost sitting on my face while I’m hesitating. “Move already!”

“But it’s gross. I hate spiders.” My desire to die in an underground tunnel instead of going down there just keeps growing the more I hover my fiery lantern to explore what awaits us.

Spider webs, eggs, legs, many many beady eyes and that disgusting noise their legs make when they move…

“Get down there or I’ll start kicking.” Valka threatens and I have no doubts she’d hold herself to her word.

No… I don’t think you will.

Without a warning, I let the bricks holding her crawl back into the wall, making her let out a very unladylike yelp before gravity butts in and does its job.

She can’t threaten me like that without consequences.

Then Valka grabs me on her way down…

The spiteful brute of a woman would rather pull me down with her instead of doing her job as a warrior and throwing herself into the disgusting mix of webs, too many eyes, hairy legs, and other yucky spidery stuff. But no, I can’t just assist her from the safety of my ledge… not that it matters when spiders can climb actually.

We hit the ground with simultaneous pained groans, finding ourselves in what can only be a massive cavern infested by the bugs. At least Valka was considerate enough to take the brunt of the fall.

“You bitch.” I roll off her chest, ready and alert for whatever might approach.

“Right back at you.” Valka takes a little longer to get up. “We’re not done here.”

Her warning goes right over my head when the first leg steps into the circle of light around us. From the curtains of webs and tall pointy rocks emerges one tiny hairy leg quickly followed by seven more.

And I incinerate the thing right away.

“Why do you hate spiders this much?” Valka actually steps behind me, probably to clear my line of sight.

“Two legs are good.” I point at my own pretty pair of well-worn feet. “Four is still okay. Many cute things have four legs.” Actually, almost everything cute has four legs. “Six is pushing it a little but it’s a sacred number and eight… it’s just way too many and one too few at the same time. And let’s not forget about the eyes.”

“That’s it?” I can feel her ridiculing gaze even with my back towards her.

“Just shut up and hold my back.” The flames around me flare up. “I’m burning our way out of here.”

The endless darkness parts in front of me as I advance revealing more and more of the cavern that even now looks exactly what I’d imagine the Abyss to look like. Even my lazy flames are able to turn webs and spiders alike into ash with almost no effort since the creatures are without the Guide, weak, and magicless.

The messages about all the worthless spiders dying at my hands just keep on coming, interspersed by some of their low leveled cousins or siblings or whatever ending up just the same despite the number beside their name. Weak and numerous, just the type of enemy I like.

Valka is holding on to my shoulder while following right in my wake, doing very little but giving me the type of support I need more than anything right now. I’m basically walking into the unknown, into endless darkness filled with danger and courage is something I need right now more than mana.

Movement is life in our case means we need to find a way to the surface as fast as possible before anything beyond our capabilities decides to extinguish our light.

“Go left!” Valka’s voice breaks through the muted howl of the flames and dying screeches.

I have no clue where I’m going nor the will to question her word so left it is.

It takes only seconds for the ragged rocky floor to smoothen out a little and the dripstones to disappear almost entirely. Not the small spiders though, nor the growing cracks on the floor or the four massive gnarly pillars right ahead of us.

It takes a few more steps, a little more light, and a few years lost of my lifespan to come to the terrifying realization of what we stumbled into. When the rest of the titanic spider body gets illuminated my legs almost give out under me.

This might be the largest creature I’ve seen in my life with eyes easily the size of me reflecting the light hovering above my shoulder like full-sized mirrors. Its bulging abdomen the size of a mansion resting on the ground and robust marble-like legs neatly beside the body and mandibles large enough to tear a horse in two with a single bite…

We’re so very dead.

In a last moment of despair I activate Identify to see what monstrosity will be our doom, however… the Skill returns with nothing. Not the first, second, or the third time…

“Is it dead?” My voice echoes in the darkness.

But then what could’ve killed it?