novelraw Chapter 1398 - 1397 - Lost
Chapter 1398 - 1397 - Lost
Lind had underestimated his problem of reaching the Throne.
Gravity issues aside, he realized a sense of direction was nearly pointless in the Hollow Lands. He could tell where he had come from but he was unsure if he was going up or down anymore.
The 4th layer was not a planet. There was no ultimate center of gravity that would pull him in and then change directions. He learned quickly that Sovereign Tiers chose even the direction of that force!
He traveled for weeks in the mines before he finally felt a shift not due to any ore but it was to the relative right of what he thought of as his original down.
The quality of the stone changed as well. It was far more unstable earth and loose soil. Yet, he still found an open tunnel despite no smaller passages in range of his aura.
"Have I changed territories or is it some vestige left over?" Lind had no idea but a voice he had not heard in some time piped up.
[Master! I don't feel so sleepy anymore!] Abby's excited voice was followed by her appearance but she was a young girl instead of the woman he was used to. She was smiling ear to ear as she hopped into his arms.
He smiled and patted her head but noticed she was not as solid as she should be. Still, she was far more solid than Haro had been not too long ago.
[Master, the spiritual Qi here is much stronger than anywhere else but I have no knowledge on the Hollow Lands.] Haro spoke up too. Lind was confused at his words.
"How can you not know about the Hollow Lands? Didn't your previous wielder make it all the way to the Divine Realm?" Lind thought he had heard that but Haro became silent.
"Uncle Haro can't answer, Master. It is a restriction." Abby suddenly spoke up and he looked at her in surprise. A restriction? Haro was after vengeance on the Stone Hide Clan but he could not talk more about his previous wielder at the simple realm level? Why?
Neither spirit said more so that left a mystery to him. Still, he was glad they were feeling better. He checked his other arm but strangely Abby's sister was still sleeping. He grew concerned until a small hand touched his arm.
"She is too weak to wake up yet. I am getting sleepy again too." Abby gave a cute yawn to punctuate her declaration. He smiled and she disappeared back into his other arm. He examined the artifacts and saw they were not only good but improving finally once more.
He carefully scanned the tunnel he was in but aside from soil, he got little else back. He moved farther along looking for any twists or turns but nothing appeared.
Gravity was steady but he never felt the tunnel shift even slightly up or down. It was only after an unknown amount of time that he detected seismic disturbance above his head. He looked up to see a massive shape quickly burrowing through the soil like it was flying through air.
He tried to track it but it left his range very quickly. He wondered why it did not fall but perhaps it was able to cling to the soil in some way to stay inside the wall of the tunnel.
He continued down the tunnel but after what had to be days, he grew frustrated. He tried to recall the various areas Barbatos knew of but none matched the current one he was in.
He transformed his hands into claws and carved out a massive trench into the soil to his left. He wanted to see if it would collapse or hold but he did not expect what happened next.
The disrupted surface began to shake violently when several large shapes came in range quickly. A screech was preceded by the bursting of 3 hard shelled heads that opened into maws of what looked like worms of massive size.
There were 3 tendrils that came out that had smaller mouths in each creature. Lind examined them and frowned as he could not place them. They did seem familiar but not from any bestiary he had ever read.
Why were they familiar?
He pushed it aside as he noticed a few things about them right away. They were only in the Sky Realm and had no eyes at all. They had clearly felt his aura or his attack but he did not know enough about them.
Their tendrils were covered in slime but he noticed they could follow that as well. Heat detection? He doubted it. Was the impact of the slime enough to draw their attention?
Such a sensitivity to vibration was common among many subterranean species but the one in front of him was far higher than most.
If they were at the Sky Realm they should have considerable intelligence but he did not feel like they were demonstrating more than an instinctual response.
He conjured compressed darkness Qi but there was no reaction from any of the worms. He then struck each with a beam of it that instantly severed their cores from their bodies.
Screams filled the tunnel until all 3 shriveled and died.
It started a tsunami of more of them coming from all sides. Lind gently floated in midair as the tunnel was torn asunder by a massive number of worms screeching in search of what killed their comrades.
The tunnel was a death trap. It was literally made to lull people or beasts into a false sense of safety as their very steps betrayed them as food.
Lind had long ago hidden all traces of himself so it was pure luck he had not been making a sound.
He let his true aura slip out and all the worms became dead silent. They were not part of his lineage but the racial memory of all beasts knew what dragons were. They were the divine bloodline.
[Show me the exit, or die.] He projected his command and instantly the soil shifted as the worms revealed a natural tunnel above his head. He scanned it and found no issues.
He summoned a carcass for them and left. It was only fair as he had killed 3 of them.
The soil closed behind him but now he was back in a pure stone corridor. It was rough hewn but clearly artificially cleared. Gravity shifted once more but it was due to the dark lodestones he detected beneath his feet.
He quickly moved away as his aura could be traced by Immortals and he did not want to get caught near that strange trap. He found himself in a maze now.
Worse, he realized he no longer had a frame of reference since leaving the trap. It was like the worms had somehow cut him off from his point of origin sense he once had.
"What were those things? Why have I never seen a record of them?" Lind tried to wrack his mind for answers but strangely it was as if he could not recall it at all despite his currently impressive memory.
How was that possible?
He pushed it aside as he came to a stop. The intersection of the tunnel in front of him had a tiny mark he recognized. He had made it when he was there last.
He was lost? How?!
He narrowed his eyes as he let his aura flare and finally understood what was wrong with him. The gravity fields were conflicting so much it messed up his own directional sense.
He also found he was completely alone. At least, of living things. He found corpses, a lot of them.
They were in dead ends, tunnels above and below, with finally a massive pile in a large cavern for some reason.
He felt no danger from anywhere but not all the corpses were from natural causes. He also wondered why there were no souls as some were Immortals.
Lind began again and kept his aura active as he mapped out paths he did not tread before. He did not see a way out but he could reveal more areas as he moved around and only more dead ends appeared.
He realized the worms may not have attacked him but they still led him to his death. He would remember that as he could easily retrace his steps to them now!
He was looking for something else than a simple way out but time became impossible to track as the endless tunnels stretched out to his senses.
Finally, he found what he was looking for. It was a simple lava tube. He needed that to find a way out and it would work fine.
He came to the tunnel next to the flowing molten rock and covered himself in his scales. He then shattered the wall and dove into the lava. The scorching feeling that would melt almost everything barely singed him.
It felt quite pleasant and he finally felt his senses clear but he had no idea where he was.
He had sorely underestimated the Hollow Lands and only appreciated maps far more now that he desperately needed one.
He hoped to find someone alive to get some answers wherever the lava tube took him. He needed to find the Throne if he wanted to help rescue Ethry sooner than later.