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The next few days pass in a blur for Emily, an odd sense of disconnect following her every move as Juliana’s words echo in her mind. Early the next day, the Diver vanishes from the tablet’s display, leaving a single dot floating alone in the darkness. Emily reassures her friends that it’s a good sign and that she can remember the location it vanished in, keeping them calm as they continue descending into the darkness.

They run into several groups of beasts, including a few more mantolyc, and a few third circle screamers and lightning eels that Emily eagerly adds to their growing collection of body parts. The tunnels continue with the same twisting labyrinthine structure as the level above, and they even find a few pitch-black lakes that Emily dives into to look for further routes down, but she only finds creatures' dwellings dug into the riverbeds, and never a deeper path.

Emily spends much of her time as they travel with her attention split between her cores. Part of her cortex focuses on walking, fighting, and maintaining her various detection spells and machines: the other part spends most of its energy observing her friends, keeping at bay the gnawing sense of loneliness building in her heart. She starts to notice details and differences in their behaviours.

Tom’s gaze constantly roams the group, becoming wary when he looks at Dante and Enzo, guilty when he glances back at Ivor, and taking on a mixture of respect and caution when he looks at Emily. He starts a conversation whenever he notices the energy or mood of the group dropping, doing his best to keep up morale as Emily often charges on ahead, inattentive to the emotional needs of her team.

Ivor trails at the back of the group, not interacting with anyone much, other than at mealtimes when he occasionally joins in with the conversation. His mood noticeably lifts when Tom struggles to form a few signs to ask him a question.

Juliana flinches every time a noise sounds off in the distance. She winces every time Emily confirms enemy contact. She frowns every time Emily draws her blades. Her reactions add to the bubbling guilt in Emily’s stomach that only recedes when they settle down together for meals, and Juliana seems to relax and come to life again.

I knew she didn’t like fighting, but I hadn’t realised just how uncomfortable she’s been. No, that’s not true. I noticed but I chose to ignore the problem by doing things like taking the fights where she can’t see them. I just didn’t want to accept the truth.

Late afternoon, on the eighth day in the dark, Emily takes back all the processing power being used to observe her friends, leaving only a shred of focus on watching Juliana, and focuses it on the path ahead. At first, she doesn’t hold much hope for the Diver’s disappearance, assuming it to have run into a third circle beast, but the closer they get, the more oddities she notices that suggest otherwise.

First, the spider detects a low rumbling vibration filling the cave, too low to be audible until they get closer, where Emily recognises the sound of running water growing louder. Second, the shifting darkness around them slowly starts to shudder, growing more active, more aggressive, clawing away at their haven of light and forcing Emily to pour more mana into her light spell to keep them illuminated. And finally, the most compelling piece of evidence that they’re approaching a new revelation is the mounting pressure Emily begins to feel and recognise, the air around them growing denser as thick mana wraps around them.

Her friends start to show signs of distress, slowing down and struggling slightly to keep walking as if pushing against immense resistance with every step.

Excitement rises in Emily’s gut as they push forward, the rumble of flowing water growing louder and louder in the tunnel.

“What is that?” Hester asks as she forces herself to place one foot in front of the other.

“I think,” Emily says, licking her lips with anticipation. “It’s our destination.”

Chatter breaks out among the group, but Emily barely listens to them, staring off into the darkness with intense fervour as her hand rises to rest on The Clock’s pouch.

Either that, or we’re approaching a very dangerous monster.

The river next to them quickly starts to grow choppy, the smooth surface being broken for the first time by the current, bubbling up as Emily removes her boat, sending it into storage before continuing forward. With each advancing step, the unnatural darkness around them shifts, condensing and lowering itself bit by bit to the ground until Emily’s light fills the whole tunnel, except for a swirling layer of darkness that blankets the floor and water, a few inches thick.

Emily pauses, signalling for her friends to stop as they comment on the loss of feeling in their feet, before crouching down to take a closer look, also feeling an odd, buzzing numbness in her feet that are now engulfed in darkness despite their magical lights trying to keep it at bay.

I guess this is the feeling Tom mentioned. It’s concentrated enough to affect me too now.

“Finally, we can see again,” Tom mutters behind her, receiving several grunts of agreement from the others as Emily takes out a light pack and activates it, lowering it into the thick darkness covering the ground.

The magical light vanishes the second it touches the swirling layer of black, tendrils of shadows reaching up and swallowing the light it emits the moment it comes into contact, numbing Emily’s fingers as they lick against them.

“We should feel lucky the darkness hasn’t been this concentrated the whole time,” Emily says, staring at the light pack as she pulls it free of the darkness’ hold. “We wouldn’t have been able to see at all: we probably wouldn’t be able to feel much either.”

Tom shivers slightly at the unnatural sight and nods his agreement, being the only one in the group to have experienced the total loss of feeling. Emily stands back up and gestures for everyone to follow her. The tunnel twists a few more times, now something Emily can easily tell at a glance with her vision ahead clear, and they follow it as the rumbling grows louder, building to an overwhelming level, blocking out any conversation behind her as they proceed.

They follow the tunnel around one last bend before their destination comes into sight, and Emily lets out a gasp of astonishment. The tunnel opens up, the river falls away, and everyone freezes on the spot as they stare out into the gaping nothingness before them.

Standing before them is a vast cavern, spanning hundreds of metres. The roof is lined with dozens of crystal formations releasing light into the dim space, struggling to brighten the room. The walls are made of black and grey rock, with holes randomly formed at varying heights, all pouring water out into the gaping hole in the centre. There are a few narrow pathways connecting some of the nearby holes, but the rest of the space is without a floor.

I can’t go down there. I’ll die for certain if I try right now.

As this thought rises to the forefront of her mind unbidden, a system notification appears before her eyes.

ˉˉˉˉˉ

[Rank:] D

[Description:] You’ve reached the magical underbelly of The Glade, The Crystal Waters. Now discover where The Waters end.

Requirements:

-Find the destination of The Crystal Waters’ flow (Complete)

Rewards:

-Skill: Flow (passive)

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Rank:] B

Requirements:

Rewards:

_____

A shiver runs down Emily’s spine as muscle memory she never had flows into her body along with her new skill. Ignoring it for now, she frowns at the next quest in the line.

This quest sucks.

Comparing the details to her previous quests, Emily almost lets out a groan in frustration.

The rank has jumped two levels, and it’s very simple to complete, but there isn’t actually a reward.

She takes a deep breath, her eyes narrowing as her mind starts breaking down the information provided to her.

The system hasn’t given me a useless quest so far, why would it now? Assume this quest is here for a reason. What is it? A warning?

Reading over the information again, and glancing down into the ominous pit before her, a clear picture starts to form in Emily’s mind.

None of my other chain quests have told me the next step before I got to it, but this one does. Gazes back. It’s telling me that if I go down there something will notice me. And now, if I try using a time loop to have a quick look, the quest will complete and I’ll have to commit to going in and out before I leave so I don’t risk the system punishing me for claiming the quest and then undoing the requirement. Do I really have to leave having only got this far?

Her analysis of the quest blends with her instinct to avoid the gaping chasm and, despite her reluctance, she decides to turn back for now. A mixture of disappointment and relief churns in Emily’s chest as she settles on the decision, cleansing the odd feeling of disquiet that bubbles in her stomach when she considers staying for longer.

“It’s terrifying,” Tom adds, clearly unnerved. “What do you think’s down there?”

“No clue.” Enzo joins in. “But I get a bad feeling when I look at it. The mana it’s leaking feels almost suffocating.”

Emily looks back at her friends, seeing all of them with varying levels of stress etched on their faces, from gritted teeth to sweat dripping down their brows, all avoiding stepping up to join her at the edge of the path. Juliana, in particular, is drained completely white, a fearful look in her eyes as they remain fixed on the gaping maw of darkness. With a small sigh, Emily steps towards her and pulls her into a hug, breaking her gaze away from the hole.

“I don’t know what’s down there, and I don’t think we’re going to find out for now,” Emily says, a flicker of mana flowing through her voice to make sure her friends all hear her over the crash of falling water.

They immediately look at her with a mixture of relief and disbelief, her words seeming more shocking to them than the magical phenomena right in front of them.

“You’re turning back?” Juliana asks from within her arms.

“Yeah. I also get a bad feeling when I look down there, so I don’t think it’s a good idea to go down yet.”

“Yet?” Dante questions.

“Yeah, yet. I think I’ll come back again once I’m fourth circle, but for now, this is far enough.”

“Ha, once you’re fourth circle,” he laughs, before pausing with a thoughtful look. “Actually, I can’t see you not reaching fourth circle.”

Emily chuckles as her friends nod along, all agreeing with his judgement.

“What are you doing?” Hester asks curiously, watching Emily’s bird flutter away.

“Looking for our way out,” Emily says as she flies the bird to the closest hole in the wall. “One of those other tunnels must have a viable path out of here. At least, I hope they do.”

“Hope?” Tom questions.

“Well, I haven’t exactly been here before,” Emily responds with a shrug. “This may take a while. I can take you guys away from this area to wait if you want, it’s clearly not very comfortable.”

Her friends glance between each other, quickly coming to a silent agreement.

“Yes please,” Hester answers for them, before continuing with a grin. “What are you going to call this area by the way? You are the first to discover it.”

Emily smiles, glancing over the edge once more as she fills her throat with mana.

***

As she arrives back in the unsettling cavern, she sits down and sends out four birds to scan the nearby streams of falling water for traversable paths. While they’re doing their work, Emily pulls up her system to have a look at her new skill.

ˉˉˉˉˉ

[Flow (passive)]

User is a master of their own flow and can read that of others.

-Grants an instinctual understanding of smooth movement.

_____

What does smooth movement mean? I thought I already had perfect control over my body.

She glances down at her perfectly stationary form, not a single muscle twitching without her intent.

But, I definitely felt something when I got the skill.

“Ah well. Only one way to find out,” she mutters, standing up.

Emily closes her eyes, using her spatial awareness to form a near-perfect mental image of the space around her. She pictures goblins climbing out through the walls and floor to attack her. She takes a deep breath and blurs into motion.

Her right arm flicks out, a blade detaching from her Claw and flying in a straight line to the first imaginary enemy. It sails through the goblin’s skull, cutting nothing but air and dispersing the first target in her mind. The others rush to close in on her, but Emily barely moves. Her arm retracts quickly in a downward sweeping motion, pulling the blade back in an arc under her as she reels it in until it sails past her leg without catching the floor.

Her hand locks onto the Spitter’s handle on the way past, sliding it from its holster without resistance. Emily turns a full one-eighty, following the blade around and raising the gun to point at a third goblin as the blade shoots away from her, its reel unravelling to let it cut through the second. She pulls the trigger, nothing happening due to the gun being in safe, and the goblin’s image fades from her mind.

With barely a thought, Emily’s left hand quickly begins flashing through hand signs as she twists, pulling the trigger twice more to pick off the next two closest goblins, clearing a small gap. The Claw’s blade follows her rotation, gaining speed as it hits no resistance.

Her left hand stops, the moment before the blade makes contact with another illusory goblin, two fingers pointed a fraction ahead of the blade. A glistening green magic circle forms and, the moment the blade touches it, the sharp piece of metal rockets sideways, carving a line through the goblins.

A grin creeps its way onto Emily’s face as she stops rotating, the Spitter fading from her hand as she sends it into her storage and stretches her hand out, fingers apart and waiting. The wire of the blade wraps around her body, gaining speed as it gets closer to her, ripping apart all the enemies she’s pictured. Before the blade can get close enough to catch her though, Emily’s outstretched fingers move, snapping together with a crackle of machina.

The blade stops, held between her thumb and middle finger, rooted in place by the fading electricity. She flicks the blade back, letting it unravel and retract back into its housing as she takes a seat again, the satisfied grin never leaving her face as she takes out and slides the Spitter back into place.

“This skill’s amazing,” she mutters.

It feels like my magic and weapons are an extension of my body. I didn’t even need to think about placing that magic circle in the right place, I just knew where my blade would be when I finished casting. Not to mention grabbing the Spitter without breaking my attack with my Claw: I’ve never managed to get the transition between weapons down that smoothly before.

“Is that mastering my own flow? I guess I can’t test reading others without real opponents,” Emily says to herself, standing up and looking at one of her birds hovering before her first potential path. “But even with just that, this skill was worth coming here for.”