Chương 141: 4.11 Caving

"Do we try to explore or just… leave?" Irwyn spoke out loud, unsure what was the better option.

"We might get lost."

"All we really need to do is keep heading North," Elizabeth said.

"Good luck with that underground," Waylan tossed his two cents.

"It's that way," only for Alice to shove them back up his throat with a smile. She pointed to their right.

"What? Feeling the exact North is not even that advanced magic."

"On a second look, this wall is strangely even," Irwyn followed her hand with his eyes. Looking to their right, there was a gap between the wall and the jungle itself spanning a few meters where the rock turned progressively more to soil. What was stranger was that the cavern wall - if it could even be called that - seemed to have no distinct bends, continuing straight into the distance. Literally all the way into the horizon even though they were underground. In fact, it was not really raw rock at all.

"This looks like it's been cut," Elizabeth examined the stone.

"Very cleanly as well."

"And it perfectly aligns with North," Alice reiterated.

"That doesn't look natural."

"I don't want to meet whatever did it then," Waylan said.

"We can't even see how far it goes!"

"Just because it's not 'natural' doesn't necessarily mean it was built by someone," Elizabeth shook her head.

"How else do you get a perfectly smooth cut of rock following a cardinal direction," Irwyn inquired.

"The cut could have been made by a Realm mage's attack - they have tricks to bypass the usual range limitation of Finity in some cases. It is completely normal for such strikes to perfectly follow 'North' as to be empowered based on a specific Domain or even Truth," Elizabeth hypothesized.

"With a bit of preservation component – an idea supported by the gap between it and the jungle – this could be the remnant of an attack older than the Federation."

"Wouldn't preservation magic fade with time?" Alice questioned.

"Not if the preservation is in the rock's changed composition," Elizabeth shook her head.

"There are a few places like that in the Federation - completely mundane rock older than written history and immutable to erosion. There are mages that can create completely mana-less materials with incredible properties."

"What about the whole jungle then?" Irwyn asked.

"Could be their enemy from the attack hypothetical. Or something that has settled in later."

"Or, it's just something built by someone on purpose," Waylan said, unconvinced.

"There is a reason I suggest an alternative instead of the 'obvious' option," Elizabeth smiled.

"Setting this up would require a domain Realm mage and likely a domain Life mage. And if two such individuals - or the even far rarer person who has reached a domain with a prismatic element - were to settle for a large operation why here? Mana is incredibly scarce in this region, even if that's a bit better in this area. It's a terrible spot to make some kind of laboratory or training facility or garden or I don't know what else it might be."

"Or it could be that this used to be a facility of some kind which has long been abandoned," Irwyn opined.

"Then the jungle settled in over however long."

"Or that," Elizabeth nodded.

"How do the trees even survive?" Alice questioned.

"We are deep underground."

"Generally water and sunlight that could be sourced somehow," Elizabeth shrugged.

"But these might be adapted. A Life mage well versed in plants can adapt flora to far worse environments or hasten evolution to mere years rather than the incomprehensible time scale it supposedly happens on naturally."

"I think that also helps," Irwyn pointed up. The trees were towering, reaching all the way to the ceiling maybe 15 meters above. Into it were imbued spots of yellowish glowing rock at irregular intervals that provided a decent level of illumination for the whole area. Because the trees partially or fully covered some, it was difficult to determine how much of the ceiling was taken up by shining stone. There was something else though.

"I feel Starfire from them."

"So, it might be close enough to regular sunlight then," Elizabeth nodded.

"That is a point towards it being a 'garden' but I cannot comprehend why. If a builder went out of their way to make this a proper environment to cultivate foliage this is a horrible place for it."

"Could really be abandoned," Alice said thoughtfully.

"Looks overgrown, right? Might actually be this place used to be much richer in magic ages ago when it was built like Irwyn suggested. Then it was just kind of lost to time. The enchantments all wore off and what remained adapted to that change."

"Or whoever built it is still here, listening, and snickering about how dumb we are being," Waylan offered.

"If whoever built this place is still alive and present then there is no point running. Both Realm and Life mages of that caliber are incredibly perceptive to anyone entering their territory," Elizabeth pointed out.

"I don't think I have anything that could stop a proper domain Life mage from tracking us down either."

"Maybe they won't bother," Waylan offered.

"I really don't think there is any kind of creator here," Elizabeth repeated her earlier opinion.

"And even if there is, they are not necessarily hostile," Irwyn reminded.

"What are our alternatives?"

"Teleporting around random caves with a bit of excavation when there is nothing close," Alice said.

"Or just digging a tunnel outright, I guess. I am not even gonna mention going back to the surface until we are far away from that mountain city as an option."

"Compared to that I think it's better to just travel North alongside the wall," Irwyn opined.

"Though daring the jungle itself feels needlessly dangerous."

"I don't think there is any issue in exploring even that," Elizabeth said.

"But I don't mind your plan."

"There is no world in which I sign myself up for teleporting us around for whole hours or days," Alice said with a shudder.

"You have my vote."

"Well, against the record, I will say we should avoid this place altogether," Waylan sighed in defeat.

"I will carry us again," Irwyn nodded summoning his platforms. After some deliberation he gathered them in a line and flew ahead North - him in first spot, then Alice, Waylan, and Elizabeth as the rear guard. They were still close enough to hear and he did not drag them along nearly as fast as he would have in the wide-open desert above. They still traveled multiple times faster than anyone on even horseback might… Irwyn assumed. He had never actually seen someone pushing speed on a steed to compare against.

The scenery was surprisingly boring and monotonous. Sure, the trees might differ subtly from one another but they were still trees. They still grasped at the ceiling covering much of the sunstone - a good enough improvised name - and though the exact patterns shifted the essence of the sight was unchanging. Occasionally there might be a distant screech of some creature but even those were not particularly common.

All they knew was that something lived somewhere in there but their surroundings were generally pretty quiet - that at least set it apart from a regular forest.

"Wait," Alice suddenly said.

"What?" Irwyn immediately stopped them, looking around for anything amiss.

"No, I mean… keep going," she shook her head.

"At unchanging velocity. There might be something but I need to confirm it." Curious enough, Irwyn did as instructed making sure to maintain the exact same speed throughout. A few minutes later Alice exclaimed again: "Yep, I was right."

"What is it?" Elizabeth inquired.

"We are going down a very slight slope," Alice announced.

"Precise as well. One meter of elevation every two kilometers exactly. That seems intentional."

"Good to know," Elizabeth acknowledged.

"Doesn't change our thought process." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. They carried on traveling after that. The tension eventually left even Waylan who seemed the most worried and the group settled into chatting. The jungle and wall to their sides remained unchanging for a long time with nothing ever coming to disrupt them - probably because they were too fast for any local monsters to catch.

The first proper anomaly came almost two hours into their travel.

"Something ahead," Irwyn was the first to spot an object in the distance.

"A wall," Alice immediately determined before they even got close.

"Might be the end? But the rock of it seems a bit different? Not sure from this far."

"Let's get closer," Elizabeth decided as they continued their approach. Soon enough they reached the blockade of jagged rocks. Too jagged even, some reaching so far out of the uneven wall as three meters. The shade of it was also weird, different from the wall to their right.

"The jungle continues on behind it. It's… about three meters thick but uneven," Alice announced when they were close enough to have a proper look.

"It seems to extend at least over a hundred meters into the jungle itself - I cannot feel precisely enough any further."

"A point for 'manmade'?" Waylan cheekily asked.

"Some kind of divider perhaps," Elizabeth surrendered.

"But why like this?"

"Maybe to discourage wildlife from digging?" Irwyn suggested.

"It almost looks like spikes. Doesn't feel magical though."

"That it doesn't, might just be an expired enchantment," Elizabeth nodded.

"I think it's better to try and dig through it than walk around. It might just fully block off passage from one side to the other."

"Agreed," Irwyn voiced and the rest did not seem to have a better idea.

"Just in case, take a step back," Elizabeth commanded, herself stepping to the side to create some distance between them. Then she manifested a thin needle of Void magic in her palm.

"Better to probe for a reaction first." It flew far faster than any thrown object should, even though Elizabeth went through the motion of it. The Void magic sunk into the wall in the blink of an eye, then mana surged. Not hers. Irwyn barely saw the wall move, one of the jagged rock spikes sprung forward lunging for Elizabeth like a spear. She stepped to the side with inhuman speed, a layer of Void magic gathering over her skin despite the dodge. No follow-up came though.

Just that one strike to where she had been standing. The rock spike soon began to retract into the wall, the stone actually flowing closer to elastic wood than solid rock.

"I still don't feel the enchantment but I felt the mana," Irwyn said warily as they all stepped a bit further away, vary of another reaction.

"It's a golem," Elizabeth determined with confidence.

"Wouldn't those also break down with time?" Alice frowned.

"Not if it is a proper one with a Soul," Elizabeth shook her head.

"With a Soul… a golem can be basically immortal, as long living as the material that formed them."

"And fucking crazy," Waylan shuddered.

"Even I know you go bollocks up from being a rock in the middle of nowhere forever."

"It does not necessarily have the level of sapience to go 'mad'," Elizabeth disagreed.

"Just because something has a Soul doesn't mean it's remotely intelligent. I have seen such automatic doors that literally only open and recognize people, no thoughts in between that."

"Why even are there smart doors?" Waylan questioned.

"I explicitly said they were not actually smart."

"Compared to other doors," Waylan insisted.

"Now say, what else do you rich people make? A latrine that determines if the right ass…"

"While this is fascinating," Irwyn interrupted.

"I think we need to figure this one out first."

"Does it have protections against teleportation?" Elizabeth asked.

"None I can just feel… let me test it properly," Alice said, then got down to it. First, she teleported a tungsten cube beyond the wall and back. Why she carried one around in her bag, Irwyn had no time to ask as Alice quickly proceeded to her next examination: A vial of red liquid that only looked like blood at first glance. On the second it was clearly not, the color was too red and very slightly translucent. However, teleporting it back and forth made Alice nod with satisfaction.

Lastly, she summoned a small portal and slowly pushed her little finger through it. At first just the tip, then all of the expendable appendage.

"Seems as safe as I can determine," she concluded.

"Does testing usually involve severed fingers?" Irwyn had to ask.

"It's the final test for a reason," Alice just rolled her eyes.

"In case a trap is set up cleverly enough to not spring with the prior tests. It's better to lose a fingertip than to be sosaged in that case. Anyway, I will teleport us now. Same as before." Once again, Irwyn felt Alice's mana fill his body. It still felt intrusive on a fundamental level but less jarring than before given the repeated use over the past half day. He blinked and they stood on the other side, wall to the right, jungle to the left. Except something was different. Irwyn frowned.

"Are you also feeling it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes," Irwyn nodded.

"Not sure what though."

"Same," Alice concurred.

"Me not tree," Waylan jested.

"Feels the same. The trees do look different though."

"What has changed?" Irwyn asked glancing over. They seemed pretty same to him.

"A bit healthier, no?" Waylan said.

"Leaves greener, bark fuller. Stuff like that."

"You are right," Alice confirmed.

"How did you even notice that? I didn't, not at a glance."

"You gotta have an eye for detail, otherwise what's the point of sneaking somewhere when you miss all the important stuff?" Waylan grinned.

"Well, Kali would have noticed it from behind the wall, I certainly ain't her. You can see good but you also need to pay attention."

"They still seem the same to me," Irwyn frowned, reiterating.

"I should have better physical sight than you, Waylan."

"I also don't see any difference," Elizabeth added, brows also furrowed.

"And the mana is a notch thicker than before we passed the wall."

"Weird," Waylan shrugged.

"There has to be a reason," Irwyn certainly wanted to figure it out before they moved further.

"It could be an Illusion or rather an illusionary influence," Elizabeth suggested after a few moments of thought.

"It nudges perception for everything to appear a bit more vibrant. It affects Waylan the most because he is the least resistant while me and Irwyn are immune to it at this level."

"Aren't we still protected?" Waylan pointed to his sleeve, underneath which was the Soul shielding armband.

"Not against Life-based effects. This changes what information your organs physically perceive rather than what your brain and Soul decide to interpret it as. Rather than making you believe things are greener, they make it so that everything seems greener to your eyes, if that makes sense."

"Kinda," Waylan shrugged.

"Don't need to really understand. Is it dangerous?"

"What would be the point of an effect like this?" Alice inquired as well.

"This might be just a bleed of a damaged spell of some kind - maybe a passive gathering formation if we still assume this place is an old ruin?" Elizabeth hypothesized.

"I am not too familiar with Life magic but it would make sense. The effects of leaking attuned magic like this are not certain but for example, Void magic can make things harder to perceive, dim lights, lengthen shadows, and such. Flame could make things more flammable or to dry faster."

"So, leaking Life magic can make things seem more alive," Irwyn saw the logic.

"Life is also the closest element to illusions. It does make perfect sense."

"If the concentration increases the effect will get much more pronounced. Possibly even change if it gets truly high," Elizabeth nodded.

"Waylan, keep an eye out in case it begins feeling too intense. And tell us if you start to feel any kind of nausea and such. Alice, stay aware of nearby caves we could flee to just in case."

"What does 'too much' even mean in this context?" the sneak shook his head.

"Unnaturally vibrant," she said.

"Maybe leaves growing out of leaves? Fruits sprouting at a visible pace? I am not sure. You can report anything strange you notice."

"We might be far enough away from Terrace land by now," Waylan pointed out.

"We could dip out."

"Perhaps…" Elizabeth admitted hesitantly, pausing.

"But are you not the least bit excited about what we might find? If things start to seem dangerous, we can always change our minds. For now, I want to continue."

"Well, we did sign up for an adventure," Alice said with a slight smile.

"I am also curious," Irwyn admitted. Waylan just nodded and did not comment further. So, they carried on. Slower than before but still quite fast by any reckoning. The illusion of 'vibrancy' did indeed keep growing but at a stuttering pace, barely becoming more pronounced to Waylan in the following half hour. Then there was a disturbance - a monster jumped out of the jungle, attacking the quartet. It was some kind of ambush predator, a dark green creature with two dominant features.

It had six hind legs which seemed disproportionately large compared to its small-ish torso, likely meant for jumping given it had hurled itself at the party at great speed from a nearby tree.

The second was its jaws - plural - one pair which consisted of large hooked tusks that seemed like they would help the creature easily cling to whatever it latched onto and a second full of sharp teeth behind it that seemed to be quite loose in its place given this second jaw almost fluttered in the air despite being tugged inside the mouth. That was all Irwyn really noticed before his magic struck it. He had, naturally, attacked the creature trying to ambush them.

It was half reflex even, pouring six intentions into a spell meant to, at the very least, deter the emergent threat. Instead, the barrage of Starfire literally tore the monster to shreds halfway through its leap without any resistance. The biggest threat to Irwyn's spell was Elizabeth's own retaliation arriving just a split second after his destroying most of it in the clash. Not that it mattered at that point, the attacker was quite dead.

"I… don't think it was even magical," Elizabeth commented after a moment of startled silence. Irwyn began moving them again as he had stopped in anticipation of more attackers. None came.

"How does such a dumb monster even survive?" Alice questioned, looking at the place on the ground where barely even ashes remained. At least for the few seconds before it was out of sight.

"You don't need to be smarter if nothing else around is stronger," Elizabeth shrugged.

"Without Souls, monsters notoriously lack intelligence."

"Has anyone tried giving one a Soul?" Waylan showed curiosity for once.

"Given, you know, fucking doors have them apparently."

"It's quite literally an entire magical field," Elizabeth nodded.

"Usually called monster 'taming' or 'filling'."

"Very rare in the Federation though," Alice added before Irwyn could profess his lack of awareness.

"Terrible against Liches. Needs a prismatic element or tandem work. And some people think it's too close to necromancy so not exactly popular culturally. I knew only one mage in Steelmire who did it and he just bred and sold docile beasts of burden or horse-adjacent stuff – not ones much smarter than dogs either. Decent if you don't have teleportation, I guess."

"Or Irwyn," Waylan sagely nodded. In response, Irwyn let his friend's still-moving platform drop almost to the ground and become invisible with an intention. That made it seem like he had dismissed it altogether for a visceral half second.

"WAAA!"

"Pff," Irwyn couldn't help but snort at Waylan's startled yell.

"Very funny," the sneak narrowed his eyes.

"You, my friend, are not going to wear two of the same socks in the foreseeable future."

"Try me," Irwyn grinned, noting to erect a barrier around his things while he slept… and while he was awake. It sounded like a bad idea to assume Waylan needed him to be incapacitated to access his luggage unnoticed.

"The elevation stopped," Alice suddenly announced.

"We are moving on even ground now."

"Why?" Elizabeth frowned as Irwyn slowed to a standstill.

"I have a good guess," their Time mage wagered after a moment.

"There is a cave leading into the wall, just ahead of us."