บท 64: The Door
Beta opened his eyes, full of excitement. He had waited for an increase in strength for a long time and finally got his desired result. And it even came greater than he would have ever imagined. Achieving an advancement in level, plus, an amazing technique as a bonus, what great luck indeed!
Death's Gaze was something he had not expected at all. Once he sorted through the information about it, it felt a bit unreal. Excitement could be seen on his face as he realized how powerful the new skill he got was. He couldn't help but feel the itch to fight just to try out this new ability of his. Before he let himself drown in his delusions, he reviewed the effect of Death's Gaze.
Basically, he could use this technique to confuse his opponent's mind. If used effectively, he could make them see their own deaths in whatever way he wished to, and for the period of time that the opponents were trapped in that illusion, they won't be able to move in the real world. If they failed to break free from that Illusion, they wouldn't even know how they died in the first place. In a battle, a few seconds of being stunned or unconscious could lead to one's death, plus the inability to fight back made it definite to die a horrible death in the end.
This technique alone was something not many were able to fight against. With this, Beta was already more than satisfied. But that was not all. Besides the technique to produce illusions, there was still a supportive ability to it. He looked at the sleeping Brian near him and tried using Death's Gaze immediately.
Beta's pupils seemed to twist a little and his vision swirled as he quickly saw Brian - without clothes and skin. He saw him as if he had skinned him alive with blood still visibly pulsing through his arteries. Beta saw his lungs and watched them constrict and expand looking at every muscle, every fat he had. He then switched his targets to Sophie and Pia who were sleeping a little further away. Just like before, he saw their bodies as if they were skinned. To most people, it would be a horrible sight, but Beta enjoyed this a lot. He was able to see exactly what he liked the most, the body parts and what's underneath the skin. Organs were clearly visible to him too and Beta was easily able to identify how healthy they were.
"This ability truly is a blessing! If this works on beasts as well, it would even be a great help against armored enemies! Sadly, most of my comrades aren't anything special as it seems. Well, except for a certain few...", Beta thought.
Beta stopped looking through the group while inspecting their bodies when one of his comrades woke up.
"Eh? I am wearing my clothes... Why do I feel so naked and watched then?", Sophie muttered quietly.
Beta heard her and without waiting for a single second, pretended to sleep. Sweat was already flowing down his forehead as he hoped that Sophie didn't notice and cursed her senses. He didn't feel guilty about what he had done, but he feared a woman's wrath. If she knew that he had seen her without her skin Beta was afraid that she would annoy him for months and that would be really headache-inducing on his end. Even if he did try to reason with her, in the end, it would only get worse. So, hiding like a kid below a blanket who was afraid of the beasts around him, seemed like a better choice.
Not long after his "checking out" incident, everyone finally woke up and Beta saw that as an opportunity as he joined in by yawning loudly before stretching his body.
"Good morning, Beta! Well, if it's still morning that is. It's quite hard to tell when everything we see around us is earth...", Brian said with a little chuckle.
"No worries, we will leave as soon as everyone is ready. I want to reach the cave today and enter through the door. The sooner we finish all of this, the better.", Beta said while looking at his squad to check if everyone was ready.
They all heard Beta's comment so they finished up soon and managed to get up quickly after. Beta then signaled to Johann to move forward. From then on, Johann lead the way to where he found the cave. It was right next to the river, not too far from where Beta had felt the connection through the key.
"Here should be the easiest point to access the cave from.", Johann said, marking an "X" with his foot.
"Alright. Harald, Gerhard, you two dig the hole since you're the most fitting for this job.", Beta ordered swiftly.
They both agreed without any complaints since they already expected that outcome yesterday when Beta mentioned about digging down into the cave. They called forth their soulpower and fused it with the ground. The earth below them slowly moved away, revealing a hole. It was like a mole digging down as the earth around the hole piled up endlessly. Beta just watched the spectacle with everyone else for several hours, until finally, the hole got wider and the earth didn't come up anymore. Instead, it fell down into the cave where it prepared a soft ground for them to land on.
"Looks like a fun slide... I'll go first!", Beta said excitedly, jumping down the hole.
Everyone became excited as well when they realized how fun it would be after Beta jumped down. They all looked at Harald and Gerhard with sparkling eyes as if they praised them for their consideration. Gerhard was honest enough to deny it though as he pointed out the culprit – Harald.
Harald made a good judgment as he had not made it completely straight but slightly tilted instead, so that it would be easier to go down especially for the girls. It may not have looked like one, but it had the same function as a slide. He was grateful that everyone seemed to like it so he just casually brushed it off as nothing.
As Beta was sliding through the tunnel, he noticed some obstructions on the way so he removed the roots and small pebbles with his Void Elemental soulpower, paving a way for everyone who came after him. He also carved two little holes at the end part of the hole to serve as something to grab on to slow down their descent and balance their landing. After Beta gave the signal that the coast was clear, everyone else took turns unhesitantly.
"Woohoo!", shouts were heard several times as everyone got down swiftly, landing on the pile of earth with no trouble at all.
Once Gerhard and Harald landed, they both looked at Beta and nodded at him. Their eyes were conveying their thanks for his effort to clean up the way. They could only dig the hole properly but couldn't do anything against other obstructions that might cause some scratches or bruises. So, they greatly appreciate his action. Beta, on the other hand, just casually gave them a pat on the back while smiling as he went forward to lead the way.
The air inside of the room they landed in wasn't as turbid as he had expected at first. It was more like the fresh air you can smell in the countryside. And soon after, Beta knew exactly why. Within the cave were several runes plastered on the walls. To Beta, it looked like these runes had been here for a very long time. But once he saw the door Johann had mentioned before, his mind completely blanked out. The door looked like it was littered with even more complex runes than his headmaster's rune prison. This was the first time he had no clue whatsoever as to what these runes meant. They were glowing and highly complex. That was all he could say.
"Looks like this door might not lead to the place where the rune prison key is kept at... What's more disheartening is that I'm not too sure about what exactly is behind this door. Everyone should take step back while I open it please.", Beta ordered in a hard voice.
He couldn't help but stress out the graveness of the danger they might face. The last thing he wanted was his squad to be wiped out by an unknown enemy or traps.
"Let me open the door Beta! If something is behind it, we can just flee afterward.", Brian said, with a worried look on his face.
He clearly didn't want Beta to be a sacrifice for their team. He'd rather die first after all, than let Beta get killed just like that. So, even if he was scared of the possibility, it still didn't stop him from offering to take Beta's place.
"Do you know anything about runes? Even I can't understand what is written there, so it's better if I go first. I might at least know if it's dangerous or not when something happens. If something that we can't handle directly appears, go back to the camp. I will follow you once I can. Don't worry about me, even death isn't something that could stop me from coming back to you guys.", Beta said with his usual warm smile as if what he said was definite.
"No matter what lies behind that door, we will definitely live through it together, as a squad!", Domian said righteously while signaling a nod to everyone.
"Yeah! That's right!", said everyone in unison.
"Hahaha! I'm really glad I have a squad like you! Okay, let's go in!", Beta said while putting the key into the keyhole, turning it slightly to the right.
Right after, without any sound, Beta disappeared into nothingness, leaving the rest of his squad in the cave dumbfounded.
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