DUNGEONS: The first Dungeon appeared in the 12th century, the SKY DUNGEON, ASOFUS ATOPUSCELE: a floating Dungeon, later documented to have 73 floors, each seemingly as big as a planet's surface (see Chapter III of Heidrich Lab). The Dungeon's outward appearance is a false façade; seeming to span only about 3 km across. A variety of other dungeons began to appear without pattern all throughout Vel, decades after the first.
On that night, I found myself on Asofus Atopuscele's edge. Body pale as snow—lips dried of salt. As I stood there, staring endlessly over the town of shade, I thought of everything I could've done to avoid this predicament. I thought of Nastashia, in hopes that she'd be home by now. I thought of Mom, and how she'd feel with me gone without warning. I thought of Kana, how sad she'd be that she couldn't stop me.
I should've asked for help.
Or shouldn't I have?
I sat by the edge, leaning against the brittle wall, barely awake. For hours, I rested throughout the night.
A boy without any Lodia, or mana—in the world's most dangerous place.
But the boy wasn't alone.
To this day I still remember every detail of that first—adventure, technically. The thought of it is most fresh in this rotting collection of memories. My eyes weren't as active as they are today—they were useless back then.
I awoke to a person stopping beside me, seeing him stare at the same view I had, and be faced with the same confusion and despair I felt.
"W—what..."
"..."
"Why are we here?!"
"Oh, hey..." I spoke faintly. "Suuup~ Bino..."
I didn't know whether to be reassured or not.
"You look... slightly dead there."
Still wondering if I am.
"Care to explain THIS...?"
"Don't make me. First, my body gives up on me, now mind's playing tricks..."
I lay flat on the floor.
"Just disappear and let me rest, you hallucinatory memory, or whatever..."
"..."
|| SLAP!!
"WAGH—" Straight through the cheek.
"Gatey-boy, talk some SENSE into me, hm?!" Bino grabbed me by the wrinkled collar, half-smiling, nerves about to pop on the side of his head. "You CLEARLY went through things, I see that. But WHY.AM I. HERE?"
I felt a tingling pain on my cheek, face turned red. My body began to fill with the life I thought I lost as my clarity of thought returned.
My fingers twitched.
My muscles contracted.
Then I pushed Bino away from me.
I stared at my blood-dried hands and stood up. I couldn't help myself but chuckle out loud, before sighing a breath of relief. I began to feel the breeze and hear the constant ambience of the busy town again.
"Heh, yeah, sorry, Bino," I said, with a wide grin. "I don't know what's going on."
"You're sick in the HEAD, man. What even happened to your uniform?!"
"Things happened."
"COME ON, TE—"
|| VRUM~
Suddenly, a low, rough bellow rolled out from deeper inside the Dungeon and echoed off the walls—not loud, but its shuddering vibration sank into our bones. We were shaken for a while—as silent and still as a bronze statue on a pedestal.
Even as the sound faded, our silence lingered for minutes.
Bino grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the entrance, into cover behind a pile of rocks. We whispered from then on.
"We can't shout for help."
"DUH, who would after hearing that?"
"...What do we do?"
"I... Uh... I—"
"Go Ferobino. Go Ferobino—"
"Shut your trap, troublemaker." He pointed straight at my face, nerves bulged out near his eyes. "Look here, I have a lot of questions. One moment I was asleep in my bed, and the next I'm DRENCHED in bacteria water and grainy sand... Augh, I could VOMIT."
"Oh yeah, I definitely know something."
"You should."
"No, I don't."
"BE SERIOUS...!" He raised his hand up to another 'slap'.
"To be honest with you, I'm still a little dizzy. Don't—aw—"
Bino lightly tapped my shoulder consecutively, but it still hurt. He then raised his head and peeked above our cover, scanning the life out of the dimly lit area. The Dungeon cave's mouth just sat there—
Silent. Dark. Patient.
The wind from inside, not from the entrance, brushed out like a slow exhale.
It smelled and felt like the calm ocean.
Bino clicked his tongue, before tapping me on the face.
"Gatey-boy, we're moving deeper, now."
"What?! Can't we just wait for help?"
"We're smaller than a dot from down there and we don't stand out wearing—THIS... Just follow me, OKAY?"
I nodded, then pushed myself off the floor using his back as support.
"Really though, what could've happened to you?" he asked.
"We should really stay quiet."
"Gaten, you're—" he sighed.
Opened his mouth.
Closed it.
We began to traverse deeper into the Dungeon, eyes keen to the slightest movement or object...
But it was lifeless where we walked.
We didn't even know what made that sound—or if it were that of an object or living creature.
There were dripstones.
|| Drip—Drop—
Water lined the ground in a thin sheet, a shallow mirror that reflected the ceiling in broken ripples. Every step we took made a soft sound against the slick stone, or loud splashes on the water. We walked along the tunnel that stretched forward, deeper into a long corridor.
It felt like one straight path.
After a few minutes, we started to observe things that solidified my initial thoughts of the place—it didn't make any sense. How I even got here made even less sense.
The air was humid, heavy, and carried that same salt I tasted when I drowned—mixed with something floral and bitter. A perfume mixed with the smell of a storm.
Pools formed wider patches, some deep enough that lily pads floated lazily on top. Stranger still, some pools had a staircase rising up—or sinking down—to a single door at their center. Gold frames, wooden doors, or stone frames with no door at all—standing alone like somebody put them there.
It made me feel uneasy.
But I wanted to open one.
When I walked to the most accessible and opened it...
It was still the other side.
Nothing special.
But the structure was everywhere. The floor was even scattered with broken old wood and nails that seemed to have been rusting for years. Nevertheless, we kept going—heads rotating constantly like little children seeing things for the first time.
At one point, the roof opened up into a circular shaft. The stone gave way to an open sky: a dark canvas, grey clouds, and a moon that stared at me—and it had not a single trace of mana to suggest an illusion. The moonlight brushed the water in a silver sheen as the smell of saltwater grew all the more stronger, and suddenly, I felt as if I were in a dream.
To think we were supposedly near the bottom of the Dungeon…
Yet we were looking up into the actual sky.
"So it's true, isn't it?" Bino uttered.
"Huh?" I turned to him.
"Some things don't make any sense at all in the majestic Asofus Atopuscele—REALLY doesn't make any sense. At all. Been waiting my whole life to see that for myself."
"Well, that's one thing to be happy about, no?"
"Boy—do I LOOK 'happy'?!"
"Errrh...."
He looked like he was about to punch someone—and I'm the only one here.
"Quit LOOKING AT IT. Let's move."
"Mm."
The tunnel began to widen, small cracks and holes now starting to appear on the roof—with the moon peeking through them. The smell... was changing into earth. The temperature drastically became warmer. Until we reached a point where the tunnel led to a sharp turn. A whistle in the wind reflected off its surface.
The hair on my skin stood up.
Both of us hesitated for a minute—gave each other cautious eyes. I could hear Bino's faint breathing, almost shaky, while his face continued to put up a strong front.
I took a heavy breath, and walked first.
I halted at the edge, pulse starting to rise.
Then I slowly peered through with the top of my head.
|| SWOOSH—! A strong gust of wind.
A strong breeze pushed my hair back and forced my eyes closed. The wind settled down, and my eyes began to adapt to the light—a green and brown environment. It was the mouth of the tunnel—into a completely different place.
I gestured Bino to come.
As he stopped beside me, we looked at each other yet again—mouths wanting to form words but none were let out. With a certain look, we both seemed to agree to see what was there.
We tread with gentle steps, as the bare rock thinned out, replaced by veins of moss that shimmered faintly in the half-light. Stray leaves wandered in, passing by us like little insects. The grass slowly pushed through the stone, and the stalactites became overgrown with vines.
When the floor stopped—changed completely...
We did too.
This was a dungeon floor.
________________________________
Birds were chirping.
Butterflies roaming.
Leaves drifted off the evergreen trees.
The clouds loomed over us, as the sun peeked above the clear blue skies.
My body felt confused—whether to be tired or to start warming up for the day. But it wasn't the morning that had us shook—but the land that presented itself before us.
There was still only one clear path, in a perfectly open space, and it was towards a large expanse of stone pillars soaring up a hundred meters tall from our perspective. They were made of all a mountain was—just that it seemed to be compressed and aligned symmetrical, some smoother and straighter than others, some fused with other pillars that bent at odd angles like they'd grown into each other.
It was like the land itself was molded like clay.
Trees surrounded our path, eerily arranged—almost perfectly parallel. It was strange and all, but there was still no sign of creatures here besides us, and the birds.
A faint grey-blue fog draped the air past a certain threshold, not quite blocking our view, just softening it, and keeping us from seeing farther into the distance.
We went forward, until the ground beneath our feet ended in a clean line.
Beyond that was nothing—just an endless cliff down fading in the fog. The pillars, too, seemed to sink without end.
I immediately felt nauseated, knees kinda shaking.
A stone platform, ten meters wide, jutted out from the wall like a ledge—connecting to another pillar. Ahead of us, other platforms floated, protruding from the pillars at random heights and directions—made of cobble, smooth stone, patches of grass and dirt, even planks of manmade wood.
Bino picked up a pebble and threw it down a large gap.
It hit a platform.
Another one further down.
Then another.
It never stopped hitting surfaces until we couldn't hear it anymore.
We realized something.
"..."
"Haven't we read about this before?"
"Hm?"
Bino broke the hour-long silence.
"We've read about this: a place with endless pillars. The Crossroads, that's it."
"I've been thinking that too."
"Oh this is... this—"
Bino smiled.
"That explains it...! THIS IS WHY!" He started to pace back, breath more stable, yelling without a care for the world. "LET'S HEAD BACK!"
"So we can—"
"YES, WE CAN. Let's shout for help." His ear twitched, voice filled with relief. "Why didn't we just turn back much earlier?!"
"Yeah."
Perhaps he was also curious.
"You do the shouting," I said.
"Well then! Let's—" He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks—dust beneath his footing scattered ahead. I turned to him, confused—the smile on his face slowly faded away, as his emotions began to seep out like an aura of anguish.
He stared, silent.
I noticed it too.
But I was too exhausted to react the same way... There was no explanation, nor a sound that could have indicated how it happened.
The cave disappeared.
Replaced with nature's wall as if it wasn't there in the first place.
Bino picked up a pebble.
Then threw it with heavy force toward where the entrance was supposedly.
|| Click...! It hit the wall.
The reverberation of its impact punched us right in the gut.
I immediately started looking around, then I nudged his arm.
"Come on. Capital should be somewhere around, and we're not entirely clueless."
"..."
Hm.
If we were near the Crossroads, more so in it, there wouldn't be any creatures beside us. It contained the fog they call Lazele Trigerrama—it greatly amplifies hypervigilance and stress for most living creatures. Humans, however, are mostly safe to explore it—but only near the Crossroads' edges.
I began to walk in.
The moment I stepped foot on its stone, steps started to echo loudly within its endless expanse.
"STUPID—" Bino whispered beneath his breath. My ears picked it up. "You just had to get into trouble and BRING ME along... Tsk."
…
I'll get us out of here, no matter what.
________________________________
We only walked along the platforms nearest to the edge.
Bino followed close behind, calm and unusually quiet.
The farther we went, the more things we observed not in line with the CEA's textbook.
There was no clear "up" or "down" anymore. Off to the left, a whole room hung sideways from the side of a pillar—what looked like a cabin, complete with wooden door and tiny window, rotated ninety degrees.
Gravity was sentient in here.
On another pillar, a corridor sat vertically like a chimney, its door facing downward into the fog. Random balconies stuck out like afterthoughts. Staircases climbed from platform to platform, then turned into ladders that clung to walls, then simply ended in the air.
The fog was still; it looked thicker deeper in.
The air felt warm, a poppy-scent thick—it reminded me of the opium poppies Mom grew in our garden. Walking here meant picking a direction in a maze that didn't even respect directions.
But it didn't have to be a maze.
So long as a hint of outside stayed at the edge of our vision, we wouldn't be completely lost—at least until some path finally permitted us to leave. So far though, there was still no clear exit.
We found another narrow stone bridge connecting our platform to another. No rails. Just a strip of rock like a tongue sticking out over the void. When we crossed over it, after thirty of them beforehand, there was something new on this other side—a random assortment of items scattered around a dead campfire on a sand floor. A piece of paper lay there as well, its text matching the items in front of us:
A lone wooden chair.
A ticking clock.
And a gun with two bullets in its chamber.
Bino checked the gun first.
"Haven't seen one of these relics in years, an S&W," he uttered.
"It's not that useful."
"As a weapon—sure. But it's LOUD, we can still use it." He rolled the gun's chamber. "Before mana existed, this was our only hope of survival."
"Uhuh... Thank Lodia for giving humanity an actual chance." I scrambled through the other items, observing the campfire to be completely cold. The chair was rotting, and yet the clock was in brand new condition.
Bino sat near the campfire.
"They say a gun like this could rip your arm off with one bullet, BANG!" He acted like he was shooting me. "And yet it barely scratches a person with minimal amounts of mana. Great, isn't it?"
That's if they knew how to embed parts of their body with it. The gun is still a killing weapon for a careless Lodiac.
"Should we rest here?" I asked.
"...Eh—you're right." He stood, gun now firm in his hand. "I'll lead, I have a GUN."
"That's very reassuring."
We'd just about gotten used to it at this point—crossing to the next platform, then another. Gaps still bottomless no matter where we were. Every time, we passed by new landscapes: a random doorway now perched ahead that looked out of place, a cabin cleanly cut in half, a clock as big as a farmhouse ticking in the distance.
However, we stopped again.
One of the pillars was hollow—an extremely wide room filled with water, and a cabin in the middle exuding a warm orange light. A bridge made of orange wood planks connected from our entrance to the cabin.
Having walked way too long for us to feel secure, and not even talked to one another the entire time, I noticed Bino's nerves very much bulging out. He took a step on the bridge and pushed it down with his feet.
"Stable." He turned to me. "I'm checking that house out."
"Are you sure—"
"ANYONE THERE?!" he shouted, voice echoing through the mirror-like walls and causing the still water to ripple. "I'VE A GUN, A MANA ONE."
There's no such thing...
"I WILL NOW APPROACH WITH HARMLESS INTENT," he yelled out.
Without even giving time for a potential response, he sprinted over the bridge at full speed like a madman, panting with full focus on every step.
I chased after him as we reached the front porch of the ominous cabin.
He held firm unto the gun and peeked through the windows, taking cover behind the door.
"Bino—are you being serious?"
"Partially." He had a huge smile on his face.
CRASH—! Bino bashed open the door.
It wasn't even locked.
He aimed his gun toward every direction—
Then, out of the blue, his mask cracked open. He swiftly threw the gun away toward the edge of the room without explanation.
|| BANG!!! The gun shot a bullet straight into the roof, shattering glass that was up there.
He fell down on his knees leaning on a wall—sighing out loud, hands scratching on his head.
There was just one room inside the cabin.
It had two stories, but no staircase that led up to the second. It had flowers presented outside, but not a single piece of decoration or furniture in its interior. There were, however, a few cans of tuna scattered on the floor. The emptiness, too, actually helped us think clearer.
I sat beside Bino, placed a can of tuna next to him, and let out a sigh as I opened mine.
"Gaten, about time you told me what's happening... WHY is this happening...?"
His voice was crackling and low—the first time I heard him like that.
"I could've died earlier, you know. I mean, it felt like it. And then I heard death's voice, she's a woman with a rather... beautiful voice."
"Who... could've... thought of that—wait, actually?"
"Mhm." I nodded, then pointed him to his can of tuna.
"Nah, it's the middle of the night, supposed to be asleep for goodness sake. Also, don't eat that."
"What do you mean? It's morning—there's the sun. And this tuna is delicious—I'll take my chances."
He opened his mouth.
But closed it before a word let out.
"You know, Nastashia was gonna fall off the Northside cliff, and I... fell so she couldn't."
"You fell...? Gaten, that's a tall drop—GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT."
"Believe me, it all happened as we went home: I fell to the sea, saw weird things happen, and woke up here."
His eyes squinted, mouth slightly open. "You kiddin' me?"
I looked at him with half a smile. "Maybe."
"You enjoy makin' stuff UP?!"
"Partially. Up to you to believe it. Judge me from the way I look right now—is this not convincing enough? Clothes all torn up and—look, there's seaweed in my pockets."
Munch.
How could dungeon tuna be so good?
"Look, if you don't wanna tell me, DON'T. I don't care about your dirty little secrets." He coughed. "Just. Stop being so weird."
"I'm not being weird at all though, only you think that way. I personally think you're the weird one here."
"THE HE—nevermind... So what about your sisters?"
"They're safe. And I told you: we might be here because I saved Nastashia."
Did I really?
We quieted down until I finished my can of tuna. I was thirsty, have been since I came, but my instincts knew not to drink from here. I... feel uncomfortable thinking about water, somehow.
"Asofus kind of reminds me of our Academy, you know," I murmured.
"CEA, you mean?"
We talked with soft voices, close to whispering.
"Yeah, this quiet—just like that place."
"This Dungeon's everything BUT quiet."
"You don't think the Crossroads was an inspiration? The altitude and the randomness, you think?"
"Gaten: geek, nerd, and—"
"Nescient—I'm not. I just wanted to share a theory."
"I was gonna say smart but let's go with yours, yeah. NESCIENT."
"Oh shut up, Ferobino."
"Whadd'ya say—Gabliviousen?" He chuckled. "Gabliviousen, hehehe."
One, two, three—
"Four syllables for a nickname is tiring... lame," I said.
"Well—I do wanna have a nap... Thank the Crossroads all the monsters are WAY out there~"
"Bino, they say only 27% of this place is explored."
"Don't trust those stupid theorists, there's no percentage in infinite."
"And don't the Durmians mostly appear he—"
"IDIOT—" he instinctively pushed his elbow on my shoulder, "Don't expect them to appear...!"
"Apologies... I felt safe knowing you had a gun."
He turned to me with a blank face.
"What floor is this even," he muttered. "Zero-point-oh-no?"
"It don't matter, we got a gun—"
"Gaten, we're WAY PAST THAT GUN."
"Hmhm." I chuckled, but it seemed we both were running out of energy to keep talking. Especially when at this point, we weren't even talking about ways to survive. There was a joke stuck on my mind but it was too late to let it out.
Bino eventually fell asleep on the floor, as I took his can for myself.
I devoured it in a matter of seconds.
But sooner or later, even when I planned to stay awake to strategize, I gave in to my lack of sleep.
My eyes closed shut—my thoughts dove straight into a forgettable dream...
Bubbles.
Water again... but I was deeper this time.
Trenches beneath the dark moaned like a harsh violin screeched. Corals gleamed with colorful lights, as the deep water fishes rushed out and passed through my nonexistent body.
A windowed light in the distance passed by—could be a submarine.
But I couldn't move my head to follow it, like a movie scene plastered in front of my face. Strangely, I was lucid almost immediately, and I knew I was... Yet, the dream wasn't ending anytime soon like I expected.
I began to worry.
But just then, the dream came to an abrupt end. My eyes opened and revealed the inside of the cabin—the same old empty. Bino was flat on the floor, snoring, mouth completely open, and drool already dried on his face and the floor.
Aside from that though, something felt different.
I looked out the window.
It was afternoon, hours had definitely passed.
The ambient light was completely orange, as if the sun was dusking soon. The waters in the hollow pillar had remained unbothered, and the flowers were flowing in the wind. It felt like time moved forward—I didn't even feel like I slept longer than two minutes, and yet my body was energized and my mind complete with clarity. I just closed my eyes and...
Huh...
I noticed this wind, new. It filled the silence with its life.
But suddenly—
|| WHOOSH~!
A sound directly from outside our pillar like a wind bursting forth, but compressed. It was off-putting, especially after having just heard the ambient natural breeze.
It suddenly stopped...
Then it came again.
Over and over, I could almost predict when it would hit.
It was like someone had taken a storm, bottled it, and was slowly unscrewing the cap. It just screamed unnatural. The strange wind passed in intervals, each slightly stronger and louder than the last.
It bothered me so much, I didn't know why—
Until I actually focused my eyes when it happened... and then it showed.
Copious amounts of mana as small as dust—carried along in that wind—as if it were Lodia.
Quickly, I slid over to Bino and began repeatedly shaking him awake.
"Bino, Bino, Bino, wake u—"
|| BASH!!! His fist propelled straight into my face.
"HOFFU—" I recoiled.
"Oh—SORRY—" His body sprung up and rushed to me.
My nose began to bleed, and my hand started caressing my cheek, but the information I had quickly snapped me back and made me forget what even just happened.
"T—thez shurmne Olt thur!"
"Gaten, are you alright—"
"BYENO, THARZ ZAMRUN OUT THERE—!"
"SHUT UP AND TALK PROPERLY, YOU FOOL."
"There's..." I swallowed, then forced my tongue back into line. "Someone's out there."
"HUH?!" He dashed to the window. "Where?"
"Oh, just follow me."
I opened the door and started jogging on the bridge. Bino rushed to the gun and quickly caught up to me.
"So how'd you know, Gatey-boy?"
"Listen."
"...?"
SWOOSH~!!
"There. You heard it? Felt it, even?"
"What's that supposed to—oh, that's strange. What's with the wind just now?"
"Right?!"
It's a little scary how fast he caught on. Sometimes, I forget how impeccable his intuition is.
"It comes in rounds, getting stronger and stronger. Only started happening just before I woke you up!"
"Yer' just gonna base it off of THAT?!"
"...Well, I—" I can't tell him.
"HEH—kiddin'." He gestured a thumbs up. "You're right, it IS pretty obvious—it's unnatural! Marks for noticing."
"Eheh..."
We stopped at the pillar's entrance, then waited for it to happen again.
We didn't have to wait long for another wave.
It came from our left, deeper into the Crossroads.
"Oh, that's—"
"FOLLOW IT. GO." Bino grabbed my shirt and pulled me into a running momentum.
Platform after platform, climbing sets of stairs and passing through doors that had been stitched into stone and dirt.
The strange wind grew stronger the closer we went, it seemed—it changed from soft whistling into howling bursts of energy. At one point, it even made us halt when it happened; and when I managed to open my eyes—scarlet red mana gleamed and surrounded us, almost blinding me by its sheer overwhelming amount.
Until—we may have reached its source.
We were led into a wide grassland, our footing growing more solid. A large wall rose up ahead—a flat, steady surface carved into the side of a monstrously wide pillar... I couldn't even consider it a pillar anymore, but rather an actual mountain.
Glowing crystals jutted from the ground near us, clustered like frozen lightning: blues, purples, whites, each pulsing softly. The air hummed...
We braced ourselves...
And yet, the next interval didn't happen.
It was as if it noticed us.
The wall in front of us was cracked, the stone looking like it would fall apart at the slightest nudge or disturbance. More yet, traces of dimming mana were scattered all around this place.
Bino whistled under his breath.
"Jackpot," he said.
I stared intently at the wall... it didn't feel right.
Bino walked ahead, looking around.
"Hello?" he shouted. "Anyone here casting LODIA?!"
No response.
"HELLO—Oh." He noticed the wall. "ARE YOU BEHIND THAT ODDLY CRACKED WALL, PERHAPS?"
"..."
"..."
whoosh~
…!
"BINO—!" I yelled out and dashed toward him. He turned to me in confusion. "GET BACK!!!"
"Huh—"
The wall began to shake, as the whistle of a gathering storm started rising higher and higher—my eyes even began to hurt from how much they already saw.
I wonder what would've happened to us, had I not acted fast enough.
We took cover behind not even the toughest crystal formation.
How we would have ended up...
Withstanding the explosion of more than a hundred tons of pressure?
The ground began to shake as if the pillars themselves were coughing apart.
"BRACE!!!" I shouted.
|| BOOM.
Our bodies immediately reacted by covering our ears, as the torrent's breath charged at us like a dragon at its prey. Zephyr roared at us—imagine a herculean tornado passing through a small and compact space, with all its energy focused on one point.
Not even five seconds passed, and my ears already felt like bleeding even with my hands covering them. The tips of my pants ripped apart, and the rest of my clothes felt as if they were trying to peel me away from my cover.
My entire body hurt like hell.
"AAAAHHH—" Bino's loud-ass yell didn't even stand a chance against the wind's uproar.
I turned to Bino—he was hugging his knees close to his chest.
I turned to my legs—they were barely stuck to the floor.
We were a mere crystal away from death.
|| CRACK— I managed to hear something shattering.
I quickly looked up and checked our crystal's state—
It was still intact.
I turned to our sides. The other crystals were either completely gone or still unbroken. None of them were cracked.
If so—then that must've been the wall...!
"BINO... T—THE DEAD END...!" I shouted as loud as I could.
"WHAT?!" I could barely make out his mumbled voice.
"THE DEAD END—IT'S SHATTERING!"
"I DON'T CARE—JUST FOCUS ON YOUR FOOTING!!!"
My body was beginning to tremble, struggling to keep my back pressed against the crystal's rough and brittle surface. I positioned my feet next to Bino's and interlocked them, keeping ourselves from being blown away.
Unlike the bursts of wind earlier... this—this seemed like it wouldn't end anytime soon.
At this rate—
The wall—
The wall will break—!
|| CRACKLE—
Beams of now purplish mana rushed straight past us, scrambled by the wind.
|| CRASH!!! Another crystal formation was destroyed.
Larger fragments of the wall started bursting forth, launching themselves into anything that met their trajectory.
Suddenly, a rock crashed into the tip of ours.
I turned to see.
"...GAATEEEN, THIS ISN'T GOOD...!" Bino yelled out next to my ear.
Just... hang on...!
The sudden vibrations of breaking crystals caused both of us to flinch every time one shattered. All we could do was hope we chose the right one to take cover behind.
But it was being chiseled apart tip by tip.
Closer.
And closer.
Our crystal was shrinking to our height.
I could hear every single chunk that flew away as if it were our own life that was being chipped off. I swallowed my despair, hoping for all this to end.
"AGHHHH..."
"Ahh...!"
"Hugh..."
The wall was completely broken apart—with no more fragments left to blast off.
The dragon slowly closed its mouth, as the storm gradually calmed. The shaking of the ground stopped, yet our bodies continued to tremble.
The crystal was a third of its original towering size, standing half-broken, but exactly as tall as we sat. The top of the pillar in front of us was cut off—fallen into the bottomless void, it seemed. Turns out even the structure wasn't immortal.
"Let. This be. The only time. My ARSE is welded onto a DIRTY FLOOR...!" Bino exclaimed.
"Bino—are you alright...?"
"Unharmed, I think. Mentally? Oh—No. No. No—" Bino slapped himself in the face.
The natural breeze rushed back in to restore the peace—a sense of reassurance flooding back into our hearts. This wind was full of life... not whatever that other one was.
Pheeeww~ The faint howling residue of that storm finally left us alone.
Bino looked at me.
"W—woah there, what... What's the matter?" he suddenly asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You're being weird again."
"Oh—I don't know—"
Actually, I felt strange. Somehow, I was smiling so wide that my eyes, too, brightened up.
"Th–that was fun," I said.
Bino looked at me with disbelief, a nerve bulging out on his head.
"GATEN, HUH?!! YOU—WHAT?!"
"Oh, I'm better than ever—!" I said, panting rapidly.
My body then proceeded to flop down onto the floor like jelly. I even vomited a bit.
"EUGHHH~" Bino slightly pushed himself away and covered his nose. "Ludicrous...!"
"Yyyeeeaaahhh...! My legs are numb though!" I celebrated weakly.
"Yeah, NO. CARRY YOURSELF. As for me—I'll finally check out who's CRAZY enough to almost kill us. Maybe run up and punch 'em, even."
"Please don't."
"Hmph."
Bino's legs seemed weak.
But as he took a deep breath, his eyes seemed to fill back up with the confidence and determination he'd lost many times today. I wanted to see what the wall uncovered—but my body just wanted to plop down and rest for a while.
With gleaming eyes, Bino raised his feet.
He stood up and slowly peeked over the crystal's tip.
________________________________
He didn't see a human.