Marduk's hazy figure flickered within the mirror.
Saryn opened his mouth, questions filling his mind.
"Wha-"
Marduk's figure stabilized, placing a finger to his lips, gesturing for Saryn to keep quiet.
Saryn nodded, remembering the imminent danger outside his cell. A faint hum disturbed the surrounding echoes, capturing Saryn's attention as he felt goosebumps on his skin, Murk shuddering in his hand along with him.
Two glowing items drifted downward toward him, phasing through the ceiling gently. The scene sent shivers down Saryn's spine as the action reminded him of the serum needle.
'At least they don't look like they'll inject unknown fluids into my body this time.' He squinted, watching the quiet nova of echoes surround the items as they presented themselves to him.
It was a key and a pearl.
The key was pure white, emanating a pastel pink glow over Saryn's left hand. He reached out, plucking the shining key out of the air, immediately knowing what it was for.
'This is definitely for unlocking the gate.' Saryn sighed, reaching out with his right hand to grab the metallic pearl, which gave off a similar glow, albeit cyan.
However, upon contacting the pearl, it shook violently, imploding in front of his face.
Saryn stumbled backward clumsily at the sudden impact, flinching.
He coughed uncontrollably as his eyes crossed the room cautiously, realising no harm was done to him.
'He could've at least warned me…' Saryn scoffed, noticing the black wave of energy now coating the room, clinging onto the walls like a protective coating.
'What the hell…'
His eyes focused as he noticed that this layer of darkness infecting the walls wasn't actually energy.
It was nothing.
The spaces the wave occupied lacked echoes, containing absolutely none.
Nothing.
"Apologies." Saryn whipped his head toward the mirror at the sound of Marduk's voice.
"Saryn, ease yourself…" Marduk chuckled like a toddler, "It is merely a handy artifact for dulling noise, and I believe you already know why we will need that…"
"Yeah… because you decided to nurture a comically large and predatory snake in this place that isn't a terrarium." Saryn rolled his eyes.
…
Marduk shook his head slightly.
"The same terrarium you are stuck in, and without my instructions, you'll never escape."
Saryn didn't fight his claim, "Fair point."
"What do I do in this place then?"
A quiet splash echoed in the chamber as droplets of water leaked from the overgrown ceiling.
"This room, like the last one, doesn't contain a set goal." Marduk cleared his throat before continuing, "The abyss grid, as I like to call it, is outstandingly massive, and entirely random."
"How big exactly?" Saryn asked, interest glinting in his cyan irises.
"So big that even after four others had reached this stage and begun exploring, they collectively discovered… less than one percent of the entire maze." Marduk answered, a smirk on his face.
…
Saryn lost himself in his thoughts, snapping back to the present once a dulling screech resounded in the mossy cage walls.
"Looks like she caught the spider, took 'er a while…" He mused.
"Indeed, do not worry though… as there is only one echo serpent in the abyss grid. You will find many other entities, hostile and non-hostile. At the same time you will find many treasures, dilemmas, and insights."
Saryn nodded, allowing Marduk to resume.
"You are allowed to roam the labyrinth freely, as long as you like, there are multiple portals in many places, and you will only stumble upon them by chance, leaving immediately however… is simply equivalent to giving up the rare treasures you may find." Marduk concluded, winking at Saryn.
Saryn scratched his chin, seemingly deep in thought.
"I'm not planning on leaving immediately anyway, anything else?"
Marduk crossed his arms behind his back, matching Saryn's determined gaze.
"You possess the gate key, however… you won't have the sound suppression veil to protect you any longer, the echo serpent cannot see, but in return… its other senses are greatly heightened. Every resource in this endless dungeon is available to you."
"No rules."
"No regulations."
"Just you… and the limits of your own mind, Saryn."
The mirror shattered.
The resonating chorus of broken glass that followed was thankfully dampened by the sound suppression veil.
'That was awfully dramatic.'
Saryn thought as he fiddled with the glowing key in his hand, tossing it up and down.
His eyes narrowed as he squinted at the veil again, deeply interested in its mechanics.
'If I could replicate it, I would barely have to worry about the echo serpent…' Saryn's gaze went blank as he entered yet another spiral of incessant thoughts and wishful fantasies.
He shook his head, returning from his deep daze.
'Gosh… I need to stop blanking out like that.' Saryn heaved a deep sigh, approaching the veil with steady strides, 'Instead, I should get a feel for the veil, maybe then I'll understand a thing or two.'
His left hand extended toward the river of hazy black. His mutant body seemed to reject the veil, begging him not to approach as the lack of echoes starved him.
Saryn's finger entered the veil against his body's wishes, immediately feeling like it entered a dry sandstorm. He could feel what seemed like moisture be sucked out of his finger, leaving it pale and wrinkled.
'What the hell… It's like echoes in my finger are being absorbed by the veil, but at the same time the echoes don't end up in it? Where did they go?' Confusion crossed Saryn's expression, as he pulled his finger back, revitalising it with the energy it lacked.
'I'm not going to figure this out any time soon…' Saryn concluded, calming himself as he walked toward the iron gate, key in hand.
The gate shone eerily, as if inviting him.
Saryn stopped right next to it, activating the storage semblance and retrieving…
A book?
At this time?
'Mister Martin's Secret Weaknesses…' The book was thick and heavy, yet only the first couple of pages were really filled out.
'If I'm really going to explore a maze with a ginormous snake constantly on my tail, I'd be retarded not to map the place out.' Saryn ripped a page out of the book, suddenly realising…
'I don't even have a pen…' He regretted not picking one up in the previous room.
Saryn turned around, before the final flicker of hope in his heart diminished.
'The portal is deactivated as well…?' He dragged a hand down his face, noticing he might actually be stupid, just like the rest of the candidates.
Saryn sighed, much deeper than any of the other sighs he had ever heaved, and he had heaved quite a lot of them thus far.
Murk pulsed sparingly in his hand, as if sighing along.
He crumpled the yellowed blank paper in his hands, tossing it away after storing the book in the dimming semblance on his chest.
Drip.
A droplet of water leaked out the ceiling, landing squarely on Saryn's head.
'Here goes nothing…'
The lock on the gate clicked in approval upon the shining key's entry, allowing the iron bars to swing wide open, welcoming Saryn's entry.