Chapter 185 - The Other Direction

"Where is this place?"

The child asked as soon as both he and Rynold got to the first floor.

"You don't recognize this place? Huh. Unfortunately, neither do I."

Rynold gave a straight-laced answer. He had no reason to lie, after all. Although, to begin with, this place really wasn't all that descriptive.

'It's pretty shit.'

Having entered through a tunnel from outside the house, Rynold saw this place for the first time. And, as he looked around, he didn't dare sugarcoat his thoughts.

It was dark and run-down, much like the other buildings in the area. But, something about this place felt more depressing than the others. There were no windows in the building. Nor was the building in a spot to let natural light through. All in all, it was quite a sad place to live.

"Come on," Rynold spoke casually, "The door should be around here somewhere."

As Rynold looked around the room, there wasn't a single thing worth mentioning there. It was dark, gloomy, and disgusting all around. Rynold couldn't wait to get out of this place. That is if he could find the door.

At first glance, there didn't seem to be anything resembling a door. It was all just walls, although one of the walls was torn down and covered in rubble. Which, in retrospect, could only mean one thing: a cave-in. The building had essentially been swallowed whole.

Rynold hadn't really noticed as the tunnel that led him here took him underground. How deep underground, though, was a mystery even to himself.

'Should I just dig a way out?'

Soon as he thought of it, Rynold immediately dismissed the idea. He wouldn't know how much rubble he would have to dig through in order to get out of this place. And, even then, there was a risk of a cave-in on himself if he did that.

"Let's head back," Rynold told the child as he turned around to face him. To which, the child gave Rynold a nod in response.

Leaving the lackluster area, Rynold felt slightly disorientated. Maybe it was because of the paralysis running its last course in his system, but Rynold was suddenly feeling quite exhausted.

That didn't stop him, though, as he headed down the stairs and into the tunnel. As the two walked down the dark tunnel, Rynold kept looking at the kid to see how he was doing.

And, as it appeared, the kid wasn't quite as scared of the dark as he was of Rynold, which was rather unusual. Rynold hadn't encountered a kid who wasn't terrified of the dark before. Especially in a place with close to no light.

'Huh. That's interesting.'

Rynold himself was able to see in the dark quite well. But, even then, it wasn't flawless. He only got to this point through much practice and Axiom's sonar-like scanners. Axiom was able to tell Rynold what was in his path in real-time.

With that said, though, Rynold was still careful. Careful not to trip over anything in this pitch-black place. But, how come the child wasn't even blinking or squinting his eyes. He was walking like it was bright and sunny out in this dark and empty tunnel.

"There's a ledge there leading to another direction," the kid suddenly stopped and pointed in a direction that Rynold couldn't see.

Taking a second for Axiom to confirm, Rynold soon responded. "Yeah, there is," he answered with arousing suspicion. "Maybe we should stick to this direction. It's the way out."

As soon as Rynold said that, he proceeded to take a step forward in their current direction. But, he soon changed his mind as the kid ran off on his own. He headed towards the very ledge that he had so recently pointed out.

'Shit. This kid.'

Having no other choice, Rynold ran out after him. But, doing so was difficult as Rynold couldn't see as clearly as he did. Rynold couldn't run after him without the risks. He didn't want to be any more injured than he already was.

'Idiot,' he scolded himself, 'Play this smart. He's a kid who can see perfectly in the dark. You can outmaneuver that.'

Commanding Axiom, Rynold decided to run through things in his head before moving. He detected which direction the kid was going and what steps he took to get there. But, Rynold didn't need to follow his steps. No, he had a much more efficient and faster way to catch up.

'Got it.'

Opening his eyes to the same darkened path, Rynold could visualize what he needed to do. All he had to do now was to execute.

'I should've fixed the Miniature Floating Platform before I left.'

Clicking his tongue, Rynold commenced his plan. He first started by shooting his grappling hook to the tunnel roof, embedding it to the stone. Then, using his weight to propel him forward, he swung. Like a monkey using vines in the jungle, Rynold cleared a considerable distance with the first move.

Unfortunately, he couldn't repeat the same thing after the initial swing. With stalactites in the way, it would be hard to grapple with that much uncertainty. Still, Rynold played it smart.

Releasing the hook from the tunnel roof, Rynold was now mid-air and unhindered. Naturally, Rynold wouldn't put himself in such a dangerous position without thinking things through. So, with that, he extended both Mana Gauntlets to Strength-form and reached out.

In one swift motion, Rynold timed it perfectly and aligned his hands to a nearby stalactite. By closing his fist, Rynold embedded his fingers to the stone, securing an anchor.

Now clearing half the distance, Rynold didn't hold onto the stone for too long. Still carrying momentum, Rynold redirected himself to the tunnel wall. He did so by using the stalactite as leverage, throwing himself to where he needed to go.

And, as soon as he let go of the stalactite, Rynold retracted his gauntlets back to Speed-form. Now freefalling once more, Rynold pointed his hand to the wall and used magic.

'Unyielding Twine.'

Small plants appeared where Ryold pointed and made something similar to a platform. It was small, barely the size that would let Rynold stand. Fortunately, Rynold didn't plan to use it for standing.

Raising his left hand once again, Rynold immediately shot his grapple to where the plants had appeared. He planned to use it to scale the wall, using the plants as a swinging point.

Executing what he had planned to near perfection, Rynold landed on the wall feet first. He then squatted to reduce the impact on his knees. Then, he proceeded to run on the wall with the grapple keeping him from falling. It was a bit awkward-looking. But, it did well for its intended purpose.

As Rynold ran on the wall with great speed, he soon reached the end of the line. Quite literally, at that. Without delay, Rynold retracted his grapple and released himself from it. He then jumped almost immediately as he landed at the path the kid headed.

Sliding his feet on the ground as he landed, Rynold waited for the child to catch up to him. The tunnel that led up to this point remained dark. As Rynold stood in wait, he casually surveyed the area.

"Huh."

Letting out a sound of slight surprise, Rynold found something interesting. As he turned to where this tunnel led to, Rynold discovered some light from the other side.

It was odd. Rynold was deep underground. Meaning, there shouldn't be light protruding from within the cave walls. But, with the light right in front of him, there was no denying it.

Rynold pressed his hand against the wall. Through the Mana Gauntlets, he could feel the texture and hardness of the rock. It wouldn't take long for him to break through. It might even take a single punch to do so.

"Hey, don't run off like that again. Who knows what's in here in this cave? You can't be too careful."

As soon as Rynold finished expressing his concern, he couldn't help but feel that he might be overstepping. That's because the kid was half-slime. Physical dangers didn't necessarily apply to him. Whatever risks that might appear, the kid was better off than Rynold could ever be.

"I'm sorry, it's just — there's something. Something behind this wall that's calling me."

"Hmm."

Half-expecting something like this to happen, Rynold could make guesses as to why that was. Instead of wasting time like that, however, Rynold had a much better solution at hand.

Extending his right Mana Gauntlet to Strength-form once again, Rynold swung in a punching motion. A simple strike such as that broke the wall with relative ease, crumbling before their very eyes. In doing so, a revelation occurred.

'Huh. That's unexpected.'

As Rynold expressed a dumbfounded look on his face, the kid walked forward on his own. It appeared that the child was in a daze, drawn to whatever was inside the cave.

Luckily, Rynold soon recovered as he reached out and grabbed the kid by the shoulder. He was still stumped; that much was certain. But Rynold knew better than to let a defenseless child go in on his own. Especially considering what was inside that cave.

'What are you..?'

Grasping the child's shoulder with a firm grip, Rynold initiated [Scan]. However, much to his surprise, the spell failed to return any information on the creature. It was weird.

Weird because Rynold could see the creature's transparent figure. The dazed expression it carried struck Rynold as more instinct than consciousness. It was also looking up to the cave ceiling. And, if that weren't enough, Rynold sensed something off-putting from it.

As he analyzed the creature, Rynold became distracted. He hadn't noticed that the kid was struggling to break free from his grasp. As the child continued, his form suddenly shook. And Rynold's hand felt as if it were touching putty.

'Crap.'

The sudden form change surprised Rynold. His hand had let go of the child's shoulder by accident. To which the kid ran straight to the creature, arms flailing.

Rynold had fully realized what he had done. The creature would devour the child whole without even so much as breaking a sweat. Rynold panicked and pulled True Caliber out from his inventory. He then raised the firearm at the creature and concentrated his Mana.

But, it appeared to be too late. The boy was now within the attacking range of the creature. Rynold's expression filled with dread as he lost his concentration. As a result, the firearm failed to fire a single bullet as Rynold could only watch what conspired next.

However, things were not what they appeared.

As the child continued to run forward, his expression remained unchanged. He wasn't scared or feeling any emotions of that sort. No, his face carried a strange sense of happiness and glee.

The strange things didn't seem to stop there, though, as the creature turned to the child in great surprise. But, contrary to what Rynold expected, it seemed glad to see the child as well. It was strange, Rynold thought, but it appeared the two were in some family reunion.

'What the..?'

Things took a turn for the unexpected as the child threw his arms around the creature in a maddening embrace. As surprised as Rynold was, there really wasn't anything that could explain what was happening. The best he could do right now was to watch the scene unfold.

Soon enough, though, the child released his embrace and proceeded to converse with the transparent creature. Watching from a distance, Rynold couldn't hear what they were saying. Regardless, it appeared that neither one of them carried a hostile intent which, to Rynold, was already a win.

Just as Rynold was about to hide himself in the dark, the child suddenly turned in his direction. From there, he walked to where Rynold was and smiled as he approached.

"Let me introduce you to my mother. She wants to thank you for bringing me back here safely."