Chapter 255 - Mysterious Reasons

But that wasn't the case for Jack's current predicament.

There was no fight to be had. Even if Jack was ready to put his life on the line for a sliver of a chance to escape, there was no point. He had no one to fight, even if Jack was the one who instigated it. Jack raised his blade against an opponent four times his size, but it was nothing more than a fool's errand.

Facing Jack, the creature didn't seem at all interested in what Jack had to say or do. It just sat there, watching Jack with its cold, blue beady eyes. It took a few more moments for Jack to realize that there was no hostility, but it certainly was weird to have something stare at him like that.

Taking a second to inhale a mouthful of cold air, Jack slowly retracted his weapon from its angled position. He carefully put it back in his inventory, opting not to make any sudden movements.

With steady breaths, Jack managed to recover from his attack stance. While doing so, he also watched how the creature would react. But, much to his surprise, the thing didn't move at all. It didn't even blink at the way Jack moved. It was as if Jack was talking to something that wasn't alive.

Jack, in his confusion, decided to test how far he could take it.

As the whole staring down on him was slightly creepy, Jack wanted to make sure he was safe. So that no harm would come to him, Jack jumped down to the cavern floor below.

He took a few steps forward, naturally still watching how the creature would react. And, as expected, the creature continued to stare at Jack, watching his every move. The creature's head even moved, capturing every movement Jack would make.

Nonetheless, Jack maintained a steady pace as he approached the creature's legs. Or, well, at least that was what Jack thought at first.

When he got closer, though, Jack caught sight of what it was. A sizable chunk of ice where the creature's legs were. It was trapped. Jack couldn't understand why, though, but he knew that it was for a good reason. And, whatever reason that might be, Jack knew better not to find out.

So, Jack stopped and looked back at the creature's face.

He didn't say a word, and neither did the creature. They both just kept quiet and stared off at each other, neither one willing to break the ice. Even though Jack didn't know the whole picture, he was sure that this thing wasn't so kind as it appeared.

That said, the situation panned out exactly as one might think. While Jack didn't bother to stay in one place for long, the creature continued to look down on him.

As much as he liked endlessly staring at the creature, Jack had better things to do. He had to find a way out of here or, at least, a way to keep moving. Something brought him down here, after all, and he intended to find out what.

Jack looked away from the creature and pondered around the cavern. He went through every nook and cranny, making sure he had left no stone unturned.

And, despite his best efforts, there was no way out of here.

After exploring every option, Jack slanted down on the icy cavern wall. He sat on the ground, feeling defeated. Unless he started busting through the wall, there really was no way out of here.

Well, there was still the one glaring option.

"Just...," Jack yelled out in frustration, "Give me a good reason."

At the near end of his wits, Jack couldn't take another second of this mind-numbing silence. There had to be a reason as to why he was here. Otherwise, this whole ordeal was nothing more than a messed-up way of keeping him in this dimension.

'Huh,' Jack thought to himself as he looked up and matched the creature's gaze. 'Is that- no- There's no way that's the reason why it brought me here.'

Finding a second wind, Jack stood up and walked over to the chunk of ice where the creature's leg should be. He stared at the ice for a few seconds. Then, Jack pulled out the [Frozen Teardrop of Mist] and readied his stance. While some foresight would've helped Jack right now, Jack didn't hesitate. Not in this critical moment.

'Time to crack open this egg.'

Jack raised the greatsword up high before striking downwards in one fluid motion. His stance was perfect. The weight he placed on the greatsword to maximize the damage took months to perfect. But, before anything could happen, a fierce wind blew Jack away.

Tumbling backward, Jack mistakenly loosened his grip. Hence, Jack had accidentally dropped his prized weapon. However, that was the least of Jack's concerns right now.

As Jack struggled to stand up, he noticed that a significant pressure forced Jack to stay on the ground. No matter what he did to try and get out of where he was, it didn't work. Jack couldn't move. The tremendous amount of pressure glued him to the ground.

While Jack was feeling preoccupied, the [Frozen Teardrop of Mist] moved on its own. Jack wasn't aware of what was happening around him as the greatsword flew across the cavern, riding along with the gusts of wind.

The greatsword then stopped just before the creature's snow-colored stony abdomen. With the blade's tip pointed directly at the creature's chest, the greatsword then flew forward.

Chink!

On the creature's chest, the greatsword glowed with a dark-blue light. A strange sense of omen came from the sword, but Jack was too preoccupied to notice. The creature, on the other hand, slowly lost its life, as evidenced by its eyes gradually becoming dim.

While this was happening, the pressure Jack felt slowly eased. By some unforeseen circumstances, Jack couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened. It was all too fast. And, as he looked up, he couldn't really understand why his sword was there in the creature's chest either.

All Jack could give right now was a confused expression. But, even that didn't last for very long.

As Jack finally stood back up after all this time, he didn't have a moment's worth of rest. The walls, ceiling, and everything around him started to crumble. The ground even started to shake violently, causing Jack to get away from any incoming debris.

Maneuvering through rocks and falling ice stalactites, Jack kept an eye on the creature and his sword. The creature's eyes grew dimmer by the second, while the [Frozen Teardrop of Mist] had an increasingly evident dark blue hue to it. He continued to see how the scene would unfold, down to the moment when the creature's blue eyes turned to nothing but rock.

Crumble!

As soon as it did, the cavern Jack was in grew more unstable. Jack didn't have the luxury to stay any longer and decidedly ran towards where his greatsword was. He moved through falling rocks and chunks of ice, dodging in every conceivable method.

Jack eventually made his way towards his greatsword. not without difficulty. He pulled it away from the fallen creature's torso, only to find the sword significantly heavier than it normally was.

While Jack managed to get the sword away from the creature's body, Jack could barely lift it. He most certainly wouldn't be able to move around with it, especially in a situation such as the one right now.

That said, Jack wasn't without options.

Acting as a last resort, Jack threw the [Frozen Teardrop of Mist] to his Inventory. But, in doing so, it caused him to gain the [Encumbered] status, effectively slowing him down by some degree.

Nonetheless, it was still much better than the alternative of being caved-in.

So, without sparing another second, Jack looked for an exit. With the cave crumbling and collapsing all around him, Jack needed to find a way out. And without having to look very far, he found one.

Unfortunately for Jack, though, the way out was in a rather inconvenient position. It was farther than he liked. And what's worse was the constant and neverending crumbling rocks, ice, and stalactites that were in his way.

It could not be any more inconvenient than that.

Regardless, though, Jack had to make a break for it. Sitting around and moping wasn't going to do anything for his escape.

Without hesitating, Jack got to moving. With his movements slightly hindered, Jack felt more pressure to escape unscathed. He was going to be in trouble if he slowed down now.

Jack did the best he could, of course, and maneuvered through the obstacles in his way the best his body would allow. With the decrease in his speed and Agility proving things difficult, Jack soon reached the exit.

He got towards the tunnel that led outside of the underground passage. From there, he didn't dare stop and continued moving until he made his way above ground.