Tunnel Route

Unfortunately, the door had a mind of its own as Bryan flew right into the room and smashed his head into the stone table's leg. I winced as I heard the sound of the Slayer's head nearly breaking.

"I'm sorry? Are you alright there?" I asked, concerned about Bryan's poor head.

I couldn't see the poor guy, but a pale hand shot up into the air, holding on to the letters for the case. I grasped those letters and laid them out on the table.

"I'm fine! But I wished I would have remembered that the Old Chapel opens its doors automatically..." complained Bryan, rubbing the bump on his forehead.

"Right! I was saying that even if we can't get through the area by the forest or the Domain itself, we can go by the tunnels! I know the cave system of all the Five Domains, so that I can be your guide for it. I know it like the back of my hand since I used to live in those areas."

"Ah, but it might be unpleasant for you, Lady Elizabeth," explained Bryan.

"Are those the cave systems like the ones we entered when we broke the surface ground during our fight?" I asked, recalling our duel.

I remembered that the underground space was massive and not done by natural causes.

"Yes, that's the one. Well, at least, one of the many tunnels across the Domains," replied the Slayer.

Hmm... Vania, do you have a map of the whole cave system Bryan is talking about? If so, please pull it out for me to have a closer look.

"Notice. The Underground Cave System has been recorded in my archives and downloaded to your interface. The tunnels are all color-coded so feel free to see which route suits you the best," explained Vania as a very colorful map popped up in my vision.

Vania, can you transfer the Underground Cave Map to the Map Crystal via my palm?

"Transferring Cave Map to Map Crystal..." replied Vania.

Mavislin stared at my right palm, glowing brilliantly in a white hue. I placed the glowing palm gently onto the Map Crystal. My palm created a ripple effect upon contact, and the Underground Cave Map appeared on the Crystal. Unfortunately, that Map did not have a proper background.

Only the color-coded lines are visible. This aspect made it easier for me as I adjusted the image to be overlapping with the Five Domains. Impressive, these tunnels are interconnected to every Domain, even passing through areas where it should have water. But, hang on, don't tell me...

I double-tapped on the screen. I was blown away as a holographic image leaped out from the flat screen and beamed upwards. Several layers appeared on top of each other with an inch of space between them. I'd never seen such an advanced technology other than in science-fiction shows.

I was duly impressed as I gleefully played around with the layers. It could even detect my hand movements! Like I was grabbing a physical object and enlarging an image. All in midair!

"I'm glad to see that you enjoy playing the Map Crystal I've created, but please do keep in mind we need to do a Major Mission," said Z, spoiling my fun.

I pouted as I scrolled and grabbed the particular tunnel, which was in purple. This specific tunnel directly links the Campania to the Briton Domain. I wanted to use that route, but my gut tells me that it would have been what the enemy intended for us to go through.

I needed to go from another area, somewhere the Mage wouldn't predict we would come from. I then scrolled to a very odd tunnel that only ran underneath the body of water between Teuton and Briton.

Bingo, we can come from there since there would be a weather warning in that area, and the enemy wouldn't expect us to go from a place that's entirely out of the way of the Campania. However, traveling from our area to the Teuton Domain would take days.

And by that time, we would be meeting with that storm Mavislin spoke about. The tunnel entrance was directly underneath the West Coast of the Domain to face that storm. I felt uneasy about this route, but it's the best one I've got.

"Lady Elizabeth, do you have a definitive route you'd like to go through? We do not mind your answer so long as you've got a good backup reason," asked Mavislin, nodding confidently at me.

"Yes, but it has some risks. Instead of going through the Campania directly to Briton underneath the Urnsfield Domain, I propose we head to the Teuton Domain first and enter from the tunnel at the West Coast area. From our point here to Teuton, we won't be using the tunnels."