Essence of Light

His eyes darted frantically between the woman, the door behind her, and the wall behind him.

'No- no. Th- This doesn't make any sense.'

Mathew stared for a few moments, trying to collect his thoughts. He clearly remembered running through the wall. Did he somehow get teleported to this place? No. He remembered the beast slamming its body against the wall and trying to reach him, if he really was teleported, the chances of him being moved somewhere he could still hear that sound from, and so clearly at that, were slim.

'I came through the wall. It was right there.'

His eyes suddenly widened and he hurriedly summoned the runes found the cluster describing his relics.

[Relics: Lantern of avarice.]

Mathew breathed a sigh of relief.

'Phew! I thought I hallucinated all that for a second.' He thought as he dismissed the runes.

So it wasn't a hallucination and he wasn't teleported to some strange location. Then what in the world could have happened? His thoughts were suddenly drawn to the feeling he had when he looked at the wall. Concentrating on it, he concluded that although they were similar, they had a contrasting difference from what he felt when he found the Gila scavenger's embryo.

This feeling was devoid of the presence he felt at that time. But it was still similar. Something external pulled his attention there.

'What the hell is happening to me?'

After pondering for a while, he had come u with a few ideas, but that wasn't important. Not right now at least. Brushing those thoughts to the side, he analyzed his surroundings. The walls, floor, and roof looked exactly the same as any of the other paths he had explored in this unending cobblestone maze, but the gems producing light here were, different. 

The further down the paths he went, the dimmer they became. Eventually, he couldn't see what lay at the end. It was as if something was swallowing the light.

Mathew was baffled, and rightly so. As far as he was concerned, these gems were an eternal light source. For the many, many hours he traveled through this maze, he had never once come across a single dimming gem.

He turned to the woman with a curious expression, then asked.

"Hey princess, where the hell are we?"

The woman gave him a dark scowl, then said.

'Where does it look like a pervert? It's the same damn maze we've been in for about three days.'

Mathew's brows rose in shock. Days? He had lost count of the hours that flew by but thought maybe it had been twelve hours at most. Hearing he had been trapped and starved in this place for days sent a shiver down his spine. If he didn't find his way out of this place, and soon, either he starved to death, or that massive bastard from earlier would find him, and...

He didn't have time to think of that.

The woman looked at his state and asked what he had been doing in the maze for the past three days. Wanting to explain what had happened, he opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself. She would probably consider his sanity if he told her what had happened.

Sure they had come across a giant monster, but a creature on the scale of what he saw was nothing short of ridiculous. In fact, now that he thought of it, how did such a beast come to exist in this place? If they really were in some sort of maze, How did such a large creature form a nest inside without actually destroying the damn place?

Mathew could only come up with one possibility.

If this place was truly a maze carved inside a mountain like he thought when he saw the chasm, maybe he had found his way to its outer edges in those three days. If that were the case, the beast's nest being where it was would make sense. But then another thought crept into his mind. If he had traveled for three days through the maze only to find its outer wall, how massive was this maze?

As numerous grim thoughts spiraled in his mind, Matthew pondered for a few moments, sighed, and then thought.

'I need to hurry and finish this damned trial!'

As he stood there struggling to make a plan to complete his trial, the woman watched. Her expression had gone from one of rage to one of uncertainty. And now, she just looked dumbfounded by his actions.

As far as she was concerned, every word he was spewing, was absolute nonsense.

Thinking about everything he could do, the young cynic summoned the runes that described the relic he had so luckily obtained.

[Lantern of avarice: a lantern infused with unknown's power which once powered the unknown and illuminated the unknown to chase away the unknown from the unknown The light it produces can be seen for miles.]

[Enchantments: Eternal light, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown.]

Of course, there was nothing different in the description. Looking below, he read the set of runes describing the enchantments.

[Enchantment Description: Eternal Light(Passive): The Lantern of avarice is a legendary artifact once wielded by unknown, radiating a brilliant, unyielding glow that can illuminate even the darkest corners of existence. Infused with the essence of souls, this magical item not only dispels shadows but also imbues the surrounding area with warmth and vitality.]

'There this damn codex goes with the question marks again. And who the hell is this unknown that keeps popping up?'

Unsure of what to make of the enchantment he continued reading.

[As long as this beautiful relic receives a steady flow of soul essence, the Eternal Light burns brightly, serving as a beacon for those lost in the grip of despair. Its light is said to hold the power to guide the worthy and protect against the encroaching darkness.]

After he finished reading through the description, Mathew's gaze was instantly drawn to the increasingly darkening path ahead, then back to the runes. Then, a wide grin appeared on his face.

Then, dismissing the runes, he summoned the lantern. In one of his hands streams of beautiful white light appeared and coalesced, molding into a cohesive shape till it formed the lantern. What he saw, defied his imagination.

The lantern had an intricate, and beautifully woven lattice design, between it, was a gemstone the size of a fist that remained suspended despite having nothing to prop or hand it. In his palm was a metal bar attached to a chain that suspended the entire thing in the air.

The Beautiful woman flinched. Absolutely stunned by the sudden appearance of the relic.

"Where... Where did that come from?"