Merina's hands were cut and bruised as she frantically tried to move the boulders blocking her path to Asher and Ceti, "Master! Ceti!" She cried out in desperation, her heart in her throat.
Just as a massive rock hurtled towards her, a hand yanked her back, pulling her out of harm's way.
She turned to see Isola's serious face, "We have to move, Merina!" Isola shouted over the cacophony, her usually serene features tight with tension, "They're still alive! Check your map!"
Merina paused, her breath hitching as the realization was like a shock of cold water, clearing her frantic mind.
And so, with a heavy heart, she ran forward with Isola while avoiding the falling rocks.
"We will try to find a way to get back to them!" Isola said to reassure Merina and herself, their hearts pounding and prayers whispering on their lips for the two.
Just a minute ago, just as a huge rock separated Asher and Ceti from the other two,
"Ceti!" Asher's voice was hoarse as he pointed towards a small cavity in the cavern wall, created by the impact of a falling stalactite. He pushed Ceti towards it, "In there, NOW!"
Ceti let him push her into it since there was no other choice.
He barely had time to leap after her as another monolith of stone crashed down where they stood moments ago. The dust rose in a blinding cloud, the echoes of the collision drowning out their voices as the cavern continued its violent metamorphosis around them.
Asher and Ceti found themselves tumbling down a hole into a new, hidden cave system. Their fall was cushioned by a soft layer of glowing moss that cast an ethereal glow on their surroundings.
The cave was a large cavern, its high ceiling adorned with smaller, twinkling stalactites that bathed the room in a soft, wavering light. Three tunnels of varying sizes extended into the unknown, their dark maws like silent invitations to the dangers of the Hollow of Echoes.
With the rumble of the cavern collapse gradually fading behind them, Ceti's first instinct was to check the map in her mind. She drew a deep breath, her sharp eyes scanning the mental grid.
She saw two familiar signatures moving steadily in another part of the cavern system. The relief that washed over her was immense, but she didn't let it show on her face. She could only pray they survive the Cavern Collapse.
"Mother and Isola are okay for now," she relayed to Asher, standing up and dusting off her clothes. She eyed him with a sharp look and added, "We have to regroup with them as soon as possible."
Internally, she wondered at the fates that landed her alone with this pervert consort. As frustrating as the prospect was, she took solace in the fact that her mother was not in her shoes.
At her words, Asher held up a hand, a stern look on his face as he whispered, "Lower your damn voice. Are you trying to let our enemies know we are sitting ducks?"
Ceti clenched her fists but looked away without saying anything, knowing she was wrong. But was it her fault that she was worried about her mother and forgot about the echoes, unlike a certain consort who only cares about himself.
She also realized the burden to protect him was on her alone.
Though his face was unreadable, his mind was echoing what Ceti said first. Being separated from the rest of the group was a situation he didn't fancy. Not even Callisa was with him, and Ceti was the last person among the rest he wanted to depend on.
On the bright side, he still had his Spatial Bag, which contained some food and potions that could last for a couple of days.
Asher regarded the three tunnels before him and pointed towards the leftmost tunnel, his brows furrowed in thought.
A glance at the map and a gut feeling told him that was the quickest route back to their teammates. Ceti simply nodded in agreement. She didn't know anything about these tunnels and so she decided to simply follow him.
If anything goes wrong, it will be on his head.
Their steps were cautious and measured as they ventured into the dim tunnel. The crunch of gravel under their feet was deafening in the otherwise oppressive silence. Echos of their footfalls bounced off the walls, creating an eerie symphony of their own.
Ceti led the way, her senses on high alert for any sign of danger. Asher followed closely behind, his eyes surveying their surroundings with a vigilant gaze.
Ceti used the sharp sense of her nose and ears to pick up any monsters that might be lurking around them.
These monsters were quite weak, yet Asher and Ceti had a silent understanding to not engage them since even killing them had a risk of making enough noise to attract unwanted attention.
Soon they stumbled upon a glowing bed of dark violet crystals - shimmering like a cluster of fallen stars.
A sudden alert rang in their minds,
[ Mini-quest available ]
[ Beware the Resonance Crystals ahead, as their harmony would crescendo into a deafening symphony under the influence of vibrations of life. The louder, the worse. However, a treasure awaits those who tread quietly ]
Ceti, grasping the nature of the message in her own way, gingerly placed her foot on the bed of crystals.
*Hnnnnnnn*
Instantly, the hum intensified as if it had been fed electricity. Before it could reach a screeching peak, Asher yanked her back.
"Are you trying to get us killed?" he hissed, his voice hardly above a whisper, "Didn't you read the quest details?"
A retort formed on Ceti's lips, "How else am I supposed to test whether we could sneak past these things? The quest didn't exactly give a guidebook," She felt he was trying to act cocky again.
Asher shook his head and pointed at the crystals, "Footsteps aren't the issue here. It's our heartbeats. The more excited we get, the louder these...," he gestured at the crystals, "Only the heart can create vibrations in the body of a living being."
The logic of his words left Ceti blinking in surprise.
Her initial scorn was quickly replaced with shame and embarrassment at her previous act.
However, she quickly regained her composure, masking her embarrassment with seriousness, "Then we should take another tunnel. This one's too risky. Even if we do manage to get past and fail this stupid quest, the noise could attract all sorts of unspeakable things. We should try the other tunnel."
Ceti turned to go back the way they had come when Asher stopped her, "You really want us to backtrack and waste another hour, just to potentially encounter the same thing or something worse? Every second we waste increases the risk of getting back to them. Don't you want to see your mother again?" His words dripped with biting sarcasm, yet his eyes held a trace of seriousness.
Ceti whirled around, her eyes flashing with indignation, "Of course…I want to see my mother again," Her tone was hard, and her expression sharp. Inwardly she seethed, surprised at his audacity to ask such a question.
She then asked, after taking a deep breath, "So, since you don't plan to leave, how do you plan to complete this quest?"
Asher raised a brow, "Do you really not know how to muffle your heartbeat?"
A puzzled expression crossed Ceti's face, "You're joking, right? How is that even possible?" Ceti knew there were techniques to lower one's heartbeat, something she had learned to aid her in stalking her enemies and combat.
But muffling them was something unheard of, and even if something like that existed, how could a consort who had stayed in the safety of the kingdom his entire life even know about it?
Asher remembered something he had learned in his past life and something he even practiced to this day, "There is a technique called 'Veil of Silence'. It is practiced to gain a deep understanding of mana in our body but can also be quite helpful in combat and this mini-quest. But it can be dangerous to master, and you must be extra careful since you can risk killing yourself."
Ceti furrowed her brows, hearing this technique for the first time, feeling quite skeptical. Still, having no other choice, she said confidently, "I can deal with it," She felt he was simply making it sound like a big deal, though she didn't ignore the fact that his so-called technique could injure her.
She decided to pull back if it got to that point.
She just wanted to get this over with once he realized how useless all this was.
ƥandasnovel·ƈom Asher began to explain the method, his voice barely above a whisper to avoid activating the crystals, "First, close your eyes and clear your head. Don't worry and spread your senses anymore. If anybody is trying to get to us in a place like this, we would be the first to know."
Ceti did feel he was right about that and let her senses rest as she closed her eyes and sat in a meditative pose.
Asher continued, his voice calm like a pond, "Now focus your mana around your heart, forming a kind of protective aura. This aura will then dampen the vibrations of your heartbeat."
Ceti pulled together her brows as her heartbeat only increased from the strain of trying to focus her mana around her heart.
Seeing her furrowed brows, Asher continued, "Don't be too hard on the flow of your mana. Imagine your mana as a soft, warm blanket. You need to gently wrap it around your heart. At the same time, visualize the blanket absorbing the rhythmic thuds of your heartbeat, preventing the vibrations from spreading."
Ceti listened intently, her chest tightening as she realized the degree of control this technique required. As she began to concentrate, Asher whispered, "Remember, it's not about forcefully suppressing the vibrations, but softly absorbing them. Otherwise, you will achieve the opposite effect."
But as she drew her consciousness inward, focusing solely on her heart, an error slipped through.
The quiet thrumming began to escalate into a deafening roar, her heart pounding so hard it felt as if it might rupture. She could almost feel the sharp, jagged edges of her disrupted mana brushing against the fragile organ.
Her breath began to quicken as she got tensed, not knowing how to get out of this.
"Calm down…"
Suddenly, a pair of rough, large hands enveloped her hands, halting her descent into panic. And the next moment, she felt a foreign mana, like a river of midnight fire, flowing into her through the point of contact, instantly intertwining with her own.
His mana was distinctly different from hers - it was weaker, yes, but was rich, wilder, fiery yet dark, as if a nebula had condensed itself into a raging inferno. Yet, its touch was surprisingly gentle, like a guardian, providing a safe harbor in the chaotic storm.
For a moment, Ceti was entranced by this paradoxical sensation, the blanket of mana around her heart becoming meek and following the rhythm of his mana.
The feeling of another's energy coursing through her system was unusual, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Instead, it felt like a mystical touch and unusually intimate, making her cheeks redder.
She felt like he was touching all over her heart, his energy spreading through every inch of her body. All these strange and sensitive sensations made her body tingle and her lips press together, but she knew he was doing it to help her and didn't reject his mana.
After her initial thoughts died down, she was more surprised at how much control he had over his own mana.
Not even some of the experts she knew were capable of such delicate control, especially in the body of another person.
It was akin to guiding a needle through one's body blindly, hoping it wouldn't pierce anything.
"Now, try it again, and this time don't try to forcibly bend your mana to your will. Treat it gently like a child, and it will listen to you," Asher's voice softly echoed behind her ears, though she was still skeptical if all this was really her fault or if his technique was flawed in the first place.
Still, as Ceti began to follow Asher's instructions, her initial skepticism slowly ebbed away as she was relieved to feel a blanket of mana slowly forming.
As she mentally wrapped the blanket of mana around her heart, she could feel an inexplicable calmness wash over her. The world around her seemed to slow down, and the pulse of the crystals became a distant hum.
She could still feel the beats of her heart, but they seemed muffled, like the sound of a distant drum. Even the vibrations that she thought were inseparable from her heartbeat seemed to have lessened, absorbed by the mana enveloping her heart.
A sense of tranquility descended upon her, unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It was as though she had tapped into an underlying silence within herself, a silence that existed beneath the surface of her constant thoughts and emotions.
In this newfound calm, she felt her senses sharpen. The details of the cavern became clearer, the subtleties of the shimmering crystals more apparent, and the distant sounds within the Hollow of Echoes more discernible. It was as though her entire being had attuned to the rhythm of the environment around her.
She just realized her senses got sharper!
This tranquility also affected her emotionally. She felt a distinct sense of clarity, as if the fog that often clouded her judgment had lifted. And amidst all this, there was also a strange sense of connection, an invisible thread linking her heartbeat to the rhythm of the world around her.
Overwhelmed by the profound effects of the Veil of Silence, she couldn't help but slowly open her eyes and gaze at Asher with newfound respect and curiosity.
She couldn't help but wonder where Asher had learned such a refined and nuanced technique, "Where…Where did you learn this…" She now realized how he was so good in combat. This was probably one of the biggest reasons.
She was also surprised that Asher taught such a powerful technique to her.
Usually, techniques like these belonged to powerful Houses or clans, especially assassins, and they would never teach it to any outsider lest they risk somebody using it against them or letting someone else best them in terms of power and status.
It was no different than guarding a powerful treasure.
And yet, she never expected someone whom she thought didn't like her to teach her something like this.
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