All of Arthur’s senses were engulfed in a cold darkness. He couldn’t even find the moment to look around as the large waterfall dragged him into the abyss of this hole. He didn’t think it was going to be that dark and deep.
Arthur’s wide eyes took in the sight of this endless abyss, and it immediately made him feel a deep sense of suffocation unlike anything else before that. Even the darkness of the frozen lake couldn’t compare to this sight.
Nothing about it was calm or quiet. It was chaotic, moving in ways Arthur couldn’t comprehend. He felt as if something was shaking and moaning in the depths of it, but there was nothing down there.
He fell through the darkness; his sheet of ice disappeared somewhere when he didn’t look. Now, it was his small body falling through the darkness at a horrifying speed. The sound of the wind whistled in his ears before it eventually quietened, and all he could hear was his breathing.
He fell, and fell, and fell, till he thought he had disappeared from existence and was simply moving through the nothingness of the void.
“Where the hell am I going?!!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs, only for his voice to disappear into the abyss with no echo.
‘Calm down, Arthur. I need to first find a way to stop my fall!’ He sucked in a deep breath as he twisted his body around and looked up. He had fallen so much that he couldn’t see the surface anymore. His momentum was so high that he couldn’t even know how fast he was falling.
Looking at the walls around him, they were shockingly smooth with no protrusions or dents for him to use to stop his fall. The water around him was also hindering his movement greatly.
“… L-Let me try this!” He gulped as he pulled Elemental Oblivion out. The sword illuminated the darkness around him, and its cold aura immediately spread everywhere. However, Arthur didn’t activate his ability and instead channeled his mana through it before lunging it into the wall near him.
*BANG*
The sword made a loud sound as it stabbed the wall. But it didn’t penetrate the sturdy rock, making Arthur frown. He tried again and then once more, and yet the sword couldn’t get lodged into the wall.
“What the hell is this wall made of? Fortified Diamonds?!” He growled with a frustrated look on his face. Even this idea didn’t work out.
“Hmm…” So, he stored his sword and sat there, in mid-air, thinking about what to do. “Well, there are one of two options available here. I will either keep falling forever. Or there is a bottom to this, and both sound equally horrible. AGH!!! Godammit!!”
Arthur was trying not to look down, not to feel the same fear he had experienced a moment ago. He was avoiding that darkness like the plague.
‘This place is so weird… It doesn’t even feel real.’ He thought to himself. ‘The darkness is almost blinding.’
Arthur had been in extremely dark environments before, and yet nothing gave him this primal fear as much as this abyss. It was in a completely different realm of its own.
“Well, I guess we can only wait and see. I don’t know if I’m going to fall and turn into meatpaste or not. But, if I end up surviving, then I will be grateful.”
With that, time slowly passed for Arthur as his descent into the abyss continued seemingly endlessly.
Arthur didn’t know what he was supposed to do to kill time while he was falling in that endless abyss, but he decided to simply stare at his surroundings. There was nothing but darkness to look at, so he started drawing shapes with his hand.
“I just remembered how horrible I am at drawing. It’s almost funny how I have no artistic sense at all.” He laughed. ‘I have never gotten more than 20/100 in art class. Good old days.’
“*Yawn* It has been almost 20 minutes of non-stop falling. When does this hole end? Am I piercing through the crust of this world?”
Arthur didn’t know if he was even falling through the world or if it was another illusion, but he was certain that it was a very abnormal phenomenon.
‘Wait, let me check that skill I just got.’
Opening his menu, Arthur tapped on the newest notification and opened the newly received skill.
[Ding!]
[The Hunter’s Mind: Increases mental resistance against all mental attacks by 40%. Doesn’t require mana to activate.]
“Ooo, a mental resistance skill? Well, that’s actually quite nice. I didn’t have such a thing in my arsenal before. It would be really useful.” Arthur nodded his head. “But, the fact I received it now meant that… I was definitely under a constant mental attack that entire time. Scary…”
The terrifying part about the river and the monsters lurking in it is that Arthur couldn’t truly sense when he was in danger. It was a gradual shift that ignored his senses and did whatever it wished.
It was like moving through a trap without knowing it, you wouldn’t feel it until it clasps your leg and you’re in trouble.
“Hm? What’s that?”
As Arthur was like that, he suddenly noticed something really odd that made him turn around and face the abyss for the very first time in a while. The darkness welcomed him with its hideous arms, trying to steal his mind and soul.
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However, Arthur ignored all of that as he saw a glimpse of light in that sea of nothingness. A glimpse that grew very quickly in his vision. It was a small white dot at first, but then it quickly turned into a large area of pure white.
‘I’m heading straight to it…’ Arthur put his hand against his eyes, feeling the light grow immensely bright. Then, before he even realized it, he was completely swallowed.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!