"Douglas? He's a little busy, don't worry about him. He'll be back soon," Fei said casually.
"Is that so?" Saifei'er quickly shifted her attention back to the main tomb chamber itself. She wondered if, given the size of this place, the burial items weren't placed directly in the coffin but elsewhere.
So Saifei'er placed her index and middle fingers on the wall and walked around the perimeter of the main tomb chamber. Just as she reached the inner right corner, the cat ears on her head suddenly twitched, faintly hearing the sound of flowing water.
"Hey~ there's a sound here! Could there be a hidden room?"
"A hidden room?" Hearing this, Ailiya couldn't help but walk over curiously, while Saifei'er pressed her hands against the wall, trying to push a few times, but there was no reaction.
But just as Ailiya came to Saifei'er's side, the ground beneath her feet suddenly loosened. Ailiya froze, instinctively jumping forward, wanting to leave the unstable area. However, when she landed next to Saifei'er, the ground beneath both of their feet instantly gave way.
There was indeed another space near this wall, but it wasn't a hidden room; it was a downward opening, an underground river.
Saifei'er reacted very quickly; she had plenty of time to jump to safety before falling, just as she had done when avoiding traps before. But when she saw Ailiya, who had lost her balance and looked utterly bewildered, she only hesitated for a moment before abandoning the 'avoid' option.
Saifei'er grabbed Ailiya's wrist, and with her other hand, as she also fell, she grabbed the nearby floor. This moment was exactly like a classic scene in some movies, where the protagonist hangs from a cliff edge with one hand, holding their wife, best friend, or someone else with the other.
In short, in the end, it's always because their hand slips and they can't hold on, or the best friend gives up and forcibly pries the protagonist's hand open, followed by a dramatic line before falling to their death.
However, as soon as she began to fall, Saifei'er paid attention to which parts of the edge of the floor looked loose and which looked stable. She deliberately grabbed the stable part. And now, with only one hand for support, she lightly swung her other hand and pulled Ailiya up.
How should I put it? The reason those unavoidable death scenes appear in movies is simply because the protagonists aren't strong enough. In this current situation, even if Ailiya really fell, Saifei'er could use Godspeed to run down and carry her back up.
After Ailiya climbed up, Saifei'er also easily climbed up. Fei rushed to their side, and seeing that they were fine, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. However, he quickly said with a serious expression, "We need to leave quickly; this place seems to be collapsing."
Saifei'er also noticed that one of the four stone pillars supporting this underground hall, located next to the collapsed area, was already covered in dense cracks.
'What kind of shoddy construction is this?' she silently grumbled to herself, and then the three quickly retreated in the direction they had come from.
It's worth mentioning that as they passed the treasure chest Douglas had dropped on the ground, Saifei'er casually picked it up and took it with her.
However, when they returned to the previous T-junction, they found that the way they had come was already collapsed, completely buried by rocks and impassable.
This meant they now had only two choices: either go right at this T-junction and gamble on whether that direction would lead them out, or return to the hall they had just left, jump down the opening, and evacuate along the underground river.
After a brief moment of thought, Fei decisively chose the latter. He said, "Follow me!"
Then, while running, he began to chant a spell, clapping his hands together. An invisible wave spread outwards from him as its center. Saifei'er could see some white phosphorescence appearing out of thin air, floating around them.
Feather Fall, a 1st-level Transmutation spell, can make a person as light as a feather, or it can be understood as setting 'gravitational acceleration' to zero, allowing a person to descend slowly at a constant speed. This way, no matter how high they jump from, they won't be injured by the fall.
After the three returned to the main tomb chamber, the already cracked support pillars groaned under the strain. Fei said, "Let's go, jump down from here!"
As he spoke, he was the first to leap down, followed closely by Ailiya. Saifei'er was the slowest, for a simple reason: she had a slight fear of heights. However, after jumping down and feeling the unusually slow and stable descent, that small bit of fear vanished completely.
The three were like stars falling from the sky, emitting white light as they slowly descended in the completely dark environment.
After Douglas left, Fei had cast a 'Light' spell on his staff, so now it was his staff that was glowing.
During this time, collapsed stones occasionally fell from above, plummeting towards them much faster than their descent, but they were all blocked by Fei's shield.
A semi-circular transparent shield appeared above the three. Only when stones impacted this shield could Saifei'er barely make out its faint outline.
'Magic... how amazing...' It must be said that at this moment, Saifei'er developed a considerable interest in the magic of this world, because... it was truly fascinating.
Many people, when thinking of magic, might first imagine fireballs, ice shards, or wind blades. But in this world, magic isn't just for harming enemies; it has been developed for all sorts of uses, almost becoming synonymous with 'omnipotence.'
During the descent, Ailiya said with some worry, "I wonder what's happening with Douglas..."
Fei said, "Don't worry, that guy has nine lives; he won't die."
Saifei'er, on the other hand, grumbled, "But why do these underground structures, which are usually fine, always collapse precisely when someone is exploring them and about to finish?"
Actually, this matter wasn't so 'coincidental.' Because at the very beginning, all the traps and mechanisms Saifei'er triggered had, in a sense, weakened the stability of this place. Then, during the battle in the main tomb chamber, Ailiya unleashed Holy Strike multiple times.
Not only the undead, but the ground and walls of this main tomb chamber were inherently filled with a large amount of negative energy. After the positive energy emitted by Ailiya's Holy Strike neutralized this negative energy, the entire structure itself became 'brittle,' and this chain reaction ultimately led to the collapse.
Why do underground structures in various stories always collapse after adventurers explore them? It's because the adventurers caused damage to them during their exploration.
After descending for about three or four minutes, the three finally 'landed,' or rather, successfully landed in the river.
"Splash~"
This underground river was much deeper than Saifei'er had imagined. In the blink of an eye, her entire cat-like form completely disappeared into the water. Moreover, the river appeared very calm on the surface, but the undercurrents beneath the water were extremely fast. Saifei'er felt as if a car was pressing against her, constantly pushing her forward.
Even if an ordinary person was an excellent swimmer, in such a situation, it would be a near-death experience.
Without the slightest hesitation, Saifei'er decisively let go, tossing the treasure chest she was holding into the water. Then, relying on her decent swimming skills and extremely excellent physical fitness, she managed to swim back to the surface. The first thing she saw was Ailiya struggling beside her.
As for Fei, he was already close to sinking to the bottom. Saifei'er could see a white light point continuously sinking in the water, which was Fei's staff.
Actually, both of them could swim. Before falling into the water, Fei had even discussed with them to swim towards the left bank and gather quickly. But it was clear that the danger of this river was a bit beyond their expectations.
Saifei'er didn't hesitate. After taking a breath, she plunged back into the water. She quickly swam to Fei's side and, instead of using her hands, wrapped her tail around his wrist. Then she quickly swam to Ailiya's side, wrapping one arm around Ailiya's waist. Holding one person and pulling another, she swam towards the bank.
"Cough, cough~" x3
The moment they got ashore, all three coughed violently at the same time. Ailiya and Fei, needless to say, must have swallowed a lot of water. As for Saifei'er, it was because dragging two burdens made swimming difficult, causing her to swallow a few mouthfuls of water as well.
Fei showed a look of lingering fear, "Cough, cough, almost... almost thought I was going to drown..."
A wizard proficient in protective spells almost being solo-killed by a river was somewhat embarrassing to tell.
In a sense, Douglas not being here was also a good thing. Otherwise, with his heavy full plate armor, he would definitely sink even faster than Fei after falling into the water. What's the difference between that and throwing a large iron ball into the water?
Ailiya, after coughing a few times, smacked her lips and showed a thoughtful expression, "Hmm~ the water in this river... tastes pretty good?"
Saifei'er looked speechless. She took off her hood, twisted her hair, and said, "What do we do next?"
Being completely soaked made her feel very uncomfortable, but it was clear that she didn't have any spare clothes, or even if she did, they would have been completely soaked just now.
The only thing that could barely be considered good news was that Saifei'er's clothes were inherently like a tight-fitting suit, so now that they were soaked and clinging to her body, there was no significant discomfort. It felt similar to when they weren't soaked, except for being a bit cold.
After wringing most of the water out of her hair, Saifei'er began to wring her tail. That being said, she certainly wasn't really twisting it hard, but rather, starting from the base of her tail, she squeezed it with her hand towards the tip, forcing out all the water.
After her tail got wet, it felt like a weight was attached to it, and even natural swaying became much more difficult and awkward. She now somewhat understood why cats hated baths.
"Let's go, we'll follow the direction of the river and try to get out of here first," Fei said.
"Just a moment~" After squeezing the water out of her tail a few times, Saifei'er stood on her left foot, lifted her right leg, and then took off the boot on her right foot.
On her cute little foot, her toes curled up and instinctively rubbed against each other a few times. Saifei'er inverted her boot, and immediately, a large amount of water flowed out onto the ground.
Then she repeated the process, pouring out the water from her left boot, and only then clapped her hands and said, "Let's go~"
The three silently began to travel. Because they had already walked all day, and now had to continue walking at night, Fei looked noticeably more tired. However, Ailiya and Saifei'er showed no signs of fatigue at all.
Saifei'er looked at Fei and couldn't help but silently lament in her heart, 'Is this the physical quality of a wizard in this world?'
Of course, she wasn't belittling him; on the contrary, she was amazed. Her original intention was, 'Even a wizard's physical quality is this good?'
If it were her from her previous life, let alone walking all day, she would probably be close to death after walking for two or three hours.
Then, as Saifei'er was thinking this, Fei chanted a string of incantations, then lightly patted himself, "Expeditious Retreat!"
A 1st-level Transmutation spell, it can make a unit's body lighter, increase their movement speed, and reduce stamina consumption for the duration.
Suddenly, Fei, who had previously been the slowest walker among the three, instantly became the fastest.
Saifei'er was stunned, 'This works too!?'
And so, they walked for an unknown amount of time. Saifei'er felt her clothes were almost dried by her own body heat. Finally, a waterfall appeared before the three of them. However, at this moment, they were inside the waterfall. They had no choice but to brave the waterfall, getting drenched as they forced their way out. Their newly dried clothes immediately became soaked again.
Saifei'er looked up into the distance. The sun had not yet risen above the horizon, but the clouds in the sky reflected a faint glow. This scene was similar to what she usually saw in the morning, which meant they had walked for nearly an entire night, only successfully emerging around four or five in the morning?
"Achoo~!" It was Fei who sneezed. He rubbed his nose. As the one with the weakest constitution among the three, having caught a chill and traveled all night, he seemed to have a bit of a cold. He said, "Let's try to confirm our location first, then quickly return to Stone Pine City."
However, before the three had walked two steps, as Saifei'er was re-squeezing her tail, a Black Knight appeared not far in front of them.
He wore a full suit of black plate armor, a helmet, and held a single-handed sword that was also entirely black. There were still some very fresh bloodstains on his plate armor and sword blade, suggesting a recent battle. This Black Knight's target was likely the lake outside the waterfall.
Of course, at the same time the three discovered the Black Knight, he naturally discovered them as well. The Black Knight slowly stopped, turned, and silently watched them.
...P.S.: The treasure chest was actually a mimic. Its mouth was locked, and if opened, it would bite people. Of course, it's drowned now.