Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 14
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Author: Blue_Rat
ch14
Kazuki climbed the rubber rope until he came upon the spike. The rope was tough and could take resting on top of the spike without being cut to ribbons but Kazuki was different. His flesh and bones could handle many a thing but the sharp sides of the spike he could not.
Just touching the spike and it could easily pierce his skin. Were he to rest his weight upon it, he would sever a limb or impale himself. Kazuki climbed back down to the ground and thought for a moment.
(I could gather a shit ton of these rocks and possibly fashion myself a suit of rubber-like armor and then try and climb out. If the rope can already handle it, then why not armor made from it.)
Kazuki examined the rubber rope in his hands.
(This rope is no longer than 15 feet long yet it took me days to make. To make an entire suit of armor, that won’t work.)
In order to make an entire set of armor, the time required would eek on into months and that was if Kazuki was able to find enough materials. The rocks that could become rubber-like were not very abundant and Kazuki found that for every regular rock that could be made rubber-like, there were 10 times that of regular useless rocks.
The supply was not high and if Kazuki wanted more he would have to go further and further away from his base if he wanted to find more. That in itself though was not a guarantee. He could go out and explore to try and find those special rocks and wind up finding nothing at all. There was no proper way to judge the rocks from a distance and required a hands-on inspection.
(If I can’t simply make armor, what about the acid?)
Kazuki thought about the rocks that were melted down to nothing and became piles of mud.
(Maybe I can use it to melt away the sharp edges and dull them. With enough acid I could make the spikes smooth and make a tiny platform, taking away the cutting edge. As for the size of the platform, it wouldn’t even need to be big at all. I would simply need enough space for half of my foot, maybe even less than that. With only that much, the length of my rope would not be a burden, as I could jump to spikes further up before I loop them with my rope. The time I could save by jumping as high as I can and catching a spike with my rope, climbing up, making a platform on said spike, and then jumping to another spike, I could get out of here within weeks.)
Kazuki grabbed the black bottle at his waist and swirled it around, carefully listening to its contents inside.
(Still half full.)
*clack tak tak*
Kazuki froze in place as he heard something in the distance.
(Could it be!?)
Kazuki’s heart began to beat wildly and he had to quickly circulate his ki to suppress his beating heart until it slowed to a crawl. Ki was already in his ears at this moment and he grabbed a rock from his pocket and tossed it out into the distance towards where the first sounds had come from.
*Tak*
The rock struck the ground and the resounding echo came back to Kazuki and a flash of an image appeared in his mind.
(Nothing, thank god.)
Kazuki began to calm down but a lingering fear gripped him.
Ever since that large monster had caught a whiff of him and followed him back to the area near his base, it had returned every few days. Kazuki even at his most careful had still attracted such unwanted attention and now he had a deadly admirer of sorts. This creature did the same thing every few days. It would fly silently overhead before swooping down to land. As soon as Kazuki heard it in the sky, he would immediately freeze on the spot and listen carefully like a spring rabbit. If he heard something, Kazuki would race back to his hole and seal it shut, he’d then cover his entire body with Azirian blood before the creature even landed and he’d wait patiently for it to leave.
It would land with a heavy bang each time and Kazuki could always hear it sniffing with its large nostrils. After a while, it would eventually leave but the waiting process was always taxing on the mind.
This was how things went and it seemed to be a pattern. Even though Kazuki knew that and this wasn’t one of those days, he was still on edge and the tiniest sound would alert him.
He didn’t want to be in such a heightened state of alarm but it was the only way to avoid such a creature. Kazuki listened to his surroundings but found nothing nearby. No flapping wings in the sky above, no change in the flow of air, and no other sounds or smells.
(I’m losing it. That thing hasn’t shown up today. Relax Kazuki. I just need to keep my wits about me and keep alert. I will get out of this situation only if I don’t fuck up and I keep moving forward.)
Reassuring himself and not sensing any threats, Kazuki went back to what he was doing. Kazuki took out his makeshift water bottle and poured a small amount on a spike that was at waist level.
…
The acidic water rolled flowed off the spike and splashed onto the ground below.
*Tshhh*
A small hole formed on the ground as the acid started to eat through it.
(Seriously.)
Kazuki overturned the entire bottle and poured it all on the spike but the same thing happened. The acid fell to the ground with a few splashes and started melting a fist-sized hole in the ground.
*Tshhh tsss tshhhhhh*
Disappointed was the understatement of the year.
(Even using all of it and nothing. What the fuck are these stupid spikes made of!? Even the wall is just as tough. How can…)
Kazuki’s thoughts froze as his ears twitched to a tiny fizzle.
*t..s…ss*
Kazuki examined the spike in front of him using his ki. On the surface of the spike, no bigger than the size of someone’s fingernail, a small portion of the spike melted away. Even though Kazuki couldn’t see in this darkness, his eyes widened in shock.
He examined the spike again and again with his ki in wonder. He looked it over from every angle to try and find out why this part and this part alone had melted. To his luck, he found a tiny crack in the spike.
(So this is the reason.)
Kazuki turned and raced back to his base and gathered more acid from the puddle inside and came running back.
He found the exact same spike and the small crack on its surface. Taking the bottle, he poured only a few drops into the crack hoping his thoughts were correct.
Not even a second later a small fizzle caught his ear.
*t..s..sss*
(So it’s really like that. The outside of these spikes is incredibly tough, tougher than even the hardest of steel, and is even beyond titanium but the inside isn’t. Granted it’s still incredibly tough and the acid barely does anything but the inside is clearly less resistant. Once the acid is inside, it’s capable of damaging under the surface and it actually affects the surface. I can use this.)
Kazuki poured more acid into the crack and it expanded more and more and the surface of the spike began to dull more and more until finally, a small spot was flat. It was no bigger than 3 fingers width but it was completely flat. Kazuki cautiously pressed down on that spot with a finger and to his delight, he wasn’t cut. Pressing down harder and harder, Kazuki eventually rested his entire body weight and lifted himself off of the ground.
A large grin stretched across his face as he started to do pushups upside down with that one finger. Flipping off of it he landed perfectly and checked out his finger.
(Not a single cut or even a drop of blood! This acid, as long as there’s a crack or hole in the spike, this acid can do the job. The question now is whether or not this spike is a lucky and rare find or if there are more spikes with flaws in them.)
Kazuki quickly began inspecting the spikes rather closely. in his immediate vicinity, to his dismay, there wasn’t a single one.
(This can’t be the case. For not even a single other spikes at ground level to have any more flaws in them, how can this be. There must be some, somewhere, I have to be absolutely sure before this avenue is closed.)
Kazuki looked up at the cliff wall in front of him. Holding the rope in his hand, he performed a half squat. Filling his legs with ki, he jumped as high as he could.
*Fwhoosh*
The air raced past his ears as he ascended nearly 40 feet into the air. Throwing the rope, he caught a nearby spike.
He could sense exactly how high he had jumped just now and was rather disappointed. Usually, he could clear more than 200 feet with ease but due to all of the dark energy inside of his body and this nasty atmosphere, it was weakening him greatly. Even just being down here, and breathing in this dark air, caused his body to feel heavier than normal.
Climbing up his rope, he stopped just underneath a spike and examined it. His dower mood turned 180 as he found two tiny cracks on this spike. Stretching his ki outward, he found another spike 7 feet away that also had a few cracks. A few feet further and he found another spike with a single crack in it.
A new path slowly began to open up before him.
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