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Return of the Fallen Volume 6 Chapter 9

Author: Blue_Rat

ch9

*Drip drip drip*

Kazuki’s eyes slowly fluttered open to the sound of dripping water. He could see nothing in this darkness but that no longer was as depressing as before. Kazuki could barely sit up in such a cramped space but sitting in this hole in the ground, Kazuki was feeling multitudes better. His torn flesh and muscles had been rejuvenated and repaired and his broken bones were now fully set and fused. His collapsed lung was once again hole and not even scar tissue remained.

Making a fist, he squeezed it a few times and nodded in satisfaction. He still did not have his full strength seeing as his body was still filled with an overwhelming amount of dark energy but now that he was healed it only held him back so much. His body may be heavier because of it but he figured as long as he was careful, he could make up his lack of speed and strength with caution and technique.

(My body’s finally healed all the way now. With Danny’s advice, I also have goals in mind as well. I should explore along the wall and try and find an escape route. To travel outside though is incredibly dangerous and I shouldn’t wonder around for too long. A few hours a day out one way and then a few hours back. I should always leave ample time to get back here for shelter, I should never rest outside of this hole. I should move about like a shadow and avoid making too much noise. Danny also suggested getting better with the aura coming from my compass and I should look for other options. First things first.)

Kazuki flashed an ancient hand symbol, followed by another and another before he called out.

“Flame.”

…

…

Nothing happened not even a spark.

(Strange. This place can interfere to this degree. It’s as if no fire element exists at all down here. Kazuki then changed his hand sings.)

“Orb of light.”

…

Again nothing. Kazuki couldn’t even feel outside energy building up. There was no reaction at all.

(Is there really no elements down here? No, there is clearly an overabundance of dark element, maybe.)

Kazuki’s hand signals changed once more and this time he felt a small semblance of energy gathering.

“Orb of darkness.”

Something started to gather above his hand. A small wisp of dark energy began to form but before it was even a speck, it fell apart like a tower of dry sand stacked atop itself.

Kazuki’s eyes widened.

The tiny fragment of magic was almost unnoticeable and left no trace after it dissipated but Kazuki’s keen senses had clearly detected it.

(It was right there in my hand. I definitely felt it. For it to be so small and disappear right away though, I don’t get it. This place is clearly full of dark element but it’s like all of the energy is weighed down or something. Just when it seemed like it was going to work it was like it was pulled away from me.)

After thinking for a while, an idea sprang to mind.

Kazuki knew he was surrounded by dark element but he couldn’t feel it properly but the point was it was definitely there. He extended some of his ki outwardly and created a bubble of it around both of his hands. The bubble surrounded both of his hands entirely and was around the size of a large basket. His fingers bent and cracked as he used the ancient hand signs. He still couldn’t feel dark energy but this time around when he called out.

“Orb of darkness.”

Something changed.

A tiny wisp of energy circled and swirled above the palms of his hands and a small seed size orb of darkness formed. It held its form true and floated above Kazuki’s hands. He could barely sense it and the only reason he did was that the small orb moved about aimlessly above his palms and bumped into the inside of his bubble of ki.

Wanting to test out a theory he removed the little barrier around his hands and tried to move the little orb. However, once he removed his barrier he could no longer detect the small orb and he actually lost it inside his cave. With no way of seeing it and no way of feeling it except with his ki, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack and it became useless.

Kazuki shook his head in disappointment.

(For me to actually lose it like a sock, how stupid. The way it works, it’s not worth it to use in battle. I can’t seem to gather enough of it to create a large attack and even if I could it can only be done inside a barrier of ki I make. Not only that, I don’t even know if it dissipates after I lower my barrier or if it just floats away uselessly.)

Kazuki sighed inwardly before he decided to move on.

He tried using the other elements with the ancient hand signs just in case he overlooked something but in the end, none heeded him. Down here, it seemed only dark element could be used but the way it could be used was worth less than a fart in this place.

With nothing really being achieved, Kazuki decided to try exploring alongside the wall. Before he decided to leave his little hobbit-hole, he first enhanced his hearing by using ki on his ears. His hearing amplified greatly and he could hear a pin drop miles away if one were to fall.

In the distance, Kazuki picked up the sound of many things. The roars and battles of magical beast were faint indicating they were a few hundred miles away. Closer to that, Kazuki could hear things running around within a few miles of him but they sounded much smaller. Climbing out fo the hole, he placed an ear to the ground and felt the vibrations. A whole new world opened up before him and he could tell by the feedback the weight of said creatures or at least a proximation.

Going off of that he found the size of most of these creatures to be small. That didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous but they should at least be a lot less dangerous to bigger creatures. With that in mind, Kazuki listened for a while and found that he was surrounded by small creatures. All of them were around the size of those clackers give or take a size or two. Besides that though, all of the bigger creatures were mostly spread apart far and wide. As long as Kazuki didn’t stir up trouble, he felt he would be able to explore without harassment as long as he kept quiet and to the wall.

Making his way to the side of the wall, Kazuki checked his surroundings one final time before he slowly started to walk along the wall. He had thought about traveling away from the wall but if he moved too far away from it and somehow became lost, it would be like finding oneself in the middle of the ocean. You could look in every direction, travel for miles and miles, and completely miss land. Kazuki couldn’t afford to take such risks and kept to the wall.

Every now and again he would grab a rock from the ground as he was passing by and throw it a few hundred feet away. As it hit off of something, Kazuki could pick up the vibrations bouncing back into his ear and an image would form in his head. He got this idea from the clackers. When they rubbed the hairs on their legs together and it made a weird clicking and clacking sound, the large cone-shaped ear on their back would pick up the sound and it would show them the way. Kazuki theorized it was similar to echolocation and he copied it. Except for Kazuki’s way actually gave him a visualization of what was around him.

There was no color to this visualization and appeared like a still image in his head or a small quick flash of the area. It was like catching a single moment in time and feeding the information back to Kazuki.

Once he tried it and the results were good, he used it again and again and his speed went up considerably. He went from walking to a light jog. The increase in speed was barely a step up but such an improvement under these circumstances was greatly welcomed.

Every now and again, Kazuki would come across those Clackers as well as a few other weird shaped creatures but he found that as long as he didn’t get too close and kept his footwork silent, he could avoid them well enough. Sometimes, even with his most careful movement, he would still create enough noise to attract their attention. In those cases, Kazuki would stop dead in his tracks and take a handful of rocks and shotgun them a few hundred feet away. When the rocks hit something in the distance, it would change the Clakcer’s focus and they would immediately change direction, and using their many legs they would jump towards the noise, giving Kazuki time to escape.

Traveling like this, Kazuki jogged for miles and miles until he came across something unexpected.

The wall in front of him…ended.