Simo

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Right before my eyes, the forest trees grew sparse as a large area cleared out in the middle revealing a deep dark chasm that appeared as If It was sucking the light surrounding it. The pit was completely dark giving off an eerie feeling, It unconsciously made my scales tingle the more I looked at It.

I turned my head to glance at Sidus who had a strangely excited expression on his face as we faced the deep hole. 'His affinity is darkness, so I suppose that explains why he would be comfortable in places like these, still for me it's just creepy...' I inwardly lampooned as we both landed at the edge of the rift.

The area surrounding it was frighteningly quiet, even the mana seemed to be in a restless state. The strangeness of the situation just further served to make me keep my guard up at all times as I studied our surroundings first.

Using my spirit vision first, I was able to confirm that most of the elements appeared as if they were purposely steering clear of the area around the crevice, almost as If they were avoiding something. The only element that prevailed was the dark almost sinister one.

This further served to make me feel more uncomfortable, just as I was about to say something, I was suddenly faced with Sidus's expectant gaze as he waited for my instruction. 'Fuck...' I inwardly grumbled as I started to regret agreeing to this, still, I tried to remain calm as my face did not betray my inner thoughts.

"Let's go, but remember If I say we retreat, then we retreat," Seeing the deep crevice in person gave me a bad feeling, and I couldn't help but remind him again, to which Sidus didn't seem to mind too much as he nodded solemnly to indicate his understanding.

Slowly we made our way towards the edge of the chasm, I gradually pulled closer and glanced downwards as a rush of cold air brushed against my scales causing a tingle in my spine. What faced me was absolute darkness preventing me from peering deep inside.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and activated my spirit vision, the scenery changed accordingly as countless black shadows swam in the darkness. Such a chilling spectacle would have been alarming had I not been sure that the shadows were nothing but the manifestation of the dark mana.

I curiously glanced at Sidus, his body seemed to almost merge with the darkness as a small contented smile hung on his face. The surrounding mana seemed to be attracted towards him as well. Bringing my attention back to the deep pit, I steeled my resolve and swiftly jumped downwards.

Sidus did not say a word and silently followed behind. My heart thumped loudly in my chest as the feeling of weightlessness accompanied by the eerie atmosphere of the chasm caused me to be nervous. Thankfully, the fall was not too deep as after a couple of seconds, I flapped my wings to slow my descent as the ground came to view.

With my vision, which had long since adjusted to the darkness, I carefully studied our surroundings. Although Sidus had already taken care of the monsters in the area, one could never be too careful. His figure silently appeared by my side, as If he had just materialized out of the thin air.

'En, he holds an absolute advantage in places like these with his mana affinity,' I inwardly nodded in thought before speaking.

"Lead the way," I said.

Since he was the most familiar with the layout of this place, coupled with the fact that I was feeling quite uncomfortable, I instinctively wished to end the mission as fast as possible to go back. The atmosphere in the chams just rubbed me off.

Usually, I should not have any problems with dark places, especially when considering that our cave was not so bright in certain areas. Still, the place here was different. Just as I was thinking about that, another breeze of cold air brushed against my scales, as my eyes kept darting around ready for anything.

Under Sidus's guide, we continued delving deeper inside the dark abyss, the heavy feeling in my chest just kept growing with each step, yet in contrast, Sidus appeared like a fish in the water, he seemed to be the most at ease in this place.

The cave walls were surprisingly large, easily so for me to walk around comfortably without having to bend my head downwards, this just made me more curious about the circumstances behind such a large underground cave. Yet I did not drop my guard, quite the opposite, I was more nervous than ever, yet tried my best not to show it.

'Sidus brought me here for support, but when It actually comes to It, who would support who?' I inwardly lampooned, trying to ease my nerves as we steadily approached the area where the monster was situated at.

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly, we did not encounter any monster or any sort of resistance along the way. It did not take long before the cave passage seemed to extend from all sides as an abnormally large door appeared before our eyes.

The door was an ancient brown colored one, It appeared to belong to an era long forgotten, with all sorts of strange ruins carved into It, strange letters were etched at the very bottom and very top of the door. Once I tried to focus on them, my mind turned heavy as If I encountered something incomprehensible.

I soon found myself getting dizzy as I was forced to look away from the strange letters. I subconsciously turned to look at Sidus only to pause as my breathing hastened. His expression was one full of fear, his eyes seemed to be glued to the letters I was looking at, It was almost as If he was in a trance.

Instantly, I figured that something was wrong as I hastily used my hands to yank his head away forcing him to face me instead. Sidus's eyes were dazed for a second before they seemed to regain their clarity. His body visibly started to shudder as his voice came out as nothing but a whisper.

“This door was not here last time,”

Hearing that, a shiver ran down my spine as I forced myself from turning around to face the ancient door once more. I took a deep breath and whispered back, the uneasy feeling in my heart growing by the second.

“Are you sure we didn’t go the wrong way?” I asked, though inwardly I was already aware of the answer, ever since we stepped inside the underground cave, we had only been following one path without any turns.

Sidus hastily shook his head and was about to say something when a loud screening noise stopped him, making his body freeze, as I subconsciously held my breath.

The door was opening.