Chapter 181: You Will Rise Or You Die

Elias’s training was supposed to start two days from now, but it seemed that the Commander was aware that he did not need all of that time and wanted to start his training immediately.

Training… This word had a power that sent thrills through his spine. The Commander had promised it would begin in earnest, and Elias had learned enough about his master to know that her version of “earnest” would push him to limits he had not yet imagined.

He dressed in the clothes Lyssa had made, it was the second set, which he deemed the practical set, a dark grey tunic and charcoal trousers, the leather vest with its hidden pockets. His hat sat on the desk beside Chen’s box and the pouch of Gold Marks. He left them both. He would not need money where he was going, and the hat would only be in the way.

Elias instantly fell in love with this practical set because it combined stealth and strength, and he could see himself wearing heavy armor above it, and it would serve as well as any gambeson.

Before he left, he walked to his personal armory, and he was not surprised that Mira had brought the suit of battle-scarred plate that still rested on its wooden mannequin. Weighing almost 275 lbs (pounds), the armor must have been quite heavy for her to lift, but as a Fury Forge, she was able to manage it.’

He had not worn it since the night he upgraded the Art of Stone. The armor had served him well then, and had become a part of him in a way that still felt comforting to remember. He ran his fingers along the cuirass, feeling the faint warmth that always seemed to pulse from the Profound Iron veins.

This armor would not serve him for long, except he found a way to upgrade it, to really gain the benefit of his third legacy, he needed something much heavier than any mortal smith could accomplish, but for now, this armor would have to do, and what better way to display his third legacy than in the training he was about to undergo.

Elias began the familiar process of donning the plates. Cuisses to thighs, greaves to shins, the heavy boots that would let him kick through walls. Vambraces and rerebraces to his arms, the articulated gauntlets that moved like a second skin. The cuirass, front and back, the buckles clicking shut with a finality that felt almost ceremonial.

He saved the helmet for last, peering at it to ensure that it was in perfect condition, raised it to his head, and the floor opened beneath him.

There was no warning, sound, or any shift in the stone that would have alerted his Perception. One moment, he was standing in the armory, and the next, he was falling into darkness, the stone floor closing above him like a mouth that had just swallowed.

He fell for seconds that felt like minutes through a shaft that was perfectly vertical, its walls smooth as glass, too slick to catch, as he tried to grab a hold of it. Elias twisted, tried to find purchase, and found none; there was nothing in this shaft he could grab hold of.

His Agility let him orient himself, but there was nothing to orient toward, just darkness below and darkness above and the rush of wind past.

Then suddenly there was light, and he had barely realized this when he hit something that was cold, too cold, and it drove the breath from his lungs… water, but this could not be normal water, as it felt even colder than ice… if he was not in armor, Elias believed that he would be freezing.

Elias sank, his armor dragging him down, the weight that had felt empowering now a liability. He kicked, fought against the pull, and broke the surface, gasping, as he glanced around him.

He was in a vast cavern with bioluminescent fungi clinging to the walls, casting everything in shades of sickly green and pale blue. Stalactites hung from the ceiling like teeth, and somewhere in the distance, water dripped with a rhythm that sounded almost like a heartbeat.

Commander Yseult’s voice suddenly echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

“Four objects. Find them and combine them. The walls are closing, and you have until they meet.”

Elias pulled up his Status Screen, a reflexive action born of years of hunting, where he needed to immediately familiarize himself with the tools he had, and as the familiar blue light filled his vision, he immediately detected a problem.

Vitality: 4517 / 4517

Stamina: 968 / 973 (Minor drain from Ice Poison)

Elias treaded water, looking up. He discovered that the shaft he had fallen through was gone, and there was just solid stone where the opening had been.

“Your abilities and talent will serve you, Elias, but your mind will serve you better. Use everything you have learned and everything that you are, or you will die here. You have chosen a difficult path, my disciple, and if you survive this day, your training will only grow more difficult.”

The voice faded, and the cavern was silent except for the drip of water and the distant, hungry sounds of things that lived in darkness. He could not stay here for long before the Ice Poison in this water drained his stamina, and, locating the nearest shore, Elias began to swim towards it. Even with his armor, he made good time.

It did not take long for him to reach the shore, which was a narrow strip of gravel at the base of a tunnel mouth. Elias pulled himself onto it, water streaming from his armor, and immediately pressed his back against the wall and glanced at his Status again.

Vitality: 4517 / 4517

Stamina: 951 / 973

The Ice Poison was gone, and his stamina had drained a fair amount, but without soaking himself inside the water, he had nothing to fear, and in a minute at most, his lost Stamina would return.

Elias did not expect his training to take this turn, as he thought he would be performing various acts inside the Stoneward Asylum, but it seemed that he had underestimated the Commander. Besides, he did not think that he had left the Asylum, and he was underneath the grand structure.

He had not forgotten what he had experienced deep within the ground while in the Fragment of Divinity, and he had not yet confirmed if everything was one to one; nevertheless, he remembered the words of the Commander. Whatever this test was to be, it would require him to not just use all his talents and abilities, but most especially his mind.

Elias stood up, noting that the tunnel stretched ahead into darkness, and its walls glittered with crystalline formations that caught the faint light from the fungi and scattered it into a thousand confusing reflections.

Even with his enhanced vision, Elias could not see more than twenty feet before the path seemed to split and double and turn back on itself.

It was beautiful, but also dangerous, and Elias understood how easily someone could become lost inside this cave; it would be as if they were walking inside a cave of mirrors filled with endless reflections.

He checked his armor; it was still intact and functional. The helmet was gone, as it was lost in the fall. He had been holding it when the floor opened; now it was at the bottom of whatever lake that was. He would have to do without.

With the Ice Poison, before he would be able to find his helmet at the bottom of his lake, his stamina would be long exhausted, and he was under a time constraint.

“The walls are closing in.” He remembered.

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