Dune sat near the cave wall, his body still aching from their last fight. His wounds hadn't fully healed, but rest wasn't exactly an option, not when Elijah was around.
Without warning, Elijah pushed himself up and stretched. "Time to go," he said, a grin creeping onto his face. "For a hunt."
Dune raised an eyebrow. He wasn't in the best shape to fight, but he knew better than to refuse. Elijah could decide to kill him at any moment, and he'd rather not test his patience. With a quiet sigh, he got to his feet and followed.
As they started walking, Dune broke the silence. "So… what's your ability exactly?"
Elijah chuckled. "Tell me yours first."
Dune shot him a glance but shook his head. "I asked first, though."
Elijah smirked. "How about I kill you instead?"
Dune froze for half a second, then sighed. "You already saw my ability," he muttered. "I can create Neba platforms that explode and push me forward. Weakness is, if I use it for too long, it makes me dizzy."
Elijah tilted his head. "Cool ability. I liked how you used it on your finger back then…" He trailed off before continuing. "Mine lets me skip steps."
Dune frowned. "Skip… steps?"
Elijah nodded. "Yeah. My limit for now is ten steps. If I want to run twenty steps, I can skip the first ten and only move the last ten. That's if I use the ability once."
Dune narrowed his eyes. "That… doesn't make any sense."
Elijah laughed. "It's tricky. Every time I use it, I have to count to ten in my head first, then choose how many steps I want to skip. If I get the count wrong or don't reach ten before choosing, I can't use the ability for the next day."
Dune stared at him, dumbfounded. "What kind of stupid ability is that? But you gotta be lying… you were too fast. No way you counted to ten in under a second."
Elijah grinned. "It's easy. You just go… 1… 2… 3… ffssghnin… 10."
"…"
"1… 2… 3… ffssghnin… 10."
"Stop repeating it… I got it," Dune muttered. Then he narrowed his eyes. "What about flying? You were flying, right?"
Elijah's grin widened. "That's the second ability of my green Neba core. If I count from ten to one instead, I can move freely in the air. But there's a catch, I have to choose exactly how many minutes I want to fly. For example, if I count down from ten to one and say I'll fly for seven minutes, once those seven minutes are up, I can't fly again for the next seven minutes. My current limit is ten minutes of flight and ten steps."
Dune rubbed his temples. "What a complicated ability… and it's just a green Neba core."
Suddenly, Elijah stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing as he glanced around. Dune, noticing the shift, did the same.
"Why is this cave so long all of a sudden?" Elijah muttered.
Dune nodded, his brows furrowing. "I was about to ask the same thing... We've been walking for a while now, but we're still not out?"
Elijah scanned the surroundings, his instincts on high alert. Something wasn't right. His gut twisted as a thought crossed his mind. "Damn it... Is this an illusion? An enemy's ability, maybe? Zeten?"
Dune's confusion deepened as he realized the cave had somehow expanded. No matter how far they walked, the exit remained just as distant. Gritting his teeth, he quickened his pace, but the result was the same, no progress.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered.
Elijah let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, what if we try going the other way?"
Dune considered it for a second before nodding. They turned around and walked in the opposite direction, only to be met with the same result. It was as if they were trapped in an endless loop, their surroundings unchanged no matter which way they moved.
"This is bullshit!" Elijah snapped, running a hand through his hair. Then, as if suddenly bored, he turned to Dune with an accusatory glare. "This is your fault, Rabbit."
Dune exhaled sharply before sitting down against the cold cave wall. "If you think about it… It's not so bad. As long as we're alive, we're safe. At least the Zetens can't get to us here… who knows, maybe they'll just kill each other off, and we'll survive by default."
Elijah groaned. "Yeah? And what the hell are you planning to eat in the meantime, smartass? If we're stuck here for days, I'm cutting off your hand and eating it."
Dune shot up immediately, eyes wide. "The hell? No! If it comes to that, i'll fight you to the death, I'm not letting you eat my damn hand!"
Elijah smirked, his expression playful yet dark. "Heh… loser gets eaten, then. That's fair, right?"
Dune stiffened. Shit... He's stronger than me. Faster, too... If it really comes to that, I'm dead meat. Think, think… His mind raced, trying to push away the growing unease. But then, a thought struck him.
"Wait… have you ever actually eaten someone before?" he asked cautiously.
Elijah raised an eyebrow, looking almost offended. "The hell kind of question is that? You think I'm a damn cannibal?"
Dune clenched his teeth. "You just said you'd eat my hand!"
Elijah waved it off like it was nothing. "Forget that. Your scrawny ass wouldn't even last me a full day."
Dune scowled, frustration bubbling over. With a growl, he turned and punched the cave wall.
And suddenly, his fist sank into it.
The stone beneath his knuckles gave way as if it were made of soft clay. A deep rumble echoed through the cave, and the wall next to him split apart, revealing two circular platforms embedded within the stone.
"…"
"…"
Both of them froze, eyes wide in disbelief. Then, Elijah threw his head back and laughed. "Hah! Hahaha! It's an inheritance! I knew it!"
Dune blinked. "A what?"
Elijah's grin stretched wide. "Dumbass. It's an inheritance left behind by someone. If we figure out how to take the cores from it, this whole cave will probably disappear."
"I know what inheritance is, i'm just surprised."
Dune hesitated before slowly placing his hand on one of the circular platforms. The moment his palm made contact, the stone pulsed with a faint green glow.
"It needs two people," he realized. "Come on."
Elijah stepped forward without hesitation, pressing his hand against the second platform. Instantly, the glow intensified, and the massive stone door before them split apart with a heavy groan. The two exchanged a look.
Then, as one, they stepped inside.
Elijah and Dune moved deeper into the cave, the atmosphere grew stranger. The rocky walls were no longer just stone, they were covered in ancient paintings.
Figures with wings stretched across the surfaces, their forms bathed in golden light. Some resembled gods, others beasts, and some were neither, something in between, something that they have never seen before.
Their eyes seemed to follow the two intruders, watching, judging.
Dune ran his fingers along the cracked paint. "Who the hell made these?"
Elijah clicked his tongue. "Probably the same freak who set up this whole place. Stop staring and move."
The air felt heavier as they walked, like something was pressing down on them. Then, suddenly, the tunnel widened into an enormous, empty space.
A massive underground lake spread out before them, its dark waters eerily still. The ceiling stretched high above, barely visible in the dim glow of the bioluminescent moss clinging to the stone. A single staircase jutted out of the water, leading up to a small, circular platform at the center of the cavern.
They made their way across the water carefully, hopping from one unstable rock to another before reaching the stairs. As they climbed, their footsteps echoed in the emptiness.
When they reached the platform, both of them hesitated. There was… nothing here. No markings, no artifacts, no clear way forward. Just stone beneath their feet and water surrounding them.
Dune exhaled sharply. "Alright, now what?"
Elijah crossed his arms. "How the hell should I know?"
Before Dune could reply, a deep rumble vibrated through the cavern. The water trembled. Then, it started rising.
"Shit," Elijah muttered.
The water level climbed higher, submerging the stairs they'd just used. Their escape route was gone. Dune gritted his teeth. "This isn't good."
Elijah's eyes darted across the cavern until he spotted it, a dark tunnel beneath the water's surface. His expression hardened. "There. We swim through that."
Dune stiffened. His pulse quickened.
"Wait—"
But before he could speak, Elijah dove in.
Dune clenched his fists. He couldn't swim. He didn't know how to swim. He was about to call out, but his pride caught in his throat. No. I'll figure it out.
Taking a deep breath, he leapt in.
I'll just use Nebastep.
As soon as he hit the water, he tried to activate his ability, forming a platform beneath him that would explode and propel him forward. But the moment the energy dispersed, the water absorbed most of the force, throwing him off balance.
Instead of moving forward, he was launched sideways, crashing back into the water.
Shit—!
He tried again, but this time, his trajectory was worse, he slammed straight into the cavern wall.
Elijah, already ahead, turned at the sound of impact. His expression twisted in confusion. "What the—?"
Before he could process what he was seeing, Dune flailed, sinking deeper into the dark. His body twisted uncontrollably, the currents pulling him down.
Elijah stared for half a second. "Is this guy serious?"
Clicking his tongue, he swam back down, grabbed Dune by the collar, and dragged him out of the water. They both gasped for air as they landed back on the platform.
Elijah shoved Dune onto the stone, furious. "What the fuck are you doing?!"
Dune coughed, shaking his head. "I—I can't swim."
Elijah's face contorted with rage before he burst into laughter, angry laughter. "Oh my god. You're useless. Who the hell doesn't know how to swim?!"
Dune clenched his jaw and pushed himself up. "Shut up. I'll find another way. You go through the tunnel."
Elijah rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no. We're both going. You think I'm an idiot? The inheritance needed two people to enter, it's obviously going to need two to leave."
Dune swallowed hard, but before he could argue, Something moved. Elijah's body tensed. His gaze snapped downward.
The water beneath them had darkened,
not from depth, but from something massive rising below. And then they saw them.
Two enormous, glowing red eyes staring up from the abyss. Neither of them moved.
Neither of them breathed.
Dune's voice came out barely above a whisper. "Elijah… what is that?"
Elijah's fingers curled into fists. His pulse pounded in his ears. "You've gotta be fu—"
The creature didn't let him finish, and the water exploded.
A monstrous force erupted from below, shattering the platform beneath them. Pillars of stone cracked and collapsed as they were thrown off balance, landing on broken debris.
Dune barely managed to grip onto a shattered column as the water level continued to rise.
Elijah landed on a crumbling slab, his body tense as his eyes locked onto the creature emerging from the depths.
A massive leviathan rose from the black water.
Its skin shimmered silver, shifting and twisting in unnatural patterns, as if it were constantly reforming. Its long, snake-like body coiled through the rising tides, and atop its head sat a massive battle helmet, rusted and covered in dried blood.
No limbs. No wings. Just an endless, writhing form and those red, glowing eyes that bore into them.
Dune and Elijah stood frozen, hearts pounding.
The beast inhaled, the air itself trembling as it let out a low, guttural growl. The cavern shook.
Elijah's hands clenched. Dune swallowed hard.
And the leviathan moved