"Okay, someone explain to me what happened?" Daniel comanded the academy staff outside the portal.
"Sir, we aren't sure yet but there seemed to have been an outside influence such as a jamming device that cut off our connection to the students suits. Same with the portal measurement device. A third party signal has interfered with the results of our assessment of the portal!" One instructor responded with what little information they had so far.
"Well let's just hope that the students inside are able to survive until we can save them. What's the progress on that rescue team?" Mr. Karasu asked another.
"Almost ready to go, they are suiting up at the moment!" A different staff member replied.
Daniel Karasu looked at the black monitor screens in front of him with a line of worry across his forehead. "Get the feed up pronto, we have children to save."
...
Back in the portal, Aria was falling down the hole created by her very own skill. She couldn't see anything around her, just darkness. After falling for a short while, she collided with the earth at the bottom. A shockwave came from her impact with the ground. The ground cracked with an imprint of her figure.
[ HP: 300/300 -> 210/300 ]
She lay on the ground, pain all throughout her body from her decent. "Owwwwww," she groaned. Trying to recover from what just happened, she stayed still for a few minutes. Thank goodness my Vitality/Durability is at 20 points or I would be almost dead after that fall. Aria inwardly thanked her system as she still could barely move from the pain coursing through her body. She was hurt, but she was still alive.
She eventually was able to sit up and look around a little bit. She didn't know if she was in a safe place and healing herself would make her vulnerable to attack. She decided to wait until she had a better grasp on the situation first. She did however summon a very small light sphere, to light up the area around her.
The light sphere was intentionally made dim, she could see only a few meters away but she didn't know what could be down here with her. I think I was falling for over 10 seconds, so I think I am deep underground.
The crack she fell down was deep and stretched a long ways. The width of it was roughly a few meters throughout. Not seeing anything she activated her healing skill.
[ Celestial Healing Activated ]
Aria's skin and hair seemed to glow with a golden hue due to the use of the skill. The healing effect felt like being in a sauna, warmth spreading throughout her body as the pain eased away. After almost 10 seconds her HP was full again at the cost of her AP.
[ HP: 210/300 -> 300/300 ]
[ AP: 104/150 ]
I have to watch my AP usage, at least until It can regenerate back.
Aria couldn't wait around, she needed to find her teammates and figure out how to get out of this place. Aria followed the path at the bottom of the crack, hoping that she didn't encounter yet another dead end. As she walked, the timer on the suit went off and indicated that 30 minutes had passed. She stopped at waited, thinking maybe a rescue is coming.
After waiting for a few minutes and nothing happened, she feared the worst. "Maybe they can't find me? What if my camera and suit broke from the fall?" The concerns she had were clouding her thinking. What if they left me because I am only an F-rank?
Aria let her thoughts consume her for a moment. Panic made her heart beat fast and strong like a drum. Her breathing became rough and haggard.
[ Alert! User is experiencing elevated emotional responses due to unknown influence. System override initiated. Unlocking skill in response. ]
[ Titan Resistance Unlocked ]
[ Sovereign Resistance ( Passive ) - Using the Titan bloodlines physical resistance and Celestial bloodlines healing capabilities, a new skill is created. User becomes resistant to external, physical and mental manipulation as well as poison. With exposure to a substance, resistance increases exponentially. There is no cost to using skill. ]
[ Unknown Mental Influence Detected - Resistance is increasing ]
Aria felt the fog slowly lift, she could process and think clearly again. She saw her recent system notifications and realized something had been influencing her mind. Thank goodness for this system, I was about to loose my mind there for a second. Aria sat down against the wall as she calmed down and her resistance increased to the unknown influence.
Is there a creature or thing within this portal that can mentally affect people? Aria only felt this way after falling underground, so the others are safe as long as they aren't underground with her. Little did Aria know, one of her companions was indeed underground and closer than she realized.
Aria regained her composure and summoned her Star Piercer before she made her way further down the path. The pathway soon let to a massive cavern. Most of it was covered in the dark so she didn't know how big it was, but she could see far off in the distance was a hole in the ceiling where light beamed through.
She looked where the light shone down in the cavern and saw what looked like a massive tree, made entirely of the vines that formed the maze walls above ground. The vines twisted together forming a trunk and vines that looked like branches, protruded from the top of the trunk. It looked like a leafless tree that was entirely green. At the bottom of the tree, the same vines spread out and all around the weird cavern. The vines traveled up the walls and could be seen at the edge of the hole in the ceiling.
Aria guessed that this tree is what created the maze and is a monster itself. This was likely its main body. "I knew the maze was alive!"
Looking closer at the tree Aria could see a glint come from it. At the base of the tree, attached to the root system of the creature was a portal crystal. It was huge compared to the ones she had previously seen, but it was also embedded into the monster tree. Aria scanned the tree with her system, wondering if it would work.
[ Target Scanned Successfully ]
Hidden Boss Discovered
- B-rank Monster Yggdravine
- A subclass of world tree that has been corrupted from a young age. Releases airborne pollen that influences the minds of beings that inhale it.
So that is what affected me back there, the pollen from this monster. I don't think I am strong enough to take on a B-rank but I could maybe shatter that crystal and get out of here.