CHAPTER 93: UNDERGROUND CAVE

Raindrops splashed against Shaan’s face. His eyes snapped open. Honestly, he never expected to still be alive, considering that he had fallen into a very deep ravine and, logically, he should have died right then.

"What’s happening? Why... Why am I still alive?"

Shaan slowly turned his head and realized that he was perched on top of a large tree that happened to be growing on the cliff wall. Thankfully, he had landed on the tree; otherwise, he would have died instantly.

"I’ll try to call Robin Hood. He might be able to help me."

However, when he tried to communicate with Robin Hood, for some reason, he couldn’t communicate with him at all. He repeatedly called out Robin Hood’s name, but he didn’t respond at all.

"Strange, why isn’t Robin Hood answering my commands?" Shaan scratched his head. "Wait, I’ll try opening my status window. Maybe I can find out the reason why I can’t reach Robin Hood."

Shaan then tried to open his status window menu, but strangely, his status window wouldn’t open either. He tried again to view his status window, but the result was the same. Damn, what’s going on?

"Never mind, don’t think about it. I’d better find shelter before the rain gets heavier," said Shaan, looking around. "Where can I... Ah, there it is. I can take shelter in that hole for a while, but how am I going to get down from this tree now?"

Shaan lowered his head and noticed that directly beneath the tree was a narrow stone ledge leading straight to the hole he had spotted. However, the ledge was quite narrow, and Shaan would have to be extremely careful if he wanted to traverse it.

’Alright... calm down...calm down. You can do this. Just don’t look down and everything will be alright.’

After a few minutes, Shaan gathered his courage, slowly climbed down the tree, and one by one, his feet touched the stone ledge. With extreme caution, he moved along the ledge while feeling the rocky surface of the ravine wall.

’Keep going and never look down.’

Slowly but surely, he walked along the ledge until he finally reached the large hole he had seen earlier. The atmosphere inside the hole was so dark that Shaan couldn’t see anything inside. However, for some reason, when he stood in front of the hole, he could feel a breeze coming from inside.

"I think this hole might be connected to another exit that could get me out of here," Shaan tried to convince himself. "Yes, I think I’ll try going into this hole. It’s better than just standing here and waiting without doing anything."

Without hesitation, Shaan stepped into the hole, hoping he might find another way out of this place. But as soon as his feet crossed the hole—

"Wh–whoa!"

Before he could react, his feet lost their grip, his body stumbled forward, causing him to slip into the hole and disappear.

***

"Damn," Shaan said as he stood up and rubbed his butt. "That was a terrible landing, but at least I landed on a fairly flat surface."

He slowly looked around, and his eyes widened in awe when he saw countless crystals surrounding the area. Strangely, each crystal glowed with a bright blue light which bright enough for Shaan to see everything around him.

"Interesting... I didn’t know there was a crystal cave near Twilight Sanctum," Shaan said as he stepped closer to one of the crystals and touched it. "I’m just curious, what kind of crystal is this? Hopefully, my status window will open this time."

[Manacite Crystal]

[A crystal found only in underground caves, containing a large amount of mana power. If processed properly, it can be used to enhance the user’s mana power.]

"Oh, wow. I never thought a crystal like this could increase someone’s mana."

[Of course it can, because it’s a Manacite crystal, or what’s commonly known as a mana crystal.]

"Holy—" Shaan exhaled and clutched his chest when Robin Hood suddenly appeared beside him. "Dammit! You scared the hell out of me."

[Hey, chill down. I’m not a ghost.]

"B-but how did you end up here?" Shaan furrowed his brows. "I’ve been calling you this whole time, but you just showed up now."

[You’ve been calling me?] Robin Hood scratched his head. [I felt confused too. When you fell into the ravine, I completely lost any trace of your Daemonist energy. I tried to reach out to you, but you didn’t respond at all,] he explained. [At first, I thought you died. But for some strange reason, my physical form didn’t disappear. That usually means you’re still alive.]

’Wait... then how’s that possible? Could something have interfered with my Daemonist powers and blocked our connection?’ Shaan furrowed his brow. ’Argh, this whole thing just keeps getting more confusing.’

[Shaan, are you still with me?] Robin Hood snapped his finger repeatedly. [What is going on?]

"Oh, yeah, yeah. I’m fine." Shaan nodded quickly. "It’s nothing."

[I think we should start exploring this place, and maybe we’ll find another way out.]

"Yeah, I agree."

As they walked through the place, Robin Hood explained that in the Dark Realm, Manacite crystals—or mana crystals as a major power source to build and sustain cities like Twilight Sanctum.

"Oh, wow. I never expected Manacite crystals to hold that much power."

[However, the power of Manacite crystals themselves can be very dangerous if used excessively because they can cause a very powerful magical explosion. The explosion is so powerful that it could easily blow up the entire twilight sanctum.]

"Goodness, the power of the manacite crystal is that terrifying."

[Besides the manacite crystal, there are many other types of crystals in the Dark Realm that can produce different effects. Of course, there will be side effects if used excessively.]

’Yes, I’ve heard about this before at the cafeteria.’

[Come on, we have to keep going. We’ll find it....]

"Robin Hood? What’s wrong? Why does your face look tense?"

Robin Hood slowly pointed his finger forward. [Shaan, look over there... and tell me what you think.]