Draven brought out a vial of Berserker Z1 and shook it in front of them. "Because I'm human."
John asked, "How does that bottle prove that—"
But Sera cut him off. "Elites can't boost their physical body with external vials; it will be flushed by their constitution."
"Correct!" Draven smiled.
He uncorked it, gulped the contents, and dumped the empty bottle in his bag.
A warmth spread from his chest through his body. Draven clenched his fist, feeling the new strength coursing through his veins.
Nodding his head, Draven led them to the point where the ravine was.
Draven anchored his hook to the edge of the Blue Plane and descended with the rope fastened to the other end of the hook. He ignored the gazes—some curious, others contemptuous—he was receiving.
He felt the penetrating chill the deeper he descended, like he was bathing naked in a cold sea. Even the warmth from the vial couldn't stop it.
He soon reached the bottom, strapping his bag tightly while raising his head as he waited for the rest a few meters above him.
'Looks like my climbing practice made me faster. Good!'
Soon, they reached him at the edge of the basin.
Looking around, everything lost their original color and was transformed into a monochrome of blue, including his face and clothes. Draven walked silently to the ravine.
It was a deep, narrow valley between two close walls that sloped downward. He couldn't tell why they called it a ravine instead of a valley. Below, Draven saw many snakes with girths easily twice his body, writhing below. His heart pounded. Taking a deep breath, Draven carefully climbed down. They followed him, although lagging a bit.
When he was about a fourth of the way from the bottom of the ravine, Draven began walking slowly across the wall, his gloves sticking to it.
It didn't take long for the rest to meet up with him. But Draven didn't speed up, maintaining his pace; a simple mistake and he would alert what was down there. Like he told them, the ravine branched into many ravines the deeper they went. Fortunately, he memorized it like his name, always choosing the right path.
Almost an hour later, they were almost reaching a position free from anything below.
'Screw hell! Seriously?! I never thought it would be a safe trip, or I wouldn't have invited them. Well… I still need them at thirty meters from the mountain because that—'
AHH!
An abrupt yell made him snap his head back, only to see John and Sera had fallen, and a ferocious gleam in Reece's eyes.
'Screw hell!'
Draven quickly tried to distance himself from Reece, but a strong pull yanked his bag.
He slipped but clawed the wall, his adhesive gloves and boots anchoring him in place.
"Without me, you can't get the legacy!" he yelled hurriedly as Reece was about to yank his bag again, making him freeze.
'Damn! Why did I even stop to look?! I should have escaped!'
Suddenly, a rope abruptly shot from below, coiled around Reece's waist, and yanked him off the wall.
Draven clawed the wall harder as the force threatened to wrench him from it.
Lowering his head, Draven saw Sera swinging forward with a rope while Reece was plummeting into the snakes, accompanied by his desperate screams.
Draven swore at the sight of snakes slithering upward while hissing.
'That noise alerted them!'
He swiftly continued his journey, desperately trying to reach the 30-meter distance. A few seconds later, he heard a strained, muffled cry before it vanished. It didn't take a genius to realize that was Reece's final words.
Draven didn't stop, skittering across the surface until the estimated 30-meter gap, moving a few meters past it before stopping.
He looked behind, watching the huge snakes approaching him. His heart drummed like a wild horse.
Suddenly, they paused and hissed at him, their forked tongues flickering out of their mouths. But they didn't dare come closer. After a minute, they turned and returned with a few remaining behind, barring his retreat.
Draven exhaled in relief.
His chest heaved as his body trembled, the effects of Berserker Z1 fading fast.
Ignoring the creeping weakness, he raised his head and gazed at the mountain. The mountain was riddled with countless deep, gaping holes that resembled caves.
'The hardest path… is discovering the cave. It should be in the lair of that big guy, but if I am even near the surface, I'm dead. How am I going to find it? This is why I needed those Elites! But they ended up killing themselves! Why did Reece even kill them when there's a legacy for all? Did my lie get exposed?' Draven mused.
'I need to take another vial before I fall—'
His thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous roar that made him shiver.
A massive, brown ape burst from one of the mountain's holes, quaking the ground when it landed. Draven couldn't see it again when it reached the ground, but he heard another roar from it, followed by periodic tremors that he knew were footsteps.
Draven's skin prickled with goosebumps. He swiftly pressed his body against the wall as if he were about to enter it, not daring to move.
'It discovered me?'
His eyelids trembled.
Looking behind, he saw the snakes slithering deeper into their ravine.
'Even they don't want to challenge it!'
Draven was about to skitter back but felt the tremor growing distant.
'It's not coming towards me? What's happening…? Sera!'
Understanding dawned on him. 'She was not aware of the no-surface rule, went around the mountain to get the legacy, and stayed on the surface for a long time, triggering it. This is my chance!'
Though he was scared of approaching the mountain, the memory of his impending death steeled his resolve. Sucking in a couple of deep breaths, he pulled out another vial of Berserker Z1 and gulped its contents.
The depleted strength returned, surging through his veins like a broken dam. He could feel it clearly because he had been weakened.
Draven quickly climbed out of the ravine onto the surface and dashed toward the mountain with a shocking speed that showcased the effect of Berserker Z1.
He reached the mountain and swiftly climbed it. All his climbing practice and superhuman strength came into play, pushing his speed to the peak. His movement was sleek and smooth.
After a grueling five minutes, he hauled himself into the cave the ape had come from and sprinted into the depths.
It didn't take long for him to arrive at the end. He gazed at the hole in the ground, oozing with bright blue light that spilled everywhere. The intensity of the cold heightened.
'I knew it!'
It was roughly the size of two adult humans.
'Let's pray it's not a dead end. Climbing out will be a hassle, and the entrance will be barred by the ape.'
Draven plunged into the hole without hesitation and shielded his head with his arm, not wanting to encounter the returning ape. Hopefully, there's a way out on the other side. He slid across the steep hole, which was like a slide made of rough, rocky surface. Fortunately, the material he was wearing wasn't made of ordinary cloth.
About a minute later, he tumbled out and crashed face-flat on the hard floor. Groaning, Draven sat up, wiping his bleeding nose with one arm and massaging his head with the other. He froze when he saw his surroundings.
It was a huge rocky cavern dyed blue by the hovering crystal at the center, emanating a soft blue glow. He shivered at the penetrating cold. Within seconds, he became so cold that his teeth were chattering.
'The legacy?'
Suddenly, a weary voice echoed through the chamber, seemingly coming from everywhere at once:
"At last, a successor."
Draven narrowed his eyes.
The voice continued: "I am the Soul Mystic, and this is but a fragment of my soul, carrying my final will and legacy. I bequeath to you my Legacy, housed within this crystal. Though it may be flawed at first, those imperfections will vanish when you ascend from the Transient rank to the Primal rank. Farewell."
Draven hesitated, then approached the crystal. Ignoring the biting cold, he stretched and touched it. The crystal dissolved into his hand.
A series of panels flashed before Draven's eyes.
–––
[INHERITING THE SOUL MYSTIC'S LEGACY!]
[ERROR… INCOMPATIBLE LEGACY WITH HUMAN BODY…]
[ERROR… UNAWAKENED…]
[SYNCHRONIZATION AND AWAKENING: 10%...]
–––
An icy-blue light abruptly swallowed his vision. His expression turned aloof, and an imperial aura emanated from him, accompanied by a pressure that stilled the air.
In five seconds, the glowing eyes and pressure disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. His expression returned to normal.
Draven exhaled, feeling warmth return to his body, but what surprised him was that the place was still glowing blue. He couldn't trace the other source.
Suddenly, a reverberating roar broke his thoughts.
He snapped his head toward the hole.
'The ape can't come here, right?'
But the sound of scraping stone answered him.
'Damn it! It's coming! Is it a shapeshifter?!'
He couldn't fathom how the massive ape would fit through the narrow passage, but now was not the time to think of how; all he knew was, it was coming!
Draven frantically scanned the cavern for an exit. His eyes landed on a wide tunnel by the side.
'Nice, Soul Mystic!'
He bolted for the dark exit, which was dark despite being close to the blue glow in the cavern.
Draven rushed into the tunnel, sprinting with everything he had. A few seconds later, a crash echoed behind him. He didn't look back; he couldn't afford to hesitate again like he did in the ravine. He sprinted up the sloping tunnel.
A moment after he heard the crash, he heard running footsteps from behind. His breath hitched.
Draven kept running while retrieving the dagger and Berserker Z2 vial from his bag. He prayed silently not to be forced to use them.
He pushed his speed to the limit, wishing he had more legs.
When he saw sunlight flooding the tunnel's end, a grin spread across his face.
'The exit!'
Draven rushed forward, but a rope abruptly coiled around his neck, choking and halting his steps. Before he could react, a brutal force lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the tunnel wall. He crashed on his stomach, gasping on the floor. His blurry vision colored red from blood leaking into his eyes.