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Water. Cold and fetid, it slowly snaked its way through the caverns, forming dark puddles and streams. We were forced to wade through the muck, ankle-deep. If it weren't for the miraculous boots, keeping my feet warm and dry, the situation would be far worse. As it was, I had to carefully choose each step to avoid slipping. But the rising water level worried me. If it rose any higher… No, better not to think about that.
"We need to hurry," I said, feeling the water begin to lap at the tops of my boots.
image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/EDXruk4hYMTYBcqkeml13f4qeS3blIaMt9e_UDkAtPnPmHclCPcxSVDkgYc_58Z0zKVYzPajDHTQxbfX-qRxIsEySQxZgwBbkUTNGAJKM4lPTixoSCm4ygqIFux4EkJBcjw2CHj5YyQKeXOs8eu7gKw]
Masha nodded silently and quickened her pace. Her face remained pale and emotionless, still under the influence of the spell that had turned her into an obedient doll. I knew I'd have a mountain of questions to answer later. Hopefully, she would attribute her current state to shock. I wasn't eager to explain how I'd shut down her emotions and dulled her perception, or where I'd learned all these skills. I dislike lying unnecessarily; it has a negative impact on one's aura, even though it's sometimes unavoidable.
The water rose with every step. It seemed my fears were coming true; the threat of fish-men would soon become secondary to the rising tide.
After another turn, we reached a dead end. The cave descended further and was completely flooded.
"Alex," Masha suddenly spoke, her voice quiet and confused. The spell was wearing off, and emotions were returning to her. She shuddered and looked around in terror. "If... the water rises any higher..."
"I know," I replied, trying to sound calm despite the growing fear within me. "We need to find a way to a higher level of the caves, or better yet, to the surface, and quickly."
We turned back and quickened our pace, the water now reaching our thighs, making movement difficult. The echoes of falling drops reverberated through the caves, mingling with the ever-growing roar of the flood.
"There!" Masha pointed to a dark opening in the wall, above the waterline.
It was a narrow passage, barely wide enough to squeeze through, but we could feel a current of fresh air, which meant there was an exit.
"You first," I said, pushing the girl towards the opening.
While I helped Masha climb into the passage, the water reached my waist. She didn't hesitate, starting to crawl through the narrow gap. As soon as her boots disappeared into the opening, I followed her.
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Every movement in the cramped, sloping passage was a struggle. We had to crawl upwards on our knees, and it felt like I was about to get stuck, but there was nowhere to retreat.
The passage led us into a small cave with another exit. The water hadn't reached here yet. We collapsed onto the stone floor, breathing heavily, trying to regain our strength.
"What now?" Masha asked, her voice trembling.
"I don't know," I answered honestly, "but at least we won't drown here. We need to rest and keep moving."
We sat in silence, listening to the roar of the water flooding the network of caves somewhere below.
"Alex," Masha placed her hand on my shoulder, "thank you."
I looked into her eyes, seeing a multitude of questions, but most importantly, gratitude and trust.
"We'll get out of here," I said, and I believed my own words.
As we caught our breath, I decided to check the system notification that had been blinking at the edge of my vision.
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Attention!
You have slain your opponent and received 3 BR!
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Attention!
You have slain your opponent and received 3 BR!
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Attention!
You have slain your opponent and received 3 BR!
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Attention!
You have completed one of the objectives of the individual mission goal and gained 20 XP!
Time remaining until mission completion: 10:39:57 hours!
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We only had 10 hours left. It seemed we had been wandering through the caves for longer than it felt.
"Do you hear that?" Masha's alarmed voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"Hear what?" I asked, focusing on the sounds around us.
"Voices, someone's talking," the girl whispered, a hint of joy in her voice. "Maybe they've finally found us and will rescue us?"
Indeed, somewhere in the distance, on the opposite side of the cave, human voices could be heard. However, I didn't share my companion's optimism. I highly doubted rescuers would come rushing to another planet to save us; they weren't paid that much. Most likely, these were survivors like us. But we had to check anyway.
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"Stay here, I'll go take a look."
With an effort – the lack of prana and fatigue were taking their toll – I moved towards the voices.
"I'm telling you, there's someone there," a cheerful, ringing voice echoed.
"That's just the sound of water. If someone was here, they would have responded by now," replied another, more solid baritone.
"And I said right away that we needed to go scouting!" the first voice insisted.
"Crawling blindly into the unknown, you mean," a third voice joined the conversation.
"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked with a smile, addressing the trio. It was a good thing they were all sitting on the ground, otherwise, they would have fallen over in surprise.
image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/2Gcb1KApMbvVeAhM9138mskoXq_EU0gRe4LgbIn96X7Gwzr1skMg5hCfD0NDMl0azmQvusl08m-azS16LlJzWUQuuiR4-xmW5Xcul8xA476p6xiK9_BepRoYFUhhuV8W-KGPatHxSrrVCEgxdExVcFY]
"Who are you and where did you come from?" the young man with the cheerful voice stared at me in astonishment. He couldn't see me, but reacting to my voice, he turned in my direction.
"Are you a soldier from the anti-terrorist hostage rescue team?" asked the solid man, around forty years old, with a short haircut and military bearing, discreetly drawing a long, impressive-looking knife in a dark sheath from his inventory. It seemed to be called an army dagger.
The third man in the group chose to remain silent.
"No, I'm not a soldier or a rescuer, and I got here the same way you did – through the system," I replied, starting to get annoyed by the questions.
"He just killed a monster and got the ability to see in the dark. And we came here, escaping the flood," Masha interjected, emerging from the tunnel and standing beside me.
"Curiosity killed the cat. What if there were monsters here?" I asked the girl, exasperated. "Do you have a death wish?"
"What monsters could be around people?" Masha shrugged off my question.
"Some people are worse than monsters," I muttered under my breath.
"Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying you have magical superpowers and can use them on others?" the third person finally spoke, a stout man with a bald head and a beard. "By the way, my name is Oleg, this is Serge," he nodded towards the military man, "and this is Damon," he introduced the young man.
"Yeah, I can. I'll sit for a few minutes to regain my strength, and each of you will see the light," I resigned myself to spending my mana on this trio as well. "The main thing is not to touch me while I meditate."
image [https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/RA6OohKzmjATZqZVp8p6PvG6fvpOKQ_ZjanIN2mTxTfG12kPl12MoYwiSCCkPDS1qgI8I9goETFAWgbj4Zbbab_ipV7YCEAAigSqc8wtvZ1ADAbLeA39FZGlzyqwbOFiw5vo8lfQe6f7cUweHptzO-U]
"Oh, and he can also heal! My name is Masha, and this is Alex," the girl chattered as usual. "Oh, and can you imagine, monsters attacked me, and Alex..."
I didn't bother listening to the rest of their conversation and began to settle in for meditation. It was good that I had met this girl; at least I had someone to handle communication with other people. If only she thought before speaking and acting, it would be perfect, but there are no perfect people in the world.
It took me half an hour to replenish my mana reserves. The magical background here was quite strong, and the mana core also helped with recovery. I kept track of time using the mission timer.
"If there are floods here, then there are underground rivers, and therefore, an exit to the surface. We just need to find this river and move against the current," Serge said in his commanding voice, interrupting Masha's chatter. "Wake up your boyfriend. It's time to move!"
Just in time, I emerged from my deep meditation. I wondered why the soldier hadn't woken me up himself? And why was he speaking pure Ukrainian? He was clearly not from Ukraine. Or was it Ukrainian after all? Listening to myself, I realized I was hearing a completely different language that only sounded like my native tongue. And I was speaking some gibberish to the other players too. Was it the system language? Or the language of this world? I remembered that high-quality interworld portals created by the gods in Babylon could grant the language of the planet they led to. Well, anything was possible. Meanwhile, the conversation in the cave continued.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Masha protested, her cheeks flushing. "We're just acquaintances."
"I don't care. Wake up this so-called 'mage' and let's go. My people are waiting for me!" the soldier started to lose his temper.
"I'm not so-called, and I'm already awake," I said, deciding it was time to intervene. "Wait a second, you'll have your night vision."
There was no point in delaying. I could already hear the water raging in the cave from which Maria and I had emerged. It seemed we wouldn't be able to sit around in the warmth.
"And where is your magic?" Oleg asked skeptically. "I don't believe in all this, they must have pumped us full of some kind of crap..."
I never found out what the third and most silent participant wanted to say. At that moment, the spell I had woven hit him, and he instantly gained sight. The same spell hit the other members of his group – the spell structure was quite simple, and I was able to create all three copies simultaneously.
"This can't be," Oleg whispered. "There is no such thing as magic."
"Tell that to your eyes, old man!" Damon said with a satisfied smile, as if he had created the spell himself. "This is the system! And the strong will rule the world!"
"This is some kind of deception, there must be spotlights installed in the cave..." the man didn't give up.
"Stop arguing. Let's move!" Serge commanded.
Just in time. A puddle of water appeared in the passage from which Maria and I had emerged.
Serge went first, followed by Damon, then Oleg, and Maria and I brought up the rear.
"Aqua, how did you kill your first monster?" Damon asked with a sardonic intonation.
I didn't want to answer. I couldn't reveal all my cards, and coming up with a new lie was like backing myself into a corner; sooner or later, I'd slip up. I was ready to dismiss the young man and his questions when Masha intervened.
"Tell us, Alex, I'm curious too!" this curious Barbara declared.
"There was nothing 'interesting' or heroic about it," I sighed, starting to fabricate a story. "I ended up in the dark with my staff, started swinging it from side to side, and accidentally hit the monster on the head. That's where this coin came from, though with a different skill."
I held out the "Acid Glands" to Oleg and noticed Damon's eyes gleaming with greed as he turned to look at my loot.
"And then what?" Oleg asked, handing the coin to Damon.
"Then I hid in a crevice. When another monster came and started eating my first opponent, I hit the newcomer on the head. And so on, three times. Nothing interesting."
"And how did you, the 'hero,' save Maria?" the cocky young man asked, emphasizing the word "hero" with skepticism in his voice.
"I saw that the monsters were busy with food and the girl, so I finished each of them off with a blow to the back of the head, one by one," I said with a smile.
Damon laughed, and Masha looked at me skeptically.
"Stop laughing and talking! We are in enemy territory!" the self-proclaimed leader of our group barked.
And only then did it dawn on me how Damon had addressed me – Aqua. I hadn't told anyone about this nickname, not even Masha, simply because there hadn't been time. But this arrogant young man knew it from somewhere! I didn't think there was any point in coming up with a conspiracy theory, like Oleg was doing – the system must have helped him. It was in its interface that I was now listed as Aqua. I didn't want to ask this young system enthusiast how he had seen my nickname – I had already lowered my authority in the eyes of others enough, so I would experiment. Focusing on Oleg's figure, just as I had done with the system coin before, I tried to summon the system's information window. And it worked!
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Oleg
Real Name: Oleg Andriyovych Bilous
Player
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But above Damon, only his pseudonym and the "Player" label appeared.
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Damon
Player
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It seemed Damon had hidden his real name. Prudent.
Turning my head back, I glanced at Maria. Above her head, too, only her pseudonym and the "Player" label were visible. A smart girl, even if she was talkative.
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Mary
Player
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I wondered what it would take to get more information? A special system skill, a higher level, or perhaps some characteristic I hadn't discovered yet? I really missed having a manual for this game.
"Damn, I'm already perceiving everything around me as a computer game," I caught myself thinking. "And that's very dangerous. You can completely lose touch with reality and your survival instincts. And I don't want to die here!"
We continued our journey in silence until we reached a fork in the path, and there, someone was already waiting for us.