The moment his feet touched the foaming torrent, Min Yon Sul was yanked sideways. The sheer force of the icy torrent swept his feet from under him and sent him tumbling through the dark current. Like leaf caught in a gust of strong wind, he was ragdolled along the rushing water.

It was impossible to tell up from down. The Qi lamp bouncing in and out of the water cast flickering shadows along the dark walls. From the roof, rows of stalactites stabbed out, like teeth in the maw of some hungry beast. In places, they reached all the way to the roaring river.

Min Yon Sul flailed his arms, desperately trying to direct himself. The river cared little for his efforts and in moments the roaring current pulled him under once more. In the muted underwater light, another shadowy figure spun in the rushing water alongside him.

He blindly stuck to the one instruction from Rei Yang. He held his breath. The rushing current ground him along the uneven river bed, nearly punching the breath out of him. On occasion, the wild current sent him to the surface, where he desperately gulped more air before being pulled back under again.

Although Min Yon Sul had long since lost the count on how many times he’d been yanked back under the surface, the monstrous current showed no signs of weakening. The same cycle repeated, on and on. It felt like he’d been tossed around by the unrelenting torrent for eons.

Once more, the river pulled him under. His body had grown so tired that simply holding his breath was a struggle. This time it was different. This time the current never brought him back to the surface. His panic grew in tandem with the burning in his lungs.

Just as the urge to draw in air won, he was shot in the air in a rumbling jet of water. Blink of an eye later he was already crashing through the foamy surface of the small lake below. The momentum dragged him deep into the cold, dark waters.

He spun in the murky water, not knowing up from down. He needed to get to the surface. He needed air. Unfortunately, before today, a bath tub was the largest body of water he’d ever seen. Hence the whole concept of swimming was foreign to him.

Sluggishly, he kicked his feet and flailed his arms around, trying to find his way to the surface, but his body was spent. Every last drop of strength had been squeezed out of him. A voice at the back of his mind kept screaming at him, but it was also fading. The edge of his vision was starting to go dark.

Suddenly, something grabbed the neck of his collar and pulled him upwards. With a splash his head broke the surface. He drew in a rasping breath of air with an audible gasp. Strength trickled back into his body and he started thrashing around, trying to grasp whatever had taken hold of him.

A hand slapped him across the cheek, hard. ”Calm down! You’ll drown us both!”

The stinging pain on his cheek brought back with it some semblance of reason. Blinking the water from his eyes he saw Rei Yang.

”Calm down, just hold your breath and you’ll float naturally.”

With an effort of will, he pushed his fear down and drew a deep breath. Now that he was able to breath again, the blinding panic was abating. It didn’t take long for him to realized she was right. Idly, he floated on his back they as made their way onwards.

The collar chafed at his neck and throat as she dragged him through the chilling waters, but he was too tired to care. Against all odds, the Qi lamp had survived and was bobbing away from them, casting its light into the darkness. The glass-like orb drifted slowly farther away, revealing more of the cavernous space.

The rumbling hum of falling water still filled the air but it grew more muted the farther they floated. The open space around them was enormous. It was hard to fathom something like it existing underground.

”Hey, what do you think, how far away did we get carried?” He asked.

”I have no idea, exactly, but we were in the river for a long time.”

”Glad it wasn’t just me who thought so.”

”No you weren’t” Rei Yang said and then stayed quiet for a while before continuing ”I think I land ahead.”

Soon Min Yon Sul heard water sloshing against a shore. Moments later water splashed as Rei Yang stood on her feet. At the same time his own heels struck solid ground under water. Hands grabbed the shoulders of his shirt and he was unceremoniously dragged to the dry land by his clothes.

The innumerable small stones worn smooth by the constant ebb and flow of the water pressed against his back. The wet clothes sucked heat from his body, sending shivers running through him. Yet for the first time in what felt like ages, he breathed without worry.

Goddamn. Never thought I’d be this happy to just feel solid ground.

He shifted his weight, inciting a clatter from the small pebbles under him. Next to him, Rei Yang laid on her back, breathing deep, long breaths as well. For a while they stayed there, not saying a word.

”Th-, Tha-,Thanks for hauling my ass out of there.” He finally said, teeth chattering from the cold.

”S-, Sure, I’ll add it to the tab. At this rate you’ll work for me until you’re ninety.”

”Aye, aye, princess. What do you think this place is?”

”Bah. Your guess is as good as mine. But it is humongous. I never spotted a wall in any direction.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Min Yon Sul glanced around ”We must be really, and I mean really, deep inside the mountain then. A dome this size doesn’t support itself unless there is enough rock around.”

She nodded quietly in the dimming light. Her hair was matted against her body, dripping water and her lips were turning bluish. Min Yon Sul found himself following the curves revealed by the wet clothes sticking closely to her skin. She didn’t notice him and watched the Qi lamp drift farther and farther away.

”I don’t want to be in the dark again.” She whispered.

”I’m with you on that. Yo-, You wouldn’t ha-, happen to have another lamp in your ring by any chance?”

”Nope, that was the only one I had.”

Min Yon Sul gripped his hands in fists, trying to get some blood flowing to his extremities. Something pressed against his right index and ring finger. He lifted his hand up, and stared at the fading light glinting off the ring on his middle finger.

”Umm, maybe this has one.” He said, holding his hand up to Rei Yang.

Her eyes widened to saucers, showing the whites around her pupils. ”Where did you get that?”

”Shin Yang gave it to me.”

”And you didn’t bother to mention it before?”

”In case you forgot, we’ve been pretty fucking pre-occupied recently, princess.” He said, with a bit of bite to his voice.

”Hmph, I guess you have a somewhat of a point.”

”Somewhat?”

”Agh, never mind. Well, what are you waiting for? Take a look what’s in there.” She said.

”Urrnnn, how exactly do I do that?”

”What?”

”How do I ’take a look’?”

”Oh, easy. Just push your Qi into it and you’ll see. It’s the similar to what you did with my sword when you acti--” She stopped talking and turned to stare at him. ”Wait, how did you activate the Qi pattern on the sword?”

”I have no clue, to be honest. I just felt something pulling at my Core and it just kind of happened.”

”That’s not what I mean. You have a Qi sealing collar on you. It should be impossible for you to even nudge your Qi around, let alone activate a Gold weapon.”

”Oh, yeah, that. Your uncle was kind enough to do some tinkering with it and now it’s just a really fancy decoration. What’s a gold weapon?”

”How clueless are you, you bumpkin?”

”Hey, I’ve had quite limited experience with swords, being a worker in this shithole, and all.”

In the constantly diminishing light, her silhouette pinched the bridge of her nose. ”It’s a rank. All the weapons for martial artists are ranked. Bronze, Silver, Gold, and so on. That sword is made for someone in the Gold stage of refining their Core and body. Obviously you want to match the grade of the weapon with your advancement.”

”Why so? Wouldn’t it just be best to swing around the best thing money can get. No offense, but I get the feeling your family is so rich that they must shit gold, princess.”

”Hmph. Just so you know, my family is doing adequately where finances are concerned but we are not immensely wealthy.”

”Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.”

”You just haven’t seen what real wealth is like. Anyway, to get back to your question, it should be obvious to you.”

Min Yon Sul shifted his weight, sending another rattle of stone echoing through the low murmur of the constantly falling water. ”I don’t see your point.”

”Let me put it in a way even a country bumpkin like you will understand. Why don’t you use a wagon instead of a backpack to haul out ore from the mines?” She asked.

”There’s no way I’d be able to pull a loaded wag--. I see.”

She nodded quietly.

”No wonder I felt like I’d been run over by said wagon just after one swing.” he said.

”Mmmh, it’s a small miracle you managed to power the sword even for that one swing. By the way, I saw it. It was, without doubt, the most horrible sword form I’ve ever witnessed.”

He shrugged his shoulders. ”It got the job done.”

She sighed. ”My instructors would've beaten me for that answer. But I guess it did. Well, anyway, let’s see what’s in the ring.”

Min Yon Sul closed his eyes. He tried to recreate the feeling he’d felt when he grabbed the lever at the gates, and later the connection with the sword. He sat in silence and concentrated. Time ticked away, yet he wasn’t any closer to forming the connection than he’d been, when he’d started.

He let out a frustrated groan. ”How am I supposed to go at this?”

”What do you mean? It’s quite self explanatory. You just move your Qi to the item and it does the rest.”

”You keep saying Qi this and Qi that. I have no clue what you mean by Qi and how I am supposed to move it anywhere.”

Now it was her turn to groan. ”Okay, listen. Focus inwards, to the center of your being. Feel your Core.”

Min Yon Sul sat still, eyes still closed. He turned all of his focus inward. In his mind’s eye he saw a small knot of light hovering right behind his navel. It was a weird feeling he found hard to describe. His Core had always been there, present, yet dull and useless, like a paralysed limb. Now it was blazing with power, almost begging to be used.

”I think I got it.”

”Good. Now, grab hold of your Qi and direct it to your hand, and to the ring.”

Min Yon Sul did his best not to groan.

Sure, just grab hold of it, huh? How the fuck am I supposed to do that?

He prodded at the shining lump of power with his mind. At first it didn’t respond to his efforts at all. Slowly he started to get a hang of how to grip the power with his will, though. It moved sluggishly like a drunkard woken up from a heavy stupor, but little by little he managed to goad a small sliver of his Qi towards the ring.

Suddenly the ring reached back, for lack of better word, and the connection snapped in place. Instinctive knowledge of the ring’s contents filled his mind. He knew he could reach for any of the items inside the three-by-three-by-two paces cube, and have it materialize in his hands.

While he didn’t recognize most of the items inside the ring, their value was unmistakable. Weapons, herbs, pills, gold, it was all there. Yet he shoved it away from his mind for now. Two thing grabbed his attention. A row of Qi lamps was one. The other was clothes. Dry, warm clothes.

He felt the Qi lamp drop on his hand, followed by a robe way too fine for him to wear. He set the Qi lamp on the ground carefully and pulled off his wet shirt.

”Wha-, what are young doing? Why are you stripping?” Rei Yang shouted.

He turned just in time to see the young woman spinning around to face away from him. For a moment he stopped in place, puzzled. Then he glanced down at his bare torso. He let out a chuckle.

”Oh, you don’t have to be so modest, princess. I don’t mind you looking if you like what you see.”

”As if I’d--. There’s no way I’d be--.”

”No need to worry, I know I’m quite the handsome devil, so I understand.”

”You--. You--”

”Oh calm down, I’m just teasing you. On a more serious note, you should also change into dry clothes. No point freezing to death after surviving till now.”

Her shoulders quivered, and for a moment Min Yon Sul was sure she’d explode. Then she stomped away without a word, disappearing from view.

From the darkness, her voice carried. ”Follow me or try to take a peek and I’ll make sure your head rolls, even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Min Yon Sul chuckled again. He waited for the young woman, content to stay on his feet. The robes he had on were so fine it felt sacrilegious to sit down on the ground, lest he dirty them. Some rustling of clothes and shuffling sounds later Rei Yang walked back to him.

”You could’ve at least lit the Qi lamp.”

”And welcome back to you as well, princess. Unfortunately, getting the ring to co-operate was enough of a challenge on its own for me.”

She crouched down and picked up the glassy sphere. ”Fine, fine.”

In moments, a bright light started budding from the orb in Rei Yang’s hand.

Instant later a voice came from behind them ”Well, well, well. What do we have here?”