All my life, I have traversed the Endless Realms. I have seen heavenly utopias and witnessed hellish dystopias. Even so, I am sometimes surprised at the myriad ways life thrives in the most unexpected of places. - a quote attributed to Human Sage and Explorer, Magna Carter in his husband's autobiography, 'Life With An Explorer'.

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Marc didn't encounter any other living creatures as he walked deeper underground. He heard them though, skittering around in the dark, but none of them came near enough for him to see. It made him a bit nervous, not being able to tell what sort of creatures were moving about near him but he consoled himself with the fact that they didn't try attacking him.

He walked slowly, partly because of his injuries and partly so he could clearly survey the path forward under the cherry glow of his torch. The tunnel starting to slope downwards at a barely noticeable angle. Despite noticing this, Marc forged on, not intending to turn back in the slightest. He might as well continue onward since he had no idea what direction he was supposed to head towards.

Before long, he reached a fork in the tunnel and stopped walking. Both paths looked mostly the same. He randomly picked the left path and continued walking down the tunnel.

After over thirty minutes of walking, punctuated by brief stops when he heard some small creatures scuttle around in the dark near him, he stopped to rest. He leaned back against the tunnel wall, his half-burnt torch held aloft to warn of incoming dangers. His body was sticky with sweat; there wasn't exactly a lack of air in the tunnel but it wasn't breezy or cool either.

He plunged his hand into the goblin bag at his waist and took it out, a dried nut clenched in it. He slowly ate to replenish his energy and drank some of his meager water supply to wash down the slightly sour aftertaste.

He stood resting against the wall for a few minutes after filling his stomach, staring mindlessly into the dark and trying not to think about how he had no idea what to do. Somehow, he was in an even worse situation than he'd been when he first appeared on this world. Now, the hope of getting to civilization was miniscule and he would have to spend the rest of his time on this world underground if he couldn't find any way out. That was assuming he wasn't eaten by something too strong for him.

Marc cut off the fatalistic thoughts.

Enough of the angst. Better to do something productive. Like walking. Walking was good. Walking was productive. Best get to it.

A sinuous, four-legged shape poked into the region lit by the torch, startling him from his reclining position. The creature froze at that and darted away, its hurried movements scattering loose tunnel debris and creating a racket that seemed entirely too loud in the otherwise silent tunnel.

Marc breathed a sigh of relief as it went, admonishing himself for letting an unknown creature, albeit probably harmless, get that close to him without his knowledge.

He grabbed his knife from where he had placed it - hooked between his skin and his bag's strap - and after a worried glance at his slowly burning out torch, he continued walking.

He came across a large opening in the tunnel wall, raised a foot or so off the tunnel floor. Curious, he climbed in, eager to see where it led. The tunnel was not nearly as large as the one he'd been in - evidenced by the closer walls - but it was close. The passageway meandered more acutely too, twisting and curving sideways and... upwards?

Yes, the tunnel was definitely going upwards. Marc sped up, driven by the hope of getting aboveground. The tunnel incline became increasingly steep and hectic to climb but Marc didn't let that dissuade him. He placed his knife into his bag and used his freed hand to support his climb, bracing himself against the tunnel wall as he moved up, pausing occasionally when his ribs and lungs complained.

The rock of the tunnel slowly shifted into sand and the floor and walls became less stable, his movements shifting the sand and sending it sliding down the tunnel. The tunnel evened out after some time and Marc stepped into a sandy cave.

He couldn't see all of the cave from the light of his torch but the area he did see near him was dominated by large rock formations all around. One was present just to his right, slightly away from the cave entrance. He walked over to it, sweeping his torch over to examine it.

It was a grayish colour, glistening slightly in the light. It rose up to three feet higher than him and stretched out of the region his torch covered.

Wait, did the rock just tremble?

Marc watched as the substance he'd mistaken for solid rock rippled, revealing itself to be a gelatinous liquid. He backed away warily, thoughts of giant monster slimes coming to him.

It wasn't a giant slime. No, it was way worse. A brown, ridged form broke out of the slime, some of the jelly-like substance still sticking to it. It was a worm, one several times larger than the one he'd faced aboveground.

Marc backed away slowly as the worm's oversized head moved about searchingly, throwing off thick globs of slime. Then its small red eyes focused on him and the creature slid forward towards him.

Marc - already at the tunnel opening - slashed his torch in the air, drawing a line of momentary line of fire in the air and making the torch flicker dangerously close to dying out. The giant worm backed off, its weight shifting the sand beneath it. Then it continued moving towards him undeterred. Marc could see the other slime-covered worms he'd mistaken for rocks shifting.

He turned and ran.

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For some reason, the worm didn't follow him despite the fact it would have easily fit in the tunnel behind him. Marc didn't bother thinking about why it didn't.

His descent down the tunnel was faster than his ascent and he soon got back to the wider tunnel he had diverged from, heaving a sigh of relief as he did before continuing down the tunnel.

The downward incline of the tunnel became even more prominent as he continued and the passage began to show plant life. At first, it was just the occasional weed growing out of cracks in the wall and floor but with every step he took, the vegetation continued to increase until he was stepping on slick, slimy moss, making him wish he had some footwear. Even the air was becoming humid and fresher.

The tunnel also widened slowly, noticeably, and Marc came across more openings in the tunnel walls and a couple of branching pathways leading away from his current path.

Having already learned his lesson, Marc didn't venture away from his current path. It was safer, for now.

After a while, he could hear a muted murmur from farther down the tunnel that increased from a roar as he walked closer. The moisture in the tunnel also increased gradually which meant there was water nearby. Maybe an underground river from the noise.

He moved slower as he neared the origin of the noise. He tunnel slope and the disgusting, slippery moss he was treading on made him have a few close calls but he managed to avoid falling.

The tunnel slope started decreasing again before finally leveling out and the roar he was hearing grew even louder until he was sure it was the sound of crashing water. A soft blue light emanated from up ahead in the tunnel.

Marc continued until he reached the end of the tunnel and emerged into a massive cavern. A rushing river occupied most of the enormous cave, splitting it in two. At one end of the cavern, a waterfall fed into the river from high above, causing vigorous rapids and spraying water. The water itself glowed, throwing a bluish light around he cavern.

The air was thick with moisture and water sprayed randomly from the waterfall and river, occasionally almost dousing his torch. Marc hurriedly went back into the tunnel and placed the torch upright between a rock and the tunnel wall to keep it burning. Then, he headed back to the cavern.

Drawing the eye were shimmering dots of light lining the walls of the cavern, scattered haphazardly about. They were dimmer in comparison to the river so he hadn't noticed them at first but once he did, they were impossible to ignore. A closer look at one near him revealed they were crystals, capturing and reflecting the light of the river so the entire chamber was an iridescent lightshow.

The river continued flowing through the cavern till all he could see of it was a softly glowing blur. He saw several tunnels leading into the cavern and even more leading out, forking the subterranean river.

Marc had emerged from his tunnel on a raised outcropping near the waterfall, the river rushing past beneath him at least ten feet down. Random jets of glowing water splashed against his body as he walked closer to the river, bathing him in no time. Some of it entered his mouth and he savored the life-bringing liquid. It had a slightly off taste and left a weird tingle in his mouth and throat but it was cool and refreshing.

Looking down, most of the rock beneath the stone platform he was standing on had been eroded away by the rapids and he felt unsafe standing there.

Getting down was tricky, though. The outcropping continued towards the waterfall, getting increasingly narrow until it was just a thin line of rock that would only barely serve as a handhold, the rock sheared away by the force of the waterfall. To the other side, away from the waterfall, the outcrop extended a few meters before abruptly ending, giving way to the luminous waters below.

The jump was shorter than one from a diving board into a swimming pool but not only was Marc injured, the river below him was teeming with rapid currents and its depth was unknown. That was without accounting for whatever creatures might be lurking in the waters.

He could either jump into the river or head back the way he'd come.

Either I test my luck with winding tunnels and giant worms or I jump and see where the river takes me, if I survive.

It was a no-brainer. Marc turned and walked back to the tunnel he'd come in from. Better head back the way he came.

Before he left, though, Marc refilled his empty bags of water, reaching his arm out towards the waterfall and letting the water slowly fill the bags. He could have gotten the water faster if he walked closer to the waterfall but Marc felt it was better to be safe.

Just when he was about to leave via the tunnel, he paused, a glowing crystal set in the wall beside the tunnel catching his eyes.

This is stupid, he thought as he took out his bone knife, hesitating a bit.

However, remembering how the random stone he'd picked up turned out to be useful in fighting back spectres, he forged ahead. He used the knife to chip away at the rock around the crystal, slowly digging it out. The rock was easier to dig into than he expected but he quickly realized part of it must be the fact that he'd increased his Physique.

His body barely felt different, though. Sure, when he'd first increased his Physique, he had clearly noticed it. His body had distinctly felt different; he felt lighter, his bodily coordination was greater. Even breathing felt better. However, after a while, the sensation had faded away into normality. Only his random feats of strength reminded him that his body was stronger than the average human's. Like braining a monster with his bare hands or digging into rock with just a dagger or even the way his body was feeling way better than it should.

Before the Integration, Marc would be laid up in bed if he had a rib fracture or even just a sprained ankle. Now, he still felt the pain but it was just easier to push past it.

You know, with my increased Physique, I could probably survive jumping into the river.

Marc dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. Better safe than sorry. He pulled out the crystal and dusted off the rock dust on it.

The crystal was all rough edges and angles, unrefined but somehow as dazzling as a diamond. Its multifaceted surface caught the glow of the river but even so, it seemed to have its own inner light radiating out and it had an eerie warmth that set his palm tingling.

It reminded him of ether but different somehow. He could almost swear it also felt like lifeforce but he put it down to his inexperience with the forces.

He grimaced at the thought of the forces. He could have used lifeforce to augment his strength and speed when he was fighting the tunnel monster. He probably would have killed it faster and with less injuries. However, he hadn't even thought of it at all in the heat of the moment.

It was stupid of him and all came down to his inexperience with the magical forces. He hadn't even practiced using them more than once or twice.

That had to change. If he was going to survive the apocalypse, he had to make use of every tool at his disposal.

Marc turned his focus back to the magical crystal. From the novels he'd read, he could guess this was probably some sort of ether crystal or something like that. It would probably be useful and more of it wouldn't hurt.

He quickly went about the platform digging out the crystals in reach and came away with half a dozen of them, which he placed in his bag. Then, with a last glance at the captivating cavern and the river, he walked back the way he came.

Back to the tunnels.