Joshua felt a tearing sensation that caused him to roll away in pain, his hand grew hotter from the blood dripping into it as he tried to apply pressure to the wound.

It seems that in the midst of the chaos, Sai's knife grazed his waist as he attempted to tackle him to safety.

With his ears still ringing from the earlier shriek, he stood up trying to ascertain the safety of his siblings, concerned that another light ray may have formed.

He was also worried that his fixation on the blinding light beneath Sai made him miss another hole.

But as soon as he stood up, a gust of wind nearly knocked him back down as he struggled to inch forward, his black hair blowing uncontrollably in the air, eventually landing in front of his face and covering his eyes.

[ I could really use a haircut] He thought as he brushed his hair aside, but what he saw was pitch-black darkness. It seems that the wind caused what few torches they had to be extinguished.

With his vision heavily impaired and the location of the hole unknown, Joshua yelled out: "Can anyone hear me? Is everyone alright?"

He waited for a few moments with bated breath as he heard his voice echo across the room, finally, several voices rose up in response.

"It's me Herbert and uhhh..Altan, I think? we're fine"

"It's not Altan idiot, Get off of me!"

"Sarai? I didn't know your arm was this jacked!"

"Shut up!"

[If we draw a plane with me as the origin middle, it seems their voice came from the front left, let's go with (-2,3) for now]

"Did you guys move at all? Do you remember where the hole was before it went dark?"

Sarai took over "I was pacing back and forth I think, or maybe left and right? Hard to tell here. All I remember is looking over my right shoulder at Sai when he said his response."

Altan's voice was heard next: " I'm with Teuta, we're both fine. Still sitting where I was so the hole must be in front of me"

[The voice came from the rear left, (-1,- something ), so the hole must be somewhere to my left]

"Everyone stay where you are!

"You don't think? It can't be connected right!"

"That's..." Joshua pauses for a moment, but he has already resolved to be completely honest about this, "I'm sure it is, we can't risk it! Just sit tight and let me deal with it."

"What about Sai, is he alright?" asked Sarai.

"Hey Sai! Can you hear me? " said Joshua in a lowered tone of voice. He knew Sai could hear him as they were a few feet apart, but in this gloomy darkness, he couldn't see his hand if he was rubbing his eyes with it.

No response was heard, For Sai lay frozen in place. He was having a hard time processing the absurdity of what happened. Even though it happened right before his eyes, his mind categorically rejected what had occurred.

After all, that the ground beneath his feet had just burst open like the jaws of a beast trying to swallow him whole was beyond absurd.

He was finally pulled out of this spiral by Joshua's increasingly concerned tone "Sai, hey Sai! Can you hear me? Are you ok? "

Sai looked around in confusion before answering:

"Joshua? You're not going to believe this dream I just had! We were in a bizarre cave trying to solve some ridiculous riddle! You were acting a little crazy saying that you were seeing giant eyeballs or something haha! It's the first time I didn't dream of that recurring nightmare."

"Recurring nightmare? It wasn't a dream Sai, get a hold of yourself!"

"There you go pulling my leg again! Listen I'm gonna go back to sleep, if the old man asks tell him I'm sick."

[The old man is dead Sai....]

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Joshua decided not to press it further, Sai's skeptical and rational nature makes him the most susceptible to breakdown in the face of such unnatural phenomena. For now, he is satisfied with the fact that he is safe and staying still.

"Sai is fine! He's just—just a little tired from the fall. Everyone, please remain still."

[Sai's voice came from the front, With the diameter of the hole unknown I need to put some distance from him. Let's move to the right.]

Joshua started moving to what he perceived to be the right, making sure that the footing was solid before taking each step. His steps pounded across the silent hall as he inched forward step by step.

"Is someone moving?"

"Yes it's me, I'm getting some distance away ! Keep staying still!" Joshua responded, before taking another step. But instead of stopping on solid ground, his leg rolled forward as he dropped into a complete split. The ripping sound of his pants tearing into two at the inseam coupled with the sound of wood rolling on the ground.

Fortunately, Their swordsmanship training in the orphanage involved a lot of stretching and lifting stones which led to them developing nimble and flexible bodies.

Thankful to the pitch darkness for once, Joshua puts his free hand down on the ground and in one motion springs back up on his feet. He rummaged around for a while looking for the object that tripped him, eventually picking up a wooden stick-like object.

[It feels too light to be a weapon. Is this one of the torches that was blown away earlier?]

He puts the part that he had in his grip under his arm as he continues applying pressure to the wound and examines the top.

[It's definitely a torch; it's still warm too. Maybe I can light it up.]

He didn't have a flint, and the ground was unnaturally smooth, devoid of any sharp edges that were needed to make sparks. For now his best bet was to get closer to the wall and hope that he can find a jagged rock.

All the while running the riddle through his mind thinking of an answer, he didn't realize he made it to the edge until his head was planted in a gooey and squishy object.

Joshua recoiled back in terror and disgust, almost falling on his bottom, as he realized what he just bumped into.

Retching as he peeled the gooey substance away from his face, almost vomiting from the stench.

He suddenly jolted up alarmed and started looking around for an impending ray of light, he breathed easy when he realized nothing was going to happen.

[At least now I know I can touch them. not that I plan to do so, ever!]

He finds a jagged rock and grabs the bottom of the torch, carefully scraping away some tinder and piling it underneath the rock.

He didn't find any loose rocks close by, so he resorted to striking the rock with his knife by force. When this caused more ruckus than result he started trying different knife styles he learned.

[

"A serf lives and dies knowing only one weapon, a soldier three, and a mercenary five. Giving a soldier a weapon he's not familiar with is akin to arming him with a stick," Dirrar said as he finished chomping through his third apple. "You might as well give him a mop so he can scrub his blood from the boots of his enemy, because they'll be knee-deep in it."

Painting, Joshua asked in frustration: " Who goes to war without proper armaments? Who even made this foolish fighting style?"

"The forest staff of Lebidna, developed by inhabitants of a city besieged for over 50 years. When all their armor and weapons rotted away, they turned to their rich forest. Little by little they discarded their inherent techniques and perfected the staff style." The director said as he approached the training field.

"I've been there once, any old lady with a broom handle would have you shoveling dirt in 10 moves." Added Dirrar chuckling.

Herbert asked as he lay flat on his back, panting from exhaustion "So who won in the end?"

The director replied with a glum tone "Conflict that long become a fact of life, by the time the war was over they didn't even remember what started it. All that remains is the resulting death and suffering, there are no winners in such a war."

]

The various styles and weapons he used growing up proved crucial now, for simply striking the rock with brute force wasn't going to work. Instead, he kept striking firmly at a sharp angle, as if he was penetrating the gaps of the armor and striking the exposed flesh. Soon the sparks shot up from the repeated movements as he used the recoiling of his hands to power through the next strike, skin to how the enforcer style relies on the opponent's keen combat senses and sharpness to fuel their next strikes.

Finally, a resinous scent filled his nose as the tinder caught fire. Joshua then carefully placed it at the torch's fuel-soaked end, all the while gently blowing to keep the tiny embers kindling. The flame sprung out on contact with the torch finally lighting up his immediate surroundings.

But instead of relief, Joshua felt his horror grow more vivid as he realized the changes that occurred to the hellish eyeballs.