“I need to figure out what I am going to do,” said Alex to himself. He sat under the dim light of the growing sprouts above himself. “Do I continue searching the depth of the mines for items and food I can subsist on? Should I try and follow the path upwards? Can I even go that way, or do I need to cut my way through the rock somehow?”
Alex felt the cave wall and gave it a good push. “Yeah, that won’t work. Maybe if I could output enough lightning to make some sort of superheated plasma beam and cut through it. That would be nice but is in no way realistic right now. As fun as it would be to continue downward through the cave system I need to get out of here. This was a nice detour, and I am more ready than ever, but I would like some hot food and a hot shower.”
Alex traced his steps back up the tunnel until he hit the intersection again. This time he turned upwards. As he went he continued to practice his echolocation in the darkness. It helped him avoid loose rocks and while he never felt comfortable moving his hand off the wall as a guide he tried it occasionally.
The experience of walking using only echolocation was a strange feeling for Alex. He was so used to seeing regularly in his day-to-day that being forced to read an image of the tunnel second by second instead of continuously was off-putting. He shuffled around most of the time. It was partly because the echolocation was unusual another part because of his injuries. The injuries were still quite visible and now the pain was almost gone. To speed up his travel time he left the numbing to the wayside so that he could divert more mana into echolocation.
His hand and fingers could now reliably grip the daggers and spin them around as necessary. It hurt a little to do so but Alex had the numbing ready if he needed to. At this point though he wished for a proper health potion. Using the moss and then eating the cave sprouts had been a quick and dirty way to heal from his injuries but didn’t feel great. His healing had been accelerated but not quick or painless.
“I wonder what the others are up to now. I don’t know how long I was unconscious and half-dead for. I left the party sometime before I woke up which means that they cleared the quest. Unlikely. Or I died for a minute there and the system kicked me out of the party. I’m not sure which I want to believe more. I guess it doesn’t matter now. In the short term, I need to worry about leaving, and then I can worry about how I can dish out revenge.”
“They’ve now since met up by now and Rich has spun them whatever tale of my death he could come up with. The sad tragic death of Alex the broken lightning mage. Destined for glory but cut off too early. Or something like that.”
“At least from this experience, I can use my lightning magic as a utility and tool for improvement even if I can’t throw out full-blown lightning bolts in the future. Being able to numb my pain and use echolocation are valuable skills on their own. And now I’m using it to survive what should have been much harder to deal with.”
A wave of bitterness washed over Alex as he thought about Rich's deceit. The fresh sting of betrayal, combined with being abandoned to die in the cave system, amplified his hurt. The surrounding darkness seemed to mirror the darkness settling over his heart, and he couldn't help but feel hopeless.
Despite the bleakness, determination flickered within him. Alex knew he couldn't let Rich's treachery define him at this moment. He had to escape the cave on his own and find a way past whatever obstacles the cave had yet to throw his way. As he pondered his situation, he began to see the silver lining. He had learned new ways to use his lightning magic, proving his resourcefulness and adaptability. In that way, Rich was wrong. He was not useless.
Alex's thoughts drifted to the friends he once knew, the ones he believed in, and the camaraderie they shared. He wondered if they had been duped by Rich's lies or if they had played a part in his betrayal. The uncertainty gnawed at him as he walked, deepening the ache in his chest, and intensifying his sense of isolation. Loneliness threatened to swallow him, but Alex refused to succumb.
Instead, he clung to his newfound skills, drawing strength from them to pull himself from despair. He focused on finding a way out of the cave. His resolve hardened, and thoughts of revenge took shape. Alex vowed to confront Rich, expose him as a traitor, and prevent more people from falling victim to his deceit.
Beneath the anger and thirst for vengeance, however, Alex felt a sense of loss. He mourned the friendships that Rich's actions might have forever tainted and wondered if he could ever trust again. Even as he plotted his retribution, he knew it wouldn't fill the void left behind. He yearned for simpler times when he could explore the world with his friends, free from fear or suspicion clouding his judgment.
“It doesn’t matter right now what they are up to. They will have completed the quest by now or failed in their attempt after discarding me. I can at least hope that they have failed their quest keeping themselves trapped on the first floor for a while longer until I can catch up to them. For now, I need to get out of here. Somewhere in this maze of tunnels, there must be a way out.”
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An hour passed and Alex felt his legs burn from all the walking. The weight of his armor weighed on him further as he went. He did what he could to adjust the pieces and keep going. In the end, he stopped for a few minutes after every new mile walked. He looked around hoping for water, but the cave was dry.
"Crap," Alex muttered, freezing in place. He hastily sent out another wave of echolocation signals to confirm what he had seen. He cautiously stepped back, eyeing the pack of five mole rats scurrying in the pitch-black tunnel ahead. Remaining still, he quickly sent out a few more signals, waiting to see if the rats had detected his presence. Fortunately, his muddied armor and the stale air masked his scent, keeping him undetected at this distance. The rats remained oblivious to his echolocation signals as well.
"They haven't seen me yet, but they're heading this way. I could light up the cave for a visual fight, but I don’t have the speed or mana for that. That leaves me with echolocation. If I switch off my numbing spell and focus solely on auditory sensing, I can 'see' in a different way. I've managed to navigate in the dark for two hours. I just need to concentrate more and adapt my fighting style while keeping the magic active. I can handle it.”
Alex crouched down and kept his breathing soft to reduce noise. He let his mana flood to his ears and his vision disappeared. He tested his echolocation once more and confirmed that the rats were getting closer. He drew his daggers.
The first rat crept forward, its razor-sharp claws clicking ominously on the jagged tunnel floor. Alex tensed the darkness of the cavern no hindrance to his heightened senses. He tracked the creature's movements through the cacophony of sound waves echoing around him. Suddenly, the rat lunged. He nimbly dodged, it’s teeth narrowly missing his arm. With a fluid motion, he slashed at the fearsome beast, his dagger slicing through its matted fur and tearing into its flesh. The rat squealed in agony and fell limp.
A second rat leaped towards him, but Alex anticipated its attack. One of many benefits allowed Alex to see everything around himself even if he was not physically facing the threat. He spun around and plunged his other dagger into its throat, silencing it. Blood splattered onto the cave walls. Alex had no time to savor his victory as the remaining three rats closed in. He adjusted his vison input once more and what he once had thought of were mana signatures of the monsters he realized were the pulsing electrical signals of the rats. The bright electrical signals layered on top of his echolocation gave him better vision than the rats at the current moment.
One rat darted towards his left side, while another charged head-on. Alex pivoted with precision, using his foot to sweep the charging rat off balance. They didn’t see it coming, relying solely on sound and smell to track him. He then hurled his dagger with deadly accuracy into the heart of the one on his left. The disoriented rat scrambled back to its feet, only to meet the cold steel of Alex's blade.
Now, only one rat remained. But this one was different. It was larger, its fur matted and caked with dried blood. It snarled and bared its teeth, ready for a fight. It was the alpha.
The alpha lunged, its speed and power catching Alex off guard. He stumbled back, a sharp pain shooting through his arm as the rat's teeth sank into his flesh. Gritting his teeth, Alex swung his free arm, slamming the butt of his dagger into the creature's skull. It released its grip, dazed but not defeated.
Alex's heart pounded, his breaths short and ragged. He knew he couldn't keep this up much longer. Desperation fueled his thoughts as he concocted a quick plan. His body ached, and his mana reserves were draining faster than he liked. But he had just enough left to create a spark. The alpha rat recovered and charged once more; its eyes filled with unbridled rage.
Alex focused on his dwindling mana, preparing for the final confrontation. As the rat leaped towards him, he unleashed the spark. A blinding burst of light exploded in front of him, momentarily disorienting the creature. In that split second, Alex lunged forward, driving his dagger deep into the rat's heart. The alpha convulsed, its lifeblood draining away, and then fell still.
Alex, exhausted and wounded, crumpled to the ground. Silence enveloped the tunnel once more, broken only by his labored breathing. He allowed himself a brief moment to catch his breath, his body trembling from the adrenaline and exertion. He knew he needed to patch up his wounds and recover his strength, for he couldn't afford to let his guard down.
He focused his current reserves of mana toward numbing his arm. The ability came easy after using it actively for as many hours as he had done. Instead of numbing his entire arm or his whole-body Alex was even able to isolate the section of the arm that was injured. His efforts did nothing to stop the bleeding, but they helped him focus on cleaning up the wound and putting pressure on it. Alex checked the tunnel and didn’t sense anything else coming down the path. Once he had pressure on the wound consistent and felt ready he stood back up.
Alex kept a fast pace, not wanting to lose more blood than necessary. Anything he could have used as a bandage was long gone. Torn from him by Rich. He did what he could with his shirt and the blood-soaked through it. He kept his head down and focused on his arm while he walked. He occasionally had to slow his pace to get confirmation from his echolocation, but he was improving. It was starting to ingrain into himself a habit to send out signals at regular intervals and interpret the data as he walked.
He stumbled again as he walked. His knees scraped the floor when he hit the ground. Alex sent out a flurry of signals to figure out what went wrong. The signals were a blurry mess, but his hands and feet felt the ground beneath him. It was shifting and shaking.