Chapter 204: Worse Partner
Chapter 202
The same way Ray and Van were falling, Kai and Trish were experiencing the same descent, but their own approach to the situation was oddly different.
Instead of panicking, Kai crossed one leg over the other, an apple in hand while he played idly with the bandana over his head.
Each bite of the fruit made him hum slightly while he twirled his finger in and out of the fabric.
Occasionally, he would glance at Trish who was positioned below him, her eyes scanning the void, trying to see if she could grab a hold of anything to halt their plunge.
No screams. No panic. No shouting.
Just silence radiated from the duo as they performed their separate tasks in the dark.
Chewing the snack in his hand, Kai scanned the obsidian darkness surrounding them.
’It’s a good thing I snuck in a treat. Who knew that I would be quite hungry in such a strange and deadly situation?’
Sighing, he bit into the apple again before twirling the core around his palm.
’... What were those things? How did we even get trapped in such a predicament? And where are the others? We all got swallowed by different creatures, so I don’t know if we will even meet up at all.’
The next moment, they were struck by the same suction force that slowed their drop by a few fractions of a second.
Kai stared at Trish’s hair; the girl remained calm and unperturbed by the entire crisis.
If it were any other girl in her position, Kai was certain that his ears would be bleeding from the screams by now.
Even still, the terrifying question remained: Where were they falling to? Death?
Trish opened her mouth, about to say something, when the annoying chewing sound from Kai abruptly halted.
"I can smell earth," the blonde-haired boy uttered suddenly as a frown appeared on his face.
Trish looked visibly confused by his sudden proclamation. "What now? Don’t tell me that you are also a werewolf."
Kai shook his head as he quickly pushed the half-eaten apple into his pocket before his ability began surrounding his forearms with a protective glow.
"We will be hitting the ground in a bit. Brace for impact."
Trish remained perplexed.
How could he possibly know this?
Because currently, she couldn’t see a single thing; her vision was completely hindered due to the absolute darkness.
Neither could she smell ’the earth’ like Kai claimed, nor could she perceive the floor.
But she chose to believe his words and quickly began encasing her own forearms with jagged ice.
Before she could say a word, she was able to catch a fleeting glimpse of the approaching ground through the dim lighting coming from who knows where.
Crossing her encased limbs in front of her face, she was the first to hit the rocky earth with a loud bang.
The frozen coating crumbled almost immediately under the pressure while her body was violently sent skidding away across the dirt.
She moved just in time, as Kai smashed into the exact same spot she had occupied a moment ago.
His own coating managed to hold firm, since his ability was famous for its incredible durability.
But even still, deep cracks appeared on the surface of his armor, as he was unable to power the shields well due to his low meta-force.
He was running on low fumes and might not even be able to fight if a beast attacked them.
Beast!
Quickly springing up to their feet in case a beast attacked, they suddenly felt a wave of giddiness and staggered for a few moments.
The velocity of the descent, paired with the violent impact against the earth, was enough to disorient even a seasoned adult, let alone mere kids.
Before they could collapse back onto the floor, they stomped on the earth hard, quickly anchoring themselves through sheer willpower.
But no matter how hard they looked... or listened, they were unable to sense anything approaching them except for a faint, ghostly rustle caressing their skin from somewhere in the void.
It felt like a draft of wind coming from multiple angles, whispering through the silence of the underground.
"I-I think there are openings in the walls. Something to lead us out of here," Kai uttered as he frantically turned around, but he was unable to see a single thing in the oppressive gloom.
Trish, on the other hand, slowly navigated the space.
Her hands waved through the air as she took one cautious step after another, incredibly careful not to trip over any unseen obstacles.
She tottered around until her fingertips finally brushed against a cold wall.
Slowly tracing her palm over the rugged stone, she steadied her balance.
She pinned her back to the solid earth while staring straight ahead into the darkness where she presumed Kai was standing.
"Ohoy~! Where are you?!" Kai asked, twisting his head around as he audibly searched for the girl’s presence.
But Trish gave no response whatsoever for several seconds.
She remained standing perfectly still, looking ahead while focusing on controlling her ragged breathing.
"Hello? Are you still here with me?"
After a few more moments of silence, Trish finally replied, "Yeah. Just needed to catch my breath for a moment."
Kai lifted an eyebrow as he sharply turned his head in the direction of the girl’s voice. "Why are you so far away?"
Trish looked straight toward him... not like she could actually see him in the pitch black.
An expression of deep confusion appeared on her face.
"Hm? You said there were likely openings in the walls just a moment ago. What if beasts trickle in from those holes?
We can’t see, but they likely can due to being adapted to this environment for a long duration. And I would hate to be surrounded from all ends with so many disadvantages on my hands."
She paused, thinking for a few seconds before adding,
"That’s why I found a wall to pin my back to. So in case a beast appears, they can only attack from the front."
Kai stood frozen for a few seconds, blinking at the empty, dark air before facepalming himself loudly.
The slap of his hand against his forehead echoed through the cavern.
"Why didn’t I think of that?!"
Regardless, he couldn’t beat himself up too much about the oversight, so he just turned his attention back to where the wind was rustling from with a confused look on his face.
He could feel the air currents tugging at his clothes, a subtle guide in the lightless room.
"Uh... it’s obvious that we have to take one of those paths out of this cavern. So which do we take?" Kai asked as he turned his head around, trying to gauge the strength of each breeze.
Trish just shrugged, not offering any more of her words after that quick explanation.
She seemed content to let the silence stretch out again, her focus entirely on the potential threats lurking in the shadows.
’Great. Not only am I stuck in a dark, gloomy cavern with not an idea of which direction is which due to the absence of light; but I’m also stuck with the worst partner ever, a person of very few words. Who else could possibly be having it worse than me right now?’