Chapter 320:How to leave.
Silver frowned.
He focused keenly and found that one section felt different. It was not empty but not completely solid either.
Silver opened his eyes.
He turned toward the far side of the cavern where there was a wall. He walked toward it and activated Spatial Sense more narrowly.
The difference became clearer. The material behind this section was looser. There were small gaps and then several meters beyond it... Empty space.
Silver’s heartbeat quickened.
"A tunnel."
Maybe.
He wasn’t celebrating yet. This was Death Row Valley. A tunnel could lead outside or directly into a chamber filled with worms.
Silver crouched beside the wall and placed one hand against it. Loose dirt fell between his fingers.
This section might have been sealed by the collapse, or it could have been an older tunnel that hadn’t been used in years.
He focused Spatial Sense beyond it into the empty passage. He searched for movement but found nothing
That meant very little.
Spatial Sense could identify changes around him, but detecting a perfectly still creature behind several meters of earth wasn’t guaranteed.
He backed away, pulled his gun outl. He stared at the wall.
"Let’s not do anything stupid."
He waited for a few minutes but nothing came out. Silver picked up a small rock and threw it against the wall. The stone struck and a dull sound echoed through the cavern.
He immediately raised his gun as he waited for something to come put. If worms were immediately behind the wall, the vibration would have probably attracted something.
Silver didn’t like relying on probably. He activated Spatial Sense again and found no movement.
"Fine."
He sheathed his sword but the gun remained within reach. Silver raised his free hand, spatial energy gathering. He deliberately kept it very small.
The last thing he wanted was to unleash a full-powered Space Slash and bring another section of the mountain down on his head.
[Space Slash Lv2 Activated.]
A thin distortion appeared. Silver moved two fingers and the distortion crossed the wall. There was barely any sound.
A narrow line appeared across the rock and packed earth. Silver immediately stopped the skill.
He stepped back, gun raised as he waited. The dust slowly fell from the cut but nothing came through. Silver waited another minute, then approached.
He pushed carefully against the section he’d cut and a small piece broke free. The other side was dark.
Silver froze.
He raised the gun toward the opening but nothing attacked him. He widened the hole slightly with his hand, then stopped.
He listened but no sound came through. Silver crouched and looked through and was met with complete darkness.
"Helpful."
He activated Spatial Sense through the opening. The tunnel became clearer. It extended farther than his range but there was no immediate danger.
Silver smiled faintly.
"I’ll take it."
He began slowly opening the wall. He didn’t use another Space Slash immediately. Most of the material was loose enough to remove by hand once he’d created the initial break.
Silver pulled away rocks, dirt,and more rocks. Every few minutes, he stopped and listened. The opening gradually became large enough for his head, then shoulders.
Eventually, enough for him to crawl through but he didn’t enter immediately. He widened it more. There was no reason to trap himself in a narrow opening if something attacked from the other side.
After nearly half an hour, the passage was large enough for him to move through comfortably while crouching. Silver returned to his supplies and checked everything again.
He looked toward the queen’s tunnel one final time.
"Goodbye, let’s not see each other again."
Silver entered the opening.
The temperature changed almost immediately; the air was cooler. That caught his attention.
He stopped.
Airflow?
He held still, there was nothing obvious but the air inside the tunnel definitely felt different from the stagnant cavern he’d spent the past day trapped inside.
That was promising, although, not proof of an exit. Silver moved forward. The tunnel widened after several meters, allowing him to stand.
He drew his handgun while his other hand remained near his sword. The darkness ahead swallowed everything.
Silver activated Spatial Sense for several seconds. The passage continued left with no movement within range.
He deactivated the skill.
It became his rule to conserve energy. He would use it at intersections before entering larger caverns, whenever he heard something, and periodically to make sure nothing was approaching. Otherwise, his ears and instincts would have to do the work.
Silver started walking, his footsteps almost silent. Years of military training returned naturally. He stayed near one side of the passage, avoided loose stones, watched the ground for tracks, and listened.
The tunnel wasn’t completely natural. Silver noticed that after perhaps fifteen minutes. Some sections had smooth walls while others contained scratches.
Silver crouched beside one and touched it.
"Wonderful."
Something had used these tunnels,but whether it still did was another question.
Silver stood and continued.
The first intersection appeared roughly twenty minutes later. There were three routes before him.
Silver stopped.
"Of course."
He activated Spatial Sense.
[Spatial Sense Lv2 Activated.]
The left passage narrowed considerably after several dozen meters. The right continued downward. The middle passage remained relatively level before curving beyond his detection range.
Silver stared at the three. Down was the last direction he wanted since he was already buried deep enough. The left looked like a dead end.
"Middle it is."
He deactivated the skill, then paused before entering. He scratched a mark into the wall with his sword.
One line.
A directional mark pointing back toward the cavern. He wasn’t planning to return but being lost underground was bad enough without forgetting where he’d already been.
Silver entered the middle tunnel.
Minutes became an hour, then longer. The tunnel twisted repeatedly; sometimes it narrowed, sometimes it expanded. Twice Silver encountered passages that had completely collapsed.
He doubled back.
At another intersection, he chose the route that seemed to rise slightly. Every upward slope gave him hope while every downward turn irritated him.
Silver didn’t know how far beneath the surface he was.
Hundreds of meters?
More?
The fall had been chaotic enough that he couldn’t estimate accurately. At one point, he stopped when he heard something move.
His gun rose instantly.