Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 89: Beyond The Mountains

"Haah…" Finn breathed out, watching as the arrival of the light brought the room back to a calm.

As he looked back, he exchanged a glance with Charlotte, who kept her shining blade raised, having the same look of relief in her eyes.

"Pyuuuh!—"

"Shit! Magnus! C'mon, mate…!"

The sound of a gargled yell and the panicked voice of the knight brought both Finn and the spellblade looking around the newly-lit area.

"Magnus? Jasper?!" Finn called out as he spun around, replaceing where the others were.

Near the left wall of the chain-riddled caver, he found them both.

The sight of the cannoneer laid out on his back and Jasper right beside him in a panic brought him to sprint over. He came to an abrupt stop when finally seeing what state his companion was in.

Magnus couldn't even speak, as his mouth oozed blood, seeming to have been deprived of his tongue amidst the chaos. Worse, the man's body was riddled in lacerations, with his stomach gored as if pierced by a bull.

"Shit…What happened?!" Finn asked, kneeling down.

"I don't know, mate! I was right beside him in the dark—I couldn't even see what did this…" Jasper answered.

The knight's armor was covered in scratches and stained with blood, though no clear wounds were seen.

Charlotte covered her mouth in dismay at the state the cannoneer was left in, "Magnus!…"

"It's alright—I still have some ambrosia," Finn said, attempting to calm the situation as he brought the bloodied bottle to the man's lips.

Despite Magnus' condition, he remained calm, tilting his head back while being helped to drink the golden liquid.

"C'mon, mate, swallow," Jasper pleaded, patting the man's back.

It took a prolonged effort for the wounded cannoneer to force the liquid down before coughing up.

"Pyeuh!—" Magnus expelled.

The injuries that riddled the blonde-haired man's body closed up, as the blood peeled away. Like threads being sewn together, the gaping hole in Magnus' stomach was restored.

"Ahh—" Magnus kept his mouth open as his tongue was reborn from a stub, spitting out the remnants of blood in his mouth.

"Are you all good, mate?" Jasper asked.

While Finn popped the cork back into the bottle and tucked it under his coat, he watched the one recovered from death's door adjust himself.

Magnus took a moment to come to as he smacked his lips and felt his own tongue, "Ah…I'm back in one piece. The miracle of ambrosia is terrifying."

"Be thankful for it. You were one foot in the grave…I was too," Finn said, touching his own neck, still freshly feeling the healed wound.

"Thanks…I believed that might've been the end for a moment there," Magnus said, wiping the sparse blood from his bottom lip as he stood.

Finn gave him a pat on the shoulder, "You didn't seem too bothered. I've never seen somebody that calm with a hole in their gut."

"Well, if you're not expecting death everyday in this life of ours, you're stupid," Magnus remarked.

Between the two men, a glance was shared as both had experienced wounds that were certain death, yet stood there as good as new. It wasn't a sense of utter relief that was held by them, but a feeling that questioned their own mortal value, being so easily fixed by a mere sip.

"Kind of bleak…" Charlotte said, keeping her sword infused as she traced her fingers along its shining length.

A moment needed to be taken to adjust and calm down from the brief, yet chaotic encounter. While there was light, the opportunity was taken to actually scope around the chamber.

"It's odd…There's no sign of anybody else here. It's like a completely different room when there's no light," Charlotte remarked, looking at the naturally formed pillars of the cavern.

"Just don't let that light die out, please and thank you," Jasper said with a raised hand, touching a dangling chain.

"I won't," Charlotte assured.

Finn found himself inspecting the back of the room, stepping behind a thick pillar of eroded, natural stone. What he found was not a normal passage in the cavern whatsoever, but unmistakably man-made with paved steps leading upward.

"Oh—there we go," he muttered with excitement before calling out to his comrades behind him. "Over here!"

The steps were taken, leading them through a narrow passage upward. From the eroded innards of the cavern, what awaited was a much different chamber; lined with walls of chiseled stone, laden in overgrowth and statues that barely stood–yet, it was a welcome sight.

"What is this?" Charlotte wondered, stepping into the room while gazing at the statues.

The monuments resembled faceless men, though long since weathered by time as they were cracked and stained. It seemed more archaic than even the era of the foreign world; a time washed away.

"Some sort of old worshiping grounds?" Finn guessed while looking around.

"Perhaps something to do with what we encountered back there," Magnus presumed.

"Think so, mate?" Jasper asked.

"I don't think giving whatever it was back there the energy of our thoughts is a good idea," Magnus answered tiredly. "I'd rather let my mind forget about it entirely, if that's even possible."

At the feet of the tallest of the faceless statues was a dust-layered chest built of stygian metal, stationed as if awaiting the first to claim it.

Finn knelt in front of the chest, brushing the dust off, "Looks like this was the intended path, after all."

"That honestly makes me more unnerved," Jasper remarked. "So, what's in it?"

"Better be worth it," Charlotte said, waiting for it to be opened.

It took some effort as Finn grasped the seams of the chest's lid, replaceing it to be dense, thick metal that he was having to lift up. Worse, it seemed age had brought grime to glue it shut, forcing him to pry it open with sheer strength alone.

A vein pressed against his neck as he bent his knees, lifting the lid as if deadlifting a steel beam. It finally opened up with an old croak, releasing the dormant dust that laid within it.

"Haah…" Finn breathed out, letting go as he brushed his gloves off.

All eyes were on the contents of the chest, though not just one treasure was found within it–multiple sat in its haul. A vial of bright, cerulean liquid; a broadsword of a sable hilt and a blade engraved with magical seals, and a bundle of coins.

"What do you reckon this stuff is?" Jasper asked, holding the bottle of glowing liquid up, shaking it a bit.

Magnus grabbed the bottle right out of the knight's hands as if taking a toy from a child, "No idea, so don't play with it."

In regards to the sword that somehow remained untouched by dust within the stygian chest, Finn handed it to the young woman who was intensely looking at it.

"I think this is best in your hands," Finn said.

Charlotte accepted it into her hands, quiet for a moment before looking over at Jasper, "Are you sure?--I can't just–"

"All yours, mate," Jasper said, waving his hand as if declining any stake in the weapon. "Look at that thing, it's practically oozing with magic."

"If you say so, thanks," Charlotte said, graciously taking ownership of the fine blade.

With the treasures of the cavern claimed, they were left silent with what the next move was, seeing as the room appeared to be a dead-end.

Finn moved to the front of the chamber, looking towards the walls of chiseled stone as a clean gap laid right in the middle. As he pressed his hands against each side, he peeked through the narrow opening–

Light; he saw light. An unmistakable gimmer of radiance that laid beneath the tucked-away depths of the cave.

"Finn?" Charlotte called out.

"Did you replace something?" Magnus asked.

For a moment, the young man remained quiet as he pushed his hands against the walls, feeling a slight budge and a grating sound as if stone was grinding against itself.

"Give me a hand over here," Finn requested, pressing his shoulder against the left side of the wall.

It didn't take much for the others to quick up to what was discovered, bringing Charlotte to lend her shoulder to the left side, and Jasper alongside Magnus to push on the right. The combined effort, requiring all of their strength in unison, managed to push the walls forth.

As the thick, carved walls parted into impractical doors, the light of day dipped into the chamber, bringing forth a relieving warmth.

"We're out–we made it out of the other side," Charlotte said in near disbelief.

"I started to doubt we'd make it out at all," Magnus admitted.

Finn walked out as the heavy entrance was opened all the way, replaceing himself leaving out of the mountain's base and into a scenery that stole the breath from his lungs.

What was mistaken as sunlight was the glow of golden leaves, acting as a sky above as colossal trees stretched high and loomed.