𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐌𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐭 ꕥ 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛

ᴄʜ. 8 // sʜᴏᴄᴋɪɴɢ sᴜʀᴘʀɪsᴇ

𝖯 𝖴 𝖡 𝖫 𝖨 𝖲 𝖧 𝖤 𝖣 : 1 9 / 0 9 / 2 0 2 2
𝖴 𝖭 𝖤 𝖣 𝖨 𝖳 𝖤 𝖣
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"And what are we supposed to do? None of us can use tracking spells!" Noelle argued back, standing behind Asta alongside you. Asta, in his haste to catch up to Yuno, had activated another trap which summoned a number of human sized slimes to attack you.

"Actually I think I might've been able to copy Mimosa's creation magic," you pointed out, just barely dodging one of the slimes and shooting a fireball at it. "But I don't know if I'll be able to replicate it perfectly since this is my first time using plant based magic."

"We'll just have to check every path very carefully then!" Asta said as he slashed down the last few slime creatures.

Noelle covered her head to shield herself from the dollops of slime being flung. "Are you stupid? Oh, right, you are. At this rate we'll get lost before we even find the treasure chamber!" Well she had a point. After going through the same tunnel Yuno and his teammates went through you had arrived in another room similar to the one you were all previously in. Asta randomly chose a tunnel to go through next and now here you were, still aimlessly wandering around hoping that you'll manage to get lucky and stumble upon the treasure chamber.

Nero suddenly poked her head out from Asta's locks and flew up to a nearby ledge, bringing her wing out to point at a tunnel. All three of you stared at each other, silently communicating through certain looks before coming to an agreement to follow Nero's lead. Nero wasn't some ordinary anti-bird after all, surely you could all trust her judgement on where to go next more so than Asta's wild guessing.

Luckily the journey within the tunnels were fine, the magical traps only being implemented in the larger, mana-dense rooms. The only real problem was that you acted as the lamp to light up the way while Noelle and Asta would randomly start bickering over nothing. Seriously, what was up with those two?

As you traveled further into the tunnel you could sense how the natural surrounding mana became more dense, a clear indication that you were getting close to another room. Once you got to the end of the tunnel the three of you paused to look around the room. It was the same as all the other ones, stairs leading everywhere and nowhere, streams and waterfalls flowing up walls and over ceilings. So when you all stepped out of the tunnel and into the room none of you expected to begin floating upwards.

"The gravity's all messed up!" Noelle cried out as she flailed her arms and legs about, trying to move herself through the air. She was only able to successfully do a number of cartwheels midair before giving up.

"Yeah, I really didn't notice that!" You shouted back at the royal. There was a ledge just a few meters away and you attempted to reach for it, your fingertips skimming over the rough surface but unable to grasp on as you ended up floating away from it. You didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Asta desperately asked the bird on his head for help but Nero's permanently half-lidded eyes were slowly drooping close, a sign of exhaustion. "Oi, Nero! Don't fall asleep!"

Just then the strangest thing ran past. It wasn't affected by the strange gravitational shift in the same way your trio were but it was also running across the ceiling. A peculiar treasure chest with short, stubby legs.

"Hey! Treasure!" Asta pointed out in excitement.

"Yeah, that's definitely not treasure." Noelle retaliated, giving the chest a sceptical look. Who could blame her, it has legs. However Asta didn't listen and somehow chased after it across the ceiling. "Come on, Bakasta! That has to be a trap!"