Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 101: Through the Tunnels

Even though she was walking down the same tunnel that she had been before with both Austin and Richard, Koko couldn't help but think that it was an entirely different experience now that there were so many people all crowded together. Though after the first room where the tunnel split into several others, the gathering grew noticeably thinner and Koko lost sight of nearly all of her classmates including her friends before they encountered another room filled with tunnel entrances and Ander put his hand on Koko's shoulder as a signal to stop. And while the remainder of the gathering continued through the largest of the tunnels with several singular groups splitting off into the others, Koko looked at the only one that nobody had entered while feeling some excitement as she knew that this one was theirs.

"Alright, once Rose gives us some light we'll continue on in standard formation. Koko at the front followed by me, Rose and then Ethrion." Ander explained. "Keep your eyes on the walls and try to sense any vibrations in the ground. Not only do we need to be wary about collapses, but the possibility of worms that are able to open tunnels behind us as well."

"That would be pretty bad, especially if they're working with the other insects." Koko agreed.

"Indeed it would." Ander confirmed as several floating lights in the shapes of diamonds began to illuminate the surroundings thanks to Rose's magic. And thankfully she'd casted the spell in time as their group didn't have any torches and the other adventurers were already far enough away that they'd been in nearly complete darkness.

"Keep you eyes out for any hidden side passages because that's where they'll be waiting to ambush you." Ethrion warned Koko, and she gave him a smile before nodding and turning around to head down their tunnel. Though while it was even for the most part at first, soon the ground began to slope to such a degree that everyone had to turn around and climb down the tunnel as if they were descending a cliff. And thankfully, while no one had fallen yet, this was only due to the fact that Koko was at the front and that she was kicking the ground in order to indent it enough  so that she could make footholds for the rest of her team.

"How far down do you think that this goes?" Rose asked in a strained tone and Koko immediately felt sorry for the woman seeing as she was the only one of them who didn't excel in the dexterity required to climb comfortably.

"We won't be able to tell until we reach the bottom." Ander sighed in reply. "They're like this because insects don't care about angles in these tunnels seeing as they can climb on the walls, so we're the only ones that are hampered by it. At least I think that's why they build their nests like this..."

"Oh, I really hope that we don't get attacked while we're up here..." Rose spoke almost to herself, and Koko had to agree with her seeing as it would be incredibly hard to fight while hanging from the tunnel's wall.

"Even insect monsters don't like to lose the things that they're carrying due to gravity." Ethrion explained. "Sooner or later it will level out and we won't have to climb anymore."

"Koko, do you think that you can make the footholds a little wider? I can barely get my feet in them." Ander asked, though Koko knew that he was handling it easily and was only speaking up for the priestess's sake.

"Sure thing." Koko agreed, and she started spending more time making them taller as well until the tunnel finally evened out abruptly and they all dropped down while thankful to be able to stand and sit down again. And after making sure that the last footholds were all the way down to the floor so that they would be able to easily get back up the tunnel again on their way back, Koko walked in front of the others again so that they could continue further into the nest. Though while she'd originally thought that they would run into a monster or something eventually, Koko and the others eventually walked into a large underground chamber, cautiously advancing forward in case they were ambushed before Rose's lights spread throughout the room to reveal that it was just a large and empty chamber with no tunnels leading anywhere else.

"It looks like this is a dead end..." Ander let out a sigh while sheathing his twin daggers.

"You mean that we climbed all of the way down this tunnel for nothing?" Rose asked in misery.

"I, for one, am glad that we didn't run into any monsters." Ethrion commented from the back. "At least this way we'll have some time before we actually have to fight."

"Why would the bugs have an empty chamber?" Koko asked suspiciously as she knelt down so that she could examine the ground to discover that it seemed to be untouched compared to the tunnel that they were in before. In fact, there wasn't any evidence of traffic at all, which she thought was strange seeing as there were small scuff marks from the insects nearly everywhere in the nest from what she'd seen so far.

"I don't know, but now that we've confirmed it to be a dead end, lets head back and choose a different path." Arden decided their next move, and Koko let out a sigh of disappointment before she turned around and started walking back. However, while most of her fellow teammates did the same, Ethrion suddenly snapped his head towards Koko with his eyes open wide in alarm.

"Wait, stop!" He called out and everyone froze immediately. Though now that they had stopped, Koko finally heard what the elf must have already noticed as an incredibly soft cracking sound was only audible once everyone stopped moving. And seeing as she already guessed about what was happening, ever so slightly, Koko looked down to see that the floor was beginning to crack underneath her feet.

"A trap... the bugs set a trap for us..." Koko laughed nervously. "Great."

"Move back to the tunnel and slide your feet if you have to, but spread out your weight as much as possible. No using your heels to walk and stay away from each other." Ethrion explained. However, while it hadn't started happening until after they'd walked into the room, now the floor was cracking at an alarming rate as Koko's three teammates all headed for the tunnel. But now, seeing as she had been the one that was farthest inside of the chamber, she now couldn't move at all seeing as the floor that was cracking behind the three adventurers now blocked her way back to the tunnel. And as the first of the surface was already falling into whichever space was beneath them, she was thoroughly stuck before the others made it to the tunnel and turned around to see Koko still trapped in the middle of the chamber.

"Hang on, we'll throw you a rope!" Ander yelled, though as soon as he did, the floor closest to the tunnel finally collapsed while causing a domino effect which made the rest of the floor begin to rapidly fall as well. And after guessing that she was doomed anyway, Koko infused focus into her legs and attempted to jump forward towards the tunnel. Though as she shifted her weight, her heels dug into the already weakened surface and her feet passed through the floor. And now that she was unable to jump, Koko was powerless to change her situation as the floor finished crumbling around her and she found herself falling into the darkness below.