Chapter 1534: There’s Other People Too?
"Hello~~ Where are you running off to?" I giggled, chasing after the snake creature that was still trying to slither away.
At this point... I’m actually just toying with it.
I would catch up to it, step on its tail to watch it struggle to get free, then let it go and have a head start on me before catching up to it again to repeat the process.
It actually attempted to fight back twice, so I kicked it both times to give it a reminder of why it was even running away to begin with and that sobered it up pretty effectively.
I chased it through the rooms, the creature obviously knowing this place better than me so it was trying its best to throw me off its tail, pun intended.
The only problem with it was that I could easily keep up with it and even overtake it if I wanted to, I was just holding back to make it think it had a chance of escaping me.
And yes, I’m actually having fun right now.
"Hellooooo~ I’m right behind you~ I’m coming~" I sang, gliding through the water as it slithered into a dark room that was also flooded with water.
The snake creature seemed to speed up a little, though it was already running at full speed at this point so it’s not like it could make any difference.
Speaking of which... It seemed like the other creature that had attacked me had already decided to run away and not show itself anymore. It’s pretty smart, I’ll give it that.
The snake creature then turned around another corner into a lit up corridor, prompting me to chase after it as I intended to step on its tail again.
But when I entered the room, I found that it was a dead end with what looked like the entrance to a covered waterslide built into the wall.
The snake creature was now curled up in the corner, looking at me with a rather pathetic looking expression on its face.
Hmm... I guess it had chosen to lead me to the next floor as some kind of peace offering so that I don’t have to be here to keep tormenting it anymore.
Oh well... Fair enough I suppose.
I shouldn’t be staying here for so long anyway.
I went up to the slide and climbed into it, giving the snake creature another look before letting myself slide down the chute.
Darkness enveloped me as I slid down, the sound of the water splashing sounds amplified within the confined space.
Darkness gave way to light as I suddenly found myself sliding straight down towards the ground that was at least a fall of ten stories high.
Seriously?
I spread my wings and flared them to slow myself down, landing on the ground with a soft tap before fully standing on my feet.
I looked around and frowned when I realised... It’s still the same place.
Well... Not exactly the same but I was standing at the edge of a swimming pool and there were a few lounge chairs to my side.
Which means I have not ’cleared’ this room yet.
I’m pretty sure that snake bastard led me to a trap, not the way out.
If I ever see it again... I’m going to rip those eyeballs out and then shove them into its mouth.
As I was figuring out where I should go, I noticed there was a distinct sound coming from further down the corridor that was akin to a waterfall.
I moved over in that direction and peeked around the corner.
Sure enough, there was a large corridor that led to a large space where a large volume of water cascaded down from above to form a wall of water that seemed to block off access to the next area.
I looked around the waterfall, spotting what looked like a large pipe running across the ceiling which seemed to be the origin of the waterfall as the copious volume of water was spat out from it.
The pipe seemed to run along the ceiling before it reached the other end of the room before it followed the wall to curve around the corner and disappear further inside.
Ok... I’m assuming that the original way of dealing with this wall of water was to go and find the controls or some kind of valve to shut this thing off...
Yeah, I’m not gonna do that.
I reached out my hand towards the water and used my Hydromancy to part the water in the centre, creating an archway that I could walk through without the water splashing down on me from above.
I’m not even sure why I can’t just walk through the waterfall to begin with, until I realised that despite the wall being made of water... It felt pretty solid when I tried to push my hand through it.
Well... Considering where this place was... I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
Moving past the waterfall, I reached a large, empty room where a single column was left in the centre, seemingly acting as an elevator shaft as there was an elevator door at the very bottom.
I guess that must be the way to the next floor.
But as I was walking towards it, I heard the sound of footsteps splashing through the water from behind and turned, expecting to see another monster or something running towards me.
Surprisingly, what I saw was an actual person running straight towards me with a look of pure panic and fear etched on his face.
Which I suppose was fitting given that following close behind him was a large creature with long limbs that vaguely resembled a humanoid crawling at almost the same speed as he was running.
"Heeeelp!!!" The guy screamed, not slowing down. "Get... Get the lift!!!"
I could just go beat up that creature but... I was curious that there was another guy here... And this guy looked human as well...
Not only that, he was wearing modern clothes instead of the clothes you would find in Erednay.
Thus, I decided to run ahead and push the button on the lift, watching as the doors slid open with a soft ding.
I stepped inside, holding the door open with my hand and watching the guy sprint the last few metres and throwing himself into the lift, the guy sailing through the air like a rocket to land inside with a loud thud.
I immediately pressed the close button on the door, which was one of two buttons that were on the console and nothing else.
The doors slid shut way too slowly for my liking but it still managed to close in time before the creature slammed itself into the doors of the elevator, the sound of its roars muffled by the lift when the doors did not budge against it.
The lift then started to move and by the way my stomach lurched, it felt like it was moving upwards.
I turned to look at the guy who was still laying on the floor, his breath coming out in large gasps as he fought to get his own breathing under control before he finally managed to calm down enough to look up at me.
"Tha... Tha... Thanks..." He gasped, rolling himself to a sitting position with his back against the wall.
The guy had sandy brown hair and he looked to be around his late twenties or early thirties.
"Who are you?" I asked, keeping my eye on him.
He needed another few seconds to breathe before he answered, "Grant Evans... Just call me... Grant..."
I nodded, "Hello Grant..."
He looked up at me, "You’re... You’re also someone who got stuck here right? Did you also walk through that wall?"
I wasn’t sure what he was talking about but I guess that was how he got himself stuck in this place.
"No... It was a tear in space that led me here actually... How long have you been in here?" I asked.
He shuddered, "Heck if I know... There’s no way to tell the time in here... Or if time even exists inside here. Could be hours, could be days, weeks, months, years... I don’t know... I’ve been wandering around ever since I got here and... Doing my best to survive... Shit... If you hadn’t been there... I think I would be dead by now... What’s your name?"
"You can call me Ast," I half lied, not really wanting to give my real name in this place.
He nodded, "Nice to meet you, Ast. And seriously... Thanks for saving my ass back there... I saw that waterfall thing and was working to try and get those valves when that monster appeared and started chasing after me."
"What do you know about this place?" I asked.
"Probably just as much as you... Just that everything doesn’t make sense and everything is trying to kill you... And there’s also monsters that are definitely not friendly and also trying to kill you..."
He paused and finally noticed the egg I was carrying.
"You’re... Not a monster too, are you?"
I didn’t get to answer before the lift let out a ding and the doors opened up, revealing what looked like the interior of a library to us.
Well... Next floor it is then.