NOVPUBThe rusty sword sliced through the monster, narrowly missing Reeva by a hair. It cut through the liquid, completely splitting the creature in half. At that moment, Reeva saw colors flying off the water—mainly blue, but with other hues mixed in as well.
The entire body of water shook and ruptured from the sword’s impact like Moses parting the ocean.
Reeva’s small raft was caught in the shockwave, sending him flying through the air toward the room. He struggled to get a grip on where he was; the impact had stunned and disoriented him so badly that it felt worse than dying.
Panicking, he looked around for something to hold onto. At this point, he just needed something—anything—that he could rely on, even if it didn’t help much. His eyes darted around as his body continued to fall through the sky.
Liquid splashed everywhere, and the monster was thrown out of the water along with Reeva. His eyes finally spotted the original raft, and he managed to grab onto it. With some semblance of safety secured, he took a moment to look around.
He was falling rapidly toward the ground, but the impact had sent him high enough to see above the skeleton.
Reeva got a good look at the bony figure who had split the water. It wore a pure white robe with no trimming. The skull seemed to have only one eye socket, and its hand looked almost like a normal human hand.
The hollow eye socket locked onto Reeva, and he felt more terrified than he ever had in his life. The skeleton withdrew its sword from the table and thrust it directly at Reeva’s face.
The attack was heavily telegraphed, and Reeva easily dodged it. However, the skeleton’s size made it hard to move completely out of the way. He could only lean to the right to avoid the incoming blade. The sharp edge of the sword struck the raft, shattering it into pieces.
Reeva’s right arm couldn’t withstand such an attack. He was left with only one arm and a newfound sense of dread.
While searching for debris, he noticed the table had been split in half, along with the plate. The crashing sound of other tableware echoed below, like a building collapsing as everything slid off the table and broke.
All sorts of contents merged into a chaotic mess—the dying carcass of the monster, drinks, fruits, and what remained of the table all collided with one another. Reeva closed his eyes as some of the liquid splashed on his face.
He used his left hand to wipe it off, but when he opened his eyes again, the sword was already coming for him—this time with nothing to hold onto. His mind raced, frantically searching for a solution, and then he came up with one.
In a split second, he made his decision. His eyes closed, and a coldness spread throughout his body as he withdrew every ounce of happiness he had once felt. He gritted his teeth, trying to contain it all within.
A moment later, the blade struck right at his heart. It would have crushed him into a slab of meat if it had hit him normally. But Reeva had already retracted all of his mystic power.
The skeleton’s hollow gaze burned with a fierce intensity, but its movements halted mid-swing. The sword, rusted and ancient, hung suspended in the air. Reeva opened his eyes, and he realized what had happened.
For some reason, this place wouldn’t react to him if he had no mystic power, which meant that if he dispersed all of his mystic energy, he would be invincible here.
That was his theory, and it was proven true when the entity couldn’t hurt him. However, even if he couldn’t interact with his surroundings, the surroundings could still affect him. The blade pushed Reeva far above the table, sending him high into the air until his small body collided with something. It was one of the pillars supporting this place.
Instinctively, Reeva grabbed for anything he could to avoid falling all the way to the ground.
His hand found a good grip on the patterned carvings above, and he quickly pulled himself over them. Finally, he was able to rest against the side of the pillar, taking refuge in its intricate designs. He found a brief moment of peace, a chance to catch his breath after such a harrowing ordeal.
Looking down, he saw that the ancient skeleton had stopped moving after he had retracted and dispersed all the mystic power from his body, except for the one in his yellow circle. The motionless figure still looked as menacing as ever, like a statue built a thousand years ago by a once-thriving empire.
But Reeva knew this statue could move—and kill him.
Below, he saw a myriad of things wriggling around. From his vantage point, it was hard to discern exactly what they were. It was like watching tadpoles writhing in water, but instead, these were bizarre, unrecognizable life forms.
The destruction of the table had brought an entire ecosystem crashing down. A sense of loss dawned upon him as he watched various creatures writhing in their final moments while others thrived, feeding on the displaced beings.
Like watching a show from above, he felt a bit of happiness welling inside him but he quickly suppressed it. Taking a quick glace at the skeleton, Reeva heaved a sigh sine it didn’t react.
He couldn’t even call them animals—they were too strange.
Fascinated by the sight, Reeva jumped down from the pillar, landing on the ground after a long fall. He moved toward the broken table, sensing that something inside it might pique his interest.
With so many creatures out and about, Reeva doubted they would notice him without his mystic power active. However, to be safe, he decided to observe from a distance first and only move in once he was sure nothing had noticed him.
His expedition into the dark castle wasn’t over just yet.
