Infinite Realm

*vroom*

Within less than a seconds, the massive conflagration of flames drowned Seiichi's 'figure', going past it and turning the entire place into a lake of molten lava. Of course, with the presence of the flames, this scenery wasn't spotted till the green flames died out 10 metres past Seiichi's previous position.

The man in question had already activated the talisman and arrived just beside the tunnel's entrance. Without a second to waste, Seiichi turned around and headed into it, in fear of the kobold reacting to his disappearance and giving chase. This wasn't Seiichi giving up and running away rather, this was the only possible move he could make. After retreating at least 100 metres forwards, Seiichi couldn't make a single attack from that distance. Since he couldn't do anything anymore, there was no reason for him to remain behind as that would be courting death.

While all these seemed to have taken quite sometime to occur, it didn't. From Seiichi shooting his first arrow to being forced back, not even 3 seconds had gone by. The green-eyed kobold didn't even spend more than a second against him as it only took just a simple motion of its hand to not only block Seiichi's attack but also counter.

"Sato. It's coming!" Xue Yan screamed from behind Sato. Since Sato was doing all the running, she decided to focus on monitoring the kobold. Upon seeing its approaching figure, Xue Yan immediately alerted Sato.

"Damn it." Sato cursed. He was still at least 65 metres away from the tunnel and this was thanks to him using [Sprint], otherwise, he would have been much farther away.

While [Sprint] had aided him in increasing his speed, factoring in Xue Yan's weight and the fact he had only ran for less than 2 seconds, he couldn't have gone any farther than this. The green-eyed kobold was, at least they thought, a level 10 monster. Even if it wasn't on the physical side, it would only take 3-4 seconds for it to catch up to them and 1 second has already gone by.

"Just keep running!"

Sato and Xue Yan suddenly heard a voice in the team chat. Xue Yan didn't have the time to figure it out as she saw was pressured by the kobold's looking figure but Sato didn't need to think much to know who it was.

'That fat pig...' Sato smirked as he focused solely on running and ignored the threat behind. This infallible faith in his friend was something that took a while to grow within him. The two of them could be said to be the best of best friends, brothers but not by blood. Just as Fudo had an undying trust and believe in Sato, Sato felt the same way about him.

"That's...!" Xue Yan suddenly exclaimed.

Sato glanced at the side and saw what had attracted her attention.

From behind, a blazing flaming spear sped forward towards the kobold. It didn't come from directly behind, but at an angle from the side. The shot was well taken such that the spear looked to be heading for Sato and Xue Yan but with the pace they were moving at, they would surely overtake it leaving the kobold to be at the targeted spot.

And just as they had thought, a second later, they had gone past the target spot of the spear and the green-eyed kobold just happened to be there. It discovered the blazing spear and at the same time, realized that it was a lot more dangerous than the arrow from before.

Halting its steps, the green-eyed kobold turned to confront the attack and ignored the escaping duo.

It didn't take long for the spear to arrive but with a swing of its palm, the kobold blocked the attack with a green shield.

*Boom*

The spear blew up on collision with the shield, sending shards of fiery energy in different directions. Luckily for Sato and Xue Yan, they had gotten away from the active range of the attack and so were free from danger.

Because of the surprise explosion, the kobold was forced to remain still, till the attack had exhausted itself before it could resume its chase.

There goes my last piece." Fudo sighed with a somewhat bitter look seeing as he didn't even injure the monster.

The fire spear that he had just shot actually came from a scroll Fudo luckily got during their progress through the floors. The attack power was weak but for monsters under level 10, it was still quite impressive. Fudo had left it to face the kobold chief, Jekyll, but seeing as how they had managed well enough in that battle, he didn't use it again. While it had no use back then, it was still a bit useful now.

It was indeed true that the spell was weak against monsters level 10 and above but that didn't mean it was totally useless against them. It might not cause a heavy injury like [Kōjin's Arrow] but it could still serve as a form of impediment for them, just like it did now.

"I guess it's time to leave."

While he was indeed a good enough distance away from the kobold, Fudo still hadn't arrived at his destination. He would only feel safe once the environment changed.

While Fudo's attack didn't cause much to the kobold, it did buy Sato and Xue Yan more time. The green-eyed kobold had spent at least 2 seconds on that attack if not 3. Using this time, Sato managed to widen the gap between the monster and him and Xue Yan. He only needed another 2 seconds to be close to the tunnel but this was on the condition he could maintain his speed. Sadly, [Sprint] was about to deactivate in the next second.

'Damn it! Just a bit closer!' Sato gritted his teeth as he moved with all his might.

The green-eyed kobold pursued them closely and with Sato losing the advantage of [Sprint], it quickly caught up to them by the 2nd second. At this point in time, Sato was but less than 30 metres away from the tunnel. He only needed 2-3 more seconds to make it but it looked like he wasn't destined to do so. This was because the kobold suddenly used its spatial manipulation abilities and closed in on the two.

Extending its hand forward, the kobold could almost feel Xue Yan's collar at its grasp. Xue Yan cast a fireball at the monster. Sato was too busy running so she took it on herself to act as the defense. However, even though the distance between the two parties was already quite close, the kobold easily dodged the spell. This was because not only was Xue Yan skills lacking but also because the kobold was a lot stronger and faster than she was.

Seeing her attack miss, Xue Yan had already began to lose hope. She spammed [Fireball] in multiple successions but the best she could do was delay her imminent fall Hy only a second. In the next second, the green-eyed kobold ignored the attacks and swooped in to grab her.

It was at that moment that the green-eyed kobold suddenly froze in its steps its eyes looking lost as if it couldn't see them but was elsewhere. Xue Yan noticed this irregularity but she didn't attack, fearing that she might awaken the monster from its fleeting state.

This went on for just 2 seconds, but these two seconds were more than enough to preserve the life of the duo as Sato managed to take that last step for them, heading into the tunnel.

The green-eyed kobold was 'lucky' enough to reawaken at that moment and send itself back at them. However, as it wanted to move into the tunnel, it collided with an invisible wall situated in front.

*Bang*

The green-eyed kobold was worthy of being called a world class boss as this negligence didn't cause it to take a fall nor get injured. Not even a concussion was felt by the monster as it glared at the tunnel wishing it could tear those two apart.

*Bang* *Bang*

Refusing to give up so easily, the green-eyed kobold continuously attacked the wall, using a mixture of magic and physical blows. However, all was for naught as not even a ripple was detected in this invisible barrier.

"Roar!!!"

With one last glare, the green-eyed kobold lifted its head and turned around, releasing a great roar through the floor.

"Ha! Ha! Thank goodness…" Leaning her back against a wall, Xue Yan breathed out with relief. 

The entire operation was thrilling, stressful and filled with various ups and downs. The entire task was filled with various layers of difficulties that strained the players and would have forced them to their end. Even after they had defeated the kobold chief, they were shocked to discover that they had faced the wrong target, with the right one appearing at that moment. This lead to the team losing at least 3 of their men, reducing the previous line-up of 7 players to 4. Twists and turns and ones that weren't nice at that.

Taking a few lights sticks[1] from their space bag, the two light them up and used it to survey their environment. Compared to flame torches, these light sticks were much weaker in intensity but they were still able to provide just enough light for on to see. The point of it having a weaker intensity was so as to avoid attracting unknown creatures towards the wielder. In dark places, adventurers mostly suffered ambush to monsters just because their light was too bright and had attracted unwanted attention. To solve this issue, a rune-smith[2] had developed a special type of equipment that could glow in the dark like an average torch. The difference being that the light stick produced could be turned on and off by a simple incantation and also, the lights produced from the appliance had a weak intensity and so, at a distance beyond 5 metres or so, it won't be visible.

"What's this place anyway?" Xue Yan asked after calming her emotions. The walls of the entire passage were brown in color just like ordinary soil. From the rough works and finishing, I could be surmised that the passage was a natural creation but at the same time, it gave off the feeling that it wasn't one. 

"I don't know but I don't think its a nice place to be." Sato replied her.

"Why do you say so?" Xue Yan asked with a inquisitive expression.

"Simple. Because the kobold didn't chase after us." Sato pointed at the path they had arrived from. 

It had already been at least 15 seconds since they had stepped into the passage. With its speed, it would only take the kobold 5 clean and clear seconds for it to catch up to them from a 100 metre distance much less a 3 metres one. Yet, there was no sign of the kobold at their back.

As Xue Yan realised this, her expression had changed multiple times visibly with a mixture of shock, fear, anxiety and wariness taking their turns. While Sato didn't say much to start with, upon thinking deeper into his words, one would discover the reason for Xue Yan's reaction. For the green-eyed kobold to not chase after them all this while would most likely be due to one of two reasons. 

First, the kobold couldn't enter the passage. This opinion stems from the fact that players couldn't enter all the tunnels in the 10th floor so following the same logic, maybe monsters couldn't enter the tunnels players could.

The second reason, which happens to be the most logical one and the one with the highest possibility, was that the green-eyed kobold was scared of something. It is said that no matter how intelligent a creature gets, its instincts would still remain deep within. Animals and monster all had an instinctive reaction to bloodlust and danger. There have been tons of instances where animals were able to sense danger, whether natural or induced, and the same could be said with certain monsters. It was either that the green-eyed kobold had sensed something ferocious and dangerous to it or that it had a very bad and, possibly, life-threatening experience here before resulting to it not daring to enter again. No matter which of the two it was, it wasn't a good thing for the Sato and Xue Yan.

After having so many upheavals in her emotions, Xue Yan finally calmed down as she noticed that despite the revelation, Sato still remained calm as if he had expected it. The same thing had happened when the green-eyed kobold had arrived. Even as it used its overwhelming difference in strength to squash the team's attacks, Sato was unperturbed. Even when he yelled orders at the team, he always did so in a calm and collected manner. This characteristic of his was what made him a good leader that was trusted by his comrades and unknowingly to her, Xue Yan found this part of Sato charming.

"Hmm? Is there any thing on my face?" Sato asked Xue Yan as he noticed that she had kept her look and focus all on him.

"No, no. There's nothing there. It's just…I was wondering why you aren't worried about the possible threat dwelling here?" Xue Yan hurriedly changed the topic as  a red 'rose' blossomed on her cheeks.

"Oh, that?" Sato asked. The 10th floor was already dark much less a tunnel within it. Sato couldn't notice Xue Yan's reaction so he only paid attention to her words.

"My grandpa always use to tell me something; take care of the pennies and the pound would take of themselves. It's a proverb from the Old Era." Sato said.

"What does that have to do with us?" Xue Yan asked as she noticed Sato going quiet.

Sato replied her, "Well its actually an advice on how to save up a large amount of cash but my grandpa gave it a twist. According to him, we should take care of what we have in hand and the future would handle itself and I agree. Why should we worry about the future that we can't tell? We've done the best we could and survived but worrying wouldn't get us out of our predicament or make things any better[3] now would it? We might as well just keep moving forward and see what the future holds for us. Who knows, maybe the kobold might be scared of an inanimate object rather than a living one. If that's the case then worrying now would be totally pointless especially as we don't have any other path to take."

"I see… your grandpa is a really wise and responsible man." Xue Yan said.

Recalling the silly smug on the old man's face each time he beat him in a sword fight together with his randomly childish behaviour, Sato put on a wryly smile and replied "Yeah sure. He's responsible alright."

"Let's move in deeper and explore the area. Standing here is a waste of time and wouldn't get us anywhere." seeing as there was nothing to do at the moment, Sato raised up a suggestion.

"Okay." Xue Yan nodded in acquiescence.

The two then began walking down the passage, which had extended to become a corridor, looking for anything that could let them know where they were. Originally, they were at the 10th floor of the Middle Region and they also thought that this passage would just lead elsewhere within the floors but with all the ups and downs, and turns and corners they had made, Sato began to doubt that assumption. The more he considered that this could be a higher floor, the more Sato realised that he could be right. What else would make the green-eyed kobold scared if not for a stronger existence and where else could one find an existence more stronger than that kobold other than the higher floors? Having asked himself this question, Sato's heart became cold as he realised that they might have left the wolf's den and stepped into the tiger's lair.

'Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it.' 

With that thought in mind, Sato didn't bother worrying about anything that would happen. He adopted a 'let's wait and see' disposition as he explored the corridor with Xue Yan.

Initially, precisely at the very first time the two had stepped into the passage, the environment was very simple and uninteresting. It was just like an average tunnel that was gorged out from a mountain with only brown colored rocks by the side. Now however, there were a few carvings and scribbles on the wall. Varying from animals to stick,man figures, it could be presumed that an intelligent civilization must have explored here first, if not the original owners of this place.

"This place is really strange…" Xue Yan commented as she glanced at the various sketches on the wall.

Sato walked over to one part of the wall and stood right in front of a drawing, studying it with an expressionless face.

"What's wrong?" Xue Yan gently asked.

"The drawings." Sato said.

"They are humans."