Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit
Chapter 218: Anima(Part 17)

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Anima(Part 17)

"Huh? What the...? Where am I? It’s so dark, I can’t see anything," Akila muttered to himself with a frown, cautiously moving his hands out to try and find a wall to follow, before a startled squeal rang out as his right hand clamped around something small and soft.

"H-Hey...!"

"That voice...is that you, Kia? Oh, thank goodness, I thought I was alone in here. Which raises the question, where exactly is ’here’? I can’t see a thing?" Responded Akila, as he let out a sigh of relief.

"I-I don’t know, b-but, um...could you please let go?"

"Huh?"

"Y-Your hand is-...n-no, don’t squeeze!"

Akila’s eyes widened as he realized what he was touching, immediately letting go and jerking his arm back like it’d been shocked, a mortified look on his face.

"I-I’m so sorry, that wasn’t on purpose, I swear! Go on, you can punch me, as hard as you want! Or a kick, slap, stab, whatever you want, I-...!"

"N-No, it’s fine, I-I don’t want to do any of that. I know it was an accident, s-so it’s okay," She muttered, feeling relieved that he couldn’t see her face through the darkness, before shaking her head and adding, "M-More importantly, we need to figure out where we are and get out of here. I-I think it’s safe to say we were teleported."

"Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like any of the others are here. We were pretty close to each other when the floor began glowing, that must be why we ended up in the same spot. Looks like that Spell or whatever that made the floor glow was some kind of teleportation trap. Maybe random? We’re obviously inside a cave, it’s going to be hard to get around when it’s so dark," Frowned Akila, as he squinted and looked around.

There were dimly glowing crystals across the walls, but they barely gave off any real light. The pair’s eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, but they could still barely see anything.

The two of them had been teleported deep inside a large, maze-like cavern inside a mountain in Anima, but of course, they had no way of knowing where they were.

"I-I don’t sense anyone else, so it looks like it’s just the two of us who ended up here. But, um, on the bright side, I’m not sensing any Monsters in our vicinity either," Kia informed him.

"That’s good, it’d be a nightmare to have to fight Monsters in such a dark place. Well, you could probably manage thanks to your Detection Magic, but I’d be screwed," Smiled Akila wryly.

"N-No, while I’d know where they are, I can’t move as freely. The ground is really rocky and uneven. Plus, there’s a lot of Mana in here...there may not be any Monsters in our vicinity, but there definitely are Monsters in this place."

"In that case, let’s move around as a steady pace, you use your Detection Magic to locate any Monsters in this place, and we’ll avoid them accordingly. We need to find our way out of here as soon as possible, we don’t have any food or water with us, so we can’t afford to get stuck here," Pointed out Akila with a grimace.

"Y-Yeah, we’ll probably die if we don’t get out of here fast," Kia nodded in agreement.

"Here, take hold of my arm. We can’t afford to get separated."

"H-Huh? O-Okay, that’s a good point."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Anima...

"Hm...where am I? It doesn’t look like anyone else is around. Well, other than all these Monsters," Nero thought to himself, as he glanced around at the group of Cyclopses surrounding him.

He’d been teleported right outside their den, and they’d promptly rushed out and surrounded him. They were eyeing him warily, growling threateningly as he looked around.

He then swiftly raced away as several of the Monsters fired out beams at him, evading the attacks before zipping towards one of them, ducking as the Monster swung its fist across at his head, before slipping behind it and leaping it, slashing at its nape with his dagger and fatally wounding it.

As the Monster collapsed and hit the ground with a thud, Nero swiftly sprang back as another Cyclops lunged at him and swiped its claws at him, evading it before ducking as another one fired a rapid beam towards him from its eye, the beam shooting over the top of his head.

"What a pain. I should hurry up and kill all these Monsters, I need to figure out where I am and then try to find my way back."

Meanwhile, in another Monster-infested area in the nation...

"That takes care of that. Where are we, anyway?" Frowned Aster, as he and Jules got done cutting down a swarm of Orcs.

"We’re certainly not in the city anymore, that’s for sure. We can’t even be sure if we’re still in Anima," Replied Jules, swinging her sword across to get the blood off it, before sheathing it with a sigh.

"Hm...based on the position of the sun, I think we’ve been teleported further southwest from where we were. Which means, we’re definitely still in Anima. At least, I think. So, we need to head northeast to get back, though there’s no telling how far we were teleported," Responded Aster, as he glanced at the sun’s position.

"Well, it’s a start, at least. Let’s head northeast until we come across a populated area. If we can find some people and explain the situation, we could get teleported back to Elephas City. I don’t suppose you’re carrying any Teleport Spells on you?" Jules asked him hopefully.

"Nope, I’m afraid not. We’re just going to have to walk," Replied Aster with a wry smile.

"Yes, it would appear so. Alright, then, let’s go," Sighed Jules, before the two of them began heading northeast, to try and get back to Elephas City.

"Hm, I wonder if everyone else got teleported too?" Mused Aster with a concerned look on his face.

"It’s hard to say. Only the two of us appeared in this area, which could mean we were the only ones affected. But before we got teleported, we were standing fairly close to each other, and if that’s why we ended up in the same place, then...it’s very possible that the others were teleported to different locations," Surmised Jules grimly.

"Yeah, good point. Which would mean that we might have all been teleported at random. What a dangerous trap if that’s really the case...if we’d been teleported, say, deep underwater in the sea or into a volcano, we’d be dead for sure," Remarked Aster with a slight shudder.

"I suppose we got lucky that we ended up in a spot we could survive," Nodded Jules warily.

"Definitely. This is going to be rough...worst case scenario, we’ll have to walk for days, maybe even weeks, before we get back. Not trying to sound pessimistic, just saying, we should probably prepare ourselves for the possibility," Reasoned Aster with a sigh.

"You have a point. Since we have no idea where we are, let alone how far we are from civilization, we can’t be too careful."

"And it’s so hot, the sun’s beating down with some serious heat. Though, I suppose that won’t affect you much since you’ve got resistance to heat thanks to your Fire Magic," Smiled Aster wryly.

"I am a bit thirsty, though. And it probably won’t be long before I start to get hungry as well," Frowned Jules, clearing her throat slightly.

"Yeah, we’re going to have to secure food and water. This area’s pretty lush, so there have to some lakes or streams running nearby. And we can hunt or gather for food."

"You certainly seem accustomed to this. The way you figured out that we’re still in Anima based on the position of the sun, and now this," Responded Jules in bemusement.

"Well, I was living in the wild for quite a while before I was pardoned and joined the Knights," Aster reminded her.

"Oh...right, of course. Sometimes, I forget that we used to be enemies."

"Yeah, same here. It really hasn’t been all that long, but so much changed so fast that those times feel like a distant memory at this point. And just look at us now, as close as can be," Grinned Aster, trying to lighten the mood.

"W-We’re close, huh?"

"Hm? Sorry, didn’t catch that, what did you say?"

"I didn’t say anything, you must be hearing things."

Meanwhile...

"Okay...that takes care of all these Monsters. Now, then...which way should I go?" Wondered Nero, looking around uncertainly.

It hadn’t taken him too long to wipe out the Cyclopses, but now, he had the problem of figuring out how to get back.

"Hm...the direction the sun is in should be east, right? Anima is at the southwest of the continent, so maybe following the sun is my best option?" He surmised, not to sure of himself as he began heading east...