In the shadows of the S Ranked Main character
Chapter 42: A path foward(1)

Chapter 42: A path foward(1)

Kai and Kathlyn walked

And walked

And kept walking

At first, it felt like progress. The meadow’s winding paths, the strange shifts in the flowers, the faint shimmering of magic in the air it all gave the illusion that they were moving forward, crossing distance, advancing through the Prism’s layers.

But after what felt like hours no, maybe more, maybe an entire day the realization set in.

They weren’t just walking forward.

The Prism was pulling them forward.

Time was strange here. There was no sun, no moon, no rising or falling light. The sky remained that same endless pale colour the flowers beneath their feet kept bending, parting just enough to allow passage but the landscape never quite changed.

"Do you feel that?" Kathlyn asked softly, after what might’ve been their twentieth silent hour.

Kai, who had been quietly summoning and dismissing his shadow clone to pass the time (much to Kathlyn’s mild annoyance), straightened slightly.

"Feel what?"

She gestured ahead.

"The slope."

He frowned, glancing down.

And she was right.

The ground was slanting downward, ever so slightly, almost imperceptibly. They hadn’t noticed it before, but the terrain had been gradually guiding them lower not just forward, but inward.

Kai let out a slow breath, his playful grin dimming a little.

"...Underground?"

Kathlyn gave a faint, tense nod.

"That’s my guess."

They continued on, the hush between them deepening.

As they moved, the color of the flowers subtly shifted again The vivid blues and purples faded, replaced by deeper hues darker violets, almost black, with thin veins of silver glowing faintly through the petals.

And then, finally, the ground opened.

The path narrowed, funneling into a break between two high mounds a crevice at first, then a sharp-cut slope, leading downward into shadow.

Kai squinted, cautiously summoning a faint orb of light between his palms.

"Well... guess we’re not getting fresh air anytime soon."

Kathlyn took a steadying breath, her hands flexing once at her sides, the faintest shimmer of flame gathering at her fingertips.

"Ready?"

Kai grinned faintly, rolling his shoulders.

"After you, oh fearless leader."

Kathlyn shot him a flat look.

"You’re the one with the clone make him go first."

"Ah." Kai tapped his chin, smirking "Good point."

With a little snap of his fingers, his clone shimmered into being, flickering faintly in the low light.

"Alright, buddy," Kai murmured to it "You’re on torch duty."

The clone gave a lazy salute (of course it copied his attitude) and stepped forward, leading the way down.

The descent was steep.

The tunnel walls were smooth, almost polished, the stone flecked with faintly glowing minerals. The further they went, the cooler the air became not damp, not musty, but unnervingly neutral.

There were no sounds

No dripping water.

No echo of footsteps

It was like the very space had swallowed its own voice.

Kathlyn stayed close, her flame-light weaving alongside Kai’s summoned glow.

"This feels..." she murmured softly, "...wrong."

Kai glanced sideways.

"You mean more wrong than usual?"

She gave a tight, humorless smile.

"Yeah."

They pressed deeper.

The path twisted, narrowing sharply, then opening again into vast, echoing chambers. Massive roots curled through the walls, thick as tree trunks, their surfaces pulsing faintly with veins of light.

Kai paused, one hand lightly resting against one of the enormous roots snaking through the cave

Kathlyn watched him quietly.

"...Do you feel that?" she asked.

Kai nodded slowly, frowning.

"Yeah. It’s like... this whole place is moving

They pressed forward, passing through another twisting corridor, where the ceiling dropped low, forcing them to duckThe air shifted again

And then they stepped out.

Into... a room.

A perfectly square room, unnaturally smooth, its walls carved from some pale gray stone that shimmered faintly in the low light. Strange markings spiraled across the surfaces, sharp geometric shapes and loops, symbols neither of them recognized.

But what caught their attention immediately was the centerpiece.

A game board

Or at least, that’s what it looked like at first glance.

Set on a raised stone pedestal, the circular board was covered in an intricate pattern of tiles, each one etched with a different symbol or runic mark. Small carved figurines stood atop the tiles some shaped like animals, others like abstract shapes, a few even vaguely humanoid.

Kai stepped closer cautiously, eyes narrowing.

"This feels..." He paused. "...like a puzzle."

Kathlyn followed, scanning the board with careful precision. Her sharp gaze swept over the arrangement. "It’s not random." She reached out, hovering her fingers over the figurines without touching them. "There’s a pattern here."

Kai studied the outer ring.

Symbols repeated, but not evenly.

Every third tile was marked with a faint pulse like a heartbeat, glowing briefly when his eyes lingered on it.

Kathlyn tapped the edge of the board lightly, deep in thought.

"It’s a layered mechanism," she murmured"Each layer moves, and the symbols interact. Look at the outer ring see how the pulses sync up? And the figures here she gestured to the inner tiles, they’re aligned to specific symbols Not all of them match."

Kai tilted his head, a slow grin creeping onto his face.

"So... basically, we spin stuff until it clicks, yeah?"

Kathlyn shot him a sharp look.

"This isn’t a toy, Kai. If we get it wrong, who knows what’ll trigger? Traps, resets, worse."

Kai held up both hands, still smiling.

"Alright, alright Lead the way oh King of games "

From the way she was acting Kai thought she might spontaneously ask to dd-duel!

Kathlyn inhaled slowly, focusing.

"Okay... if the pulses are clues, we need to align the rings so they match up along the central axis. But look she pointed "some of the figures can only move if the outer ring’s in the right place. We need to set the base first, then adjust the middle layer, and only then the center."

Kai nodded, stepping back to let her work.

She carefully touched the outer ring it shifted smoothly under her fingers, the symbols rotating with a faint grinding sound. One pulse flickered, aligned briefly, then dimmed again

Kathlyn narrowed her eyes.

"Three clicks clockwise."

Kai watched silently as she rotated the outer layer.

Click.

Click.

Click.

The pulse steadied, glowing faintly.

Kathlyn moved to the middle ring, adjusting the figurines carefully. They weren’t just decorative each had a weight, a position that influenced the tiles beneath them.

"Balance," Kathlyn murmured. "This one’s a weight trigger..." She shifted a humanoid piece two spaces to the left a faint tremor ran through the pedestal, the pulse brightening slightly.

Kai leaned in slightly, his brow furrowed.

"You’re... really good at this."

Kathlyn didn’t look up, but her lips twitched faintly.

"I grew up on logic puzzles, Kai."

Bit by bit, she rotated the middle ring, aligning the weights and symbols.

Then came the center.

Here, the symbols were smaller, clustered tightly, requiring precision. Kathlyn hesitated, biting her lip slightly.

"...It’s a sequence lock. We only get one shot."

Kai stepped closer, voice softening slightly.

"Want me to help?"

Kathlyn exhaled slowly.

"Call out the pattern you see the repeating marks on the outer ring? Feed them to me."

Kai crouched beside her, eyes flicking rapidly across the tiles.

"Okay crescent, star, flame, double circle."

Kathlyn’s fingers moved with steady precision.

Click.

Click.

Click.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then

A deep, resonant hum filled the room.

The pedestal’s pulse brightened to a brilliant glow, the symbols locking into place. Slowly, the back wall of the chamber shuddered open, revealing a narrow stone passage sloping downward.

Kai let out a low whistle, straightening.

"Damn You’re so scary when you’re focused."

Kathlyn allowed herself a faint, triumphant smile.

"Come on," she said quietly, stepping into the new passage "Let’s see where this leads."

Kai followed, his shadow clone flickering briefly to life behind him, falling into step.

The puzzle room faded into the dim light behind them.

And ahead, the Prism waited darker, deeper, and far from finished.