Chapter 8: Out of the tunnel
When the drama unfolded under the stone door, the rest of the knights were galloping at the end of the tunnel. Arnold on yarn, three knights from the school in the middle and Rymar with pack horses in the back.
"I can see the light! Finally, after this raid my horse is barely breathing, I thought it would not last. Now we can slow down a bit and soon we will be on the surface "
Arnold said, as he patted the horse on the side. The rest of the knights remained silent. From the moment one of them turned out to be a silver knight, no one spoke a word.
As they neared the door, Rymar sped up and drove to Arnold. They were talking quietly enough that the other three following them could not hear them.
"Something is wrong"
Said Mikita one of the instructors and in a low voice he spoke to the rest.
"Out of 20 silver knights in the kingdom, I don't believe a king is wasteful enough to send one, or possibly even two, here. Any of you saw Arnold fight in the woods? I was busy with my opponents, but if I remember correctly, he defeated five in a time when I barely dealt with two. "
Mikita nudged Sorel who, due to his exhaustion, barely knew what was going on. The second instructor joined the conversation as well.
"You're right. We have no chance against them in the clash. I think they're imperial. May I be wrong, but if they do, they don't need us anymore. As soon as we go outside, we must split up and run towards the county. If I am right, they will want to get us at any cost. I have a plan to outsmart them, listen carefully. "
The three knights were whispering for a while. When they were about 250 meters from the exit everybody throwed away their torches.
In that moment three knights descended from horses and began to take off the chain mail.
"It's the stupidest plan I've ever heard"
Sorel whispered, but he was still removing the chain mail as quickly as possible. The distance between them and Arnold and Rymar widened. However, before they realized that some people were left behind, three man were back in the saddles. After a while, they all continued in silence and inexorably shortened the distance to the door.
Outside the day was already in his final hours and the valley was painted red by the setting sun.
From the inside of the great rock, one by one knights rode out. The first two, were already reaching for swords by their belt. However, before they had a chance to turn around, three other riders shot out from behind the door.
Helmets and chain mail were thrown towards Rymar and Arnold. They both drew their swords gracefully and knocked down all the objects flying toward them. It gave the other three a few seconds to increase the distance.
"Well, I told you to get rid of them when we were inside. Now Go! Catch them! In these wastelands it will take hours. I am staying here."
Arnold grunted indignantly, but despite his words, he galloped off towards one of the instructors. Rymar also threw down the reins of pack horses, and rushed after one of the three royal knights.
When the sun had completely hidden below the horizon, the door that had been open so far was slowly closing. Only unaware Aron remained inside.
__________
The sound of hooves bounced off the hollow walls of the tunnel illuminated by magic moss. One man and three horses. They destroyed the peace of the tunnel that had not been disturbed by anything for hundreds of years.
Aron, seeing no chance of getting through the great stone door, decided to choose one of the other branches visible on the map. When he had no control over his body, he and the old men passed many forks and crossings. Without a proper map, the tunnel, or rather tunnels, formed a real labyrinth.
Fortunately, the young knight followed the path he assumed would reach the surface.
The size of this tunnel was a significant difference from the one at the door. This one was almost half the size of the one he fought with magister. Two carts would barely pass each other.
The level of illuminating moss decreased further away from the library. So the magic level in the air was also lower. Fortunately, the moss still gave out enough light to ride without torches.
To pass the time on the journey, the young man began to look at the grimoire. After all, he did not yet have time to check out the new grimoire contents. On the first page, the table of contents showed two new sections in addition to the mission page. Aron mentally chose the section called aura, and after a while the book showed him the new content.
The section was divided into three segments. The first showed all known techniques. So far on this page was nothing but the incomplete iron aura technique that he cultivated. The other page showed the current level of aura in the body of the young knight and information that was incomprehensible and shocking for the young man.
[Potential- gold - predisposition to a technique focusing on the attribute of fire.]
[Aura level - beginner iron - damaged aura channels]
[Aura technique - incomplete iron aura technique]
[Recommended to change technique immediately to avoid potential irreversible injuries]
Aron had not known about the potential distinction so far, but that wasn't what shocked him the most. His current aura technique was very harmful to him. He always wondered why on the same level he was weaker than the others and why it takes him so long to accumulate aura.
Now he knows. So far there was nothing he could do about it.
He went back to the previous page and now carefully read the description of the technique he had been using for years. The grimoire was able to get more information from it in seconds, than Aron learned from many years of cultivating it.
According to the description, the technique had the attributes of water and earth and was created by combining two other incomplete techniques. Cultivating this technique over an extended period of time could destroy the potential of anyone who practiced it. Additionally it is not recommended to people with fire affinity.
Aron signed resignedly, and as he was about to close this page, new words appeared in the margins.
I
CAN
FIX
THIS
TECHNIQUE
BUT
IT
WILL
COST
As soon as Aron read this sentence, the aura section gained an extra page. When he opened it, he saw that he get options to repair or complete the selected incomplete technique. He only needed to provide the correct number of crystals to the Grimoire.
In the old man's bag, he found only two that matched the description, but decided to hold off using them for the time being.
Even though he was not going to use the new feature, the young man smiled. He just got something that might be very helpful to him in the near future. As soon as he gets out of these damned tunnels, he will try to find more crystals.
On the last page of the aura section, Aron could review the techniques used by his subjects, but since he did not have those, the page was practically blank.
Closing the aura section, the young knight checked the second new addition.
Magic selection was similar to that of aura.
On the first page was collected magic knowledge. Second page was blank and this same situation was on page with his subject cultivation.
For now, he chose not to study the meditation technique, and left it for the time he went outside.
Lastly he checked time on the mission page. Timer shows that he had less than 50 minutes to complete the mission. The tunnel, however, had been going up for a long time and as soon as Aron closed the book, his eyes saw the similar door as he got into the tunnels. Even the recess in the center was the same.
Aron was glad that he did not use the crystals, so he quickly got off his horse and put one of them in the pocket. As soon as he did so, the door lit up and then opened.
The young man expected the sight of desert wastelands, but his eyes saw a lush dark forest. Night started an hour ago and in the distance a lake was looming from the stars' lights.
Without hesitating, he went outside, and then he heard a well-known sound.
[Ding Ding]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SonGoku0_0
SonGoku0_0 Run Sorel Run!!!
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