Chp 8 : Exploration.

I didn't know how much time had passed since I've been meditating but I had finally recovered my stamina and internal energy completely and now I was ready to move forward,

But before I moved forward I decided to first look at the Human-Faced snake's corpse for inspection.

I didn't know why but I was feeling curious about dissecting the snake inside out to understand it's anatomy, but I decided against it since I was still unsure about the possibility of any other beasts besides the snake in the vicinity.

So I removed the snake corpse from the iron spikes since it had already skewered the corpse into the spikes and while I did that, black blood started oozing out of the snake's body.

I was cautious enough to not touch it since it would be poisonous and started removing the corpse from the spikes carefully, while being mindful of my surroundings for any other surprise attacks.

.....

It took a lot of time to completely remove it from the Iron Spikes without getting it's blood on me but thankfully I was somehow successful in removing it without getting infected by it's poison

My clothes still got drenched by the blood since I was using them as cover while removing the corpse but thankfully the poison or it's blood wasn't acidic or even my clothes couldn't survive them.

I had also found an energy core inside its body, which didn't look much helpful to absorb at the moment since I didn't know what effects it would cause from absorbing it, so I decided to keep it aside safely for now.

Apart from that, after I removed the corpse from the Iron Spikes I would see there was thankfully enough space between them for me to crawl across / inbetween them.

I first speculated about the possibility of there being other beasts or traps laid out across the exit of the passage, since the previous trap was a surefire death trap which thankfully the snake was the one who sacrificed itself for.

But since there wasn't any attacks from any other beasts all while I was dissecting the snake's corpse I thought there weren't any other beasts in the surroundings.

The reason I thought so was also because if there were any beasts in the surroundings they would get attracted from the smell of blood from the snake's corpse or from my clothes stains,

But since they didn't, then it most probably was because there weren't any other beasts nearby, but I still wouldn't dare to risk my life on a speculation without any sound proof.

So I thought for a while about any possible solutions I would come up with and in the end decided to go with the baiting option.

I currently had a only a few daggers and arrows intact and my blade was already beyond recognition.

Even though still it was thanks to the instructors who had atleast left the blade behind previously or I wouldn't have been able to survive against the snake today.

I was still shook just from remembering that memory once again, It was honestly a miracle that I somehow survived that attack but I can't afford to relax just yet since I am still stuck inside this cave.

I started moving forward caustiously while thinking about that,

I still couldn't see anything clearly inside the passage apart from the little bit of light illuminating from across the ending of the passage.

I threw the dagger across the end to see if there were any other traps laid out or any other beasts hiding before stepping on them,

I started throwing the remaining arrows and daggers all across the vicinity this way to verify, and after confirming there weren't any other traps or beasts nearby I decided to finally move forward.

I started crawling from below the spikes, which had formed by itself in a triangular shape and quickly got myself across them.

.....

I was soon outside the dark formation passage and was currently inside what looked like a secret secluded training hall,

It had luminescent crystals mounted on all four corners of the walls and at the other end of the room were stairs carved on the ground.

I started walking towards the stairs and saw a huge platform placed at the center,

I was surprised looking at them since all of them looked hand-crafted made from stone instead of plain mud and soil.

I cautiously started walking towards it while inspecting the surroundings for traps and reached towards the platform.

The platform had a single scroll placed on it.

[Visual Representation]

I checked around the surroundings for anything else or any other traps placed around but I wouldn't find anything.

I looked around once again to confirm before finally deciding to reach towards the scroll which I soon came to regret.

I picked and opened the scroll placed at the top of the platform then suddenly, out of nowhere I felt as if I was being sucked into a vortex.

I tried to resist but I suddenly wouldn't harness my Internal Energy anymore and before I would do or think anything else my mind went blank and I passed out.

To Be Continued....