He did exactly this. With his legs protruding out of the original tunnel he’d entered through—a safe and empty tunnel—he attacked the beasts, allowing him to keep the ability active for a full thirty seconds.
When it ended, he reappeared in the first empty tunnel, and recharged the ability. Some seconds later, he reactivated Dance, repeating the process.
By the time he’d sucked the ambient prana dry, not a single prana rat remained. Only corpses.
But Vir didn’t let down his guard. When he’d taken this contract, the first thing he’d done was to consult the bestiary in Daha’s library, which told him that prana rat colonies always coalesced around a rat king. These beasts were both bigger and more vicious than their lesser brethren, capable of uniting whole colonies under their banner.
These kings were no joke. Some even had Balar Ranks up to thirty. If Vir had encountered the king before eliminating the bulk of its colony, he’d have been forced to flee.
He proceeded with an abundance of caution, peering as far as he could with Prana Vision.
One moment, there was nothing, and the next, a great rat twice Neel’s size came hurtling at him with the speed of an Acira. Vir dove to the side on instinct, narrowly avoiding a vicious chomp aimed at his neck.
The rat’s jaws snapped with so much force, the sound echoed through the tunnel.
Vir let loose a chakri, slicing into the beast’s flesh.
It might be fast, but its hide is pretty weak, Vir thought as he dodged another claw.
There was only one way to win this, and that was with Dance. He’d already exhausted the Ash prana in this area, but there was just enough for one more invocation. He’d have to make it count.
Vir threw a chakri, forcing the rat king back, buying time to charge Dance.
The Prana Rat King eyed him, then, seeing Vir standing still with no intent to attack, it lunged.
Not enough time! Vir thought.
The tunnel was too narrow to dodge, and Leap would take a full second to charge.
The rat’s maw opened, its saliva oozing from its gums. The beast craved Vir’s flesh, and at this rate, it would have its wish.
No choice!
He triggered Dance prematurely, sinking into the shadow realm.
He barely made it. The rat’s maw snapped shut, taking a tuft of Vir’s hair with it.
This time, Vir had no chance to choose his destination. Dance spit him out immediately…
And he fell. He fell from a great height.
Disoriented, Vir struggled to gain his bearings, then instinct and his endless hours of training kicked in. Prana Vision flared. The ground rushed closer, but Vir was ready.
Activating Light Step, he set a knee softly down onto the stone.
Vir stood up and looked around the great cavern he found himself in.
Where in all the realms am I?
75VALAKA AMARA
Vir stood half in rubble, half upon an ancient road.
A giant cavern loomed above him. Part of it looked manmade, sculpted. The other portions were natural, as if the great room had suffered a cave-in.
Where is this? Vir thought, searching the darkness.
The cavern was as pitch-dark as the sewers he’d just left, but Prana Vision lit the place up. Unlike the sewers, there wasn’t a trace of detritus anywhere. No putrid smell that made him want to gag. The air was old, yes, but clean.
Vir spun around to see rubble piled up all the way to a ceiling, blocking the passage.
He gingerly got to his feet, trying to piece together what just happened. He’d undercharged Dance of the Shadow Demon—something he’d never attempted before. And, by how it ended up, something he’d never attempt again.
It shot me out to some random destination?
Unwilling to linger in this unknown place, Vir activated the Dance again, slipping into his shadow. From within the shadow realm, he sought to return to the sewer he’d just come from. Dance’s range wasn’t very far, and if the ability shot him out into this cavern, then it meant he’d be able to return as well.
At least, that’s what it should have meant. Yet no matter which exit he looked through, he found nothing. Forget returning to his sewer tunnel—there were no other tunnels anywhere nearby. Every exit just put him in a different spot in this same unknown cavern.
Ten seconds passed, and the ability booted Vir out of the realm of shadows, back to where he’d stood.
Panic welled within Vir. He had no idea where he was, he had no map, no breadcrumb trail to find his way back. And he was out of range of Dance.
The ability had shown him he wasn’t in a cavern at all, but in an extremely tall and wide passage.
A passage that led downward.
A shriek pierced the silent tunnel, freezing Vir in place.
He sank into a shadow, then was thrown out ten seconds later.
Nothing.
His heart threatened to burst from his chest as he waited another full minute, but no trace of whatever animal had emitted that wail remained.
Amin’s words echoed in his head—only monsters and ancient things lurked in the depths. That it was their domain. A place of secrets that ought not to be revealed.
But his options were few. Either he could stay and starve, or he could walk down this tunnel that led deeper into the earth.
Vir took a deep breath, and then another, steeling himself for what was to come. He flared Prana Vision to its maximum to give him every edge he could muster and set out.
At the very least, he had his rucksack full of provisions. He wouldn’t starve down here, or die from thirst, at least not for several days. That was an ample amount of time to find an exit… Assuming he didn’t run into a monster he couldn’t handle. That was a big assumption.
Having grown used to the din of the sewage canals, Vir felt an unease in the perfect silence of the tunnel passage, his ears straining to hear any sound of a beast that could be lying in wait.
“Wish you were here with me now, Neel. I could use a buddy,” he muttered softly. Though no living organisms were in the area, he found himself unable to raise his voice, lest he provoke whatever horrors lurked here.
Vir focused on the environment to distract himself. Nature had undone what man had built an age and a half ago, but vestiges of artificial construction remained. This was a road of some sort, he was sure. One unlike any he’d ever seen.
The ground was perfectly smooth, built of a black, rubbery material that was both forgiving yet firm to the touch. Grippy. Bordering the road on each side were ornate designs etched into the same material, nearly unrecognizable against the damage of erosion and time.
The passage walls had similar decorations, though most of those had crumbled away entirely, leaving only the barest traces of their former existence. Whoever built this place clearly had vast wealth and resources.
Vir’s footsteps clacked against the artificial ground as he walked deeper, his eyes and ears straining for any sign of life that might call this abyss home.
It was after half an hour that his surroundings changed. Not the terrain—the ruined road remained largely the same—but the prana in the air, and in the ground. The brown of Earth Affinity shone brighter than ever, surrounding him, but there was something else, too. Traces of Ash prana.