Rei's voice cut clean through the noise. "They're not just appearing. They're being called."
I turned to her. "By what?"
She didn't answer.
Because then the ground rumbled.
And something—deep beneath the soil—laughed.
The rumble deepened beneath our feet—low, throaty, wrong.
The slimes weren't the problem.
They were the bait.
"Move!" I shouted, already stepping back.
Rei didn't argue. Neither did Eldric. His soldiers began falling into formation, dragging the slower ones along.
"Where?!" Asmodeus yelled over the building roar.
[Northwest quadrant. Seismic density decrease detected—possible hollow passage 62 meters ahead.]
"There!" I pointed. "That ridge—run!"
The rain turned violent. Slimes dropped faster, thicker, wriggling and morphing midair like boiling jelly. One hit the ground with a squelch and immediately morphed into something with arms.
And teeth.
"Oh HELL no," Asmodeus snapped.
Then he dropped into a stance—feet wide, hands alight with crackling mana.
I recognized that aura.
"Don't you dare—"
Too late.
His voice rang clear over the chaos, words spoken with crisp, almost cocky reverence:
"Bloodline of storm, inheritance of rupture—
Let speed strike thrice before the breath catches!
Grant me the storm's swiftness
Grant me power, for I am Asmodeus!"
Lightning exploded beneath his feet.
"The Book of Thunder, Final Verse: VOLT STEP!"
Lightning exploded beneath his feet.
He vanished in a blink.
Then reappeared midair, further up the slope, flipping like a stray thunderclap in a jacket.
"Y'ALL BETTER RUN!" he shouted, already sprinting full tilt—every footfall sparking like a fuse.
"Gods dammit—" I muttered, grabbing Rei's arm and dragging her after me.
We bolted.
Eldric cursed behind us but followed, barking orders to the soldiers, who quickly turned tail and sprinted toward the path Asmodeus cleared.
The slimes didn't slow.
But neither did we.
My lungs burned. The slimes kept coming, squelching and slapping the earth behind us in chaotic, squishy thuds. Lightning still shimmered faintly along the path Asmodeus had carved—his footsteps a smoldering blur ahead.
He really did it, I thought.
That spell—it wasn't just speed. It was instinct. Precision. And it worked.
My gaze snapped forward as I ran, adrenaline beating faster than logic.
Could I do that?
Could I move like that?
I opened my mouth, breath ragged. "Rei—"
"Don't even say it," she growled, tugging my arm tighter. "You're not a lightning user. That's not how this works."
"I know," I panted. "But what if—what if the spell isn't locked to an element?"
Rei shot me a sideways glance like I'd suggested replacing our boots with meat to confuse the monsters. "That's exactly how it works. Element. Bloodline. Mana signature. It's why we don't all go around hurling volcanoes."
[Correction: While element affinity restricts direct use of foreign-typed spells, conceptual chant echoes may be adapted through invocation anchoring.]
Metatron's voice thrummed like a pulse in my skull.
[Searching Chorus Archives…]
[Spell identified: The Book of Thunder, Final Verse: Volt Step]
[Modifying Spell to fit User]
[Successful…Stormstep Variant – "Gravitic Pulse Displacement" – user-compatible.]
My heart skipped.
"…Metatron?"
Rei looked at me like I'd said "Mother."
[Repeat after me.]
["Fall breaks form.
Mass bends thread.
Through the anchor, let gravity sprint ahead.
Pulse threefold—
For I am Metatron
Book of Void, Chapter of the Lost, Phase Step: Crescent Drift."]
The words imprinted themselves into my mouth before I could question it.
"Chiori?" Rei barked. "What are you—"
"Trust me," I breathed.
I reached deep—not for speed. For weight. For everything that pulled me toward the earth.
And I let go.
"Fall breaks form.
Mass bends thread.
Through the anchor, let gravity sprint ahead.
Pulse threefold—
For I am Chiori
Book of Void, Chapter of Remembrance, Phase Step: Crescent Drift."
The world buckled.
We vanished.
Then reappeared twenty meters ahead—my body dragging me and Rei the air like a comet, slamming into the ground in a controlled roll before launching forward again.
I didn't run.
I fell, faster than my legs could carry.
Rei crashed into some shrubbery a few feet away
Rei's voice rang out behind me. "ARE YOU INSANE?!"
[Success. Spell adaptation confirmed. Mana expenditure: moderate. Compatibility: 86%. Additional variants available upon request.]
I grinned.
And yanked her from the shrubs.
Somewhere behind me, I heard someone yell "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"—probably Eldric. Maybe a soldier.
I barely had time to turn when I saw them—Asmodeus trying to backpedal from the entrance of some half-collapsed cave, and slimes literally raining from the sky behind us like the world was losing an argument with gravity.
"Don't you dare—!" Rei shouted, her eyes wide as she locked eyes with me.
"Sorry," I said, not sorry at all. "I really don't want to get slimed. I know you don't either."
[Reinitiating spell. Adjusting trajectory. Enabling momentum-correction protocol.]
"Fall breaks form.
Mass bends thread.
Through the anchor, let gravity sprint ahead.
Pulse threefold—
For I am Chiori
Book of Void, Chapter of Remembrance, Phase Step: Crescent Drift."
We vanished.
Then reappeared another twenty meters ahead—this time, I pivoted mid-air, and—
Tails out.
Two of them, void-like and coiled with pressure, instinct, and momentum—snagged her from the air, looping like ribbons with precision only born of panic and practice.
"Wha—" Rei yelped, flailing like a sack of startled cats.
"Hold on!" I snapped.
"You insane—!"
We rocketed forward together, a blur of purple and screaming, and just as Asmodeus turned, looking up—
"Oh no—" he muttered.
We slammed into him, not with destructive force, but just enough velocity for all three of us to tumble straight into the shallow cave entrance in a heap of limbs, coats, and undignified gasps.
I landed last, slightly dazed, one tail still wrapped around Rei like a seatbelt. My arm hit a rock. Someone's boot kicked my shin. Asmodeus groaned under all of us.
"…Are we alive?" he muttered.
"No thanks to her!" Rei's voice crackled with disbelief. "Who uses an untested movement spell twice in a row?!"
"I did," I wheezed. "And I landed us in a cave. You're welcome."
"You landed us on him!" She snapped back.
Asmodeus blinked up at the ceiling. "I'm too young for this kind of betrayal."
"Get off me!" Rei barked, pushing me off her.
"I saved you!" I yelled back
"Saved me? I was handling it!" She snarled, poking a finger at me.
"You were three seconds away from being slimed and face-planting into Eldric." I calmly stated, grabbing her finger gently.
A pause.
"…Okay, fair," Rei muttered, accepting defeat and calming down.
[Notice: All parties intact. Mana readings stabilized. Nearby structure: 87% match to target ruin. Suggested action: proceed with caution.]
I sat up slowly, brushing dust and something uncomfortably gooey off my sleeve.
"I was going to walk here," he muttered.
"I don't do normal," I said, stretching out the ache in my shoulder.
"Clearly."
Rei caught her breath beside me, eyes already scanning the cave interior. "This isn't marked. It wasn't on any of the scouting reports."
"No one's been down this far," I replied, not quite a question as I pull out the map and look. "At least not recently."
"Then how did we end up here?" Asmodeus asked, stepping further in. "Because I swear if this was slime-fueled fate again, I'm filing a complaint with the gods."
I rolled my eyes as I put the map away. "You say that like it wasn't your stomach that started this detour."
Rei crouched near the entrance, her fingers brushing a half-buried symbol etched into the floor. "These lines… they're faded. But not dead. Something tried to suppress them."
"Or break in," Asmodeus muttered.
There was a faint vibration in the air—too quiet for sound, but enough for instinct to feel it.
I didn't say anything.
The walls weren't speaking, but something inside them remembered being awake once. And it was beginning to stir.
Asmodeus finally broke the silence. "So. Obvious cursed cave. Totally unrecorded. Possibly ancient."
He turned to me, squinting.
"This scream 'quest objective' to anyone else?"
I sighed. "Feels more like a side quest waiting to get us killed."
"Same difference," he said with a grin.
Rei brushed her gloves off. "Either way, we need to check it out. Carefully."
"And if it's a trap?" I asked.
"Then we spring it together," she said simply.
We barely had time to take a breath before the sound of squelching boots echoed from outside the cave entrance.
A shadow staggered forward—then another. Then three more.
Eldric Albrecht burst into view, one hand on his sword, the other gripping a dented helm under his arm. His coat was half-torn, streaked with sludge and melted fabric. Behind him, his small group of soldiers limped into view, armor hissing faintly with the residual acid of slime burns. One of them looked like he'd been slapped with a half-digested tree.
"What in the gods' broken names—" Eldric wheezed, "—was that storm?!"
Asmodeus straightened up with a wide grin. "Oh good. You made it."
"Barely!" one of the guards snapped, dragging his half-burned leg into the cave. "The slimes gave us hell after you three bolted!"
Eldric took one look at the three of us—Rei's coat still steaming, Asmodeus' boots soaked, and me, standing at the threshold like I'd planned all of this.
His eyes narrowed, then locked on me. Locked onto my tails.
"Chiori." He stepped forward. "What kind of sorcery are you using? I've never seen elemental magic like that. Never. No flame, no water, no crystal or current—what are you?"
The cave was silent for too long.
I didn't answer.
Asmodeus and Rei shared a glance with me—quick, silent, heavy with something unspoken.
He shouldn't know. He couldn't know. My magic wasn't something cataloged. It wasn't something others could even recognize.
Not yet.
Eldric took another step forward, gaze sharp. "I asked you a question—"
I stepped forward.
Mana surged through my spine.
Two additional tails flared to life behind me, curling with radiant pressure—one glinting like glass, the other casting faint gravitational ripples through the air.
I did what instinct demanded.
My tails snapped forward in twin arcs—each striking like iron-clad whips.
The guards didn't even have time to react.
CRACK—THUD—THUD—
The first two dropped to the ground before they could draw weapons. A third staggered, catching a strike to the gut and collapsing with a muffled groan.
Eldric stumbled back, hand halfway to his blade.
"Hold on, calm down. I didn't kill them, just knocked them out."
His hand reached his blade but didn't draw. "You know I'm going to need an explanation here."
I sighed, "Yes, I know."
Slowly, I lowered my tails.
Behind me, Asmodeus muttered under his breath, "You could've just said 'They were earth magic tails.'"
Rei, ever composed, took one step to my side and said quietly, "We'll explain when we're not surrounded by slime."
Eldric didn't answer right away.
He just stared.
At the power I hadn't tried to hide anymore.
"…Understood," he said stiffly, brushing off his sleeves.
Asmodeus muttered, "Ten out of ten. Would threaten again."
I sighed. "Shut up, Az. Let's stop here and set up camp." My tails shimmered softly before disappearing.
Eldric exhaled, loosening his grip on his blade "Camp, then. But I want answers."
"You'll get them," Rei said, brushing a few ash-flecks off her sleeves. "Eventually."
I turned without replying, stepping deeper into the cave. The walls still pulsed—faint but steady—like the ruin itself was listening.
Behind me, I heard Eldric mutter to himself, "Tails. Actual tails."
Rei caught up beside me. "Subtle defusion of the situation."
"Wasn't trying to be subtle." I scoffed
"Clearly." Rei replied
The cave stretched further in—warded, waiting—but whatever was inside could wait a few more hours. The slime rain hadn't let up completely, but we were safe for now. Sheltered. Still breathing.
That was enough.
Rei pulled her pack off with practiced ease. "I'll check for mana interference near the perimeter."
Asmodeus dropped his bag near the wall and immediately sat down like he'd been stabbed in the leg. "By the stars, I hate slimes. I think one laughed at me."
"It was a noise," I muttered.
"It had intent," he grumbled.
The cave was quiet, but it wasn't calm.
The rain still howled outside—slimes thudding against the earth like the sky was melting one creature at a time. None had reached the cave, but their weight was there. Felt, not heard. Tense. Waiting.
Asmodeus lay sprawled by the fire, coat draped over his eyes like that would save him from anything. Rei was crouched at the mouth of the cave, reinforcing the perimeter glyphs again even though they didn't need it. Her fingers moved with that quiet precision she always had—measured, clean, distant.
And I… just sat. Watching.
My coat was still damp. My shoulder ached from the impact earlier. And my mana hadn't stopped humming since I cast the spell.
Across the fire, Eldric was finishing a quiet check-in with his remaining guards. No one seriously injured—burned, battered, shaken—but alive. He said a few low words, clapped one on the shoulder, then finally made his way over.
He didn't speak right away. Just stood there, like he wasn't sure how to start.
Then: "You changed."
I glanced up.
"You really changed."
I didn't answer.
He stepped a little closer. "I saw the spell. The movement. You blinked—disappeared with Lilith like gravity forgot how to work. Then the tails…" He trailed off. "I've seen a lot of weird things, Chiori. That wasn't one of them. That was something else."
Rei turned from her glyphwork. Asmodeus shifted under his coat but didn't say anything.
I didn't move.
"What are you?" Eldric asked—quietly, not accusing. But carefully. Like if he breathed wrong, he'd break something.
I could've lied. Could've called it earth magic, or illusion, or something clever and wrapped in runes.
But this wasn't a stranger asking.
It was Eldric.
And if I couldn't trust him—if I couldn't trust them—then what was the point?
"…Not something you've seen before," I said.
He frowned. "Then what happened?"
Rei stepped forward now, silent, but close. Her presence felt solid. Steady.
I breathed out. "It's Gravity magic. The lost element that no one knows about."
For a second, Eldric just stared at me.
Then he laughed.
Not a sharp bark or mocking scoff—just a disbelieving, half-exhausted laugh, like the words had short-circuited his brain.
"You're serious," he said, grinning incredulously. "Gravity magic? Really? That's what you're going with?"
I crossed my arms. "It's not a joke."
"Oh, I know it's not. That's what makes it worse!" He waved a hand vaguely at the space around me. "You vanished! You dragged Lilith like a falling star! And now you're telling me you've been secretly cultivating mythical physics magic while the rest of us were learning how not to set our eyebrows on fire? Or drown ourselves or even blind each other?"
"Yup," Asmodeus chimed in, far too casually from his spot. "She's been weird the whole time. We just didn't ask."
Rei gave him a look. "You thought it was wind magic."
"I hoped," Asmodeus muttered. "Wind magic doesn't make me question reality."
Eldric ran a hand down his face, still grinning despite himself. "Gravity. Gods. You really are impossible."
"I prefer 'complicated,'" I said.
"No, you don't," Rei muttered under her breath. "You love the chaos."
She wasn't wrong.
Eldric shook his head slowly. "Alright, fine. Gravity magic. Next you'll tell me you can bend light and summon black holes with your tails."
I didn't answer.
That was probably a mistake.
"…Wait—can you?"
I shrugged innocently. "I'm still working on the fundamentals. Although those ideas sound fun."
Eldric groaned, tipping his head back against the stone. "Stars help me, I'm not paid enough for this."
"You're not paid at all," I pointed out.
"And somehow, that's still too expensive." He said back
He rubbed his face again, and when he looked back at me, the grin had faded—just a little.