The Five Kings: First Step

Hopian 6 - Onwards Through The Depths

A/N: Hey! Before the chapter I thought you guys would be interested in something. A follower of mine MangaStoryFan has drawn me as an oc character in his Manga/Art Sketchbook, and he also put that version of me (who's name is Seric) who's meant to represent me in his story, Reach to the Max volume 2 Let's Make Legends!

NOTE: His drawing is not meant to look like Seric, he just used the name to represent me.

Last chapter Seric and Karia arrived at the first trial in which was known to kill anyone who tried to enter. Seric was miraculously able to open this door without death and so they entered the first part of the trial, knowing nothing of what lurks inside but having the motivation of fulfilling Karia's agreement.

Seric's P.O.V.

After Karia sets up her Hide of Aegis, we start to slowly walk forward keeping a close eye out for any traps (only after I pestered her about it one million times).

We both stay silent until around the halfway mark to the dark entrance when Karia accidentally steps on a stone plate. "Uh oh." She says as a miniscule hole opens in the wall and an even tinier ball comes flying out, aiming to hit us at high speeds but failing to do so as it's blocked off by the cloak Karia made.

I close my eyes tightly as it repeatedly hits and deflects off the hide in different directions loudly until it finally stops and falls to ground with a clang.

"You alright, Karia?"

She looks back at me, "Yeah, you?"

I nod as we stand in place for a bit of time, a bit shaken after the unexpected barrage of attacks.

"That sure as hell put some work on my hide, I can probably only take one more barrage of attacks like that until it breaks." Karia says seriously.

"Were halfway there, so in theory we should be fine." I say to boost our spirits, but still scared nonetheless.

"Let's hope so, but we should be careful anyways." Karia says for once.

We then continue to walk through the hall, this time taking extra caution. We approach the dark entrance which is now oddly starting to give me a weird feeling. Not happiness, not fear, just... weird.

I sigh in relief, "Oh thank God, we made i-"

I'm interrupted on short notice as the floor from beneath us suddenly drops.

We both scream in a not-so-brave manner as we free fall in darkness to what seems to be our demise.

I was proven wrong when we both splash into a pool of water at the bottom of the hole a few moments later.

After my daze wore off from the shock I get off of Karia's back who's still bewildered, and bring her up to the surface.

I was still on her back when we fell, which is why she probably took more damage than me.

Scanning our surroundings I see that we're now in a small well inside the middle of an enclosed dome-shaped room.

Strangely enough the room is lit up with no source of light, and it seems to be made of the same gray stone as the hallway, but with no cracked walls.