Chương 106: Beneath the Surface

"How much longer do we have to walk to reach this place?" Susanne asked in an exhausted voice. Ever since meeting Natalie the Rat, they had walked for nearly the entire afternoon. Even so, looking into the distance, Susanne could not see anything resembling a building or a mountain as far as her eyes could see.

"We may have to walk for another day to reach the range of the Pollux," Natalie replied, sitting comfortably on Susanne's shoulder.

"You walk too slowly. If I travelled by myself, I would have already reached the destination."

"I meant to ask, how are you able to run so fast?" Susanne asked.

"Why do you ask so many personal questions? Restrain yourself from asking strange questions to strangers," Natalie said, refusing to answer. Susanne had already expected this result, as she had been asking a lot of questions along the way. Although they were basic questions, such as whether she was related to the Ratkin people who lived in the forest, Natalie had surprisingly answered that question. Her response was exactly as expected: she did not know.

However, one thing was certain: she was afraid to enter the forest. She felt safe only in the wasteland.

"Do you think it is time to find shelter? The sun has already set," Susanne asked. She brought this up because she had come to know that the wasteland crawled with dangerous predators at night. Even Natalie was afraid of them, which was why the Rat only roamed around during the daytime.

"That is what I am doing: finding a shelter," Natalie said, jumping from Susanne's shoulder and dashing forward. Susanne did not react, as the Rat had constantly done this sort of thing ever since they decided to travel together. Susanne simply continued walking in the direction Natalie had run. After walking for a while, she found the Rat sitting on the ground, looking down.

"Did you find something?" Susanne asked.

"Yes. I finally found a shortcut that will cut our journey in half," Natalie said, looking at a hole in the ground just wide enough for a person to enter.

"What is this? A rat hole?" Susanne asked, looking at the opening she could barely fit into.

"No, it is the path we must travel. This is a tunnel that will shorten our journey," Natalie said.

"I do not understand. How could entering a hole reduce the distance? Does it possess a teleportation gate?" Susanne asked, doubting the Rat's claim.

"I do not know either. My memory tells me that this tunnel magically shortens the distance. We should take this route. I am tired of traveling at a snail's speed with you," Natalie complained.

"You barely walked for half the day, and you enjoyed a ride on my shoulder, yet you are complaining about being tired?" Susanne shot back at the Rat's blatant blame.

"Do you want to reach the Pollux soon or not?" Natalie urged. Hearing this, Susanne fell silent and thought for a moment. She did not have a time limit, meaning she could take any number of days. However, she felt that exact fact was ominous. Having no time limit and no penalty for failure seemed very suspicious. It would be better for her to proceed at a regular speed, neither rushing nor delaying too much.

"Does this route have any danger?" Susanne probed.

"Yes, of course there will be danger. But do not worry; with your strength, you will be enough to easily defeat it," Natalie said regarding the potential battle Susanne might have to face. Susanne thought for a moment about whether to trust the Rat. However, recalling how a Trial participant should accept the help of The Beacon, especially regarding the terrain, since this information came directly from her Grandmother, Susanne decided to believe the Rat.

"Okay then, let us go," Susanne agreed to Natalie's idea of traveling through the tunnel.

"Follow me," Natalie suddenly said, jumping into the hole and disappearing. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Susanne watched the Rat's action and hesitated for a second before jumping in as well. Landing on her back, Susanne slid rapidly down the sloping tunnel. She simply made her body small as she automatically moved down the incline. She traveled in this manner for almost a minute until she saw a light ahead of her.

She quickly readied herself for any potential battle. While she was preparing, she suddenly heard Natalie's voice; the Rat was already sitting on her shoulder.

"Get ready to jump and land from a short fall." Susanne did as Natalie instructed. As soon as she reached the exit, she steadied her body and prepared to land on her feet. Fortunately, the light in the tunnel helped her identify where the ground was, and she landed safely. Without waiting, she moved and gathered fire in her palm.

"Relax, the enemy is not here," Natalie said. Hearing this, Susanne put away the fireball and observed the terrain. It was a man-made tunnel, its walls built from stone. Shining moss grew on the walls, providing light to the tunnel.

"Which way?" Susanne asked, looking at the tunnel that stretched in both directions from where she stood.

"Let us go left," Natalie said, pointing her tiny hands toward the left. Once their direction was decided, the duo proceeded. Fortunately, the tunnel was brightly lit, presenting no visual obstructions. Completely devoid of darkness, the path was easy to traverse, allowing them to move quickly without taking any rest. Along the way, Susanne quietly inquired about the location and type of enemy she might have to face.

Natalie was similarly ignorant regarding these questions; she simply knew that an enemy existed, and that Susanne must defeat it in order to travel any further. Susanne walked quietly, making calculations based on the timeframe Natalie had mentioned. It would take a day to reach the visual range of Pollux traveling overland. However, the tunnel would halve that time, reducing the journey to 12 hours.

According to her calculations, five hours had passed since she jumped into the hole, meaning it must currently be around ten at night. She retrieved a few nuts and tuberous roots to eat on the journey, quietly munching on them to gather some energy for the walk.

"Would you care to share some of those roots?" Natalie asked. The Rat had remained silent for most of the time, expecting Susanne to offer the food, but Susanne had not asked even for the sake of courtesy. Susanne broke off a piece of the tender root sized appropriately for the Rat and handed it over. While having their meal, they walked for another hour until they finally encountered the enemy Natalie had mentioned. However, upon seeing the enemy, Susanne was taken aback.

The enemy Natalie had mentioned was not some monster, but rather a Ratkin person with a chain bound around his neck. Currently, the Ratkin person sat at the center of an intersection where four tunnel routes met. Natalie quietly gestured with her limbs toward the Ratkin person. Susanne, however, was reluctant. The objective of her Trial was to free these Ratkin people, yet Natalie wanted her to kill them. It was not the right thing to do.

She could try to have a conversation with him instead, explaining what had transpired and why she was here. However, Natalie continuously signaled to attack the Ratkin person. Seeing this, Susanne slowly backed away from the spot. After walking back a sufficient distance, she explained her intention not to attack the Ratkin person, but to try and have a talk instead.

"Do not be ridiculous. Those things are not friendly. If you think you can have a talk, you will be killed before you can even speak a single word. You must trust me if you want to reach the Pollux. You have to kill that enemy. Otherwise, we will not walk any further," Natalie said.

"But I want to try to have a talk with him. Let us see if he listens to our voices. If he acts exactly as you described, then we will do what you suggested," Susanne proposed.

"Do what you want, but do not expect me to save you. I cannot fight. I will abandon you if you get caught by that thing," Natalie firmly warned regarding what would happen if Susanne was caught.

"Do not worry, I will keep my distance and have a talk," Susanne said. With her decision made, she walked back to the intersection of the four tunnels. By this point, Natalie had already run away from Susanne's shoulder. Standing a short distance away, Susanne steadied herself. She had been slightly confident at first, but after Natalie's constant warnings, she decided to be extra careful.

Although this Ratkin person belonged to the same race as the ones she had met in the forest, he might still be hostile towards her. Since he was placed here to protect the tunnel, there had to be some trigger that would push the Ratkin person to react automatically to any enemy. She slowly walked forward, entering the Ratkin person's detection range. The Ratkin, who sat with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked directly at Susanne's approach.

"Hello, friend. I am from the forest. I am here to free you. I have no intention of hurting you. Would you like to have a talk with me?" Susanne quickly explained to the Ratkin, who was about to pick up a spiked mace resting beside him.

"Forest?" the Ratkin person spoke.

"Yes," Susanne answered with great relief.

"There is no forest; the forest was destroyed long ago. Who are you?" the Ratkin person asked. Susanne was very happy, since the Ratkin person was himself and ready to have a decent conversation.

"The forest is real. I am from that forest. I am on a mission to save you all. I was hired by an elder from the forest where many people like you live," Susanne quickly revealed the people of his race so he could have some understanding of her intentions. However, that was not what happened in the next second. The Ratkin's face began to contort, and his eyes turned red as rage erupted from within him. He quickly picked up the spiked mace, stood up, and shouted.

"Traitor!" He began running towards Susanne with his mace raised high.