Transmigrate to another world

Chapter 48: The Archmage

Then I let the bar cool down and, while Ruby follows me, I go back to camp and pick up my weapons. Then we go back to the big cavern. This time, as we enter, I start following the wall on the right. As before, I take my time and count my steps so I can accurately update the map.

Suddenly Ruby exclaims and darts off through the foliage to our left. I quickly turn and follow her, not wanting to get separated. I find her kneeling in front of a bush that is covered with so many red flowers it looks like it's on fire.

Ruby says "Isn't it beautiful?"

"It is, but you like it because it looks like it's on fire."

Ruby says "So what?"

She reaches out to gently touch one of the flowers and, as she touches it, it turns blue like her hair. Then, in a domino effect, all the flowers on the bush also change color. Now the bush appears to be covered in blue flames.

Ruby smiles and says, "Wow, it reacted to my touch!"

"Yes, I admit I wasn't expecting it."

Ruby spends a few more minutes admiring the forest before returning to the wall and continuing to follow it. We follow the wall for about five hundred feet before reaching the place where the river flows out of the cave wall and flows into the lake.

I jump across the river with ease and then look back at Ruby, who transforms into her spirit form and flies away before returning to her human form. We then continue along the wall. I keep hoping to see more armatite ore, while Ruby is more interested in all the colors of the flowers.

We follow the wall around the entire lake until we are at the edge above the pond that feeds the waterfall, by my estimate, we went about a thousand feet from the river to here.

"I guess all that's left is the lake itself."

Ruby says, "Yeah, count me out. The swimming is up to you."

"Yeah, but I'm counting on you to keep me from freezing to death afterwards."

Ruby says, "So, I'm your personal heater? I can live with that."

I laugh as I start taking off my weapons and armor. Once I'm down to my shorts and black switchblade, I walk over to the lake and step into the water.

"Hey. It's not as cold as the river. I wonder if it's because of the tree."

Ruby shrugs and watches me as I go further in until I can start swimming. I crouch down and look around, not wanting to be surprised by another alligator if there is one.

Fortunately, all I see are normal fish, although the blue glow below is a little strange. I swam deeper to get a better look and then realized it was the glass ceiling of the cave the tree was in. I swam all the way around the lake to see if there was anything interesting before heading back to where Ruby was waiting for me.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, Skill Swimming has advanced to level 6!

? Swimming

? Level 6

- Strength +6 Endurance +6 Cold resistance +6 Hold your breath: Final stats x 2 minutes.

- You are a good swimmer.

I get out of the lake and shake like a dog, splashing water everywhere and making Ruby laugh. She looks a little disappointed when I start putting my armor and weapons back on without her warming up to me.

Ruby says, "Anything interesting in there?"

"No, nothing at all. So the only ways out of this cavern, besides the tunnel we used, are the rivers. I'm pretty sure downstream leads to camp, so let's take a look at the river that feeds the lake."

Ruby says, "Okay, you're the expert."

"Expert? Ha ha, I'm actually making it up as I go along."

Ruby says, "Well, that's reassuring."

I just smile and shrug and then lead the way back around the lake to where the river empties into the cavern. As I approach the river from this side, I notice that there is a narrow ledge on the other side that I hadn't seen before, so I quickly jump down to take a closer look.

Ruby follows me in spirit form as I see a rusty piece of metal sticking out of the wall, so I quickly move to the edge of the river to get a better look. It is similar to a climbing nail and even has a small piece of rotten rope attached to it.

It looks like a long time ago someone attached a rope to hold on to while following the ledge along the river, as the ledge appears to be about six inches wide, so it would be very tricky for someone to follow it without something to hold on to.

I stand there looking at the ledge and the river, debating whether to try to follow the ledge or just swim upstream. The current doesn't seem very strong, so I can probably swim, but it would be pretty exhausting.

However, the ledge should be fairly easy for me with my claws. To test it, I extend the claws of my hand and push against the rock wall. It takes a bit of effort, but I am able to sink them into the rock and thus get a good grip. My mind made up, I turn to look at Ruby, who is standing a few feet away watching me.

"I'm going to try to follow this upstream, see where it goes."

Ruby says, "Okay, I can follow it spiritually and provide some light."

"That works, but don't laugh if I fall into the river."

Ruby says "No promises!"

Ruby transforms into her spirit form and steps into the cave ahead of me to light the way. I begin to advance along the ledge, sinking my claws into the stone to hold on. We advance slowly, but after about a hundred feet, the ledge widens and I can move a little faster.

After another two hundred feet or so, the ledge ends.

I stop and look around me under the blue light Ruby is emitting. I see that the river is making a bend and there is a wide ledge on the other side. The problem is that it's about twenty feet from where I am now and the ceiling is quite low. I know that if I jump normally, I'm going to hit my head on the roof and end up in the river.

Not wanting to amuse Ruby, I crouch on the ledge and ponder the problem.

I could swim to the other ledge, but swimming with my armor and weapons wouldn't be easy, I can't take them off because I don't want to be unarmed in uncharted territory.

After thinking about it for a minute, I crouch down on all fours and try to jump to the other ledge. Jumping from the lowest position allows me to avoid hitting the ceiling. I make it to the other ledge, but end up hitting my face against the cave wall because I can't stop my momentum in time.

When I get up, I discover that this ledge is about two feet wide, wide enough for me to walk normally as long as I am careful.

I follow the river for quite a while, lose count of my steps, but I estimate that I follow it for about five thousand feet before the right side of the river opens up into a cave. The river continues, but I jump to explore this new cave first.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, you've completed a quest! Chapter Discover:

- Locate the Archmage

- Find the remains of the archmage 1/1.

- Reward: 5 stat points.

Not immediately seeing the remains that triggered the quest, I cautiously advance towards the cave. As I pass by the edge of a pile of rocks, I see ice. It's a huge block of ice in the middle of the cave and there's something inside it. Ruby returns to her human form and stands next to me. Inside the ice I can see human remains and standing on them is some sort of wolf centaur-like creature.

"What is that thing!"

Ruby says, "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it."

??-DING-??.

- There's a new mission available!

- Defeat the demon!

- Objective: Kill the demon 0/1

- Reward: Ability: Teleport

Do you accept Y/N?

"Oh great, a demon?"