Chapter 300: The forgotten Truth (Woohoo! 300 Chapters!) (1/2)

Not counting the entrance Aiden was standing at, the map that the system has drawn, thanks to the pulses generated by his empowered [Dark Sense] ability revealed two other tunnel-like halls leading to new, unexplored sections of this underground cavern system.

The system marked the entrance Aiden was still standing at the western side of the chamber, with one of the tunnels being at the far end, the northeastern side leading further below, and the other one, much closer at the center of the southern wall.

Thinking about it for only a brief moment, Aiden turned towards the southern side, taking a longer glance at it.

His eyes shining in their full-powered golden luster, he himself was the singular light source in the dark and damp convoluted chamber. He looked wondrously at the multicolored stalagmites hanging from the ceiling and protruding from the stony ground. Their layered colors were one-of-a-kind, a literal wonder made by nature over the hundreds if not thousands of years developing undisturbed by civilization. Layers of orange, purple, pink, light green, and even amethyst blue made quite an eye candy for the young boy.

If he would have the time, he would have loved to spend more time in this place, just taking in the wonders at a much slower pace, but sadly, he had to push on, he had to put an end to this life-threatening quest, the System assigned to him.

With that thought in mind, he forcefully pushed on, leaving the wondrous sight behind, and approached the exit at the southern side.

Arriving at the entrance, he could immediately feel that instead of stepping into a long tunnel or hall, he would be stepping into another chamber, but unlike the previous one, this would be much larger.

Pausing in the archway, he waited for the energy pulses to return and for his System to generate a picture for him to use.

Unlike before, this one was much bigger, much more grandiose than before. In comparison it made the previous room look like a simple antechamber that's sole purpose was to greet the new arrivals and lead them to this grander one.

The first thing he noticed even with his limited, achromatopsiatic, black and white vision was a set of pillars stretching to all the directions he could see. As the map was gradually being generated, he could see countless carved, circular pillars stretching to as far as the pulses could travel.

This change in scenery gave a more hallowed feel to this mysterious place, also promptly humbling Aiden in front of this giant, majestic hall.

'Well… this is unexpected… Should I just go this way, or…' Seeing the royalty of this next room, made Aiden question his first thought. Should he continue this way, or should he first check out what lay in wait further below towards the northeastern end? Thinking about it, he hesitated, turning his head to the side and glancing in the direction of the other exit.

'I probably should have just initiated the skill upgrade instead of pushing it back. It may have helped…' He grumbled. The system gave him the notification before when he got the Dark Essence Source absorbed that he could use it to transform his skill to something new at the cost of a small inability to access the aforementioned skill. As the skill was his most important ability when traversing unfamiliar grounds, he didn't want to lose access to it even for a single minute much less for a full hour. In retrospect, however, he regretted his decision as it probably would have been incredibly handy.

'Eh, whatever, I will just trust my instincts…' In the end Aiden decided against going the other way and to trust his own senses. Spending years in the Pocket World, Lily and himself had to rely on their instincts, and senses to survive and overcome all the obstacles that Master and Granny made for them. He had to learn through blood, sweat, and tears to trust his senses and body in situations like this, rather than his hesitating mind.

Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Aiden stepped through the stone archway, arriving into the ornate and majestic hallway.