Chapter 5 – Caves (1)

Chapter 5 – Caves (1)

Rowan shot through the air, plummeting down towards the glimmering lake below. The wind whipped through his hair, and he shut his eyes, waiting for the inevitable impact with the dark waters. Then, he crashed feet-first into the liquid.

—

Rowan woke, head throbbing as he coughed violently.

He tried to twist, but he couldn’t. He was underwater. Or, at least, most of his body was. He was floating on his back, his face just barely above the water.

He tried to take a deep breath, but there was still water in his lungs. Forcing himself upright, he treaded water as he continued hacking up liquid. The water tasted bitter, almost like acid.

Slowly, his breath returned to him. But as the panic faded, everything else made itself known. His head throbbed, and even as he kicked, he could feel his aching legs threatening to fail him.

Glancing around, he realized his head had popped up in a cave. Desperate to escape the dark waters, Rowan pulled himself out of the lake. For a moment, he just let himself relax on the stone floor. Then, he forced himself to focus.

Had he blacked out when he hit the surface of the lake? It seemed so, but Rowan’s biggest concern was whether or not his legs were okay. Nothing felt broken, but they ached terribly. He’d done his best to hit the water feet first, but the cliff had still been terrifyingly high, if not enough to kill him.

Finally calming down, he took a moment to really take in his surroundings. The cave was lit by a mix of phosphorescent moss and the shimmering waters of the lake.

But the deeper he looked into the cave, the less moss there was, until all he could see was utter darkness.

Turning his gaze back to the liquid that made up the lake, he inspected it more closely. He hesitated to call it water. It just looked too foreign. It was dark, far darker than any water should’ve been. But it also glowed. When he’d been on top of the cliff, he’d assumed it was just light reflecting off the lake, but it was an actual light source.

Before he could look any closer, Rowan received a notification.

Weapon selection has begun. Please select a weapon.

Longsword (Common)

Shortsword (Common)

Spear (Common)

Dagger x2 (Common)

Bow and Arrows (Common)

Mace (Common)

Flail (Common)

Axe (Common)

…

Before he checked the list, Rowan took a moment to think. Since the System had said weapon selection was supposed to begin ten minutes after the grace period for Apocalypse difficulty ended, that meant he hadn’t been out for too long.

As he propped himself against the wall and prepared to look over the choices of weapons, he felt a wave of nausea wash over him. Closing his eyes, he tried to ride it out. After a moment, it faded, but it never fully went away.

Rowan shifted in discomfort. Had the kick to his head really been that bad? Or had jumping into the lake contributed to it? Accepting that the nauseous feeling wasn’t going away anytime soon, he gritted his teeth and looked over the list.

There were so many choices. He hadn’t even heard of half of them. Some of them didn’t even seem like they were from Earth.

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