I need to stop this.
If the humans found out that a group of Elves had invaded the Lotus Pavilion, the future alliance between the two would likely not happen.
That major plot point being gone could cause the happy end of my story...to turn in the opposite direction.
But...what can I do?
Racking my head, I tried to recall any details about this event, but nothing ca to mind.
After all, this was so throwaway prologue I had decided to delete ages ago.
How strong were the elves?
How long did it take them to find the place? When are the heroes going to arrive?
One thing was certain, though.
I needed to leave, for now.
If these elves saw , a powerless human, my death would be certain.
Clicking the tablet in my pocket, I glanced at the holographic screen before .
[3:23]
The robbery was supposed to be completed by the end of the day...so in an ideal world, I had about nine hours.
Suddenly, though, as I began to retreat, the elf searching the courtyard suddenly flicked their head...upward and to the right.
His jade-green pupils t mine.
At that mont, I suddenly recalled sothing.
Elves have amazing eyesight...amazing enough that they can sense holographic screens.
Imdiatly, even though I hadn’t activated anything, dozens of holographic lines appeared from the elf’s...empty right hand.
Each one of them went through one of the square-shaped holes in the castle’s portcullis and...ended in the bush I was in.
In the next mont, a bright-green flash blinded , and before I knew it, a wooden spear, wrapped in vines, was flying at .
Scrambling backward as countless more holographic lines, too many for to even count, appeared, I turned around and ran.
*WHOOSH*
The vine spear penetrated the bush I was in, and like an animal, the vines pounced off the spear’s body and began slithering forward like snakes.
Suddenly, a cold and sharp sensation coursed through my body.
Drawing my sword from its sheath, I imdiatly gaze downward at the source...seeing a part of the vine wrapped around my right ankle.
Without any hesitation, my body instinctively threw the sword downward, slicing the vine in half.
Then, I ran...and ran, hiding my body in the darkness of the forest.
I couldn’t see anything besides the faint shadowy figures of the trees...and lines.
Blue lines were everywhere.
Although there was no light in the forest, the area around was shining a light-blue.
*WHOOSH*
Spears continued flying, embedding themself in trees around , but I sprinted with every piece of energy my body had.
Finally, after two minutes, as I looked back, there were no lines.
"I-i escaped."
Not daring to let out a sigh of relief, I slowed to a walk.
Although the spears had lines for to see, the vines did not.
They seed not to be objects...but living things.
At that mont, though, as I slowly crept away from the fortress, a soft yet steady sound entered my ears.
The sound of water tumbling against jagged rocks, each splash echoing like a thousand whispers of a vengeful ghost.
A waterfall...
Turning in the opposite direction of the plain, I ventured deeper into the forest, eventually coming to an opening as I reached one of the pyramid’s four triangular walls.
A small lake, surrounded by various and vibrant plants, lay below an opening in the pyramid wall, which leaked a large amount of water.
Water flowed downward from the hole in the wall, crashing against the rocks below.
Could it...be?
Not skipping a beat, I sprinted forward into the lake, everything below my shoulders sinking under the water, and walked on the hard stone lake floor.
One thing in particular had bothered when I glanced at my system nu.
My luck stat.
There were two letters.
What did it an? Was my luck constantly changing or what?
Now, I think I understand it...just a tiny bit.
After being unlucky, I am bound to be lucky.
Coming to the Lotus Pavilion during the Elf invasion was extrely unlucky.
Out of all days, why this day and not tomorrow?
The bottom of my chin now subrged in the water, I persevered forward, taking off my shoes, which were filled with water.
Feeling splinted stones rub against my feet and leave bloody scars, I gritted my teeth and finally reached the waterfall.
A wall of water lay before , stretching halfway up the pyramid wall. It was a ceaseless downpour of water, sending droplets of water lashing against my face, each one hitting my face with the pain of a glass shard.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and took another step forward.
The instant I passed beneath the waterfall, the torrent slamd into my head like a hamr, pounding my scalp over and over again.
I took another step.
Tearing my white collared shirt, the water carved sharp, bloody streams across my back, but finally, in the next mont...I was through.
But...there was nothing.
There wasn’t a tunnel behind the waterfall or even a hole.
Just the plain...yellow wall of the pyramid.
"...ah."
All I could do was exhale.
There were tens of waterfalls within this area; why did I think I was going to find the correct one on my first attempt?
Sighing, I hurriedly turned around and prepared to walk through the waterfall once more...but my right foot refused to move.
Is it stuck between rocks?
Pausing, I pivoted forward with my unstuck left foot and gazed downward at the lake floor.
Footsteps...?
Like a key inside a lock, my foot perfectly fit into a footstep mark that had been imprinted in the rock right after the waterfall.
That wasn’t all; about fifty rocks on the lake floor, between the waterfall and the pyramid wall, had footstep marks on them, forming a circle.
They varied, with so facing straight, others sideways, and so backward, but the footstep-marked rocks ford a circle, with a few unmarked ones within.
There was no order to them, but instinctively, I felt as if...they ford a dance.
A movent.
I had to follow the footsteps.
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