He should have been grateful for the water, because it had surely saved his life, but it was hard to feel gratitude when it felt like icy needles were stabbing every inch of his skin. Also, it was deep enough that his feet couldn’t find the bottom, which posed another unfortunate problem.

  “Help! I can’t swim!” he spluttered, gasping and spitting as he looked around for anything to hold onto. There were some rocks further out, so he tried to move in that direction, flailing and splashing like a wild animal. His head would go under for a moment, only to resurface with a wet gasp as he clawed frantically at the water around him.

  Broad limbs of iron suddenly closed around him, gripping his chest. Hot panic spread through his cold veins. Some dark beast had come up from the depths and was pulling him down.

  “No! Garrhlll-” he tried to scream but water flowed into his mouth and it turned into a wet gargle. He fought, flailing, gathering his Ki and grabbing for his dagger, but this horrid beast was far too strong-

  “Hold still!”

  It was the noblewoman’s voice, right next to his ear. Dario froze, only now noticing that he was being kept afloat, slowly but steadily moving in the direction of the rocky shore.

  It didn’t take long until he was pulled onto the wet rocks, hacking up water before dropping onto his back, sucking in sweet mouthfuls of air. Above, there was only a dim glow of light where he’d expected to see a bright crater, a few thin rays breaking through what had to be a mound of rubble. The white cliffs and spires must have all collapsed together to cover the sinkhole. But then he realized something else.

  “Wait, we’re this deep?” he said, voice still rough and wet.

  The ceiling stretched far above, high enough that it was hard to judge the distance. This wasn’t some shallow cave, but a huge cavern.

  “Unexpected, indeed, to find a cavern this large. Strange that I did not sense it before, or I would have objected to the use of the explosive artefact. But be that as it may, I counted three seconds during our fall.”

  He propped himself up on his elbows to look at the noblewoman. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, back straight as she gazed up at the ceiling. Beneath her short-cut hair that stuck wetly to her head, the short sleeves of her tunic revealed muscular arms.

  “And?” he asked, frowning.

  She turned to him, lifting an eyebrow.

  “By Kowa’s gradient of acceleration, that places us approximately between 40 and 50 metres lower than where our plunge began. Have you not been educated in the methods of mathematics?”

  “Nope. Never even heard of it.”

  Dario wondered what kind of person would have a reflex to start counting while they fell into a hole, then a shiver had him sitting up and rubbing his shoulders. The cold was starting to settle deeper into his body. He began rummaging through his pack, tossing items onto the ground as he looked for a dry change of clothes.

  “Ah, yes, inventorizing our belongings is an excellent idea,” the woman said, grabbing her own smaller pack and placing the items in a neat row. “Would you be so kind as to provide a bit of light? I cannot see in the dark as well as I assume you can.”

  “You remembered me?” Dario asked as he pushed some of his Ki out into a small orb of light. “From the market?”

  The woman smiled. “I would not easily forget the first light cultivator I’d ever met, not to mention one with an eye Kaku. Ah, but I’ve been rude, let me introduce myself. My name is Veronika of the Houjo clan, though my friends call me Nika,” she said as she put a hand to her chest, then looked at him expectantly.

  “D-Dario. P-pleasure,” he said, teeth chattering as he rubbed his arms against the cold. She frowned for a moment, but then she looked up at the ceiling and brought her hands together with a loud clap.

  “Well, Dario, it looks like we have some work to do. I believe it would be prudent to first map our surroundings and take stock of the available materials. We should also find an appropriate site to commence the operation. Anywhere flat and away from the water will do.”

  She spoke quickly and sprang to her feet, grabbing a small light-generating artefact she’d dug out of her pack. Her eyes were focused and determined, her fine-cut clothing seemed unmarred by the fighting and their fall into the water, well-defined muscles showing everywhere the sleek fabric stuck to her body.

  “O-operation?”

  “None of the cliffs reach high enough for us to climb out,” Nika said absently as she scanned their surroundings. “So naturally, we will have to build a spire of our own.”

  Dario grimaced as he glared up at her, huddled up into a shivering ball, feeling like he was nothing more than a bunch of bruises mashed together into a lump. Everything hurt and he was freezing his ass off.

  “A-arent you c-cold?” It was more an accusation than a question.

  “Certainly not. Control over one’s body is one of the basic tenets of cultivating,” she said, like it was a law everyone should be aware of. He thought he saw a bit of disapproval in her pale blue eyes. She looked at the dry clothes he’d just pulled from his bags, then turned around with a nod. “I will go and explore our surroundings.”

  He scowled at her back as she walked off, letting his own light wink out as he didn’t need it. A dark cavern like this was one of the few places where he’d have trouble refilling his Ki. He’d have to use his reserves sparingly.

  “Basic tenets my ass.”

  Once she was far enough away not to see him, he put on the one change of clothes he’d brought. His trusty bag had luckily held up against the freezing water. But his injuries were settling in as well; even just peeling off the wet clothes and wriggling into the dry ones caused him a great deal of pain. His empty pack held no healing pills though - those were all in the cave. Stupid. He’d planned to circle back there immediately after the ambush, but those damn apes had been right on him.

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  He looked at Nika’s things which were lined up in neat rows next to her pack. There was a little box, which looked like it might hold healing pills, though he couldn’t be sure and actually opening her boxes felt like a step too far. But then his eye fell on a familiar, oblong pill with a spiraling groove.

  “Oh great. Just my luck,” he sighed as he held the drug in front of him.

  It was a tad bigger than he was used to and seemed to have a golden cover to it. Must be of superior quality, given that it belongs to a noble. She probably had a bunch of these and he figured she wouldn’t mind if he borrowed one.

  “Still better than dealing with the pain.” He grimaced, then quickly inserted it and went to wash his hands in the water. He spent a few minutes looking through his stuff, which unfortunately wasn’t much, until he caught a flash of light and saw that Nika was returning, carrying a huge block of rock on each shoulder.

  “These should provide a fine foundation,” she said with a happy sigh as she slammed them down with a loud crash. “A few sturdy layers of these and then we can transition to lighter stones for the top layers.”

  Dario was gaping at the huge blocks. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to lift a single one. How had she carried two of them? From the volume of Ki in her body, he didn’t think she was an Amber yet, but she sure had the strength of one.

  “Say, how is it that you know all that stuff about rocks and building and whatnot? That a noble thing?”

  “Not as such - I simply happen to know more than most. The name Houjo is not known to you?”

  “Nope.”

  She looked a bit disappointed by that, but then she straightened her back.

  “The Houjo clan is one of the six Cardinal Clans. We own most of the quarries within Tenjou and are widely considered to be experts at construction, in particular of defensive structures. The greatest strongholds under the Ceiling were built by Houjo hands.”

  “Huh. That’s cool,” Dario said, pushing himself to his feet with great effort and groans of pain. That fancy pill was sure taking its time. “Guess I’m pretty lucky I ended up down here with you, then,”

  Nika paused, looking him over.

  “I hope you won’t take offense, but you look a bit worse for wear. Would you perhaps require a healing pill? I swear on my name that there are no issues with their quality.”

  She bent over to grab the box of pills and opened the lid, presenting them to him. But as he took one with a shrug and thanks, she was frowning as she looked through her stuff.

  “Say, have you seen my seeker? I swear it was right there,” she said, pointing at an empty spot. The one where he’d taken the healing pill from.

  Dario blinked as he processed the words, the blood draining from his face. “What, err, does it look like?” The words sounded choked as they came out, so he feigned a coughing fit to cover it up.

  “A golden cylindrical object, about this size,” she held her thumb and index finger apart at exactly the size of the healing pill he’d inserted.

  The healing pill that wasn’t, in fact, a healing pill. He knew where her seeker was, alright. Tenjin’s balls, what have I done?

  “A-a seeker, you said?” His voice somehow sounded high-pitched now, almost like a squeal. He began to aggressively clear his throat.

  “It’s an ingenious artefact. When activated, it will seek out the stones of the highest density within an area of a few hundred square meters,” she said, frowning as she looked around.

  Dario looked around with her, swallowing dry spit as he thought of a way out of this. His eyes flicked to her muscles again, then the slabs of stone she’d just carried here. Confessing to the unfortunate misunderstanding was not an option.

  Her face suddenly brightened and she lifted a finger. “Oh! Of course! Silly me,” she said, “the controller is right there, I can just recall it.”

  “No!” Dario shouted, lunging forward to grab at her wrist. It felt like he was gripping stone. She cocked an eyebrow at him, eyes turning cold.

  “Ah, that is, what I mean to say is…” he withdrew his hand, clearing his throat. “It might be best if I looked for it first. Just in case it’s, uhh… stuck somewhere. Or malfunctioning. You never know, right?”

  “Finding out if it’s stuck or non-responsive is as easy as pressing this button,” she insisted, grabbing for the controller again.

  “Please, don’t!”

  The mental image of the seeker to come ripping out of his ass was too strong for him to keep the horror off his face. And that was the best-case scenario.

  She frowned at him.

  “I-uhh…” he stammered. “I want to be useful! That’s it. It helps my, err, my insecurities?”

  He cursed inwardly as the words flopped out of his mouth. Why did I have to turn that into a damn question? Nika blinked, seeming completely confused.

  “Finding things is what I do best. Keen eyes, remember?” he said as he pointed at his eyes with a forced smile. “Also, this is a dark place and it might be under water, it’ll be great practice for me!”

  He gave her a hopeful, pleading look, trying not to betray the panic he was feeling.

  “Well, I suppose a desire for self-improvement is nothing to be scoffed at. However, we don’t exactly have the luxury of time-”

  “Thanks Nika, that’s very understanding of you!” he interrupted. “And you can join the search. I’m positive I can find it in five minutes. It’ll be like a special challenge. Why don’t you, uhhh… go look over there, between those rocks. They look thick and sturdy. It might have been drawn in by their density, right?”

  She frowned then, looking suddenly uncomfortable. Shit. She was on to him. Maybe if he managed to run her in circles for long enough, she would calm down again?

  “I fear there has been a misunderstanding,” she said, face tense.

  Dario swallowed. The jig is up.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just… My mentor always… I thought-”

  “Nika is reserved for friends. I hope you will not take offense to this, but we have only just met. The appropriate address would be Lady Veronika, or Miss Houjo.”

  He blinked, then let out a long sigh of relief, nodding eagerly.

  “Of course! Miss Houjo it is! Shall we start our search then, miss Houjo?”

  A sweet wave of relief passed through him when she finally agreed and moved behind the rock. He didn’t waste any time, diving immediately back into the icy water to remove the seeker from its hiding place. After a good wash, he held it up triumphantly.

  “Here it is! It must have rolled into the water, uhh, somehow, while I was distracted.”

  She must have activated the controller where she stood, because the golden thing zipped right out of his grip, sticking onto the strange artefact. He grimaced as he imagined what might have happened if he hadn't stopped her from doing that earlier.

  “Hmm,” she mused as she investigated it, “it feels a bit oily. Strange.”

  Dario coughed into his fist.

  “Well, I guess you never know what kind of things you’d find in this tepid water. Dark and humid caves are full of all kinds of nasty stuff.” Despite the cold, there was a spring in his step as he walked out of the water. The real healing pill was working like a charm. He put his hands on his hips as he grinned at her.

  “Anyway, should we see about building that tower?”