Godspawn Ascendant [LitRPG, Epic Progression Fantasy]

It was evident that Cinthara had lived in this city much longer than I had. Granted, living in Solomon's Realm Academy for longer than my one week wasn't difficult to accomplish, but Cinthara knew every nook and cranny of the place like it was a part of her. She weaved between narrow alleyways and behind tall buildings without hesitation, never slowing in her steps. I had a hard time keeping track of her as I got caught behind one person after another and missed different turns she made underneath the shadows of the crowded structures in the city.

"Where are we going, exactly?" I hollered out to Cinthara, who jogged about five feet ahead of me.

"You'll see! Just keep up!"

I pushed out my cheeks with air and held my breath to keep from snapping at her. I barrelled forward and unfortunately knocked over two innocent, green-skinned children playing a very loud game with a large rubber ball.

Wincing, I rushed past the crying kids who rubbed at their newly scraped knees and finally caught up to Cinthara before she disappeared around another bend.

"I thought you wanted me to trust you. Why aren't you telling me the plan?"

Cinthara flicked a straight lock of hair out of her face. It had fallen out of her one long braid. "I will tell you the plan."

She shifted her eyes around us, glaring at the hundreds of people who could listen in on our conversation.

"But first…" She lowered her voice and moved so close to me our shoulders touched. "We have to sneak out of the city first."

"How? Isn't the only way in and out of this place through the big doors at the front of the city?"

Cinthara flashed me a side smile. "As I said, you'll see."

"But why do we need to sneak out? Are we not allowed to leave?"

"Are you an idiot?" Cinthara's annoyed tone that I'd grown familiar with returned. "We don't need people to know what we're doing. If there's treasure or some sort of prize in the locked caverns, I don't want to have to share it with everyone."

I shrugged, deciding her answer was as good as any.

We reached the only corner of the entire giant cave that had no bustling people. Regardless, Cinthara brought a finger to her lips and pulled me further into the shadows of the high and somewhat damp cave wall.

"Watch this."

Cinthara released my arm and ran four fingers along where two walls met to make a narrow corner. Something shifted within the stone, making a loud rumbling sound that brought me on high alert–surely it was loud enough for someone to hear and want to come to investigate.

Soon, a triangular entrance peeled open into the stone, tearing the walls apart like ripping a sheet of paper.

"What the…?" I breathed.

Cinthara bounced slightly on her toes. I had to admit, it was nice to see a more pleasant side of her.

"Come on! Before someone sees."

I followed her into the darkness, a subconscious thought in my mind that I was following a damned clone of Euridice. It wouldn't take much for Cinthara to turn on me in a narrow passageway with nothing to light our way–an attack would catch me completely off-guard.

My muscles tensed, prepared to defend myself if need be, as I continued to follow what I could see of her slender frame while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The opening in the walls screeched closed behind us, somehow sensing that we had gone through.

"How did you find this passageway?" I whispered. Though I suspected we were alone, the ominous feeling of our march made me feel like I needed to keep my voice low and my footsteps light.

"Like I said, I get really bored."

I couldn't figure out how Cinthara could get so bored. The amount of schoolwork I was sent home with every day was enough to keep me occupied. And add to that my work shifts as a scout support.

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Maybe Cinthara's lengthened residency here had given her the time needed to find the most efficient ways to get work done quickly. Though she was only a first-year student at the academy like me, she was closer to the end of that year. Having many months of time over me could be plenty for her to figure out at least some of the city's secrets. However, I knew next to nothing about Cinthara. She could have also lived here before becoming a student, giving her years to explore and discover things. Not everyone at Solomon's Realm Academy had come from a different planet like me.

"Are there more secret passageways?" I said.

"Some," she answered. "I'm sure I haven't found them all. There are even a few in the academy building itself."

"Yeah," I breathed, remembering the secret hall that had led Sarah and me to Professor Bilith's hidden door. "What do you think the purpose was to have so many hidden entrances and passages?"

The current path Cinthara and I traveled on narrowed even more, the wet walls squeezing against my shoulders uncomfortably. If the walls grew any tighter, I'd surely get stuck. But, the tighter it got, the steeper the incline became. I could tell Cinthara was leading me to the surface.

"We're almost there," she said.

Just as Cinthara spoke, a small light peeked over her head, making her white-blond hair glimmer. The yellow light grew bigger, so big that it soon engulfed us entirely in its warmth.

Sunlight.

I gasped in relief once the tight walls gave way as we took the final turn. We then emerged on the surface, golden sand surrounding us on every side and foliage welcoming us with its vibrant green. The air tasted so pure. I'd never get tired of breathing in fresh air after spending time in a cave city.

Cinthara took a moment to plant her hands on her hips and breathe deeply through her nose. She closed her eyes and allowed a soft smile to creep onto her face. The afternoon sunlight made her face glow, and I couldn't help but admire how she looked standing there surrounded by vivid colors that all accentuated her platinum locks of hair. I reminded myself that she had come from a goddess–of course she looked fantastic.

I took Cinthara's silence as an opportunity to enjoy the surface, as well. I smiled against the heat of the sun's rays beating on my face and savored the taste and smell of clean air with a hint of salty ocean.

"There's a cavern close to here," Cinthara interrupted my quiet enjoyment. "We should head over now."

I quickly realized the immense difference wearing sandsoles made when running through this planet's terrain. Instead of feeling encumbered by the sinking of my feet into the sand and having to use the strength in my calves to force my steps up every time, the sandsoles gave me a sort of hovering effect. I could barely feel the ground as I ran and praised myself for remembering to buy myself a pair.

Cinthara and I dodged and weaved between bushes and trees, climbed sandy hills, and even successfully avoided two landwalkers either playing or fighting with one another–I couldn't tell which–at a short distance.

Suddenly, Cinthara stopped in the middle of two tall trees, gesturing for me to join her.

"Do you see that?" she whispered, pointing straight ahead to a crested sand dune with a small opening at the bottom. "That cavern opened two weeks ago."

"Yes, I see it," I replied, nodding at the cavern entrance that tore into the sand.

"Let's go."

Cinthara broke into another sprint. I sighed, catching up to her with the help of my new sandsoles. Thankfully, we didn't have too far to run. We ducked underneath the lip of the cavern entrance, instantly blocked from the hot sun as we fell into the shadows of the small cave.

The narrow cave ended with a wide stone wall. A large gold circle sat in the very center of the wall. Within the circle was an intricate key painted in the same golden color. The key was decorated in twisting loops and yellow vines. The presence of the giant, painted key confirmed to me why Cinthara and the scouts assumed these caverns were locked.

The wall was also covered in strange markings all over its surface. The symbols immediately shifted in my head, revealing to me their meanings in Edronan, further proving that some aspects of Codex still worked. The one sentence repeated itself over and over again on the wall. I didn't see the point of carving the same words repeatedly–one time should get the point across.

"Only one will I accept, the one with my face, the one with a Codex," I read aloud.

I had to agree with Cinthara's assumptions about the cavern. The simple riddle obviously asked for a Lord Solomon clone to unlock the cavern.

Cinthara's head slowly turned toward me, her eyes wide and mouth dropped open. "You can read the language?" she said, referring to the fact that I'd just read the riddle aloud. "But it's ancient, and I had to do a lot of research to even figure out where it'd come from!"

I rubbed the back of my head and shrugged, internally trying to decide how much I should tell her.

"Uh, yeah. I can read it, I guess," was all I said in response.

Cinthara frowned but didn't press me further.

I stepped closer to the wall. "So, what should I do?"

"I don't know. Try touching the key. Maybe the cavern has to make contact with your DNA."

I did as she suggested, outstretching both arms toward the wall, then resting my palms on the surprisingly warm stone. Almost immediately, I felt a slight buzz that quickly grew into a strong vibration that rattled every bone in my body.

Cinthara gasped behind me as the whole cave shook. "Is it working?"

I held my breath and gritted my teeth as the shaking only increased, instinctually holding my ground and pressing harder into the wall.

However, I regretted that instinct rather quickly.

Suddenly, the wall disappeared in a waft of magical smoke. I fell straight on my face.