Radiant Shadow

-Radiant-

I walked into the large chamber that marked the end of the first level of the Dungeon. The sound of rushing water bounced around the rugged cave-like walls, down the tunnels, and it grew louder and louder as we approached the large chamber. Looking around the chamber, I could see water gushing from the side tunnels and into a swirling vortex, draining into a black void.

I was starting to pick up on a pattern of this Dungeon and its entrances and exits.

Even if I hadn't already been soaked from swimming in the ice room, I could tell that the damp chilly air in this room would've soaked me to the bone, and Lucky seemed to be showing this off as the gathering water droplets clung onto his bumpy and slightly shivering skin as we walked closer to our end destination.

In the past people probably had to jump into the swirling vortex in order to reach the exit. Though a more easy and less soaking way had seemingly been added some time in the past. It would seem that some people really didn't want to jump into the swirling vortex of water, either because they were above such things, or because they were afraid of the water for one reason or another.

At least, that's what I assumed, since there were multiple suspension bridges that didn't look Dungeon made, hanging down into the watery vortex like the spokes of a wheel.

I said out loud, "Those suspension bridges don't look like they were made by the Dungeon."

Lucky responded with a slightly raised voice, "You're right, they aren't. If I remember correctly, those were built by some rich person a long time ago that really didn't want to jump into the water."

"Let me guess, they thought they were above such things?"

Lucky shook his head, "No, actually. They just couldn't swim."

Hmph, so I was right. Though I'm sure being unable to swim was just a part of the reason.

Lucky continued to talk louder and louder as we walked down one of the suspension bridges towards the center of the roaring vortex of water, "I'm pretty sure they were just adventuring as a hobby. After all, if they were a real adventurer they would learn how to swim. They could have spent all that money hiring someone to train them if they were doing this as more than just a hobby."

We reached the end of the bridge and stood in front of the void-like spherical exit.

The Proctor spoke up over the cacophony of rushing water, "Congratulations on completing the test. I've confirmed that you've gathered all of the materials, and you've cleared the first level of the Dungeon." He was yelling to be heard above the rushing water below us, "Normally you would have to submit the materials at the Adventurer's Guild, but for this test you can hand them over to me and I'll submit them alongside the recording."

The Proctor took off his pack at the center of the wide bridge, probably built to accommodate some of the larger races, and I started to hand over all the materials we had collected.

Apparently his pack was bigger on the inside, but I hadn't been able to tell before due to the weird spatial aura around the guy.

I still got a weird sense of deja vu whenever I looked at him.

I had tried to puzzle it out as we were going through the Dungeon, but I just couldn't understand what it was that was causing it. In any case, I wouldn't have to interact with this person after this, so I let it go and just made sure to be extra vigilant after I left the Dungeon.

I finished handing off everything, making sure to use my spatial pouch in front of someone with a weird spatial aura and recording device.

"Alright, everything's in order. You can go about your business after you exit, and whether or not you've passed the test to become an adventurer should be determined sometime within the next week or so."

The Proctor didn't make any small talk after that, and just closed up his bag, turned off the recorder, and walked into the black void, leaving me and Lucky behind without a care.

Lucky visibly relaxed after the man left, "Whew, it's all over now."

"Are you sure you want to relax, what if we're still being recorded?"

"Oh, nothing can pass between these Dungeon's exits. You would have to have something like spatial shenanigans going on in order to do something like that. I severely doubt that the recorder he was using can do that. Besides, I saw him turn off the recorder before he left."

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"Well, if you're sure." I patted him on the shoulder, "In any case, I guess it's goodbye for now. I have some stuff to do after this."

Lucky smiled, "Hey, no problem. Just make sure not to be a stranger if we meet again."

I chuckled lightly, probably not heard by Lucky, "Sure Lucky, see you around."

Lucky slapped my back, "See ya around brother Silver."

I gave Lucky a smile and walked into the void feeling the familiar sensation of a spatial bubble form around me, and I was transported to another location.

I arrived in a place similar to the one I had first entered after walking into the Dungeon from Tri-Heart City.

The air was fresh and clean, unlike the city air that had so many different smells and sounds traveling through it. There were even trees and grass and shrubs dotting the area, but unlike the first area I had gone through, I could see the outside city.

The view of the city made it feel like I was standing on a floating island, and yet I couldn't hear any of the bustling city noise coming through.

Besides the surrounding city, there were multiple doors dotting the area in a regular pattern with numbers on them. I could tell that these doors were the entrances into the other floors of the Dungeon, but I had no need to enter any of them this time. Though I began to wonder if I would have to go through floor one every time I entered this Dungeon, in order to get to this place with the different numbered doors, but that was for future me to figure out.

However, I noticed that I couldn't see the Proctor anywhere on this 'floating island' with me, despite him having left not much earlier than me. That immediately raised some warning bells in my mind, and although my initial reaction was to ignore the man's disappearance, I had automatic mental programs in place that went off regardless of my carefree reaction.

Disparities between what was expected and what was seen were indicators of either 'physical' or 'mental' illusions taking place. I didn't have any great ways to detect physical illusions, but with my [Space-Time Sense] I should be able to spot most physical illusions, since physical illusions that could fool my [Space-Time Sense] would have to be cast by a very powerful person or item.

If it were a mental illusion, then my [Space-Time Sense] wouldn't do me any good. But luckily, mental illusions were much easier for me to deal with than physical ones.

[Mental Operator] didn't delay after it sensed the absence of the Proctor. I had already started to pile up a certain degree of wariness against the man, and so after I noticed his disappearance there was no hesitation. My mind sped up, turning the world into slow motion.

Then, without waiting for me to prepare for what was coming, [Mental Operator] blasted me with what I called a sensory flashbang. My vision went white, I heard a bang of noise in my ears, it felt like hot then cold needles were inserted into every single part of my skin, I smelled a veritable collage of powerful smells, and my taste was overloaded like I had licked a lightning bolt.

If this sensory overload had happened to anyone else they probably would've been flopping on the ground for quite a while, and if anyone were connected in any way to my mind, then they would experience the same thing as me, leaving them stunned, making this the first countermeasure against mental intruders.

As for myself, I had already adapted to overloads of information through my divination practice. Meaning that this overload of my senses would hurt me far less than it would hurt others. And this flashbang of my senses also served the dual purpose of making any, less direct methods of mental interference, practically be swept away like a ship in a tsunami.

The mental influences could still come back around, but the mental landscape around my mind would be fairly chaotic for a while, allowing me to get a bearing on my situation and throw up some hasty active mental defenses in the meantime.

And almost immediately I was able to sense exactly what had been off. The Proctor was standing nearby, but was invisible. I couldn't see him, but with my mind free from whatever mental influence I had been under, I was able to finally see why I had been getting a sense of deja vu whenever I looked at the Proctor.

He was actually one of the people at the top of my list of suspicious persons I had interacted with since getting the future message. In fact, my AI had been sending me constant messages whenever I saw his face while I was in the Dungeon. But due to some kind of mental fog it only registered as a vague sense of deja vu.

And now I was able to recall that my AI and identified the man as a probable member of the 'UNKNOWN-6' organization, or 'The Demons' due to his tattoo's design that I had caught a glimpse of after exiting the train when I got to the city.

The Proctor was actually the same guy that had been watching me back then, and now I was being watched once again.

I had no idea why I was being watched by this man, or more probably this man's organization, but at least I was now aware of him.

My senses quickly came back to me thanks to my mind being sped up by [Mental Operator]. Because no matter how much I had adapted to overloads of information, I had designed the senses flashbang to be a very serious countermeasure.

I was still a bit disoriented, but I didn't hesitate to use my spatial senses to see if there were any other invisible people in my surroundings. Because if I had identified that the Proctor was following me, then I needed to know if I was being ambushed or not.

Immediately I was able to feel that there weren't any other invisible people in my surroundings. However I could tell even with my less than precise spatial sense, that the Proctor wasn't flopping around on the ground or acting suspicious of me after my mental flash bang.

I breathed a silent sigh of relief. At least it didn't seem like the Proctor had been inside of my mind at all, and whatever mental effects I had been under were seemingly passive effects without feedback.

I couldn't rule out the possibility of him acting as if nothing was wrong, but at least I could deal with him as long as I wasn't being ambushed.

I wasn't sure why he was watching and following me, but I needed to deal with it as soon as possible.

This living in the city thing is looking to be harder and messier than I had expected.