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nThe cavern stretches up over one hundred and fifty meters, with the crystal located at the very peak, the surroundings tapering inward.

nThe final stretch relies solely on the climber’s arm strength to support their weight.

nIs it possible?

nJelia doesn’t know.

nWill she die?

nUndoubtedly, it’s a near-certain death.

nPerhaps she won’t make it past ten meters before falling like a salted fish to the ground.

nBut if she doesn’t try, then she truly becomes the salted fish Howard always joked about.

nShe won’t see her beloved Howard ever again!

nSo, Jelia has only one option.

nThis is a multiple-choice question with only one possible answer.

nOne meter, two meters, three meters.

nThe cavern is like a giant bowl turned upside down, and what Jelia must do now is climb from the inside to the bottom of the bowl!

nWithout the support of mana, how can she complete this seemingly impossible challenge?

nAs she climbs higher, Jelia must rely entirely on her arm strength to hang onto her body, a moment’s relaxation is a plummet of dozens of meters.

nEven if the water below might save her from death, getting injured in such a place is as good as being dead.

nAn injury means the complete loss of any chance to continue the challenge.

nWith limited resources, Roronora would surely prioritize his own survival.

nIt’s merely the difference between dying sooner or later.

nFour meters, five meters, six meters…

nJelia starts to feel the strain.

nAfter all, she’s just a young girl; how could she possibly complete such a challenge?

nRemember, Roronora used to fight ten enemies without using mana, yet even such a formidable person ended up barely surviving on rats.

nThe fear isn’t in the success or failure at the beginning, but the fall at the very end.

nThe closer she gets to the legacy crystal, the higher the cost of failure becomes.

n“Come down!”

nWatching Jelia, stuck on the cavern wall, in a dilemma, Roronora sighed and shouted, “You can’t succeed; with your current physical strength, you won’t even make it to thirty meters.”

nActually, rather than saying Jelia had no chance of success, it was more surprising to Roronora that Jelia managed to climb up to ten meters or so.

nFree climbing seems not so difficult at first glance, but the challenge is only truly known by those who have tried it themselves.

nIf it were a regular slope, it wouldn’t be much of an issue; with some effort and time, you could always climb up since you can find places to rest on a slope.

nBut in the case of this inverted-bowl-shaped cavern, forget resting, just staying still is a huge drain on your energy.

nNot to mention, hanging by your arms for even half an hour is something few people can manage.

nThis isn’t about holding onto an easily graspable bar but clinging to stalactites that have been smoothed over by water flow over time!

nLooking up at the legacy crystal at the top of the cavern, Jelia shook her lower lip, unwilling to give up just like that.

nShe tried to climb a few more meters up, somewhat forcibly, but not impossibly so.

nYet, what about after that?

nWith her body pressed against the cavern wall, the legacy crystal at the top seemed even more distant and unreachable.

nThe difficulty of climbing this type of terrain only increases, and blindly pushing forward would only lead oneself to an early grave.

nAlthough she spoke so confidently just moments ago, does failure really equate to being pitiful?

nJelia began to retreat.

nAlthough she was obstinate and loved taking risks, she was not irrationally stubborn.

nTo leap forward knowing the path ahead leads to death is folly.

nHumans are such contradictory creatures.

nYou say yes, and you also finish saying no, and somehow, both ways seem right to you.

n“I know why you’ve become so desperate.”

nHaving tasted the challenge of a special-level magus trial, Jelia looked back at Roronora with her feet firmly on the ground, “Have you searched this entire cavern? Not a single exit?”

n“Not one, not even a mouse hole! And I’ve been wondering where those mice were coming from.”

nRoronora sat cross-legged on the ground, watching Jelia.

n“Stop thinking about it. It’s impossible to get out. You wouldn’t believe how many corpses I’ve seen here.”

n“Thirty-seven! Exactly thirty-seven!”

nWith a cold laugh, Roronora leaned back.

n“We’ll soon become the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth.”

nIn the face of death, no one backs down.

nThe only food in this cavern is the mice that appear from nowhere, but those mice definitely wouldn’t be enough to keep two people alive.

nOne between Roronora and Jelia had to die.

n“What a disagreeable senior you are.”

nScanning around, Jelia’s gaze fell on the dark, deep, and cold lake in the center of the cavern.

n“This lake… have you investigated it? Mice can swim, you know.”

n“But why would it struggle to swim in here, just to be eaten by us!”

nRoronora didn’t even glance at Jelia, merely closing his eyes slightly, “I know what you’re thinking, it’s impossible. I’ve considered that possibility too.”

n“Back when I wasn’t injured, I tried to find a way out in the lake, back then I still had a cat magic potion to use.”

n“But I found nothing, it’s just a pool of dead water, not to mention an exit, I didn’t even see a single fish!”

n“And what about oxygen! If this space is completely sealed, the air would definitely not be sufficient! Not just for you and me needing to breathe, even the mice you eat need to breathe! No matter where they come from, the air is always diminishing!”

nJelia wasn’t going to let go of any possibility, “There must be a vent somewhere! Otherwise, it must be some spell.”

nWhether it’s a vent or a spell, both imply a possibility of escape.

nFinding a vent would give Jelia a chance to call for help or even find a way to escape.

nAnd if they could find the spell that maintains air circulation, Roronora might also have the opportunity to restore his mana, equally having a chance to escape.

n“Question after question, don’t you understand what despair is! We are in despair right now! We are surrounded by despair, there’s no way out! Instead of wasting energy thinking, you might as well consider how to live longer!”

n“If we really can’t get out, then what’s the point of being alive?”

nSighing, Jelia sat down on the ground.

nShe knew, long before her time, Roronora must have desperately searched for any possible way out, just like she was now.

nIf it wasn’t for true despair, no one would choose to live like a savage here, subsisting on mice.

nJelia didn’t know if she could survive like Roronora had.

nWithout hope, living each day just to stay alive, like a walking corpse.

nShe’d rather die.

nJelia looked up at the legacy crystal at the top of the cavern and sneered.

nWhat’s the use of a special-level magus’s legacy if it can’t be obtained?

nIt’s meaningless.

nSuddenly, an idea struck her, and she asked, “Roronora, one last question. You mentioned mana can’t be used here, what exactly happens?”

n“Mana?”

nRoronora paused for a moment, opened his eyes, and looked up at the cavern ceiling, saying, “Mana seems to have disappeared from the world!”

n“I expanded my senses, but I couldn’t feel even a trace of stray mana, and the mana within me also completely vanished, just like I’m a normal person.” .

nIt sounded incredible.

nThe source of mana is a magus’s soul; if a magus loses their mana, it’s essentially as if the magus’s soul is on the brink of death.

nNo, there must be some anomaly here.

nWhat is it?

n“Roronora, I don’t remember seeing any signs when we came in. How did you know that the crystal at the top of the cavern is the legacy crystal?”

nThis question had been on Jelia’s mind throughout their journey, as she hadn’t seen anything resembling an explanation.

n“How did I know… Right, how did I know? Did someone tell me? No, that’s not right; everyone was already dead when I got here! Then how did I know? It’s as if the knowledge just appeared in my mind out of nowhere!”

n“Appeared out of nowhere? If it’s the effect of a spell, then mana must be the carrier, which means there shouldn’t be a complete absence of mana here!”

nJelia’s brows furrowed, certain details flashing through her mind.

nShe felt as if she was on the verge of grasping something, only a hair’s breadth away from the truth, yet she couldn’t quite make sense of it.

n“What is it… What exactly is it? Appearing in the mind out of nowhere… It’s just like what Howard said about the ‘Supreme Deity.'”

nWait…

nSupreme Deity!

nA flash of insight crossed Jelia’s mind, the fog gently cleared away, and everything had a reasonable explanation.

n“I’ve got it!”

nShe stood up abruptly, her eyes blazing as she looked at Roronora.

n“I know how to get out of here!”

nThe source of this content is .

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