The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Bargains in Blood

Read chapter 4 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 4: Bargains in Blood Kael pressed himself against the walls and forced his way deeper with his good hand. Dark stones glinted red with his blood as they scraped his exposed back. But pain didn't enter his mind, not when the creature was behind. Even less when his thick leather suit was now paper-thin. His glass helmet was worse. Cracks multiplied on its surface, turning his vision into a fragmented mess until he couldn't see anymore. The glass tube at his waist shattered, the fluorescent liquid devoured by the corrosive water. He would be next if he didn't reach the other side. Would there even be solid ground? Don't think about it. Advance. Again, and until you do it or can't anymore because your bones will be the latest decorative addition to the damned bed of this lake. Then, a soft light above. The walls pinning him began to widen. He hauled himself onto a shelf of rock, the corrosive water dripping from him in burning streams. For three terrifying heartbeats, he waited for the pull at his ankles, for the howl of the creature... or worse, his mother's voice whispering in his ear. Only the soft glow of the gemstones answered him. With a groan, he tore the ruined helmet off, then the melting tatters of his suit. Only then, in the silence, did the pain hit him fully awake. Burns reddened his skin, and the water was still eating in. He needed it off. Now. He stumbled forward. Statues ringed the chamber. Eight of them, collapsed, limbs shattered, and faces smashed. One had kept enough of its features for him to know Morvana, weaver of fates, from the carving back in the shelter. The other seven bore the same bearing: too composed, too symmetrical. Gods, all of them. His observation faded when he locked onto what he had been searching for. At the center knelt a skeleton in a cloak. He lunged for it, tore the cloak free in a clatter of bone and dust, and scrubbed his burning skin clean. The gnawing stopped. The sting didn't. Barely any blood on the cloth, though. The corrosion had cauterised the wound for him. He should have been horrified that he was glad of it. He was glad anyway. Shaking his head, he wrapped the cloak around his shoulders and tied the sleeves to keep his broken arm pressed against his chest. Though the slums had no temples, Sister Harrow had told him people set up statues of their gods wherever they could. Was this place a temple? But why eight gods, with most he couldn't recognise? If it was indeed a temple, was the creature its guardian, and did he... scavenge the cloak of a dead bishop? Well, the bishop doesn't need it anymore. And what was that creature? In any case, I'm a highly sacrilegious individual in their eyes for intruding on what it guards. He tensed for a second before the dust made him cough, and his gaze shifted down. On the smooth ground beside the skeleton, he saw a sharp-edged stone pointed towards a white mark buried under a layer of grime. Frowning, he wiped the ground with his palm, revealing the smooth stone underneath. The mark extended, carving shallow grooves that formed words. A message written by the bishop? Faith is a cage. Kael's eyes widened as he cleared more grime. November 19th, the temple feeds on belief. It mirrors the faith you bring. I prayed for salvation... and it gave me an endless altar to pray at. It answered my faith with eternal captivity. The only way out is to believe in NOTHING it represents. But I am a believer... so I die here. I hope these words will never reach you, my son. If they ever do, trust only in yourself. I love you and Nessa... and I'm sorry, Kael. "W-what..." Kael let out a shocked sob, his hand trembling on the grooves. Dad? The mines claimed him and his team thirteen years ago. A slip of the ceiling. No one's fault but his own bad luck. That's what everyone said. So... how? Above the warning, he cleaned something that looked like an entry. November 17th, the coal was too frail in this section of the mine. It took everyone to The Quiet Ha