Chapter 71 - Hideouts
The red ring thingy gave off a bright light and projected a hologram.
It was different from the technological holograms Varian had seen. This hologram had a foreign aesthetic and a truly fey style.
It wasn't formed by human technology, it was the product of something parallel. Abyssals's version of technology.
Varian focused on the hologram.
It displayed the complete map of the Virgin Dungeon. It was similar to the map in the adventurer's guide, but much more detailed.
There were several red dots spread across the map.
"This…" Luca looked at his teammates in confusion.
Ivy nudged him and said, "The hide outs of Abyssals."
"There are too many." Crimson shrugged.
"What do we do now?" Varian asked Sarah.
Everyone turned to her.
Sarah focused on the hologram map for a while and answered, "First, I think this map is incomplete."
'Huh?' Varian was confused, along with everyone.
Sarah noticed their confusion and explained, "The mission you received is 'Find Traces of Abyssals in Dungeon'. My mission is to find 'Cross Tunneling Formation' and destroy it. If possible, capture it. "
"What is Cross Tunnel Formation?" Luca scratched his head.
"Cross Tunneling Formations, CTF, allow transfer of Abyssals directly from Abyss to Dungeons." Ivy clutched her forehead and glared at him.
"If you didn't get it yet, there should be two CTFs for any travel. One in Abyss, one here."
"Learn some important stuff. Don't just fight all day." The petite girl glared at the bulky boy and he obediently nodded.
Varian almost coughed out blood. 'Are you telling him or are you telling me?'
At the same time, he concluded, 'Abyssals appeared in the open during my Dungeon visit. That means a CTF can allow them to set the destination to any place from CTF within a certain range.'
Sarah shrugged and continued, "So anyway, according to intel, CTFs are rare. Or they would've used it in wars. It must have some restrictions we are not yet are of. With the Abyssal's style, there must be a head quarter of sorts in the dungeon. It should hold CTF."
She pointed to the hologram. "All locations are graded equally. Abyssals are a race that attaches great importance to their appearance by functionality. So if it's a hideout holding CTF, it must be marked differently."
Varia nodded along with others.
Every Abyssal essentially had a mark on them, depending on their level. One would expect them to follow the same in other things. It was a cultural thing.
"Coming to your question," Sarah tapped on the map and enlarged a pointer on the map showing their current location, "We'll storm the closest hideout."
Crimson closed his eyes and said "It's only a few km away."
"But wouldn't this alert other hideouts?" Olivia asked, worried.
"If they have regular communication between hideouts, which I am sure they do, it will indeed alert them." Sarah nodded.
"Then…"
"We have no choice. There are dozens of hideouts. We can't take down all of them at once." Sarah shook her head.
"Let's just hope the communication between them takes place between fixed intervals. That'd be the best scenario where we can end one hideout before they can alert others. Then continue to take down others."
She sighed. "The worst case is our attack on first hideout alters everyone. Then we'll have a hard time."
There was silence. They didn't know what was the ground reality.
"Either way, we have to move fast." Varian added.
Everyone took a deep breath.
Crimson held the locator and acted as a guide.
Sarah waved her hand and a soft sphere of water appeared under her and Varian. The water wriggled and two handles rose.
"Hold on tight." Sarah laughed.
"Whoaah! " Varian felt the world spin as he grabbed the handles for dear life.
Everything in front of him moved in fast forward. It was similar to watching a video 2x, but now instead it was 10x.
Thankfully, a water film covered him and protected him from the wind's friction.
Then, all of a sudden, Varian felt they crossed a barrier.
'It's the secret location.'
Every secret location was hidden by some sort of barrier. It could only be entered from an 'entrance'. However, it could be exited normally.
'I hope I don't die by the time they reach the hideout.' Varian felt his head spin as he clutched onto the handles harder.
It was barely a few seconds, but he felt like he was standing for hours.
He turned to Sarah. She looked perfectly fine.
Ivy and Luca were sprinting, almost leaving after images.
Crimson was a few feet above the ground as he used his telekinetic powers to propel himself forward. He used his mental power to adjust his body to travel.
Olivia used soil to make a slide of sorts.
All in all, no one showed discomfort.
'But how is Olivia coping? Elementals aren't supposed to have a strong physique.' Varian wondered and observed her.
Then he saw a brown hue all surrounding her body. It was her Earth mana. Somehow, it seemed to be able to allow her to take the physical stress of high-speed travel.
'Learn some important stuff. Don't just fight all day.' Ivy's words rang in his mind and Varian nodded involuntarily.
Their speed raised dust into the air, the shock waves destroyed everything in their and around their path.
'So this is their true speed. The first time, they were going slow.' Varian sighed and was about to turn his head.
"Scrreech"
They came to a halt in a moment, and Varian was almost thrown off. Thankfully, water hands emerged and held him tight.
He hurriedly descended the water ride and took deep breaths. He was a few seconds short of throwing up.
Sarah snapped her fingers and the water rides disappeared.
She looked at Varian, and he shook his head. "I'm fine. Mission is the most important."
She nodded with a bright smile. "That's the spirit."
Varian adjusted himself and looked at the hologram map. They were at the doorstep.
"We're just outside." Ivy said.
"Here's the thing." Crimson pointed to the red ring in his hand. It started to glow.
"Ahead of of us is the entrance. You can only go in with the ring. Think of it like a special door, and this ring is the key." He explained.
"Hold me and we'll enter." And they did.
Varian felt a force encircling his body, and he slowly floated. The same was the case with the others.
Crimson was holding them up with his mental power and controlling everyone.
As they were in direct contact with him, he took a step ahead.
The world in front rippled like it was water.
Then Varian saw it.
The Abyssal hideout!
