Page 172 of I Ran Away to Evil 3
“That will be difficult.” John had on a slight smile. “Since most of it has collapsed.”
“…”
Something in my eyes made Julian crack. His rough leader demeanor faltered, and he rushed to explain, “Everythingwasfine. I was simply going to heal upbeforecalling John over for a teleport.”
“…”
“And despite the way I looked, I still had a quarter of my health. Gerda—”
“Okay,” I cut him off. Something about his panic and desperate explanation was cute enough that it distracted me from my worry and upset. He looked relieved, so I poked him in the chest another time. “But don’t lie to me like that again. Explain things properly, or I’ll get really angry next time.”
His gaze suddenly softened in a way that made me feel guilty. “Next time … I will.”
My ear twitched as I looked away.
With that, the team set off down the right tunnel.
CHAPTER 94
Very, Very Lucky
Julian
If the left tunnel was full of giant star voles hell-bent on eating them, the right tunnel posed a unique and equally difficult challenge.
Or it would have, if Gerda wasn’t in their party.
“The answer is that blue triangular stone,” she said, pointing at the one Visha needed to press.
They were all standing in front of a dead end with a colorful mosaic floor. Visha, as the most dexterous of the group, was following Gerda’s directions to bypass the puzzle. The elf’s left leg was on a red circular stone, her right leg was in an almost-full wide split to access the green square tile opposite, her right hand was pressed on a yellow swirl directly underneath her torso—propping up her body—and her left arm reached up to touch the blue triangle.
Nothing happened.
“What next?” Visha asked. She wasn’t uncomfortable; this would be nothing for someone with a thirty-eight Dexterity.
“You need to release your mana into each stone,” Gerda explained. “It’s why one person has to do it: the mana signature has to be the same across all four points.”
“Alright.” Visha did as she was instructed, and the four tiles lit up with the soft green color of her magic.
“Now you need to release the pressure on the tiles in a new sequence. First, your right hand …” Gerda trailed off, noting that was the hand she was using to hold up her entire body.
“Of course.” Visha sighed. She clenched her core muscles and tilted forward so that her body was balanced on the sole of one foot and the toes of the other.
The problem, of course, was that now she was starfished with one hand in the air.
“Next, lift your left leg,” Gerda said, forcing Visha to balance on the toes of her right foot and her outstretched left hand. She tilted her body sideways to the floor to do so, but looked concerned.
The tiles that she’d released continued to glow with a faint green magic.
“Now, the right leg,” Gerda said.
Visha braced her fingers then pushed into a handstand. “Now what?”
“Can you jump back over here?” Gerda asked.
“Only if you all move out of the way,” Visha replied; the group moved back to give her room. “Somebody catch me if I slip up.”
Tully put down his war hammer and held out both hands.
