Batty shot through the cave tunnel like a black arrow.

I glanced over my shoulder. The bats were still there.

Dozens of them.

Their high-pitched chittering echoed through the tunnels as they chased after us with murderous determination.

"Shit."

I turned toward Batty. "Fly faster!"

Batty screeched and flapped his wings harder.

The cave walls blurred past us as we darted through turn after turn, trying not only to lose the swarm but also to escape the darkness spreading through the tunnels.

It felt like I was participating in some insane race.

The only difference was that the losers didn’t receive a consolation prize.

They got drained dry.

We flew past another fork. Then another.

And another.

None of them were the one I was searching for.

"Where is it? Where is it...?"

I stretched my senses ahead, searching every inch of the tunnel walls.

Come on. It had to be here somewhere.

Then I felt something. My eyes lit up.

"There!"

I yanked the rope.

Batty immediately banked left.

The swarm followed us without hesitation.

I swear my blood couldn’t possibly taste that good.

I created dozens of walls of darkness to buy me time.

After flying for a couple more meters, the tunnel came to an end — it was a dead end, but there was a small hole in the wall, big enough to fit a human being. That was what I had been looking for.

Before we got too close, I made Batty land — this was as far as Batty could go.

"Thank you for everything, Batty. I will never forget you." I slammed my fist against the hilt of my katana, making it sink deeper into Batty’s flesh and stab its heart.

Batty whimpered one last time before its body slumped to the ground, lifeless.

[You have slain a Low Great beast, Blood-sucking bat.]

I removed the katana from its back, cleaned the blood off it, and sheathed it.

"Rest in peace, Batty. You flew well." I gave it one last pet on the head and rushed to the hole in the wall.

Shit, it was small and tight. I would have to crawl like a worm inside it.

It would be cramped in there. I could get stuck and die from lack of oxygen.

My heart started beating faster as my claustrophobia started acting up.

Other things I hated besides heights were tight places!

I had once gotten stuck inside a closed waterslide and only got rescued after an hour! I had almost fainted.

And I had been locked inside a locker for hours by bullies back in high school.

That was one of the most horrible experiences I’d ever had, and now I had to crawl through a tight space.

"Fuck." I started pacing back and forth, indecisive about whether I should do it or not.

I was starting to regret taking this path instead of just traveling around the mountain.

Bam!

Then the tunnel shook. The bats were breaking through the walls and would reach where I was at any moment.

"Phew." I took a deep breath. "Calm down, Yves. You can do it."

’What are you doing?’ Ezio asked, puzzled by my sudden action.

"I’m having a panic attack," I said.

’You scared?’ Ezio’s cheeky voice rang in my mind.

"Of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be when I have to crawl inside a hole that’s very deep? It will probably take me almost an hour, and hell, my claustrophobia will kill me before the lack of oxygen does," I said.

’I mean, you chose this path when I told you we should’ve gone around the mountain.’

"Yeah, but this is faster."

’Then stop acting like a woman and start crawling inside that hole before the bats get you,’ Ezio said.

"Yeah, yeah."

The cave continued to shake.

I breathed in and then out.

Honestly, I could have activated [Clear Mind] which would stop me from panicking, and this would’ve been a piece of cake, but I wanted to face my fears and get over it, so I chose not to use it.

Mustering all the courage I had, I walked to the hole and sneaked my head through first, then my shoulders.

And before I even knew it, my whole body was already inside the hole.

The hole was so tight and cold that I feared if I got a random itch, I wouldn’t be able to scratch it.

That was something worse than torture.

"Phew, okay, now I just have to crawl until I see light."

Before I started crawling, I blocked the hole’s entrance with darkness.

I started crawling as fast as I could to move away from the entrance.

My arms rasped against the rocky formation of the hole, but since my skin was tougher than a mundane human’s, I didn’t get any scratches.

Soon, I felt the walls I’d created being destroyed, and then the cave shook again as the bats swarmed where I had been. I could hear their angry trickling sounds.

They had probably found Batty’s dead body as well.

I was able to relax a bit since I knew they couldn’t enter through the hole — it was too small for them.

I continued crawling and crawling for what felt like hours, but only minutes had passed. I no longer could hear the Blood-sucking bats, which was a good sign.

Even as I crawled, I still couldn’t see any light, so I was still quite far.

Honestly, I wondered why those cave divers with loving families would decide to explore places like this just to die?

Completely optional and voluntary, by the way.

I just couldn’t understand how they found a thrill in this shit.

This was so fucking tight!

Sweat ran down my face and started forming on my body. It was getting hot, and the oxygen here was starting to decrease, making it hard for me to breathe.

"Phew, phew." I did my best not to panic and keep my breath steady.

As I crawled further, I got to a part where the hole went up instead of going straight.

I pushed my body up and looked ahead — it was quite high, so I wouldn’t be able to climb up just with my hands.

I was currently in an uncomfortable position — my arms were raised up so I didn’t get stuck. I couldn’t put them down at all.

I concentrated and activated my darkness powers, picturing the thing I wanted to create.

Darkness energy wrapped around my hands, and wrist-length gloves started to take shape, covering my fingers.

The gloves formed, and at the ends of the fingers, I added nails sharp and strong enough to pierce into stone.

Once I was done with my creation, I took a deep breath and then pierced my glove nails into the walls of the hole and started to climb up.

My feet left the ground and pressed against the wall as I climbed.

My hands moved one after the other, nails stabbing through the wall and keeping me from falling.

"Why are you so quiet, Ezio? Don’t tell me you’re still angry about losing the deal?" I said.

Ezio remained silent for a moment before he replied. ’You scammed me.’

"It was fair. You doubted me, and you lost," I said, stabbing my left-hand nails into the wall.

’Obviously I doubted you because that was impossible... but God knows how you awakened a mythical-grade story.’

"I’m just lucky, I guess. Or maybe the God of Stories saw potential in me and decided to bless me," I said with a smile.

’All I see is that they made a mistake.’

The religion in this world wasn’t like in other books, mostly worshiping a god of light. Instead, they worshipped a deity called the God of Stories.

The God of Stories was the sole creator of this world, who blessed people with Stories.

The majority of people believed in the God of Stories, while others refused to worship them because the world was cruel to those who couldn’t awaken or the weak.

And there’s a particular evil organization that wishes to one day kill them and become the God of Stories themselves.

However, that will never be possible because I didn’t finish writing the book, nor had I written about them.

I had only written that they existed, but I didn’t create their character, so now I didn’t know who it was or how to find them, which was painful because they could help me answer some questions.

Well, that wasn’t an issue for the me right now — only for the me in the future.

I had finally reached the top, where the hole bent and stretched forward.

Just as I peeked my head out, something launched at me out of the dark with sharp teeth.

"Fuck!" I got startled and flinched back, grabbing the snake — which was inches away from biting my face — with both hands and killing it with a squeeze.

[You have slain a Mid Common Beast, Grey fanged viper.]

I swear this damned snake almost gave me a heart attack—

At that moment, I suddenly remembered that I wasn’t holding onto the walls anymore.

"Ah, shit—"

I fell down, my body bumping against the walls of the hole. I let go of the dead snake and stabbed my hands into the walls to stop my fall.

"Hah," I managed to stop my fall. "I have to climb up again."

It was so annoying, but I had to do it. The more I stayed here, the more I felt like I would lose my mind.

I made my way back up eventually, and damn, the hole’s path became tighter.

I climbed into it, dismissed the gloves, and started crawling forward.

Since the path had become tighter, I was restricted from moving fast, so I had to move slow.

And hell, at some point in the hole, I got stuck.

I started having a panic attack.