Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) by Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (romantic love story reading TXT) 📕

long way, since our lights didn't seem to reach any end or turn. The walls on the side were mostly made of stones that slowly transitioned into a tunnel that looked like it had been carved out by the machinery that opened new pathways for underground railways. It looked too perfectly circular to have been formed naturally. Not more than half a minute after we had started our descent did it occur to me that the size of this tunnel was eerily similar to something else we had just encountered.

"Hey, can you hear that?" Louie asked.

"Hear what?" Rory asked and we all held our breaths, trying to focus on the sound Louie was hearing.

"It sounds like stone grinding against stone," Leo said.

"Look." I pointed at the opening we had just entered through. "It's closing."

What little light still came in from the sky above was slowly disappearing. There was nowhere near enough time to dash back and try to get out. We were going to be trapped here, so we'd have no choice but to continue walking forward.

"That's not the passage closing," Rory said. "That's a fucking boulder."

"Run!" I shouted and immediately grabbed Louie.

The boulder was gaining traction, its speed and volume slowly building up. We had quite a head start but there was no way of knowing how deep this shaft went, so we ran as fast as we could. Rory, who I would have never imagined as a sprinter, was now running next to Leo and myself almost without breaking a sweat, despite his heavy drinking and smoking habits.

"Keep yer eyes peeled for any opening to the sides," Rory shouted. "Mines usually have them so workers can take cover."

"That's because mine shafts aren't designed to be death traps," I said in response, but continued swinging my flashlight to the sides of the walls just to be sure.

The large rock was now almost upon us, its rumbling movement not allowing for our voices to carry at all. I couldn't actually hear anything other than my heart beating in my ears. With each step, my legs felt like they were going to give up and have me fall on the ground, with Louie still in my arms. I couldn't have that.

However, I didn't know how much longer I would have managed to run for if I hadn't noticed the end of our descent the dancing beams of our flashlights and an opening barely large enough to fit me while standing. Leo must also have also noticed the end of the tunnel because, in an unexpected explosion of energy and speed, he dashed forward and jumped to safety.

Rory and I, on the other hand, were at the end of our speed and endurance. I could now feel the boulder throwing small bits of rock and dirt at the back of my head but I didn't dare look back at what would be certain death. Rory's face widened in a primal scream that was lost in all the rumbling, and he pushed himself into the smaller tunnel just before I curled my body and jumped into it as well. Less than half a second later, the rock smashed into the small opening with a deafening crash, but stayed on the outside, the walls of the small tunnel holding strong.

"That was fucking close," I said, out of breath.

"I almost became dwarf-sauce," Rory managed to say between heavy pants.

I tried to laugh at his unexpected joke but was immediately thrown into a violent coughing fit. His jokes were rarely, if ever, delivered with the right timing. We looked around the small tunnel and realized that only its entrance was made of stone. A couple of feet deeper, the surface was cold and smooth to the touch, like that of a large sewer pipe.

Rory tapped the side of the metal tunnel with a coin from his pocket and listened to the sound it created.

"Fucking hells, lad," he said. "This is pure platinum."

"Knowledge is platinum," Leo said.

"What?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, what?" I echoed. "Is that a thing?"

"It's an old saying," Leo replied. "We must be close to this keeper of knowledge."

We continued forward through the platinum tunnel and exited into a large chamber. Light from the sky above made its way into the big room from an opening in the middle of it, reflecting on the platinum walls. And in the middle of the dimly lit chamber stood a creature that looked as majestic as it did terrifying.

Name: Halastur, the Keeper of Knowledge

Type: Divine Sphinx - Raid Boss

Level: 59

Disposition : Passive

HP : 221100/221100

Physical Attack: 1562

Magic Attack: 467

Speed: 173

Attack Range: Melee

XP : 1749007

Description : Halastur of the sphinxes is one of the seven remaining keepers of knowledge. The extents of the multiverse are beyond mortal comprehension, and yet this ancient race strives to understand and unlock every last secret before they return to their final resting place, sacrificing their lives and life's knowledge to the immortal sphinx authority.

10

Keeper of the seven keys

The sphinx looked nothing like the one I had seen online in photos of Giza. The beast before me looked like a winged lion, though it was easily the size of a dinosaur. Its skin was completely white and its mane waved softly with the breeze that entered from the opening above. The wings that were furled on its back looked like they had a significant mass to them and their white feathers were probably each large enough to hold all four of us. But no matter how regal and imposing the sphinx's body was, its face was the most captivating feature.

It wasn't the face of a lion, but bore a greater resemblance to a human face. Even comparing it to a human face wasn't enough though. Its features were delicate and soft, reminding me of those of female elves in movies, but its piercing purple eyes and strong jawline carried a certain air of masculinity too. Not that any of it mattered, for when the magical