Doomsday Pillars

A man can be seen gliding through a dark tunnel, hugging what looks like a human female body. The man's body was covered in dirt and grime, his hair was messy, blood was dripping from wounds all over his body while constantly dragged on the ground, adding to another wound for the man.

Alex, who was in a constant state of vigilance, couldn't help but to think how long they had been slid inside this tunnel. The tunnel was long, longer than his estimation, where there wasn't even a single speck of light could be seen. Every second and every meter that they passed inside the tunnel raised the man's worry.

After who knows how long, Alex finally saw a tiny light appear in front of him, followed by a cold breeze that swept through the tunnel making him shiver because of how cold it was. He then immediately hugged Aria to keep her body warm while at the same time observing anything that entered his sight.

Alex realized that what he saw in front of the hole's exit was only air, with no ground or ceiling in sight, which meant that the exit tunnel was located at a high altitude. Without waiting for too long, Alex and Aria could be seen shooting through the air and falling to the ground. When he looked at their altitude, he realized that they would die if they fell at this height with their current speed.

He quickly tried to think of a way to let them slow down their speed or something to cushion their fall.. Alex started to regret not to have any flight spells that he could use like [Wind Soaring] or just a simple floating spell like [Levitation]. Suddenly, a spell flashed in his mind, a spell that might be able to help their current situation, the [Telekinesis] spell. [Telekinesis] was a spell that enabled its user to move objects. So in theory, it should be able to 'move' Alex's body, right?

He immediately casts the spell in his desperate attempt to lift himself up. Unfortunately, the spell was instantly broken and wasn't able to lift his body due to how fast his body was moving in the air. Alex then quickly threw his gaze around, trying to find anything that might help their current predicament. He then realized that the ground beneath them wasn't a solid ground but a layer of ice that stretched for thousands of meters.

Alex understood that this vast landmass must be a large lake which had now frozen solid, allowing such a large layer of ice to form. He then immediately cast several [Light Missile] spells in hopes that they would break the ice. 

When several missile-like light beams hit the ice surface, the ice surface instantly shattered, scattering many tiny ice shards, allowing Alex to see the water below. He then prepared himself to face the impact while hugging Aria's body as tight as he could.

SPLASH!

A huge pillar of water appears as Alex and Aria's bodies crash into the water, with waves rolling in from the center of their landing. Due to the enormous momentum, Alex momentarily lost his focus and couldn't hold Aria's body any longer, causing them to be tens of meters apart.

Alex immediately used up his remaining energy, moved his cold hands and feet, swam towards her drowned body and then carried her out of the frozen lake by pulling her body to the frozen lake surface. He continued to carry her body to the lakeshore.

When the two of them reached the lake shore, Alex immediately checked her condition and found her unconscious. Knowing the consequence of falling asleep in the cold, he tried to wake her up.

"Aria! Wake up Aria!!" He shouted, calling the woman who was unconscious.

While continuing to try to wake her up, he also did a thorough examination of her body. He couldn't help but hold his breath after examining her body. Blood could be seen gushing out of her orifices, followed by her spirit energy channels that were broken due to her using the secret battle art and coupled with the cold water that entered her body, he couldn't feel the woman's pulse at all.

"Aria!" Alex immediately decided to perform CPR to her by compressing her chest with his hands at regular intervals. Seeing that she was unresponsive to his CPR, he didn't think much and quickly opened her mouth and gave her artificial breathing.

"COME ON! WAKE UP! Don't die on me now, Aria!"

"Cough!" After a few minutes of performing CPR, she suddenly spit out the water in her lungs. However, she is still unconscious so her condition is far from safe.

Alex looked around the area and then realized the place they had come to this time was the second chamber of the abyss, the Main Chamber. This is the place where the main of the abyss, the destroyers of the human world, are located.

Seeing this and realizing the danger they were facing, Alex immediately embraced Aria and looked for a cave to hide. Searching near the cave walls, he felt lucky to find one not far from their place.

The cave was hidden behind a large chunk of ice with the entrance only having enough gap for one person to enter. Even though the interior of the cave wasn't very big, it was enough for the two of them. 

First thing he needed to do is set up the [Defense Formation] artifact and activate it. It always took a few minutes to set up the formation, this time every second pass really gave him worries. When finally the barriers formed, Alex then quickly created a bonfire using the equipment in the storage ring.

After making sure he set everything, Alex went back to check after Aria's condition, she was currently dying, her breathing and pulse extremely weak. Alex quickly injected her with another [Panacea] serum. Alex just hoped the life saving serum would save her. Other than the serum the other thing he can do to her is to tend to her opened wound from the hellhound claws and bite. Alex then uses his healing spells.

[Healing Ray - Rank 2 Light spell]

Even though this spell was only able to heal minor wounds, it was still far better than nothing. With this, the small wounds on her body slowly disappeared. He began to feel Aria's energy pulse improving every second which gave him relief. And now, there was only one last thing he needed to do. Alex carefully stretched a cloth for Aria to lie on, then took off her wet clothes and gave her a thick cloth to cover her body. He then brought her closer to the fire to keep her warm. 

When everything was over, Alex then realized he'd also begun to lose consciousness, but he held on. He himself was seriously injured and already at the limit of his strength but he couldn't afford to pass out now.

Seeing that only two of the serums he had prepared were left, Alex decided not to use it and instead, he opened his storage ring and took out all the yellow spirit stones he got. Although not as effective as serum, spirit stone can also heal the body and restore its internal energy.

He quickly sat cross-legged and started consuming spirit stones one by one while meditating. Ray of lights could be seen swirling through his body, healing and closing any wounds he had suffered.

'COUGH!' Suddenly, Alex vomited blood out of his mouth but he continued to consume the spirit stone and meditate. The spirit energy within the spirit stone is unstable, especially the yellow one, it's very important to cultivate the energy while consuming it. He forced himself to heal his injured body with the power of the spirit stones.

[Your sky realm level increased by 1]

The sudden notification made him happy but he kept his calm and continued his meditation. He thought back to his previous fierce battle, having just gone through a life and death situation made his understanding of light element cultivation increased greatly.

[You increased your understanding of light element]

[Your sky realm level increased by 1]

Taking advantage of his current situation, Alex intends to break through the initial stage of Sky realm cultivation. He increasingly focused on meditating, seen from the intense light radiating from his body. He only needed 2 more levels before he reached it.

Several hours later, he realized that Aria had woken up, staring dazedly at the cave ceiling.

"You're finally awake. That's good. Don't move, just lie down."

She immediately tried to move but Alex kept her lying down.

"Stay down!" he said firmly.

Aria looked confused and didn't know what to do. She knew that he had saved her again and felt conflicted about it. When she realized that she was not wearing any clothes under the thick cloth that covered her, she fell silent again.

The situation suddenly turns awkward