When A Mage Revolts

In just a few seconds, the had mountain disappeared; Benjamin also found that they did not even fly that high, instead, they were inside a deep hole. The surrounding environment was very dark, and only some faint light shone in from above them.

He also heard a strange sound in the distance.

Black shadows were moving around the air, which was a phenomenon that will only appear when dark elements were very concentrated. It was extremely quiet, as though there was not a single living creature here, the crack on the stone wall in front of him had some strange plants growing inside them.

Benjamin was extremely shocked by what he saw but could not even process everything properly.

After a couple more minutes, the intangible form was deactivated, and the surrounding landscape changed back from the abyss to clear sky and mountains. Benjamin was hit with the cold again, causing him to shiver subconsciously. All this... It was unbelievable.

"This..."

He could not help but shake his head and frown.

What he saw just now was undoubtedly the real world. What he did expect, however, was to find that he had been flying downwards the whole time he thought he had been flying upwards. This so-called Skyfall Mountain was probably just an illusion and did not really exist.

He looked at his surroundings and felt an intense chill run up his spine.

"This is a terrifying place." Even the System said, "I analyzed the data that I have just collected, this place has a unique terrain similar to the Wind-crack Valley, and the concentration of the dark elements here is beyond our wildest imagination."

"Where are we now, exactly?" Benjamin took a deep breath and asked in his mind.

"According to the place you saw just now, probably about 200 meters underground." The System replied, "The illusions disrupted your sense of direction, the 500 kilometers that you flew just now was probably you just flying around the crack."

"..."

Benjamin was left speechless.

Was that a joke?

Just the thought of him flying in the cold for hours, Benjamin had to urge to spit out blood.

So, what? Did he just go around in circles? He did not understand why there would there be such a trap in this world. In reality, all he needed to do was just fly up and he would be able to leave this crack. But after being trapped in the illusion, all he could do was go around in circles like a carousel.

"Why is there such an illusion?" Benjamin asked in his mind.

"Do you expect me to figure out its principles?" The System replied lazily, "It might be related to the unique terrain here, or it might also be related to the dark elements... I’m not sure."

Benjamin shook his head helplessly.

What can he do?

In order to leave this place, he must first destroy this strange illusion. Although being in the intangible form could temporarily bring him back to reality, the problem was that he did not have much time left in the intangible state.

Should he leave first and come back again after the skill cools down?

Benjamin was a little unwilling to give up because it would be as though he was defeated by this damn place. If he were to leave through the intangible form, he would not understand what this illusion was, resulting in a knot in his heart.

However, did he have any other option?

He held his chin, ignoring Dick who was weeping by the side and started to think. After recalling what he had seen in the real world, Benjamin felt like there was certainly a key point that would explain everything.

But what exactly was it...

"Replay the scene during the few seconds when I was in the intangible form." He said in his mind.

The System immediately replayed the scene in Benjamin's mind over and over again. After watching it multiple times, the dark shadows, stone walls, weird plants... everything looked suspicious, but Benjamin was not sure exactly why were they suspicious.

Moreover, he felt like there was something missing.

The scene played by the System was somewhat different from what he saw just now.

"Wait, what about the voice?" Benjamin suddenly recalled something, and quickly asked, "The sound I heard in the intangible form, did you not record it?"

"I did." The System said lazily, "You only told me to replay the scene and not the sound."

"... then can you play it with the sound."

During the few moments the intangible form, Benjamin did indeed hear a weird sound. But because it was too brief, so he did not have enough time to listen to it clearly, perhaps, that voice was also one of the keys in forming the illusion.

After the System played it, Benjamin was slightly surprised.

It was like a roar of some kind of beast which was coming from an unknown direction, it was somewhat vague, but it sounded extremely normal and did not sound like it had any special ability.

However, Benjamin felt like it sounded a little familiar.

"Check your database." He said again, "This voice... I may have heard it before, but I can’t recall it. Can you check it out for me?"

"You are demanding too much…..." The System mumbled softly but still carried out his order.

After a moment, the voice was played in Benjamin’s mind once again.

"You remembered correctly, a similar voice did appear before."

"When?" Benjamin pursued.

"A long time ago, when you and the group of mages entered Ferelden for the first time." The System said slowly, "At that time, you were still wanted by the Queen and was forced to fly over the border of Icor, eventually ending up in a place called the 'Valley of the Abyss’ in Ferelden. At that time, you were also caught in an illusion that even I could not differentiate. And in the end, after you used the intangible form to break the illusion, you said that you heard a voice. I recorded it and found that it sounded to this."

Benjamin was stunned.

That was... that long ago.

With the System’s help, he gradually recalled what had happened at that time. Valley of the Abyss, legend says that people have disappeared in that valley for no reason. When Benjamin brought 20 mages into that place, they were caught in a weird illusion, which was actually somewhat similar to the situation that he was in now.

When he broke free of the illusion, he had heard a voice. After replaying the voice multiple times, it became a beastly roar like what he had heard just now.

So... were the two of them the same thing?

Even though the situation was different, and the illusion here was more powerful and stable, the Valley of the Abyss and Skyfall "Mountains" should still operate on the same principle.

That beastly roar, or melodic voice.

After thinking about it for a moment, Benjamin summoned a water bubble which then wrapped up both him and Dick. Benjamin struggled to maintain the stability of the bubble, while simultaneously attempting to achieve a soundproof effect.

However, the illusion did not disappear.

"It's hard to cut off the sound with just a bubble." The System said, "You're already in the illusion, your consciousness does not think that you are hearing anything. Therefore, even if the sound successfully goes through the water ball, you will not notice it, instead mistaking it for being completely soundproof."

Benjamin frowned, "Then what should I do?"

"Well... I still have a second left in the intangible form, can you completely isolate the sound in that second?"