Kenji's POV:
"Okay, soooo? Which way was the entrance again?" I thought out loud.
It would seem that the cave I entered was a little deeper and a little more maze-like than I initially thought, something I noticed about a, actually I don't know how long I've been here. Anyways, after going far enough in to not hear the obnoxious bird outside, I took a well-earned nap after which, being in a clearer state of mind, realized it might be a good idea to leave some markings on the walls so I don't get lost when exploring deeper into the cave. Unfortunately, while backtracking to the entrance, I realized.
"Shit, I'm lost!"
Yeah, in hindsight, maybe I shouldn't have gone so deep before taking that nap. Fortunately, I've already come up with a backup plan in case I can't find another exit.
"Hm? Well, whatever! I'll just dig my way out!"
I came up with it last night right before falling asleep while wondering what the others were doing right now. While thinking about Aiko, I ended up remembering that time I dug into the wall of that underground prison to make an escape route. It didn't really work, but that was because we were in a rush and Shinji ended up slipping on some molten rock. Anyways, my point is, if I can't find an exit, I can just make one by melting through the walls. Of course, given how deep down this cave was from the top of the ravine it was in, it's probably gonna take a while to make a staircase leading up to the surface.
"Guess I better get on with it then!" I said as I placed my hand against the wall to start melting it.
However, for some reason, no matter how much heat I applied to the wall, it just wouldn't melt or even just soften. Just out of curiosity, I tried hitting the walls for real to see if I could break them, but the only thing that so much as made a dent was my 3rd stage aura, however, it would be to impractical and exhausting to dig while maintaining that form.
"What the hell is this cave made of? Wait, now that I'm looking at it! This cave looks way too well-made to be the work of some birds! Hm? Meh! Probably not important!" I said as I grabbed my sword and stabbed it into the wall.
Since I couldn't melt my way through the wall, and my fire's of war would be too tiresome, I thought I'd try carving my way out instead, using my new weapon, and seriously, this thing is such a dream of a sword. Even as I'm using it on this super sturdy metal that takes everything I got just to dent, I'm able to carve blocks out of it as if it's made of butter. Is there anything this thing can't cut.
"Say what you will about the design, or the weird, kind of gross, tentacles that's wrapped around my hand, but this is the best sword I've ever had!" I muttered to myself, becoming slightly creeped out by the sudden wriggling of my sword.
I ended up discovering that this cave had multiple floors as I constantly found myself carving up to similar looking hallways above me. Though I don't exactly mind getting to practice using my sword a bit, it's actually a little harder to dig with a sword than it is with my qi, so I was kind of hoping I'd reach a point where there'd be less metal and more dirt and stone soon. However, it took me several hours of carving before I saw any sort of change.
"I see some light! Did I dig all the way to the top? Huh?"
I only wish it was the kind of change I wanted.
What awaited me above wasn't the blue sky on the surface, but a sea of magma floating right above me, until gravity suddenly reversed out of nowhere and I suddenly fell out of my staircase hole in what was now the roof and heading straight into the molten rock below.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! There! Now what the hell is this place?" I said as I managed to stop myself in the air before taking a very hot bath.
…
Somewhere else in the labyrinth.
"Hm?"
An elderly man could be seen staring at a giant mural depicting an upside down triangle on one end and a map on the other.
"Great elder! Have you discovered something?" One of the escorts asked.
"Hm? Well, this here is a map of the floor we are on, that's obvious, but I am a little uncertain about the other one!"
"Hm?"
"I believe it might be a depiction of this structure as a whole, but I am uncertain as to what some of these symbols here represents! The one that concerns me the most is the one at the top where we are!" The elderly man spoke, pointing at the two arrows pointing up and down.
"Should we maybe head back? I mean, there is always the chance he's not here!" Someone asked.
"Nonsense! We already scoured the place up above to no avail! If he is as greedy as described then if he is not up there, then he is most certainly down here, looking for more riches to plunder!"