Relic of the Future: Chapter 117

Crack

Jaune and Summer both flinched. The creaking, cracking sound came not from the door behind them but a row of large crystals in the centre of the room. Spiderweb fractures expanded along them, creaking and splintering across the whole room from one side to the other. The only reason they could be breaking without one of them touching them was…

The floor caved in just as Summer reached the tunnel but before he could. Rock crumbled and the crystalline formations that had been building across it shattered like fine glass without the support, scattering down like multicoloured rain.

He cried out as he fell, arms flailing and body twisting to try and get his eyes looking down for a proper landing. It came before he was ready and long before he'd had a chance to catch his breath. The impact blew the air out his lungs and he bounced across rubble, crunching and smashing shards of dust under his weight. Jaune came to a stop when he rolled into a rock that had fallen in such a way as to form a barrier. He curled around it, hands gripping on as he struggled to breathe.

"G-Gah. B-Bloody hell…"

"Jaune!" Summer called. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah!" His attempt to shout back was so weak he echoed it a second time. "I'm alive! It…" He looked up, catching sight of the light still glinting off the dust above. It only looked to be a ten metre drop. "It's not as big as it looks."

"I'm coming down."

"No. No! Stay up there and get out-"

Boots crunched down beside him; Summer landing much more gracefully than he had. "I'm not leaving you behind. Are you okay? Did you take an injury?"

He didn't think so. Rather than answer, he rolled onto his front and felt over his back. His hands brushed off hundreds of little shards of dust, but the thick military overcoat must have prevented any from piercing skin, and he'd thrown his aura up the first chance he got. Brushing more off, he pushed his hands down and himself to his feet.

—Relic of the Future: Chapter 117