Charles and Nora moved cautiously through the cave, their lanterns lighting the way.

The air was cold and damp, and the rocky floor crunched under their boots with each step.

The cave walls seemed to stretch endlessly upward, vanishing into a blackness the lanterns couldn't pierce.

Charles frowned, gripping his lantern tightly as he tried to make out anything beyond the circle of light.

The blue system arrow still glowed in his vision, pointing deeper into the cave, but the darkness was so thick he was starting to doubt the lanterns' usefulness.

"These things aren't doing much, are they?" Charles muttered, turning to Nora, who walked beside him with a focused expression.

He was about to suggest they head back to the village for better lanterns when a shrill scream stopped him cold.

"Rian!" Nora shouted, her voice echoing through the cave.

Charles spun just in time to see Nora trip over something on the ground, losing her balance.

Her lantern clattered to the floor with a metallic clank, and her figure vanished into the darkness as her voice faded, growing more distant, as if she were falling down a deep pit.

"Nora!" Charles yelled, sprinting to the edge where she'd disappeared.

His lantern's beam swept the ground, but all he saw was jagged rock and a black hole gaping before him.

His heart pounded, panic rising in his throat.

"Nora, are you okay?" he called, but only the echo of his own voice answered.

Desperate, Charles turned to the system.

"System, can you give me some kind of vision to see in this place?" he asked, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "I can't see anything, and Nora fell!"

The system's interface activated in his vision, blue letters floating before him.

[Using night vision isn't the best option right now due to your low control level. The optimal choice is to overload the lantern with your electric power. This will increase the light's intensity.]

Charles blinked, staring at the lantern in his hand.

"Overload it?" he repeated, his tone a mix of disbelief and urgency. "How am I supposed to do that? I don't have time to mess around!"

[Focus your electric energy into the lantern. Direct the flow to the battery. It's not complicated but requires precision.]

Charles gritted his teeth, feeling the pressure of the moment.

He wasn't an expert at controlling his electric power, but he had no other choice.

He closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath, and focused on the sensation of sparks that sometimes coursed through his body.

He visualized the energy flowing from his hand into the lantern, like pushing an invisible current.

At first, nothing happened, and frustration made him growl.

"Come on, damn it!" he muttered, gripping the lantern tighter.

Then, he felt a tingle in his fingers, followed by a low hum.

The lantern vibrated in his hand, and suddenly, its beam intensified, flooding the cave with near-blinding clarity.

Charles opened his eyes, stunned, and aimed the lantern at the hole.

Now he could see it clearly: a deep pit with uneven rock walls plunging into darkness.

There was no sign of Nora, only the faint echo of her fall.

"Shit!" Charles exclaimed, panic tightening his chest.

He looked at the hole, then the lantern, and spoke to the system again.

"If I jump in there, do I have any chance of surviving?" he asked, his tone trying to sound brave but trembling slightly.

The system's interface flickered, and a blue hologram appeared before him, showing a stylized figure descending the pit.

The figure pressed one hand and one foot against one wall, then leaped to the other, repeating the pattern in a controlled descent.

[You can descend by bracing against the walls,] the system explained. [Use one hand and one foot to slow your fall, and leap between walls every five seconds. Your body will generate electric energy with the movement, aiding regeneration of any damage during the descent.]

Charles stared at the hologram, eyes wide.

"Are you crazy?" he said, his tone a mix of disbelief and fear. "Won't I wreck my hands and feet doing that? It's a free fall!"

[If you maintain the rhythm and use your power, the damage will be distributed and regenerate quickly. Your body is adapted to channel electric energy. Trust the process.]

Charles swallowed hard, staring at the hole.

The thought of Nora falling uncontrollably made him feel sick.

He couldn't leave her down there, not after she'd chosen to help him.

But jumping into a dark pit, relying on a system he barely understood, pushed him to the edge of panic.

"This is insane…" he muttered, but his voice sounded more resolute than he expected.

He glanced at the hologram one last time, memorizing the movements.

Tucking the lantern inside his tunic, securing it against his chest, he took a deep breath.

"Nora…" he said through gritted teeth, and without thinking further, he jumped into the hole.

The cold air hit his face as he fell, and his right hand slammed against the rock wall with a painful crunch.

His fingers scraped, pain shooting up his arm, but he followed the system's instructions.

He pressed his left foot against the opposite wall, slowing his fall, then leaped to the other side, repeating the motion.

Each impact felt like a hammer blow, and the pain in his hands and feet was intense, but to his surprise, he felt small blue sparks coursing through his body.

The scrapes on his fingers began to heal almost immediately, and the electric energy generated by his movement seemed to fuel his regeneration.

"It's working!" he exclaimed, a mix of relief and adrenaline.

The blue sparks from his body faintly lit the descent, giving brief glimpses of the rocky walls flashing by.

He leaped again, wall to wall, feeling the pain in one hand fade as the other took a hit.

It was exhausting, but the system was right: his body was handling the damage.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only seconds, his feet hit something soft and cold.

SPLASH!

Charles plunged into water, the impact submerging him completely.

The cold enveloped him, and panic surged when he realized he didn't know how to swim.

His arms flailed desperately, searching for something to grab, but he found only more water.

The weight of his tunic dragged him down, and the lantern, still tucked against his chest, felt like a stone.

'Shit, shit, shit!' Charles thought, his heart racing a mile a minute.

He tried to shout, but only a gurgle escaped as water filled his mouth.

He was drowning.

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