It didn’t take long before Jen realized for all her eagerness to move outside the safety net she had created, it was easier said than done. As much as she might consciously want to force herself into new and challenging situations, she still found herself advancing into the darkness using the same rhythm she had become accustomed to; cautiously feeling out each step, balancing on her back foot while she probed the ground to avoid any unpleasant surprises, before eventually transferring her weight forwards and repeating the process.

While there wasn’t anything wrong with her methodology, it had the downsides of being both slow and familiar. The second point was of more concern to Jen. Her actions had become familiar to the point it took barely any effort at all, which meant she was only using that same minimum of effort to grow her related skills.

Trying to multitask was an option, to move forwards more or less on autopilot while she trained her Singing or Meditation skills. Jen rejected that idea, unsure how effective training would be when she would be unable to give it her full attention. In theory, according to her meager understanding of the System, trying to do two tasks at once would increase the difficulty, making those skills level up. In reality, Jen knew that she would be hard pressed to push herself to the degree necessary to accomplish such a feat.

Knowing what was in front of her was important. Jen knew the fear of falling into a pit or a river or some other dangerous element of the cave was strong enough to keep her from committing her focus to another task, her fear of the unknown working against her.

Instead, Jen decided to put that fear to use. Until now, Jen had relied on her Echolocation and Listen skills only on the macro scale. It was simple enough to get a feel for the presence of the ceiling and cave walls, as well as a rough estimate of distance. Even listening to the steady drip of water had been routine. Even though it was extremely faint at times, the fact that she knew the repetitive sound was present made it much easier for her ears to catch the noise.

There was so much more that could be done though. Bats were capable of using their echolocation to spot objects as insects, as well as to give themselves an awareness of their surroundings sufficient to aerially navigate. Jen wasn’t nearly at that capability, but she wanted to get there. What better time to start then now?

Using echolocation relied on three underlying abilities. The first to make a high fidelity outgoing sound. Too long or too confusing of a noise would make listening to the returning soundwaves difficult. And listening to those returned noises was no easy task. Not only would she have to pay attention to when the echo returned to be able to judge the distance, but she also had to use the minute difference in delay between her ears to judge direction, even as other echoes would be returning. And just hearing the noises would do her little good without the ability to understand and convert that information into a mental understanding of her surroundings. It was one thing to hear an echo and know there was a wall or other large object somewhere in front of you. It was another thing entirely to use that same skill to visualize what the ground and wall in front of you looked like. Jen just hoped that with enough levels her skills would be able to bridge that gap.

It took a large amount of mental encouragement, but Jen did manage to switch her method of advancing. Instead of testing the ground with her foot, she stood in place, straining her ears to their limits. She then let out several sounds of varying pitch, trying to get a feel for what noises that she could make would work best, as well as to have several attempts to notice any important features on the ground around her.

What probably helped Jen the most was that the section of the cave she was traversing was extremely uniform. She had left the cracked section behind, and the lack of obstacles made it far easier to pick out the few things that gave back a different echo.

At first things were mostly smooth, with a few basketball sized loose rocks the only deviations. Jen ran into a few of them before she learned what exactly the sounded like to her Echolocation sense. After that, it still took an effort to notice them, but Jen knew what to look for.

While Jen was determined to rely on her sense of hearing to navigate, that resolution took a beating when she entered a new section of the cave. Until now the cave had been mostly smooth, with some loose rocks in some places, and one section that was noticeably cracked. The region Jen was entering now was different. Large stalagmites began to appear, wide enough around their base that Jen could barely encircle them with her arms. While Jen was able to identify their echoes, she still slowed her pace, wary about stumbling onto a smaller one that missed her notice.

Her sense of the ceiling became confused, the once clean echo now choppy, presumably diffused by the stalactite counterparts to the ground protrusions she now weaved around. Even as her path now deviated from a straight line, she felt confident that she still had a good sense of her bearings, thanks in no small part to her Navigation skill.

If her skill failed her, Jen still wasn’t worried. Stalagmites and stalactites both were formed from the residue of mineral rich water. She couldn’t hear any dripping, and the pillars she had come in contact with were dry, but that simply meant the limestone structure of the cave had been built up enough to divert the water to another location, probably nearby. It might take some additional effort and a little luck, but Jen was confident that she could find another source of water if she couldn’t make it back to her original watering hole.

Taking heart from that conclusion Jen continued to move onwards.By her estimate, using Chronos’ Heart, Jen had spent just over two hours traveling before she decided to take a quick break. While her main purpose in stopping was to rest her feet, Jen was also eager to take an actual look at her surroundings. If her calculations were correct, she should have regenerated the mana she had expended feeding Rocky and conjuring a light upon waking up. Not wanting to waste any more of her regeneration than she already had, Jen quickly formed a light at the cost of a few mana points.

What she saw took her breath away. It was one thing to know that she was in the middle of a group of large stalagmites, it was another entirely to take the sight in, even limited as it was by her small light source and her Low Light Vision level.

She was reminded of the Fellowship’s run through Moria, when they entered the great hall, the endless forest of pillars stretching into the distance. While the rock formation around her was natural instead of dwarf made, it gave a similar impression, endless pillars towering over her as they faded into the dark. She strained her vision looking upwards, trying to see if the stalagmites reached all the way up to the ceiling but was unable to tell one way or the other.

Looking closely at the pillars was a pleasure as well. Whatever had formed the rock had left behind a intricate whorled pattern, ridges and reliefs of stone that danced their way down to the ground. For the first time since finding herself underground, Jen let herself relax and just take in the beauty around her. For once, she didn’t have a pressing task to accomplish, no desperate need to gather food or drink. A small part of her mind had appreciated the beauty of the crystal lined river, but she had been in a hurry at the time, and hadn’t been able to fully appreciate it.

For five minutes and twenty seven seconds Jen simply took in the sight, before her mana globe was expended and she was thrust back into the darkness once more. Refreshed, both physically and mentally, Jen got back to her feet, ready to explore further. The pillars were beautiful, but there wasn’t much Jen could use them for.

She considered trying to find and break a smaller one to use as a club, before rejecting the idea. Any stalagmite that she could break with her strength would probably break under its own weight when swung around, and while Jen’s strength score had increased a little, she didn’t feel like she was suddenly capable of the feat of swinging around a solid stone club. She might be a cavewoman for the moment, but that was still a little much.

The pun put a smile on Jen’s face that stayed there, even as the difficulty of using her echolocation continued to increase. More and more pillars were appearing in front of her, and it took all her effort to tell where one pillar ended and another began.

The ground changed as well, some stalagmites now close enough together to combine at their base and turn the ground into sa series of swells and dips. Jen reluctantly began sweeping the ground with her foot again, unwilling to risk a tumble.

Not long after that she reached a point where Echolocation was no longer able to let her plot her path forwards. Knowing she had the mana to spare, Jen conjured up a ball of light, unwilling to admit defeat quite yet.

Ahead of her the stalagmites and stalactites had reached a density where it looked less like a empty cave with additions and more like a solid wall with holes. Some were small openings, barely large enough to fit her arm through, but to her left about fifteen feet Jen could see a larger hole that seemed like she could fit through it, if she ducked a little.

She picked her way over, before taking a closer look. It seemed like there was another stone pillar directly behind the hole, causing the opening to immediately twist, but it seemed like it continued through, and was at the very least large enough for her to back up if it got too small.

Turning sideways, Jen inched through the hole, only to stop and stare at the sight in front of her.