Chapter 46: Spatial memory

The darkness disoriented Celeste. Time became a blur. She didn’t know how Eren led her forwards with such certainty.

Finally, they stopped. Eren cracked a sunspore and illuminated the cavernous tunnel around them. Celeste blinked, her eyes adjusting to the brightness.

A small glimmer of purple welcomed her returning vision. On the ground in front of her were the few strands of hair she left behind half an hour ago.

Celeste covered her mouth in disbelief. She inspected the rough stone walls around her, realizing that they had returned to the very first fork they walked through earlier!

She looked at Eren, eyes complete with shock and admiration. "Did you memorize our entire path?!"

Eren didn’t classify what he did as memorization. It was as natural to him as breathing and chewing on food.

It was more like an advanced version of a photographic memory.

Surface details were just one part of what he automatically retained. The spatial relation of his body and the room he was also instinctively engrained into his brain.

He knew where this tunnel was in relation to the ground above.

Basically, he could create a diminished version of the Mind Palace in any place he’d been to. A 3D topographical map he could walk through in his imagination.

The Subterranean Burrows was like an ants nest. At the very top was the chasm in the gymnasium, with a vertical pit leading down into the cave they had fallen on half an hour ago.

Further onwards were the straight tunnel leading to the fork in front of them. On the left path was the unveiled section they had explored, with the tunnels and forks and winding roads mapped out with an accurate depiction of its position and orientation relative to the ground.

Based on this map, Eren knew those other tunnels also led into a dead end. It was how he knew they had to return to the very first fork in the road to progress any further.

Celeste was very impressed. She gushed about how she didn’t even see him try to memorize their path.

But after learning the entirety of the Immortal Library of Ræzoň, mapping out the Subterranean Burrows became effortless.

Now, he could retrace his steps even with his eyes closed. He simply moved his body in accordance with the map of the tunnels in his mind.

Celeste put her hands behind her back and leaned towards him. Her eyes glimmered with a strange glint. "I stand corrected. You do know how to impress a girl."

Then, she looked up at the ceiling. "You were the only one who wasn’t surprised by Kaiser. I thought that you knew about it beforehand. But now, I just think you’re more observant than you let on."

Eren stepped forwards, standing face to face with Celeste.

His sudden movement startled her for a second, as she had to lean back into a straight posture.

"If you think I’m observant, can you guess what I think of you?" he asked her.

She looked at his eyes for a second. Her eyebrows flashed a hint of pain for a second, before it lifted into ease and curiosity. "I’ll bite. What do you think of me?"

"You’re hiding something."

If she was hiding something, she didn’t show it in her expression. Her gaze remained straight with him, taking his challenging eyes head on.

"I could say the same to you," she replied.

They both stayed silent for a few seconds, until the light of the sunspore finally gave out, once again engulfing the entire cavern into darkness.

"Then I guess we both have a reason not to discuss personal matters. Let’s just stay as we are: temporary allies." His voice echoed in the void of blackness around them.

He cracked a sunspore, letting light scare away the shadows in the cavern.

Once his vision returned, Celeste had already walked away from him, her back turned against him. "Are you coming or not, temporary ally?"

Eren stared at her figure as she walked the incline to the unmapped part of the Subterranean Burrows.

Once in a while, there were people whose secrets were so engrained into the darkness of their soul that even an experienced eye could not decipher them from mere expressions.

Athan always told him to be wary of the unknown.

He didn’t trust Celeste. There was just something about her that he just couldn’t decipher.

It was the worst kind of mystery. A puzzle without a key.

But the good thing was that he didn’t sense any hostility from her. She may have had ulterior motives approaching him during the first day in the License Exam. But he at least knew that it wasn’t negative.

As of this moment, he needed her to navigate through this First Test.

He could tell she was stronger than him. More trained, at least. He’d need someone like her to

And from the looks of it, she needed him too.

They were in a temporary alliance. One that could rupture as soon as they’d achieved their goals. She knew it. He knew it. Eren just had to make sure he’d get the better end of the deal.

With these thoughts rummaging through his mind, he caught up with Celeste.

They continued to map the tunnels, finding greater success than before. No dead ends this time.

Not only that, but Eren finally saw signs of human activity. Footprints. They were faint, made from specks of soil left behind by shoes. But Eren spotted it easily.

These footprints pointed leftwards, leading them to a secluded portion of the extremely large cavern they found themselves in.

Eren and Celeste both looked at each other and nodded.

They followed the track and found a tunnel opening hidden by a jutting wall along an alcove.

Peering through the passageway, they saw light at the end of the tunnel. Warm, red, and flickering, as though made from a campfire. Faint voices echoed from the other side.

Civilization!

Just in time too. Their sunspores were getting dangerously low.

A mechanical click hummed underground as they stepped foot towards the light.