Theo can encase himself in ground instead, get a temporary reprieve from the freaking fire and dig himself downwards and then get out of the fucking cave.

Summoner trials, of course there's not going to be anything dangerous, no.

Should've stuck to flying.

As he digs himself downards he falls into an underground river.

Well, lake. It's quite still.

At least that means he's not on fire, even if he expects there's going to be some water fiend around him.

Away, he goes, to the surface, and then he tries to find something if it's bright enough for him to see anything.

Unless he gets electrocuted by some massive jellyfish first or something equally stupid.

(He is pissed about his clothes, fuck's sake, and he wanted those things he'd bought.)

Not a jellyfish, no. Something else that looks like a sort of humanoid starfish.

Has it electrocuted him – minus the death part – or is it just floating around or is it following him or what.

It has done something to him. Calling it electrocution would be inaccurate, but there may not be a more accurate word. It is following him, having floated from within the water and being somehow able to remain aloft with no visible means to do so.

He cannot think properly so he just keeps trying to do what he was before – getting away, any direction, any way he can – away.

The underground lake/river has the same shining rocks illuminating the way, and the space above the water grows in that direction over there.

He goes that way! He goes that way until he gets far enough away from the creature that he can think instead of being pained and in flight mode and then looks for somewhere he can bury himself in the ground for a reprieve or some ceiling he can slowly destroy as he moves himself upwards.

The creature follows, but not too quickly. It is joined by two other similar ones, and before Theo can put too much space between himself and them, a flying horned barracuda emerges from the water going much more quickly than the weird magical things, followed by a school of magic piranha.

Can he not please why are you – he can put up a barricade, can he, please, that works, yes, slowly, dammit, why the heck.

He flies away. He tries to go as fast as he can while in an enclosed space and just hopes they're unable to follow him that quickly.

The weird floaty things cannot follow him that quickly. The fish can. Omnom wings.

They do not sink that deep, he is indestructible and they can fuck off because he knows how to make acid and he has some convenient matter lodged in their stupid mouths.

He hopes it doesn't just totally fail to work.

Oh no acid works alright, they can fairly quickly be reduced to clouds of pyreflies drifting into the aether.

He heals up and then flies upwards again, hoping the floaty thing is not fast enough and digging upwards because that should get him out.

After a bit of upwards digging it becomes clear that in his dash away from the fiends he must've left the space beneath the cave he'd started out in. There is only rock and more rock, and from what he's seen from the outside, likely several kilometres of it.

… Sideways too?

Well, sideways the number of kilometres he'd have to cross would be somewhat smaller. He could perhaps attempt to return to the main cave.

Yes, well, if that thing doesn't work after like ten minutes of trying that is in fact what he'll do.

He will not find an exit in ten minutes, no.

He goes back and attempts to go back over the water and up through the hole he dug.

Here Be Fiends.

Any chance they are slow moving fiends and he can get past them?

(Ow, fuck.)

No they're the same fiends that chased him before.

Acid! More acid, slowly if he has nothing to work on but – oh look they're in a cave he can make bits of the ceiling rain acid.