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Chapter 17 : Cavern Below?
🕑 Added 2024-08-14 16:29:46 +0000 UTCOpening out below them, the underground area revealed a hidden world that seemed to carry wonders which both felt beautiful and strange. The bleary light shone on the bodies of the mushrooms, scattered over the walls and ceiling, shedding a gentle blue luminescence through it. It was cold and moist, the air impregnated with the smell of the ground: earthy, and a little sweet from the mushrooms. The walls were covered with luminescent vines, giving an impression of some movement, as if alive.
The ground beneath their feet was craggy and cushiony; it supported a plush layer of moss that swallowed the sounds of their footfalls and brought a quiet peace to the entire cave. Small puddles of clear water reflected the soft light shining off the mushrooms, making an enchanting place the cave seemed to be.
In many places, stalagmites and stalactites hung from the ceiling and rose from the ground, forming a natural supporting pillar of the cave. Some even sparkled with tiny crystals; they caught the light and shone like little stars in the darkness. A temple hidden in the ground; it had to be thought of as a temple hidden by nature's will.
As they moved further inside, the tunnels opened into slightly more spacious rooms, though unnoticeably so, and in every one of them, a miniature cascade plashed into a secret pool. The burble of it filled the air with a calming symphony. Small glowing insects flew around, whistling softly, adding to the magical aura of the cave.
Orion looked around the cave. His eyes rested on the glowing mushrooms, the weird formations adorning the walls. All the beauty of the scene could not dislodge from him a deep unease as if he felt something was amiss, something lurking just out of sight. "We really should be on our guard. We know absolutely nothing about what sort of dangers we could be facing in this place," Orion muttered more to himself than to Eula.
"Agreed," Eula replied, voice firm, though her hold on her greatsword tightened as they pressed on. The real beauty of the cave couldn't hide beneath the tension in the air. The tensions in the air seemed to be mocking the dangers around every corner with the colors of bioluminescent growths, glowing soft against the rock faces.
They walked deeper into the mass underground in silence, broken only by the infrequent drips from the hanging stalactites above. And then he felt it—something shifted ever so subtlety under his feet, just beneath the top of the earth. Stopped, he put his hand out in front of him to motion Eula to stop.
"Did you feel that?" he said in a low cautious voice.
Eula stopped, and her sharp instincts already started collecting the same thing he was feeling. "Yes," she replied, her eyes scanning the ground around them. "Something's moving down there."
Orion squinted his eyes, focusing his elemental trace. Beneath them, a slight flicker of an electro energy signal echoed, jumping from place to place like a snake in the world below. He balled up his hand on his polearm, tightening his muscles in readiness to let go. "I see it," he whispered, getting his reach in order.
Noting his stance change, Eula eager to know asked "Can you see what it is?" Orion didn't respond instantly but waited for the right second. In a single, decisive motion, he plunged his polearm into the ground. The earth cracked as, with a yank of his weapon, a little, wriggling plant monster was impaled on the tip, its electro energy flickering out as it died.
Eula's relief showed in a surprised peal of laughter as the tension eased off just a little. "An Electro Whopperflower," she said on the remnants of a chuckle. "Annoying little things but not really dangerous."
Orion looked at the beast with a peculiar mix of distaste and fascination. "Well, it's not going to bother anyone now," he muttered, shaking the dead Whopperflower off his polearm.
It was so full of life, so powerful, that one might very well think it could shake the ground beneath their feet. Orion's eyes widened as he turned toward Eula, who was already looking at him with a serious expression.
"Is that another Whopperflower?" he asked, though he knew the answer.
Eula shook her head, her voice taut. "No. This one's much bigger."
Orion tried to release the growing tension with some sarcasm. "I was kidding there's no way something that small could make a sound like that."
The earth rumbled again, traveling up more violently. Orion could feel the very ground beneath him shiver with strength and something more malignant than just movement, and his own back crawled in a wash of chill. His voice turned suddenly strained from the mirth as he tightened his grip upon his polearm. "Eula, brace yourself. Whatever this thing is, it's not going to be small."
Eula nodded, her greatsword at the ready as she started to close the distance with Orion. Both of them sensed that the noose was closing in, the atmosphere in the cave getting heavier with every ticking second. From what was beautiful and serene underground, it's starting to feel like a trap with them as the prey.
Orion scanned the dimly lit expanse of the cavern, his senses on high alert. The ground started shaking below them, and the low rumble began to gain intensity. Little time to think, only reaction. He turned and grabbed Eula by the waist, taking off into the air as the earth below them erupted in a sudden burst of violent energy.
A humongous figure burst forth from the earth, a colossal plant monster whose tendrils snapped out arcs of electricity and with a core glowing with malevolent, pulsating light. Suspended in mid-air by Orion, Eula knew that beast only too well. "Electro Regisvine!" she shouted, her voice filled both with surprise and determination.
Still holding Eula, Orion replied with an unyielding steel in his voice. "Doesn't matter what this thing is called," he growled, "I'm sending it back to the depths of hell it came from!"
They landed a few meters apart, both warriors instantly back on the offensive. Orion's polearm already had Pyro roaring, and the moment he hit the Regisvine, he barely wasted a step touching his feet to the ground—crossing that space in a heartbeat. Strong and down, he hacked through one of the beast's electrified tendrils, with the impact sending back the shock waves reverberating through the cavern.
The monster didn't waste much time rethinking, attacking even harder now; Orion moved with a grace that befitted a seasoned warrior, slipping through all the Electro Regisvine's attacks. Every swipe of its massive tendrils sent crackling electricity through the air, yet Orion dodged it with fluid, precise movements. He was a blur of motion, ducking below a sweeping tendril, then sidestepping yet another that slammed to the ground where he had just been standing.
As he closed the distance between himself and the Regisvine, he filled the space with quick strikes, the polearm between his hands in a bright Pyro surface, with each burst of flames erupting on contact as he seared it into the thick hide of the beast before him. For all its gigantic size, the Regisvine could do little more than try to keep up with the relentless display of assault presented by Orion.
The Regisvine recoiled, but it was far from finished. It loosed a hail of roots that were electrified, slicing through the air to meet the pair. Eula with her great sword alight with frosty light blue energy, dancing on the ice, spinning, and slicing through the roots with deadly grace. Each of her strikes encased the roots in ice, shattering into shards sprawling on the ground.
Orion kept a close eye on Eula, her greatsword slicing through the air fluidly, much like a dancer. Each step Orion could see seemed to be part of some choreographed dance as her body twisted and turned in perfect harmony with her blade. It was the contrast between that deadly power and grace in execution that shortly mesmerized Orion.
With their combined strength, they aimed their attacks at the main body of the Regisvine, which shimmered through the cracks and seemed to glow with an even more brilliant light. "Strike the core!" called Eula, voice piercing even through the cacophony of the battlefield.
"Take this!" A reply filled with determination, Orion yelled back. Now the freezing intensity of his cryo abilities was focused at the end of his polearm; with that, his polearm was radiating an aura of freezing. He howled while whirling it over his head, sending the polearm, together with a tornado of ice and wind, right towards the core of the Regisvine. The icy blast connected, slamming the core still for a moment as the creature got staggered from the hit.
Eula stepped into her moment, charging with her greatsword now shining so bright, coldly radiant. Leaping up into the air as gracefully as any elder knight, she brought her blade down with all the force she could muster, straight into the Regisvine's heart. That regisvine frozen in place, the greatsword only splintered through ice and dug deep down into the core, radiating wave after wave of energy in pulses through the cavern.
In response, the large form of the Regisvine began to collapse, the energy within it dissipating. But Orion was not over with it yet. With a howl, he sent one last shot of Pyro blast at the thing. Instantaneously, flames encased it, just as the Regisvine had done, turning whatever was left of it into fine ashes.
As the echoes of battle faded, Orion and Eula stood amidst the remnants of the fallen beast, their breaths heavy but their spirits unyielding. The cavern now was eerily silent compared to how it rang moments before with the chaos of the battle. Eula regarded Orion, a thin smile playing on her lips. "Not bad for brute force."
Orion chuckled, swiping some sweat off his forehead. "Some times brute force just does it." He then added with a grin, "*Though maybe next time we can avoid the giant electrified plant monsters. I think killing the small guy attracted this thing."
She wiped the sweat from her forehead, sighed in contentment, and sheathed her greatsword. "For sure. But look at that, Orion," she said, inviting him with a hand movement toward a peaceful pond, its waters sparkling in a dim blue light. "How about we wash up there? We definitely deserve a break after that fight."
Orion's face flushed slightly at the suggestion, and he could feel his mind racing with the thought. He tried to play it cool, but his voice betrayed him as he stammered, "I'm not gonna say no to that."
It was only then that Eula realized what she had just implied; her own cheeks flared as the weight of her suggestion hit her. She turned away, quickly trying to hide her embarrassment, though a small, nervous laugh slipped past her. "I—uh, I didn't mean—"
Orion could still be flustered, but he managed a chuckle. "No worries. A quick wash does sound.. refreshing."
The two of them, a little more awkward than usual, headed toward the pond, their earlier battle fading into the background as they shared an unexpected, somewhat amusing moment of vulnerability.
