Waking up in total darkness, I reach out for my holopad.

All I find is rocks.

…

I let out a soft sigh.

Checking on my crystal, it looks fully regenerated. Nothing came to eat me in my sleep. I’m in some cave underground I think.

Dark vision works in low light but it’s useless in no light, good to know. Squinting, I can barely make out the outlines of my hands in front of my eyes, I knew pretty much all living beings glow a bit, it’s my first time seeing it for real, no way I’d pick that up with human eyes.

Aight, enough for the waking up session, thankfully my bag is still on my back, I feel the shield against my leg too. As I sit up, the shield falls from my legs and hits the ground, creating a metallic bang that echoes through the place for a while. So much for trying to be quiet.

Searching in the dark, I struggle a bit before getting my hand on that pesky golden ball.

“Let there be light!”

It gives off very little light, but the dark vision helps a lot. I don’t see colors beyond two meters but it looks to be all gray-yellow stone anyway. Nothing is missing from my bag, my body feels ok besides dried blood on my face, the shield is obviously there, but there’s something else. A silver necklace with a small triangle pendant covered in copper runes. The craftsmanship is outstanding. Must have been one of the trinkets on the floor, got caught in the transfer. Since it was with the rest of Eviniel’s battle stuff it can’t be bad, right? Let’s put this on.

After I put it on it strats steadily sapping my manalite. It’s draining more than all the nail caps combined but I can still probably fuel it all for a day and have some left. The crystal expands the more it’s used anyway, no reason to save my resources when all I know how to do for now is give plants a nice shaker of growth hormones. So I have no idea what the necklace is for but I’m keeping it on, if not how else am I going to find out what it is.

Looking around I’m in a small chamber full of stalactites, there’s two ways I can go, one with a slight incline down, the other flat ground. I’m trying to get out so down isn’t an option.

The shield is a bit unwieldy but it’s better than nothing. After walking for a while I take off the nail caps on my right hand. Better be prepared if I need to impale some monkey. The glowing orb is tied to a strap of the bag.

I’ve been walking up and down for at least an hour, exploring different paths, but I can’t find an exit, or anything else. Aside from having to clamber up and down rocks when the incline gets too steep, I get very little action. I don’t dislike spelunking but this is the most barren cavern I’ve ever explored. Is this a fantasy world or what? Throw me a goblin or two or something. Wait no, goblins are people I guess…

Still, in my ranking of being stuck I’ll take stuck in a cave over stuck in a spacecraft.

At least there’s a hope of getting out. If not, the stalactite water is probably safe to drink.

I'm so bored. I spent a while trying to find a way to accelerate myself with my magic while I walk but even when the manalite is spent, although I feel the mana lingering in my body for a while, nothing happens.

I did manage to accelerate the glowing orb. It glows stronger and runs out of energy faster for as long as I keep the spell active. I never manage to keep it up for more than a few seconds before I feel the mana start to go awry and the magic crumbles. I had to turn off the pendant to limit my spendings.

The sound of my steps is the only thing breaking the silence.

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It's been half a day I think. This cave formation is endless. I don't feel tired from the walk, not hungry either, lots of water left. Let's keep going.

Would you look at that! A dead bug! Some sort of spiky centipede. It's only a dry husk, been dead for long. This is the way!

Following this path leads me to a big cave. It's all been narrow passageways and small chambers until now but this…

This! This is what I call a cavern worth exploring. A single ray of sunlight shines down from a tiny hole high up in the ceiling, it's got to be at least 40 meters up.

The place is huge, the biggest cavity I’ve ever seen for sure.

Getting out shouldn't be long now.

I couldn't see due to the huge stalagmites but there's some plants growing at the spot where the light shines.

And the same kind of centipede I saw earlier. Just very much alive and the size of a freight train... How the fuck does this thing find enough food to sustain its size?

It looks like a centipede from Earth, kinda. If you forget about the glowing green lines under its exoskeleton, and the thousands of spikes adorning its back. The legs are the shorter, more solid kind and its body is a bit flat, but even like that it’s still at least five meters tall without even counting the spikes. Probably eight to ten meters large. Length is…yeah just like a train, a long looong, spiky, presumably carnivorous train.

I'm not going anywhere near that.

Or am I.

The thing is coiled around a small fruit tree. I wouldn't risk my life for a mere fruit. But these fruits… they're three big glowing lemons! I can feel the pulsing mass of mana around these things from all the way up here. It's a lot, almost as much as one of the wyvern fire rays of death. I need them for science!

Mr. Centipede seems to be sleeping which is a good start. Also it could be counted as an insect which would mean no magic. Wouldn't be classified as one on Earth but who knows.

I can't see any eyes but he does have two long antennae. Might be reactive to sound or heat, maybe air movement, surely smells. Once again I'm happy I don't sweat. Even if that doesn't make me odorless.

There can't be an air current from behind me to carry my smell so I'm still relatively safe until I move.

I only see two ways. Killing it, or luring it away.

But how could I kill that? Let's go for the lure. I need to find another exit, the kind this thing doesn'fit through. It doesn't take long to find many openings along the border of the cave, most of them are large and clearly used by the giant arthropod. They look like a natural formation. If these were dug out by the big miriapod I'd give up on this whole charade right then and there. After going around almost half of the cave I find a promising path. Narrow, it splits into multiple paths, and the stone around this part of the cavern is different, tougher and darker.

I have no clue what it is, but trying to scrape it with my nails doesn't work at all when I had no difficulty marking my way like this in the previous limestone sections.

I'm worried about my smell but the thing isn't moving. Let's get this plan rolling. I want me some magical lemons.

I left the shield and bag at my escape point to lighten my load. The small canvas sack from the start will be enough.

I climb to a high point halfway between where I first entered and my escape path. I take my glowing golden ball out of the sack, this is the only thing I have on me that can keep magical energy alive for more than a second. Your sacrifice will be remembered.

Taking out the last 19 small crystals I have, I start infusing all their energy in the golden ball. Then I infuse half of what I have left available from my crystal. If the centipede is guarding the lemons like this there's no way he won't be attracted by my fake lemon. I accelerate it so that it glows stronger and flies further. Glowing, check, small and round, check ,mana disturbance… kinda check, it's not a tenth as strong as the actual lemons but I hope it'll do. I throw it as hard as I can towards the tunnel I came from at first. Sound, check.

I've done it, it's really going to get it! Fast as well! The tree!

I sprint towards the unguarded tree. The last pairs of reddish brown legs of the centipede are still just a few meters away, that's how long it is.

I grab a lemon with each hand, not stopping now, too bad for the third that’s a bit higher up, I'll keep running until I'm out of danger.

Fuck, my left hand is melting at breakneck speed, chunks of premium Arren meat are dripping on the floor. I almost stumble on a small rock because of the pain. I pass this lemon to my right hand and luckily manage to catch it, I can barely hold both at once.

The exit isn't far but the monster is coming back already. The frantic clicking of his legs on the rock floor suddenly speeds up. I think I'm spotted.