Like any other caves, the Crystal Caves consisted of any other cave system. However, when we went a bit further in, the interior was instead a bit more smoothly carved, almost like a labyrinth. As we continued deeper, we saw a few Luminous Shards around the place but the Shards were not bright enough for us to traverse the dark. I didn't buy any torches nor find anything from the dead Archer I defeated, but Cleavo had brought a torch with him, and the hooded figure, the one that still brings me my curiosity, performed a Mastery Art, Luminous Lantern, to help us guide through the darkness. I tried to start a conversation with her, but I couldn't put it into words, and my social anxiety got the best of me.
Halfway through the cave, we were about to enter a fork until I smelled something and it caused me to nearly hurl. I dropped down to my knees as soon as the smell hit my nose. What sort of smell is this? It almost smells like...blood...Oh no.
"Hey," said the hooded figure. I looked up to find her hand on my shoulder. "Is something wrong?"
I got up from the floor and said "Yeah, there is. Follow me." I ran past Cleavo and turned to the left. I kept running, never stopping to rest. It felt like I was running for miles until something stopped dead in my tracks. It wasn't, more rather a feeling of dread and murderous taste. Someone or something is within 60 feet of me, and whatever it is, it wants to kill. As for the smell, it grows stronger with each step I take. I heard footsteps behind me. It was Cleavo and the hooded figure. They both panted, asking why I was running so fast.
I put my fingers to my lips to silence them and said "Turn off your lights and your torches. I think we found who took your party." I guide them forward to the source. As we continue to move forward, the scent of blood and flesh grows and so does the Aura surrounding it. By the time we reached the end, the tunnel opened up to a new cave system.
This cave system consists of silver crystals sprouting around from all ends, glittering around the place. The rivers also give out their bright glittery shine as well as the crystals. Not only that, the floors and roofs are also back into their original, rocky phase. I looked around with awe as we saw the beauty of the cave system.
"Woah," said Cleavo. "This is AMAZING!" He looks around the glistening room as he examines the crystals. "I can see why there is so much of this stuff. Are you sure this is where my party is?" I looked around the crystals till I saw a few drops of blood on one of the crystals. "Yep. I'm pretty sure." I showed Cleavo the blood and his face changed. "You gotta be kidding me. We can't waste any more time. We got to find them."
"I understand that!" I said. " But we can't just barge in here, we have to form a plan."
"We have no time. We need to go. now!"
Then the cloaked figure hushed us both. "Shhh!!! Can you guys hear that?"
We both shut up and took a listen. We were both surprised to hear not one, no, two creatures coming towards us.
Ah, crap.
"We need to hide! Now!" I said.
"Over there!" she responded, pointing to a mountain of stalagmites. All three of us hid behind the round, pointy rocks. As the footsteps got closer and closer, a faint Aura smell shot through my sixth sense, the scent of garnet and wine as well as a stench of blood and murder. This Aura's scent was quite similar, but it was not as strong as that I sensed before. I looked over my shoulder, slowly, through the cracks of stalagmites, and what I saw, chilled me down to the bone.
The two creatures that I saw were fat and plump but their disfigured faces were full of horror. Each one of them carries a cleaver or a club, as well as a body. When I took a closer look at the bodies, they were the applicants that attended this exam. My body shook with fear and anger as I saw them skulking away. I took a bit of a breather to control my rage and noticed that the mysterious figure was already aiming for one of them with her arrows. When I saw her eyes, I could see the unfixed amount of rage within those eyes. I can tell that she wanted to kill them as much as I do, the urge to slay those demons in an attempt to save those two applicants. But I knew in the back of my mind that we may need them to take us to our leader, otherwise, we are going to be lost in this neverending chasm. I took a quick breath, grabbed her on the arm looked her dead in the face, and whispered something to her.
"I understand you want to save them as much as I do. But, if we kill them now we won't be able to save the others, regardless of saving the other two. I may have an easier plan: we can follow those two to see where they are taking them. Then, once they take us to their leader, we will be able to take them down and save them. All right?"
After a few moments of thought within her mind, the figure lowered her bow, took a deep breath, and looked at me through her hood.
"All right," she whispered. "I'll go with your plan, but those two assholes are mine." I nodded. I looked at Cleavo and he seemed to understand the plan but he seemed a bit nervous about something. I looked at his face to quite get a good understanding of what the message was. That is until I could see his eyes that I understood what he felt, the doubt of he being able to save his friends, but the ultimate doubt in the process that he might die during the battle that might ensue. I looked at his face and said "You're afraid of dying. Aren't you?" His face looks oddly surprised as he stutters his next jumble of words. "Y-Yeah. I am afraid. I just... How can you expect me to fight against those things?! I mean Shades and Scouts, that's one thing. But whatever the fresh hell those things are, they look a lot more murderous than just a Shade. I can't do it. I don't think I'll be able to fight something that freakin' scary."
I gave no sign of a change of expression, and I said to him, "I understand what it's like. Sort of. I kind of experienced life-or-death situations when I was in training. My master and her pupils are monks of the Masked People, and they always pushed me hard through various traps, combat styles, and certain exercises. It felt like going through the military and god...they were painful. Every time I fail, they always tell me that if you want to get strong enough to protect someone or yourself, you have to not only be pushed hard but also take risks. Otherwise, I won't make much progress along the way." I got up from the rock face.
"Everyone has a fear of death. The reason why many heroes got this far is that they took the risks, regardless of knowing that some risks might end up killing them as well as the enemy in the process." I held out a hand for him and he took it. "Don't be afraid to take any risks. It may look hard from an angle of who your opponent is. But in the end, when you confront it, it will be easier."
* * *
We followed the two creatures behind a series of rocks and crystals, all while trying not to draw any attention. As we followed, the familiar scent of Aura when we got here came back to me, this time, the scent of blood was growing by the minute. It took us a while till we reached another set of tunnels and reached another cave system. Unlike the other cave system, this one was twice as big, almost like a boss arena straight out of a video game. We hid behind another set of rocks several meters from the two ugly creatures as they carried the bodies towards another room, which was more smoothed out than the rest. To the left, there are several cages while to the right there are various treasures and trinkets.
I looked at the treasures with amazement. With that amount, it may be enough to feed an entire village. Probably might take a closer look at the treasures when we're done here. Surrounding the whole room are some torches as well as oil barrels and more of those creatures. Even in light, they are even more hideous to look at. The colors of their skin and flesh all looked gray and tan. The lights not only showed those creatures, but also they showed what was in cages.
"Pssst," I nudged my shoulder to Cleavo and pointed towards the cages "Is that your party?"
"Yeah," he said.
We were about to figure out our next move when we heard a voice from one of those creatures. "Hey, boss. We found two more of those humans, what do we want to do with them?" Another voice came, but it was lower and felt more intimidating. "Put them with the rest of those fools." When he entered the light, what I saw made my skin crawl.
The leader that was commanding these creatures bears armor of skulls and bones from the chest up and down. For his feet, he walks bare, and his face is partially covered by a demon-like skull. For the back, it bears nothing but a torn cape of black flames. Every time he moves, his cape acts as flames, following him as if he were some demon. As for his height, he looks to be about seven feet tall.
We need to free these people, but the only question is how. I looked around the area if there was anything viable to help us in this situation. Then I saw a small stash of weapons within the treasure. An idea sparked in my head.
"Hey guys," I whispered. They both turn to me. I pointed toward the weapons stash within the treasure trove, "See that weapon stash? If we can get to that, we might be able to get ourselves some useful weapons."
"What about the weapons you have?" asked Cleavo. "Can't you snipe them from afar and lead them away?"
"Cleavo, the only weapon I have is a bow from a corpse and I don't have that many arrows left to take out that many."
"I agree with you," said the cloaked figure. "I'm almost out of arrows as well and this bow isn't that much of a melee weapon."
"........"
"........."
"Wait," spoke the cloaked figure. "Why don't we use our arrows and shoot those torches? That will cause a fire to split the Dark Eaters into groups, making it easier for us to release the prisoners."
"Yeah," said Cleavo. "But what about their leader? By the looks of it, this guy is about taller than we are and stronger than five to ten men."
"I'll take care of him," I said. They both looked at me worried.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I had a bit of experience against bigger opponents during my training," I said with a grin on my face.
"All right then. Cleavo as soon as we strike the arrows, head to the cages and wait for my signal."
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"What signal?" asked Cleavo.
"You'll see," I responded with a grin.
Cleavo was still confused about what I meant, but he still got along with the plan anyway. We both got into position till I heard a voice, the voice sounded familiar.
Xeo.
What?
That is her name if you are wondering what it was.
Who are you?
Who I am is not a concern. What the concern is now is what you are up against.
Do you mean the leader?
Yes. The leader of those vile creatures is none other than Haltongard the Marauder. He used to be human until his thirst for blood drove him insane. Be careful, for he grows berserk as you inflict each blow to his body.
Um...Thanks for the advice I guess.
Thank me when you make it out alive.
Then the voice grew silent and I was left to my thoughts. Should I believe what this voice is saying? Or should I shove it away and forget about what I heard? My thoughts continue to race till a hand touches my shoulder. I looked to see the cloaked figure with a worried expression on her face underneath her cloak.
"Hey, you ok?" she asked.
"Um, yeah. Can I ask you something?" I responded.
"Sure," she said.
"What is your name?" I asked.
"My...name..." she muttered. She pondered the question for a few minutes like she was deciding something, then she did a sigh and said her next words.
"My name... is Xeo. Xeo Nightshade."
* * *
We were all in position. Cleavo was positioned on the rock on the left while Xeo and I positioned our arrows toward the torches. "Ready?" I whispered to Xeo. "Ready," she responded. I looked at Cleavo and gave him a thumbs up, he gave me a thumbs up in response.
I reposition my bow and arrow towards the torches, and then with a deep breath, I shoot the arrow at the nearest torch to me. With a crash, the velocity of the arrow caused the torch to fall to the ground. It didn't take long before those creatures noticed that someone or something was burning, and we're not talking about the barbeque. With a rasping shriek, the foul demons made attempts to run as they shouted out "Fire! There's fire!" Some of them panicked as if they had nowhere to go, while others attempted to put out the fire, only to scorch themselves to ashes.
I looked at Cleavo and he was already on the move, sprinting from rock to rock till he reached the cages. Then, I looked at Xeo and said, "I'll leave you with the rest of them." She nodded in return and proceeded to shoot arrows at the other torches. While she was doing that, I made a quick sprint to the weapon stash. More arrows continued to fire behind me, continuous noises of fallen torches fire blazing as they fell to the oily ground, causing the flames to grow, more shrieks from the following creatures, till finally, after a leap through the wall of flame, I made it to the weapon stash. I looked through the weapon stash to find any good weapons. Most of them were rusted due to the lack of care from their previous owners.
I cursed under my breath for each rusted weapon I found till I found a few weapons that were in good condition. One was a curved sword, length up to about 25 inches in length, almost looking like a cutlass. Another weapon took the shape of a shortsword. The length was a bit shorter than the cutlass, but its sharpness was good enough to do some damage. I grabbed the shortsword, deciding to use this as my primary arm, and heard Cleavo's voice through the flames, yelling "Hey, does anyone have a weapon to spare? These ropes are damn tight!!" I grabbed the cutlass and threw it toward the voice, yelling, "Cleavo, use this!" A hand caught it with ease, along with a reply of "Thanks!"
"Well, this is a surprise." said a deep voice. I turned to see a seven-foot man with a cape of black flames. His body is filled with bones, acting like it was armor. His head was also covered with a demon-shaped skull, with only the mouth revealing his only expression. "I didn't expect a kid like you to get by the Hungry by the use of the torches. That is smart, I have to admit." He pulls his weapon, it is a longsword, except the blade itself is decorated with a crimson color, as well as a black polished pearl, posing as a centerpiece. The blade gave off the scent of blood and murder. Just staring at it gives me chills. If this guy is Haltongard the Marauder, then killing him is going to be a challenge. But if I kill him, then his minions will go into a panic and scatter.
"However," he continued. "I can't let you or your little friends leave with my prisoners. I will kill you here and now. Once I do that, I'll recapture the prisoners, as well as your friends. And made sure to sell them to slavery."
This guy is pissing me off. "Like hell, you will."
Then with a quick movement, Haltongard linearly raised his weapon and swung his blade to the ground, causing a big shock wave emitted from the ground. I jump back quickly to avoid the debris and cover my face from the shards. After his shock wave, Haltongard made a charge toward me and attempted to cut my shoulder. I managed to block the attack with the use of Power Slash, causing him to stagger for a bit.
Now's my chance!
"Raaahhhh!!!!" I roared and proceeded to start attacking. My slash aimed for his right shoulder, but it only ended with a slight scratch to his bone-like armor. The second slash was aimed at his chest, but only ended with the same result as before. I cursed under my breath as I tried to perform another slash, but before I could get the chance, Haltongard turned with his sword and attempted to cut me into two with a horizontal swing to the left. I Phase Dodged out of the weapon's blade length, pondering about my next move.
"Dammit," I said under my breath. Whatever this guy's armor is made out of, it's strong enough to withstand normal attacks. Even if one's weapon is the sharpest of all, it can only do enough damage as much as a scratch.
Why not try a Mastery Art, if one's armor is too tough?
"Huh?" I spoke, looking around to find the source of the voice, only to find nothing but burned corpses of the deadly Hungry, and a few remnants of fire as well as a few empty cages. Alright. Cleavo got them out. my thoughts spoke in relief. Now I can more easily focus on Haltongard without worrying about what's around me. Sort of.
All right, I guess I should listen to the voice and test this. I proceeded to put my feet into an L-stance with my sword readied with a mid-level stance, with my left hand at the back and my right on the front. Haltongard, still with his murderous grin seen underneath the demon-like skull, held his sword with his left hand while his right hand held steady up front and stretched, performing a mid-stance of his own. The sword, held in the middle of his chest, his legs both formed an L-stance, however this time, he crouched as he held this stance. By the looks of it he probably either might perform a powerful thrust attack, or perform a Slant, a diagonal attack that severely wound the enemy in the shoulder or instantly cut off their head clean off. Either way, I need to be quick about this, and study this guy's movements and predict which attack he is about to use.
.......twenty seconds pass....
Then, without warning, Haltongard charged with his crimson sword. I quickly swerved to the left, jumped to one of the nearby cave walls, my sword glowing a bright yellow, and launched myself toward Haltongard. Both hands, holding the handle, I raised my sword to finish performing the Mastery Art, Deepen Cleave, and with a horizontal swing, the blade emitted a quick wshh! causing a big long cut on his thrusting arm.
Black blood swooshed out from the Marauder's left arm. He growled as he attempted to close the wound, but before he could react, I rolled under the creature's arm and landed with a crouch, my blade glowed a bright red as performed my next Art, Sharpened Dream, and with three thrusts of my blade, three holes appeared on Haltongard's bonelike-armor. The Marauder moved back slowly, spilling more of his black blood and bile from his helm as well as the three holes and the deep cut I inflicted on him.
"Damn you," he spurted. His glowing yellow eyes give a murderous stare as he tries to deal with his wounds. " How can a puny Human like you, beat Haltongard the Marauder?!"
"My name isn't Human," I said. I took my fighting stance, my blade emitted a dark blue tone, and started to run toward my opponent. As I closed the distance between us, I raised my sword and aimed for his left shoulder. Once I found my target, I let my sword fall and finished initiating Razored Edge, while doing so I spoke out my name as I finished my Art. "My name is Xia!!!!"
Haltongard desperately used his sword to block my attack with his longsword, only to have it cut in two with a single clang! Realizing this, I quickly placed my right foot upfront and made a quick three-sixty turn with my left. This causes the sword to glow a faint orange, initiating the Mastery Art, Circular Cut, and causing a long cut on his midsection, or would have on his midsection. It ended up cutting halfway and ended on his left shoulder. More blood spurted out of his inflicted cut. Before I could perform another Art, I felt something warm, running down my right arm. I looked and I froze with shock, a large cut appeared on my arm, as well the special Altan Robes had a huge cut as well.
"What's wrong? Afraid of a little blood."
"..!"
Before I could react, I felt an intense pain in my stomach, pushing me back several feet toward a pile of crystals, causing pain in my back in the process. I realized that the Marauder pushed me back with a specialized kick. My vision starts to blur as I try to focus on my target. I tried to move my body but it refused to respond to my command. When my vision cleared a bit, I noticed a big silhouette lumbering towards me. It took me a few minutes to see what this large, humanoid creature was. As my vision became clearer and back into focus, I saw Haltongard stop moving, crouch down, and make a few more attempts to heal its wound but to no avail. He used his right hand and pulled something from his back. When he pulled the object out, it was revealed to be a machete, the blade itself was about eighteen inches long, covered by blood and rust from its victims. He held the machete and let it fall, cutting his left arm clean off. The Marauder growled in pain, then put his machete to his teeth, and used his other fist to squeeze the stump of his left arm to prevent the bleeding.
Once that's finished, he grabbed his machete from his teeth, returning a murderous grin, walking towards me with delight.
"Heh Heh. Not bad for a brat like you. You nearly killed me just now. But I'm afraid our little fight must end here." As he spoke, he raised the machete higher and higher, till the blade itself glowed a bloodthirsty red.
Crap! In a few seconds, he is going to butcher me into a million pieces. I looked at my arm and made attempts to make it move.
Move....move
My body refused to move, it remained immobile.
C'mon dammit!!MOVE!!!
My body still won't move, as I helplessly continue to make impossible commands, everything surrounds me with a shroud of gray as the colors around me. I closed my eyes as I was waiting for my death, despite my regrets of doing something this stupid. I am glad Cleavo and Xeo got their party out alive. A few minutes went by as I waited for death. What the hell is taking that damn Marauder so long? I opened my eyes slowly looked up and noticed something very surprising.
"-?"
Haltongard hasn't moved his machete to conduct the finishing blow at all, or is he? I took a closer look at his movement and realized that he was moving, but more slowly. Wait a minute? Has time slowed down ?! That's freaking crazy. It can't be possible.
Suddenly, I felt something warm on my chest, as well as my right arm. I looked over to my right arm to see that it was wrapped with a binding light. Its ominous glow brings a soothing tone as I slowly begin feeling my arms as I begin to move. A sudden warmth to my heart, caused a surge of energy felt all over me. From my feet to my head, I lifted my right hand, and what sounded like two voices spoke, we both spoke in one and my hand began to glow cyan.
"Mastery Art, Astral Push!!"
"-?!"
Before he could react, Haltongard was pushed several feet back to the center of the arena with a significant crassssh! The Marauder got up slowly, cursing under his breath, as he got up slowly. "Damn it! How can you still be moving?! I just wounded your arm, so you can't move it!" He huffed. His glowing eyes were enraged with fury and distaste. I looked at his fury with my own eyes as well. I clutched my iron shortsword tightly. I knew that this fight was not going to do much. Even with a little bit of boost of energy, it won't be enough to defeat him. It was my fault that I thought I could handle him, even with the tips from the voice, as well as the training I have received from my Master. This guy is still able to adapt to deal with a smaller foe, despite the hits I landed on him. I clutched my sword even harder, pondering what my next move was until I heard a cool female voice to my right.
"Looks like you need my help,"