Chapter 3. Killer Carapace

It's been 5 minutes and it has gotten so dark that I have to feel my way along the tunnel wall with my hand. At this point I am multitasking by combining my focus on pouring mana out of my hand and feeling along the wall with said hand. My hope is that I will eventually get an understanding of extending my mana beyond my body by linking my perception of mana and touch through this action.

In fact I upgraded my mana manipulation to three after learning I can use the thin layer of mana around my body to increase my grip on the wall. I believe the mana latches on to the little cracks and bumps on the rock. I got a new skill called mana grip as well after I caught myself from falling in the dark, the description should go without saying.

I think the end of the tunnel is finally coming due to the green glow in front of me. The tunnel is really narrow now and I have to crawl through a crack in the tunnel to get through to the other side. This side has a lot more moss and seems to be part of a bent tunnel intersection, more like a T intersection though due to the difficulty of entering the tunnel I came through. The tunnel in front of me seems to morph into a cavern just a few meters ahead.

When I enter the cave I notice I am on a ledge above the rest of the cavern almost like I am on the second floor of a theater. There is a jumble of fallen rocks to the left that I can use to get down but before I can take another step I see in my peripheral vision a figure sprint through one of the exits below me to my right.

Startled I duck behind a nearby arch and listen. But not before glimpsing a large creature scuttle through that same exit. After a moment I realize that figure was my brother and crawl towards the lip of the edge to look down.

I notice that Kyle is trapped in a clump of columns and arches that seem to be supporting the rock I am lying on while the creature slashes at him. The creature is camouflaged to look like the limestone and looks like a cross between a mantis and an ant. The head and thorax resembles a mantis while the abdomen resembles an ant. It was as big as a horse and the scythes look deadly.

I have to do something quick because the creature is starting get a better position to reach into the columns. I don’t know how to help. An insect that big must have a thick exoskeleton and the only way to damage it would be to get in between the joints, but I have no weapons that could hurt the ligaments in those areas.

I have to do something through. All I can think of is to jump off the ledge with a rock and bash its head. I doubt I’ll kill it but I should be able to stun it at least and try to lead Kyle away. With this plan in mind I grabbed a rock that fit nicely in my hand, lined up my fall and jumped.

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Unfortunately I lined up my fall a little too well. I ended up landing on the things right shoulder almost in a piggyback condition. Almost immediately a scythe passed by my head, if I had not bashed its head with the rock and stunned it when I landed it probably would have killed me. I was going to take another swing at it but I was in the zone and my concentration altered mind came up with a better idea.

I started to fall onto the bugs back and when my ankles started to brush past it's face I turned on my mana grip. My weight pulled its head back and to the right. It tried to slash my feet but this attempt was its undoing as my hands were attached to its arm. When it pulled it pulled me as well snapping its neck. When I heard the snap I let go and rolled away. Good thing too because the creature was in its death throes spazzing around on the ground swinging at everything.

After a minute the thrashing stopped and I finally turned around to suddenly be hugged by brother. We stood there for a while quietly crying before we separated.

“Boy I am glad to see you Zen, thank you” said Kyle. Wiping his eyes a little bit. “ Where have you been”.

“Just wandering around creating theories” I replied “You?”.

“I found some survivors but…” Kyle trailed off with a dejected face.

I wore a stunned expression. “All because of that mantis thing?” I questioned pointing to the corpse of the bug.

“No, there are these centipede creatures in the caves that way” He said pointing towards the right side of the cave and shuttered  “They had rings of teeth for a mouth”.

“What size were the caves you passed through? I’m thinking we should skirt the edges of the really large caves” I explained.

Kyle looked like he was thinking for a moment before he replied “That sounds like a good idea I saw a huge cave with a skylight, too high to climb and probably filled with monsters”.

“Yea, most of the food for this cave system probably comes from that skylight.” I acknowledged “Hey have you accessed the system yet?”

With a bewildered look Kyle asked “system?”

“Say status in your mind.” I told him.

“Woah.” Kyle exclaimed while staring into mid air “It’s like a game…”

“Its no game.” I said seriously.

Kyle looked sad when he replied “Yes. I know... We aren't going home are we”.

“No, I doubt it.” I said looking away, but I turned back with a grin “On the bright side though there is magic”.

“The pressure?” Kyle asked with wide eyes. “Yup” I nodded “try moving it around”.

Kyle nodded and began rocking back and forth “It's harder to do than you say”.

“You will get the hang of it.” I reassured him “We will not be so helpless for long”.

“Ha, helpless?” Kyle laughed “You just took out a giant mantis! How did you do that anyway?”

“I snapped its neck didn’t you see?” I replied.

“But how did you hold onto it with such a horrible grip?” He questioned “The shell looks smooth”.

“I’ve increased my mana manipulation to the point I can increase my grip on objects.” I replied.

“Ah. I see now.” He said “I have a lot of work to do”.

“Yeah but not now, we have to search for our parents and other survivors” I said “Although… There is one thing we should do before we go”.

“What?” Kyle asked. I grinned and replied “Get us some weapons”.