Drip, drip, drip!
The sound of water droplets. Ava opened her eyes and saw black gneiss all around her. There was some light, coming from lichens plastered around this place. She tried to stand up but she slipped into the water. Where is the old man? The Post Human glanced left and right.
She recalled that she intentionally overloaded the dao crossbow, just to see what will happen. Evidently it was rather a bad idea as she saw the weapon had totally disintegrated in front of her eyes. Ava put the matter aside for future review as she needed to do something else.
Wheeze, wheeze…
It was faint but the four armed elder was certainly nearby, at least still breathing. Ava looked upwards; it was quite a fall, she estimated they had fallen by tens of zhangs. Climbing up would be difficult, the surfaces uneven and slippery to touch. What should she do now?
The Post Human checked the injuries of her present body; both legs had snapped, five ribs fractured and left arm had entirely torn off. As for the face? Long gashes ran across it, as if someone had taken a bastard knife and viciously carved large portions of her juvenile face.
This was the third time she was heavily injured. This body was…unreasonably fragile, not to her liking. The Post Human took a deep breath, unwillingly spending her precious quanta reserves. It was inevitable as this body was her sole connection to this world, at this moment.
Blub, blub, blub!
Blood and fluid, flesh and bones of hers started to accumulate in reverse, regenerating her broken body. Yes, this was both sensation of pain and intrigue as the Post Human had never used a human body for so long before. Bit by bit, her injuries had healed at visible rate.
As she had gained a sense of stable footing again, Ava began to first crawl and then carefully walk in the base of the ravine. Husan was not far off, located in a lower area. Thankfully the flowing water wasn’t fast or otherwise he would be swept away, hard to find for Ava.
She finally saw the old man and his injuries weren’t light either. His arms were basically in tatters and only bones were left of his legs. Ava was stuck in a dilemma; she could’ve just left the old man to his fate or save him. The Post Human paused and contemplated the options.
After a fraction of a second, the young girl disobeyed her own rules and approached Husan. The old man was half-submerged in the water, his blood leaking out everywhere. Ava flexed her short arms; they were finally restored to full functionality. She put them on his shoulders.
It pained her to waste quanta like this but she had respect for the old man. He was a good cook and more importantly seen as useful social cover for the Post Human. The same phenomena happened to Husan, his arms started to be reattached and lost flesh grew back.
As this wasn’t her own body, Ava can only supplement his blood loss through a different method. She materialized some herbs they got from previous oasis and converted them into functional chemicals, to aid in the old man’s healing. The procedure took tens of minutes.
“Khuk…HUK HUK!” Husan threw up a bloody phlegm. Sharp pain assaulted his mind, “Urgh…where…where am I?”
The old man felt his body was aching all over, painful to move, painful to stay still even. His eyelids were heavy and his head was clouded. He felt he was imagining things; he saw a blood-stained torso in front of him. It had two immature curves, two pinkish dots and a belly button?
What? Husan struggled to get up, only to hit his head to the wall behind him. He tried again but he felt an invisible force was pushing him down, not allowing him to stand at all. As his senses gradually came to be, the old man clearly sensed two tiny hands were on his shoulders.
“Please stay still, Old Man Husan. The treatment is still ongoing.” A flat yet childish voice rang in his ears.
Husan wanted to muster his strength but his fatigue was overbearing, “Huh...? Is..is that you, young…missy?”
“Yes, it is I, Ava.” Ava replied simply, she was still focused to heal the old man.
Husan didn’t know to either cry or laugh; so, they had definitely fallen in this ravine and the young girl was currently trying to save him. He lamented his fate; he wasn’t as unlucky as before. What in the desert is actually going on? Husan closed his eyes, stabilizing his breath.
Ava’s golden irises seemingly glowed in this dark place, “It is done, Old Man Husan.”
“Cough…so…where’s Muzaid and Makya? Kas?” Husan pushed himself to lean to an adjacent rock’s face, not wanting to trouble his savior.
Ava shook her head, beads of water falling from her short golden hairs, “Ava do not know. We must’ve been separated. We fall in here. Ava is sorry for this.”
“Ah…don’t worry about it, young missy. This grandfather doesn’t…blame you for it. What happened, had happened.” Husan took a deep sigh, “Well…put up some clothes first.”
“Ava confirms.” Out of the sudden, extraneous water on their bodies were streamed away by a mysterious force. Ava snapped her fingers, fresh robes appearing out of thin air. She gave the larger one to Husan.
The young girl also handed some sticks to Husan as walking aid. This place was quite slippery and Husan had not yet fully recovered his lost vigour. They fumbled around in shallow flowing waters, trying to get their current bearings. Ava’s sharp senses eventually led him away.
They found an entrance to a cavern that was at least not flooded by water. It was damp, a bit flat and lightly illuminated by some glowing lichens. Both young girl and old man dragged themselves into refuge of the cavern. Some winds blew past, bringing constant coldness.
Husan can’t help than shiver but Ava remained unperturbed. The Post Human noticed this and thus selected a level ground of some size. She stomped it once, creating a fire pit. The young girl withdrew some dry sticks from her independent space and began igniting them.
“Cough…thanks…” Husan struggled to talk, he was wheezing until now.
Ava produced several Pink Pad Cacti fruits and put them in the fire, “Old man Husan, please do not talk. Your injuries are not light.”
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The four armed elder nodded once before dozing off. This was highly strenuous. Ava’s help was limited to restore his broken limbs and not his lost physical and mental strength. The pair stayed still as heat from the flames slowly warmed them up. Smoke from the fire was drafted.
Husan’s nose was tickled, “You…ng missy…what are..mngh?!”
“Ava is giving Old Man Husan some cooked cacti fruit.” The young girl pushed a now cooled, bite sized roasted cacti fruit into his mouth.
Husan wasn’t sure but it tasted like nectar of the gods. For his tired and aching body, this fruit was a powerful elixir, granting him some semblance of strength from its generous content of sugar. He ceased his resistance and instead slowly chewed, savoring its rich taste and texture.
It was good to be alive! Husan chewed more pieces of the fruit, until he was capable to lift one of his arms to tell Ava that he can do the rest. This tribulation was quite daunting, he was sure that they fell by more than tens of zhangs. Fall that would usually kill ordinary people.
Tens of minutes later, Husan was all warmed up and able to move as usual. He got up and saw the young girl sitting by the fire, timidly eating some cacti fruits and fish. Wait, fish? Husan then realized they fell into a water-logged ravine. Of course, there would be some fish!
“Do Old Man want some fish?” Ava handed one stick of it to him.
Husan thickened his face, he was humbled by her, “Uh…sure. So uh…young missy…”
“So you can move again, that is great. Ava is not sure; Ava is not familiar with this place.” Ava had predicted his question.
Husan frowned a bit as he chewed on the fish, “Hmm…so we fell from up there…and end up here?”
“That is correct. Again, Ava is sorry for putting Old Man Husan in danger.” The young girl put the stuff on her hands away and slightly bowed at him.
Husan frantically waved his arms, “No, no, no, no! Like Muzaid said, we’re altogether in this! The most we can do is just survive, so we can meet up with them again.”
“Ava confirms. Eat more cacti fruits, old man.” Ava lifted her head and proceeded to offer more of those indigo-coloured fruits.
Both old man and young girl sat down again, eating food for quite some time until the fire almost turned into embers. The Post Human got up and placed her hands on the cavern’s walls, her sharp senses turned broad. This cavern was quite complex, she cannot map it all.
“Young missy, since there’s wind, there must be an exit, right?” Husan spoke up.
Ava found herself agreeing with him, “Old Man Husan is right. Wind must not only come from up since this smoke go somewhere else.”
True enough, smoke from their firepit didn’t actually rise up but instead flowed deeper inside the cavern. Another impetus was provided by her brief scan, there seemed to be no vicious monsters in here, at least in this entrance of the cavern. She decided to move deeper in it.
The old man followed suit, entering the dimly-lit cavern. Majority of the rocks here were smooth, suggesting this cavern was once an underground river. For some reason, the river ceased and now it was largely water-free. There was remnant water, dripping from the ceiling.
Both persons navigated the cavern, encountering sparse lifeforms but abundance of forks and turns. If not for Ava’s wide senses, Husan could’ve been lost and starved to death in this damp place. Lichens however were ever constant, giving them light in most of secluded places.
Husan and Ava then stopped, each of their gaze locked on something respectively. Husan had spotted a glowing, five-petalled flower while Ava encountered some kind of golden metal vein. Each discovery was roughly facing each other; flower at the left, metal vein on the right.
Ava however snapped her gaze to the flower instead, “Old Man Husan, this is Aqua Green Lily?”
“Huh, so young missy knew about it. Yeah, it’s.” Husan nodded at her. While the flower wasn’t exactly rare, getting them was the difficult part. They tend to grow in places like in this cavern.
Ava patted the old man as he was somewhat dazed, “Old Man Husan? Are you okay?”
“Huh! That was close…thanks, young missy.” The four-armed elder rapidly backed away. He was almost bewitched by the flower!
The young girl looked at the plant. It didn’t look any special except its glow, “Does Old Man Husan need this flower?”
“No, young missy. We uh…better leave it alone. We don’t have an Herbalist to take it.” Husan shook his head. He had learnt his lesson, not to underestimate plants he found randomly.
Ava nodded at him and then moved to the metal vein instead, “Ava acknowledges.”
“Oh? Almost thought it was gold! So, a fool’s gold.” Husan rubbed his eyes, turns out the metal vein wasn’t gold.
The Post Human just put her hands on it, not minding him, “Ava knows. Ava is just curious.”
It was all but over in a moment; the young girl then withdrew her hands and beckoned Husan to move deeper in the cavern. What else could be lying in wait, in this unexplored cavern? They moved in accordance of the wind, avoiding tunnels and routes that didn’t have any.
They saw decreased amount of lichens and bug life and, instead increasing amount of jagged and sharp rocks. This area must be the place where the now dried river in the cavern, had not flowed. The pair carefully moved in the tunnel; there’s no telling what dangers were here.
Ksh, ksh, ksh!
They finally spotted the first vicious monster here. It was a half-zhang long creature with many sharp legs. Husan raised one of his arms, telling Ava that they should go look for another route. Trying to fight it while not knowing how many of them were here would be suicide.
The young girl accepted his suggestion as even she was uncertain on what will happen. This cavern system was seriously complex and her detection range was limited. On other hand, she had picked up no less than three mineral veins but they didn’t fit on what she looked for.
Both young girl and old man continued their exploration, passing god knows how many detours and turns. Some of the tunnels had hordes of bats, others either deep water or blocked. Ava could’ve just drilled through but she refrained, concerned of potential collapse.
Husan leaned close to a gneiss wall, “Uh…let me rest a little bit, young missy.”
“Ava confirms. Should Ava set up fire?” Ava sat on the cold ground as well.
The four-armed old man shook his head, “No, no need. Just give this old man some breather. And some of those fruits, young missy.”
Ava gave him additional pieces of the cooked and chilled Pink Pad Cacti fruits. How long they had been in here? Twenty minutes? Hours? Lack of Sun made tracking time difficult; they weren’t sure whether it was day or night at the moment. Ava nibbled on the fruits too.
The young girl thought of something, “Old man, Ava detected another empty space. It is couple of zhangs away.”
“What else is there?” Husan was gloomy. They had entered scores of such places but there were no breakthroughs. They’re still underground in this cavern.
The young girl grabbed a random rock and scribbled on the rocky floor, “An air well. Ava felt wind flowing upwards in it.”
“Huh, let just try it. Nothing’s better anyway.” He accepted the gamble. One more void…Husan propelled himself up with his four arms.
The pair left the scene and entered a different part of the cavern. More lichens could be seen but there was little water here. On the other hand, they started to see more and more polished rock pillars. At some point, such pillars turned out to be some kind of crystalline stuff.
Husan tasted the air. It was surprisingly warm, not damp, “Where in the desert are, we?”
The appearance of such crystals had attracted Ava, “Old man, Ava felt there are some kind of energy coming from them.”
“Them? Hmm…” Husan scratched his head. These crystals looked familiar but he can’t put a finger on it.
The Post Human ignored the crystals for now and pointed upwards, “Old man, further ahead is the air well Ava mentioned. It is at least, straight up.”
“Oh, we had arrived?” The elder clicked his tongue. He had completely lost track of time.
The air well was located on the ceiling of this space, flanked by numerous crystalline pillars. Each pillar was coloured dark purple and gave out gentle lights. Ava looked up; the air well itself was full of similar crystals. There were no stable footings in sight, slippery all the way.