I hadn’t noticed it earlier, but the cave walls in this mist-filled cave had white root-like structures creeping through the gaps and cracks. Occasionally, there would be gleaming red bumps moving creepily within the root-like structures and disappearing to unknown places. Observing this while sitting back at the wall gave me goosebumps.
“Sheesh. This place is becoming creepier and creepier.”
From chilling mist to groaning draugrs that would echo from time to time and now to creepy roots, it was a miracle that I didn’t turn tail and run away the moment I set foot here. No, Lunaria here to accompany me was the deterrence that made me forget all this.
“Well, this place is right under the giant mushroom. Even though fungi don’t have roots, they do have something called ‘mycelium’ to break down organic matter.”
“That so…”
The rest of the time I spent on hunting more crimson draugrs. In the end, I earned a total of eleven First-Order source crystals, but I was spent from hunting dozens of undead, so I decided to return to the surface…
There weren’t many strong mutated monsters at this upper layer, though I wouldn’t stand a chance against Second-Order creatures when fighting head-on. Tomorrow, I’d try to descend to the lower floor to scout the area and possibly find a mutated monster at Second Order.
“Hey, cap. You’re still alive? I’ll give you props for surviving that hellhole.” The orange Muppet dude was standing before the mouth of the path.
“Of course. Some braindead undead aren’t enough to take me down.”
“What a cocky brat, but I give that you’re not a wuss.” He crossed his arms and stepped out of the way. “I think I can use you to work in the mine. What say you?”
“Nah, I’m fine,” I rejected without a second thought. “I don’t want to get all smelly from doing hard labor for minimal pay.”
“What gall! You’ve got quite the guts for saying that in front of my face.” Instead of being offended, he laughed loudly, opening his wide mouth for people to see. “The name’s Yorith. I work as a supervisor in this mine overseeing the safety of the miners while maintaining a productive working environment.”
For some reason, he was introducing himself like a typical human resource manager that worked in a run-of-the-mill software company, like that one company where I spent my internship semester.
“Yeah, sure. I’m Maxim. Just your typical… ruins scavenger.”
At the end of the day, although he might act brashly and upfront, he didn’t come with bad intentions. There was nothing wrong with associating with him.
Afterward, I left the cave and returned to the workshop. About seven hours had passed since I entered the cave, but the day was far from over.
My body felt sore from prolonged hunting… I wished that I didn’t have to do this for long. That would kill me all over again… Overworking — my biggest enemy.
***
Opening the workshop, I saw that no one was inside except for Alfredo the mechanical golem, and an unfinished gun. The possibility of Tuilë still outside in the market or doing whatever thing she usually did was very certain at this point.
I focused my attention on the golem. It was standing still without doing anything, but the reactor in its chest was on. On second glance, Alfredo had wide shoulders that it’d be possible to carry two people comfortably on them.
On a side note, I never checked its status screen ever since it became alive; I wondered whether it would have stats or not…
Alfredo
[…]
Source Level: Pseudo Third Order
Source Element(s): None
Vocation(s): None
Stats:
* STR: C+ (78)
* AGI: D- (43)
* VIT: C (73)
* SRC: D+ (59)
* SPR: D- (44)
Accumulation Points: 109 [C-]
[…]
Species: Mechanical golem
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Sex: Nonexistent
Age: 1 day old
Height: 405 cm
Although it was a pseudo no less, its stats alone were almost equal to a Third-Order creature. If only it was equipped with modern weaponry… I could only shudder at what it could accomplish — wiping out a group of pale crunchers wouldn’t raise as much of an issue.
Seeing that Tuilë wouldn’t be back any time soon, I rested for a bit in my room before deciding to take a stroll in town and catch a breath of fresh air shortly after taking care of my basic needs. There was nothing else to do besides idling around inside the house and doing routine maintenance to my gun and equipment. I couldn’t possibly be slacking off while my life was on the line, though forcing myself was not a valid option either.
Outside, I strolled around the avenue and proceeded to the place that I’d yet to explore but with extra caution—
To my horror, hooded people — the Divine Mushroom cultists — were quite rampant around this area. Despite the fact I’d caught a glimpse of them several times in the past, they strangely started appearing more frequently than ever before.
Were they looking for me?
Calm down, Maxim… No one is after you. You just have to act natural, I thought, assuring myself that it was all a coincidence.
With fidgety movements, I walked past them. Thankfully, they ignored my existence — in fact, they didn’t give as much as a glance.
“Is something wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Lunaria voiced her concern as the drone peeked through the half-open zipper opening.
“N-Nothing. It’s those cultists…”
“Oh.”
They were, on closer inspection, standing around while giving out pamphlets. It was quite interesting to find that paper was widely used here… That meant hoarding toilet paper here might not be out of the question.
“Salvation is within you. Find peace of mind in our cult.”
“The Divine Mushroom will guide you in finding your true self.”
“May you have peace within your mind.”
The cultists were recruiting more members to join their cult, despite their passive-aggressive approach. Even I was offered a piece of pamphlet that I took in fear of repeating yesterday’s incident.
On another note, if this were happening back in my world, police would have come and arrested them for spreading misinformation, but no such organization was in sight.
Indeed.
This had been bugging my mind for some time, what sort of government body ruled Aquarine?
While I was pondering this deeply, there was yet another intense electric zap on my back. It jolted me fully awake. Oww!
“Heya there, Maxxy! Why are you spacing out in the open? You’re done with the source crystal hunt?” Tuilë held my shoulder and stepped forward from the side.
“Why did you zap me?”
“Calm down, I’m holdin’ back my power.” She waved her hand which still had visible electricity. You…
Anyway. Since Tuilë, who was a veteran living in this town, was here, I brought this up to her.
Hearing my question, she held her chin and replied, “Oh, that. Let’s talk about that while walking back.”
“Mm… Alright.” Is the information that sensitive?
After walking until we reached the industrial district where Tuilë’s workshop was located, she began telling me about the answer.
“Frankly, I don’t know either.”
“Hah?! You don’t know?” I tilted my head at her.
She shook her head. “People living in Aquarine are mostly independent and self-sufficient; they aren’t imposed to pay tax or anything. So the closest you have to a governmental body or what have you would be the Diving Mushroom Cult. They regularly impose divine decrees to enforce stability in Aquarine or even mobilized townsfolk.”
Such… such absurdity.
If someone were to tell of this in the past, I would have spat at them and dismissed this as ridiculous nonsense, but here I was seeing it with my own eyes. How absurd.
Nevertheless, this whole concept wasn’t too much of a stretch when considering the culture that this place had. Different races coming together under the banner of religion; it sounded like a plausible thing to happen…
All things considered, all I had to do was not cross them— Wait, I already did!
***
No different than yesterday, I went to the mine early in the morning. The morning breeze bring forth a breath of fresh air that caressed my body — being a large cavern made it have its own ecosystem.
This time, I borrowed tools to go down the pit such as grappling hooks, ropes, and whatnot. Carrying all of them there would be a hard task if not for my strength as a Tier 1.
I greeted Yorith, who was supervising the miners, as I entered the mine and headed straight for the descending tunnel on the left. By this time, the crimson draugrs had filled the empty area that I cleared yesterday; consequently, I had to clear out the area before proceeding to the pit.
Looking back, people would turn into “white freaks” when exposed to the red fog, but these draugrs turned into undead instead. It was highly likely that the cause was attributed to the fact that there was little to no red fog in this part of the cave, and these people died first before being turned into what they were now.
Not dawdling in my thoughts any longer, I proceeded to cull down these crimson draugrs. It’d be bad if I were to get exhausted and go back later only to be encircled. Fortunately, there were three First Order among the first four groups, so it wasn’t for nothing.
“Groo—!”
The last draugr’s head fell off as my blade went through its neck. Its body soon followed in a slow fall that went from its knees then to the rest of its body,
“There, the last one.” I huffed and rested near the cave wall, a little tired.
“I must say, you do a great job at clearing up the path.” Luna-1 floated at my side, its flashlight on, as Lunaria’s voice appeared. “Oh yeah, I’ve gained enough intel from the patterns shown by these crimson draugrs, and I can confidently say that they are being controlled.”
“What?! Isn’t that strange? Do they have some kind of a leader?”
“It can be. But I suppose their leader is unable to give intricate orders and still acts on instinct — not much better than the other mindless draugrs. Nothing to worry about so long as you not actively seeking it.”
“Whew. That’s good to hear.” I couldn’t lax my guard, though.
Once I regained my strength, I headed for the end of the cave where the pit was located. Then, I began preparing my way down to the bottom by taking off my backpack to get all the necessary tools.
First, I took the climbing rope attached to a grappling hook and winded it to a nearby dripstone. The other end of the rope was then gently tossed down into the pit.
After ascertaining with Lunaria that the perimeter was safe, I tested the rope to start my descent. Staring at the abysmal pit that its bottom couldn’t be seen made my hands sweat…
“Well, there’s no need for hesitation. Needless worry will just hinder me from progressing forward.” I spoke quietly to no one in particular.
Even if there were unanticipated dangers within, I only had to play it by ear. In the worst-case scenario, I could just run back to the way I came since it had been cleared out of the crimson draugrs or use my trump cards.
With that in mind, I descended slowly.