After a period of rest in which Dharen and his allies could begin to recuperate from the heated battle that had recently taken place, they were ready to forge into the Aarthriin tunnels. Each of his Nulzan allies had grown in strength immensely as a result of their spoils of war.

It could be seen in their steps, in the way they carried themselves. And, for many, it could be seen in their aura. Though they were still weak, having just passed the first level threshold, their auras had begun to resonate with a greater feeling of discomfort. It had not yet progressed to outright fear, but it was certainly noticeable - equal to Dharen’s own.

Yet, they had not achieved the benefits that Dharen had. It was through the unique circumstances of holding multiple soulseeds that he was able to so quickly cause effects to distort his abilities. Perhaps one day, he would be able to empower his Fear abilities as well, but that was likely a long way off.

Wary of losing the progress created by the bloodshed of the previous battle, Dharen and his hunters had kept careful watch over the tunnels as they recuperated. Though it was undeniable that the Aarthriin were moving about in response, their movements were kept restricted to the tunnels themselves.

Finally, they stepped into the entrance of the tunnel. Surprisingly, the remains of the mindless Aarthriin drones that had fallen into the dark depths of the underground passages had disappeared completely. After a moment of thought, Dharen decided that the nature of the monsters had probably consigned the corpses to a practical fate - that of mere food. While some part of him admired their practicality, he shuddered at the thought.

The dirt floor quickly gave way to that of a more hard-packed variety, before finally becoming simple stone as they delved deeper. The hairs on the back of his neck rose alongside his suspicions, the ease with which they were traversing through the home of the Aarthriin filling him with paranoia. After the arduous battle of the previous day, he had expected every step to be hard-won, every path forward to be paved in blood and bodies.

Yet, their passage was remarkably peaceful, unrestrained by battle or conflict.

Awareness piqued by the unsettling occurrence, every sound begged for his utmost attention. Here a scratch of claws against stone, there a rumbling echo that spilled through the tunnel. But still, they were left unchallenged in their travels.

Soon, they had traveled deep within the earth, the sky above only a memory. Were it not for the Nulzans’ nocturnal nature and Dharen’s own reliance on sight-augmenting elixirs, they would be well and truly lost within the pervasive darkness.

The passage opened up, emptying out into a vast, gaping cavern. Monumental rock formations filled the cave, leaving Dharen in awe of their sheer size. Towering stalagmites ripped their way upwards, sundering the floor in their quest to reach the sky. Opposite them were vast stalactites, water dripping from their well-worn surfaces.

A pool of water had accumulated at the center of the cavern, the bowl-shaped impression causing the small amounts of moisture within to consolidate into a respectable size. As they explored the cavern, strange bat-like creatures were startled awake by the sounds of their passage. They unfurled their wings, dropping from their perches and taking flight as one, only to settle themselves once more on a stone ledge that abutted the upper edges of the cavern wall.

It seemed that the Aarthriin had connected their artificial tunnels with a natural cave system, allowing them to spread their colony through a far greater distance than were they to manually dig each tunnel.

The cavern walls were dotted with impressions, small alcoves and tunnels splitting off in a variety of directions, forming a chaotic hub of sorts. Seeing this, Dharen narrowed his eyes. Though he could not peer into the depths of the small branching passageways, he felt a sneaking paranoia.

Having washed the jungle in blood with each laborious step, it was nonsensical that things would suddenly change now. They had invaded the home of the Aarthriin; such actions were bound to reap a deliberate response.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Rustling sounded out beside him, a number of his Nulzan allies shifting uncomfortably. He was not alone in his discomfort; the hunters that walked alongside him were quite used to ambush tactics and were expectant of such. It was only their lack of familiarity with the subterranean environment that put them at a disadvantage. Though the darkness was their longtime ally, the stone trappings of the underground were decidedly not.

The group stood frozen, unwilling to accept the ease of their passage. And soon, a slight vibration in the floor below announced confirmation of their fears. A rumbling grew, a deep and discordant melody that made itself known with ever-increasing intensity. The sound of heavy-set legs scraping against the floor, marching with a chaotic frenzy. Soon, the gargantuan cavern itself began to shake ever so slightly, unable to hold still in the face of the encroaching mass.

At the same time, a thunderous impact sounded out behind them, muted somewhat by sheer distance. Without looking back, Dharen and his allies knew what had occurred - for they might very well have done the same. Somewhere behind them, in the space before dirt became stone, the passageway had collapsed. Their retreat had been prevented.

Dharen cursed lightly. They had been careful to look out for enemies as they traversed the tunnels, but it seemed they had missed an important few. However, the more pressing concern was the intelligence that it suggested - presently, they had only encountered mindless beasts, incapable of strategy or tactics. Now, however, that had begun to change.

A spike of fear ran through his allies, amplified slightly as the very first Aarthriin pushed its way through one of the multitude of small tunnels that branched away from the cavern. The air around them began to fill with the dark tinge of Fear, visible only to Dharen’s altered sight.

Dharen smiled, bemused. While a normal leader would do everything that he could to avoid fear in those who followed him to battle, he was not a leader. And so instead, he basked in it.

The combination of their inability to retreat and the knowledge of the incoming hordes of Aarthriin had done their work. And yet, though they had some measure of fear - that was only natural. In battle, only a fool would be utterly fearless.

Fear tempers. It sharpens. It protects. And they were not fools.

They were the children of Fear. And so, even smothered by its embrace, they would not falter. They would not break. And from their fear, he would grow in strength.

Previously, the confidence that they held in their retreat had effectively held back any fear. The jungle was their domain, and there were few who could challenge them. Yet now, they found themselves in unfamiliar territory.

Dharen smiled. In the battle prior, he had held back from artificially stimulating their fear through Fear’s Cry, as he had not wished to reduce the attributes of his allies in so doing. In the tumultuous chaos of war, a small misstep could lead to death.

But now, there was no need to.

He drew from the fear that they released, breathing it in with a relaxed air. Feast of Terror activated, forming the heavy emotion into a roiling mist of miasma. He felt his Spirit begin to overflow as he released his breath. His mind sharpened, and the world itself began to slow. A feeling of invincibility sparked in his chest, of pure and unadulterated confidence.

I must be a fool, then. Dharen reflected. Because, when filled with the fear of others, I can feel none of my own.

He placed Restraint upon the floor behind him, unable to store it within his Spatial Ring due to its size constraints. Immediately afterwards, he pulled out two blades of Nulzan origin. The design of the weapons was uniquely suited for the application of poisons, allowing them to be far more effective than brute strength now that his movements were made more precise by the effects of Spirit Overflow.

Similarly to his allies, he had coated the blades in toxins that were uniquely suited to flow through the open body cavities of the Aarthriin, wreaking devastation on their internal organs.

Unfortunately, the source of fear that he was drawing from was not as effective as that released by enemies, meaning that he would only be able to maintain his empowered state for a short amount of time before the extra Spirit faded away. While enemies could experience ever-rising terror if he wreaked havoc due to his empowered state, his allies would slowly lose their own fear, removing a great source of strength.

In order to allow his overfilled Spirit pool to enhance him for as long as possible, he would be limited to purely his physical abilities, as his Boons would result in draining away the excess Spirit far too quickly.

As the Aarthriin began to enter the cavern in droves, he leapt into action, his allies following in step behind him.