The Underdark had shifted from the crimson-hued moss and sulfurous pools. As the ascent began to increase steadily, the terrain became far more bland. After passing through the growths that Cella had used to block the extra pathways and the destroyed nest of the giant scorpions, the slope turned steeply upwards.

Small growths of fungus populated the darkness of the tunnels. They had no luminosity and possessed no great outstanding characteristics besides their ability to grow in such depths. Their bodies were a deep blue nearly indistinguishable from the blackness even when light was present.

The upward slope made their travel far more taxing. Ren’s dexterity and high level of stamina compared to Cella forced him to slow down and patiently wait for her. He had passed her by nearly a hundred feet, scouting ahead. Looking down he saw her, unable to see him back, he studied her in the darkness. With his eldritch eyes he could only perceive the trace of her. The ethereal grayness all around her swam around her as a vibrant green traced her body.

Looking at her with his unique sight, he could see deeply into her. The very essence of her being was made of the beautiful green light that indicated her affinity for life and the creation of plants. A small smile came to him as he watched the light pulse within her, the same hum of life that dwelled within all life.

He felt the pulse of her mana reach out to him. Quickly the smile left him as a pulse of redness came to him as he grew embarrassed.

Cella hesitated for a brief moment as Ren turned away from her and slowly began climbing higher up before her. The slope was quite steep, and the markings had disappeared a while back. Though the shape of the Underdark highly indicated they were nearing the surface, she still had doubt creeping through the back of her mind.

“Hold for a moment, just in case, I would like to travel closer together.” She spoke just loudly enough for the echoes of the tunnel to carry her voice to him.

Ren stopped and waited for long moments as she caught up. The distance of a hundred feet was far less to them than it would have been to Ren previously. Merely a week ago, a hundred feet to Ren would take several times longer to run than it took him to climb up the extreme slope of this cavern. Cella, not being as ascended as him and lower in some stats pertaining to movement, still took a little while longer.

Now together, they continued climbing out of the depths of the Underdark. Soon, even the dark blue mushrooms were scarce and appeared only rarely. It was not quite an hour past when they began climbing side by side when the chittering of bats started to sound from a branching cavern.

They had been traveling for quite a while and Cella had begun to tire, they soon needed to rest. Though bats were not the greatest roommates, it did mean the potential for there being no greater predators around that would massacre the bats.

Making the choice to explore the branching cavern they entered. Its slope was only lightly elevating as they passed into it. Small growths emerged from the ground, fat-bodied, round-topped, and green-hued mushrooms polluted the mucky ground.

“Maybe this won’t be an ideal spot to sit down and rest.” Ren lifted his foot and looked down at the sickly muck on his dark boot.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“We’ll see when we get further in. Perhaps there is a crevice or divot somewhere we can find.” Cella shrugged and looked at him.

Onwards they traveled as the chittering of bats grew louder. Ren’s ears began to feel a slight buzz that interfered with the sound of the bats. Aren’t bats supposed to be quiet animals?

Cella’s eyes were wide as she walked forward nearly robotically. Ren looked at her with furrowed brows.

“Are you alright?”

She didn’t respond as she continued forwards. The pulses of mana that allowed her to see the world around her had stopped.

His ears began to buzz and ring even louder as his head began to ache.

Passively his eldritch tongue had activated and started eating away at his stats as his mind began to clear. The buzzing in his head and the ringing within his ears faded. Around him the signs of dead prey were everywhere.

The bones and chitinous remains of countless dead littered the thick and muck-piled ground. Through the ethereal darkness of his lightless eyes, he saw three figures hanging from the ceiling of the cavern.

The ceiling sloped up[wards steeply creating a large dome that was nearly a hundred feet from the disgusting ground below them.

Studying the figures he was giant bat features mixed with vaguely humanoid bodies. They hung singing their enchanting song, their eyes fixed on the two of them.

Primal Vampyre Lvl 13

Primal Vampyre Lvl 14

Vampyre Lvl 18

The names gave Ren a sense of lost knowledge and forgotten memories. His brain nearly entered its forgetful state where the lack of memories caused his head to swirl. Instead, he focused himself and tried to look at the strongest of the vampyres.

It was far more humanoid, and yet far more oddly shaped in its fanged and batlike features. The differences caused a great sense of disgust to pull at him. He wanted nothing more than to burn these abominations and their sickening faces.

Ren pulled a great flame to his hand, the mana poured out of his as his will called forth to burn them. The two lesser vampyres continued their song as the third of them lurched into the air.

Ren sent the fireball whooshing into the air ready to incinerate the monsters.

The third of them completely managed to dodge the ensuing fireball while the two others seemed to be heavily affected by the fire. A fiery explosion would cause any to thrash around, but these creatures tore at themselves and bubbled in boiling fluids. Concluding they were vulnerable to fire, Ren smiled to himself.

The third of them dodged as Ren sent twin firebolts towards it. One of its wings was slightly scorched by a passing firebolt, but the being was mostly unharmed.

It swung down towards him, and in that moment Ren tried something new. Channeling his affinity towards fire, and a great portion of mana into it, he fired a bullet straight at the flying vampyre.

As the flaming bullet collided with the vampyre, the two behind it fell to the muck-covered ground and went quickly silent but for the sound of boiling oils and cracking flames.

The bullet that entered the chest of the attacking vampyre exploded as a tongue of flame reached out of the wound and the open mouth of the vampyre.

The monster lost its path and flew into the ground. With a splatter of the muck and beastly remains, it thrashed on the ground. Ren fired a second shot into the head of the bat-like creature before the explosion that followed.

The three creatures were dead and burning.

Cella kneeled down on the ground, her ears bleeding. She clutched at the sides of her head as she panted.

Ren dropped to the ground behind her and placed a hand on her back.

“Are you alright?” He spoke.

“Please, be quiet...” She whispered as her head throbbed.

Ren nodded and helped her up. The disorientation caused her to stumble and so he guided her, keeping her from falling over in her dizziness.

They made their way a deal further into the branch off, eventually finding an area for them to rest and recover. In the quiet dark, Ren played with an item he pulled from his inventory.

The essence of change.