“damn you are so ugly” I grumbled as I removed the pickaxe from the head of the bone worm under my feet .All my muscle ached , pain from injuries traced all my body , telling me how miserable my situation was. I shuddered at the though of how many times death came close in the previous fight .Just half a dozen worms left me in such a state ..My new clothes had burned marks because of the acid the worms used.

“Fuck!” I cursed

The sound of battle brought my attention back to check on Nilla and the others, grey dirty worms half the size of an adult human were covering the cave floor. Nilla stood not far from me , panting heavily while observing the situation , more than a dozen dead worms piled around her .her condition was clearly better than me , with only few scratches around her legs .

“Not bad newbie!” Nilla commented noticing my gaze

It all started when we reached the active cave where the miners were working on the crimson ore from a new vein .Nilla was giving me a detailed explanation about how the mine worked and the refineries outside.

My gaze roamed around the cave from time to time and that’s when I noticed it ,

It started with an unnoticeable movement in the eastern wall.A small pebble fell at first near a miner who was focused on his work . My eyes traced back the origin of the pebble , I noticed more pieces crumbling down and getting bigger by the moment .

A bulge appeared in the wall followed by two bony tusks protruding from the ore ,the head of a wierd creature was making its way through like it was munching a piece of bread.

Nilla noticed the changes in my expressions and followed back to where I was looking .before she even realizes what was going on , I was already in air .

“w-what?!” she called out

With my pitiful control over the Ethos .I found myself almost flying towards the man. I didn’t know why I was doing this , perhaps I didn’t want the man to end up like the other guy we found on our way here , or maybe because I wanted something to test my strength on.

My grip tightened around the wooden handle of the pickaxe as I reached the apex of my jump , with barely any control over the power surge . I threw it at the bony figure with everything I got.

A sound of gust of wind echoed through the cave as the pickaxe found its way towards the hole in the wall hitting the spot where the worm has been digging through. It all happened too quickly and hell broke loose.

A loud shriek resonated through the cave, followed by the sound of something big falling to the ground with a thud .the nearby miner expressions changed from surprise to curious then to horror

“Bone worms! Run!” he shouted with a pale face while running away for his life.If some of the people here didn’t noticed my jump , then everyone were on high alert right now.

I noticed that Sven and Holn were already in position , the extra guard that accompanied us was just few steps behind them .He was shouting instructions to the miners before They all brought out swords instead of pickaxes .

‘So there is a favoritism in treatment too’ I thought

There was nothing I could do about it as more worms rushed down the hole that the first one was digging , it was like a broken dam and instead of water, it’s a swarm of grey giant worms.

“Fuck!” I heard Nilla reaching behind me , she threw me a spare pickaxe instead of the one I used .

“ any hope that we could get swords too? “ I asked while pointing to the others

“no do , you need years of service to wield a sword down here , and those two are few months away from becoming the Lord guards” she said while shaking her head

“so , how do we fight them ? that was just a lucky shot for me “

“focus on the skull , the pickaxe should be enough to crack it open, you can try to cut them apart but their acid would leave you with severe burns , be careful though “ she said

“Alright , let kill some worms then “

“Ancestors yeah!” she grinned

Now , Nilla stood like a veteran warrior , her expression relaxed when she noticed me approaching , looking behind me at the dead worms

“Not bad newbie “ she gave me a toothy grin

“you did well too “ I replied with a nod while looking at the other three. Holn , Sven and the guard condition was a stark contrast to ours .Not only they barely had a scratch on their bodies , they were looking as if they just had a picnic which didn’t match with the scene of gore surrounding them. They had over 3 dozens of bone worms pilled around them.

Whether because my gaze or not , Holn eyes shifted to the bone worms we killed , before they fixed on us

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“don’t let your guard down , there might be…” he husky voice trailed at the end with his attention shifting to the wall again

“oh ,fuck you Holn! that was totally unnecessary “ Nilla cursed

“kid , try not to die “ Sven replied with a smile while totally ignoring the angry Nilla

“I guess its time for round two “ I muttered

This time the whole cave shook , like an earthquake. Then the whole section of the easter wall crumbled down towards us.

More than a hundred bone worm broke in, and more were behind

For the first time , Nilla face paled , Holn and Sven eyes furrowed at the scene.

Under the dim light of the cave we fought , Nilla and I Stood shoulder to shoulder, knowing that if anyone of us fell , the other will be overwhelmed in moments .

Nilla fought with an efficiency of a predator , swift and steady movement without lacking the strength to back it up. She only applied enough force for one kill before taking another. It was easy to infer that she has been fighting far longer in these caves.

‘Its not about strength , its how much we can last’

Meanwhile ,I just swung my pickaxe towards the nearest worm . my attack found its target again as a bone crushing sound reached my ears informing me to remove the pickaxe and look for another target , which was easy to find as the swarm kept flooding , the only thing keeping us from being overwhelmed were the bodies of the dead worms , as they needed to keep climbing over each other to reach us

I swung , pierced and hit again and again , as every inch of my muscles protested for me to get some rest. My sole source of comfort , my Ethos core now was throbbing and beating like a second heart and I knew the reason , I was consuming more Ethos than what I should be. Its only a matter of time before i run out of it and by the time Holn and the others finish their side we’ll already be dead.

Oddly , even under all of this pressure , and life threatening danger , I was calmer than ever. A gust of wind and rocks shattering sound could be heard from the other trio side as they took their battle to another level.

While Nilla roared by my side .All of that noise , started to fade little by little to the back of my mind .I was only left with a deep cold calmness . Before I even realize it , my pickaxe was gone and I was fighting barehanded.

I held my ground , shifted my stance to the side , just enough to dodge the jump of the worm before delivering it back with round kick to the back lines of the swarm .Despite how strong the attack seemed ,I barely have used any ethos in it compared to what I’ve been doing so far.

‘There was no time to dawdle with this’ I thought as another bone worm broke through the pile and pushed its way from Nilla’s side , this time , only few wisps of Ethos moved from my core , some went to my legs while the rest to my abdomen and fist as I delivered a punch to the worm skull , crushing it to ground.

{Clear your mind, and focus on your enemy. Be fluid , be fierce.That’s your path }

A melodic voice reached my mind , it was strangely familiar and nostalgic , yet I couldn’t focus on it right now. As 3 worms threw themselves on me from different direction.

My mind seemed to work even faster and the time grew slower as the worms got closer

‘be fluid , be fierce adam!’

I pushed my foot forward , as my punch found its way to the skull of the nearest worm , throwing it back , using the momentum of the bow to reposition myself just to receive the next worm from the side . With my hand finding holding its tusk , I threw it on the other incoming worm

With the accelerated momentum , a crushing sound echoed , both their skulls smashed together.

I didn’t had enough time to relax as more of these monsters rushed in . I dodged , kicked , and punched again and again . all while holding the same small space.

I didn’t realize it at first but my body never felt lighter , my movement never felt this fluid , it was as if my mind knew what I should do beforehand and my body just followed . Surprisingly , the Ethos in my core hasn’t been reduced much compared to the initial fight.

I grinned as side stepped another worm while reversing my stance just enough to deliver it back with a crushing blow. Their movements became more predictable now. They were just brainless creatures with only instincts of hunger driving them.

My hands were bruised and my clothes were drenched in blood , both mine and my enemies .despite all my efforts. There was moments when I couldn’t dodge at all , so I chose the least threat and took the injury.

Soon , the waves of the bone worms grew thinner . and I was able to rest for few moments between each kill. It was a small relief but not one to relax on.

The sound of battle grew louder around me again and I was pulled out of my focus state .I could distinct Nilla grunts and incomprehensible shouts. However , she was pushed back behind me , or was I the one who moved froward ?

My eyes peered on the other trio, they were fairing much better, Holn had a giant stone arm that he used it like a shield and a hammer at the same time.

He moved like a beast crushing everything ahead of him while the guard had a faint wind aura surrounding his blade , wherever his blade moved , only gore was left behind it , even when his blade didn’t connect.

‘that’s something’

While Sven didn’t have any ability like the other two , he was the more composed one.

Few minutes later, that was all what Nilla needed to finish her side.Now with other trio almost done , the cave seemed more like a battlefield. Green blood littered the floor and mountains of worms piled up.In the middle of all of this I wondered

‘what was their purpose of all of this ? ‘

My mind became dull and a veil drowsiness dropped on my eyes , I took a step backward to balance myself before falling. But I never fell , firm Hands were holding my shoulder. Nilla was there , a big tired smile on her face , her state was much miserable than me .Many bruises traced her face , and her leather armor had many melted spots from the worms acid

“I see that you are still alive “ I mused with a tired voice , i didnt even realise how much exhausted i was.

“Hey! That’s my line!” she replied as she pushed me back to my feet , after confirming I was fine

“ I though you were gone back then while I was being pushed back by these creatures , how did you managed to move like that ? compared to the first and fight I swear that you fought like a completely different person “ Nilla asked , her eyes were full with curiosity

I waited for few moments , forming a reply because even I didn’t notice what happened to me , I sighed

“honestly, I don’t really know .There was this moment when I felt calm , then focused. After that , my body moved on its own “

Nilla frowned at my reply , she seemed focused trying to figure out something. However a series of footsteps brought us out of our thoughts

Holn and the others moved towards us checking our conditions . I noticed how the guard and Holn both frowned when they looked at the worms I ve killed their gaze stopped for few long moments before they look at me.

“what ? “ I asked , wondering why I was getting this much of attention.

“after finishing the kill counts , we will go back ,we ve already exhausted our Ethos , and we cant hold this cave any longer if another wave broke through, the surface will send a replacing team to clean up” he spoke with his husky annoyed voice before turning around and leaving with the guard

“hell yeah , we are getting out of this shit hole” Nilla practically jumped from happiness , earning herself more pain from her injuries.

Sven stood there for few moments before finally speaking

“that’s his way of saying good job , kid!”

It didn’t take much for us to pack up and leave the cave back to the upper levels

Holn took the lead as usual. While me and Nilla dragged our sour injured bodies all the way out.