The Matriarch was stirred from her sleep by the frantic clicks of her progeny. Their den had grown over the years, and soon it would be time for her eldest daughter to leave and start a den of her own. At first, she thought that was the source of the distress – that her daughter had finally left. Only when she heard her eldest’s distinct voice among them did the Matriarch’s ears fully focus. Her bulk shifted as powerful legs extended, claws gouging into the stone of the cavern.
Death… Something has brought death to the den…
The little ones were not powerful, not compared to the Matriarch, but there was nothing within the caverns that dared to attack her kind. They were the hunters, the peak of the food chain. That something dared to bare its fangs against her children could not be tolerated. A bubbling growl escaped her chest as she rose to her full height, towering over the smaller creatures. She let out a roar, signaling her challenge to the newcomer and calling her den to her. The once-silent tunnels were filled with the sound of claws scrabbling against stone, punctuated by agitated clicking as the creatures navigated the labyrinthine system.
The den was on the hunt.
~~~
Kyle felt almost nostalgic as he navigated the cavern, reminded of his encounter with the Infernal so long ago. Looking back, the time he’d spent training in that cave had really been foundational to the power he gained since. While he didn’t expect he would emerge with similar results this time, a smile played across his face as he walked through the winding tunnels towards the first anomalous mana signature on C.H.A.D.D.’s map.
The tunnels themselves seemed to grow progressively wider as they moved deeper into the ground, the ceiling overhead dotted with stalactites. C.H.A.D.D.’s light revealed lichens and slime molds on the walls, growing with whatever remnant moisture seeped in from above during the storms. Small crustaceans that reminded Kyle of trilobites, no larger than Kyle’s hand, milled about on the walls and floors of the cavern. They grazed on the plant matter, seemingly unbothered by Kyle’s presence.
During his trek towards the treasure, he was accosted by three more of the eyeless beasts. This time, he didn’t activate IGNITION, opting instead to end them quickly and painlessly with PARASITIC RESONANCE. Kyle didn’t relish killing the creatures, but they hadn’t left him much choice.
Finally, he made it to the chamber where the mana readings originated. As he approached, Auric Perception began detecting a shift in the ambient mana in the air, and he was not disappointed as he gazed into the cavern. C.H.A.D.D. illuminated the space, which was almost entirely covered in a bright yellow slime. It was clearly all part of the same organism, and Kyle watched as it visibly moved and shifted through the chamber.
Hundreds of the small trilobites hung around the edges, nibbling at the mold. As it moved, they would scuttle back, though occasionally one would be caught by the slowly shifting mass, disappearing beneath the ebbing yellow tide.
Kyle activated IDENTIFY as he looked at the mold, and there was no doubt that it was the source of the mana from C.H.A.D.D.’s map. It gave off a strong impression of Vitality, with a faint intent that seemed more geared towards balance than anything else. To an extent, that made sense to Kyle. It was in a constant state of being consumed, while it simultaneously renewed itself. An equilibrium had been reached, which brought Kyle to his conundrum.
“C.H.A.D.D., what happens if we try to draw energy from this thing?”
[I BELIEVE I WOULD ARCHIVE THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN, AND IT WOULD PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO NURTURE THE SEED.]
“I mean to the mold itself.”
[IT WOULD LIKELY LOSE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF ITS ENERGY.]
And that’s the problem. On one hand, he could see the energy from the slime mold being valuable to him, as C.H.A.D.D. noted. On the other, it was part of a delicate balance, in an ecosystem Kyle had been in for all of five days. If the readings had been top-tier like the pseudo world tree seeds they’d found for the expedition, he likely still would have absorbed it without too much fuss. With that not being the case, Kyle decided to leave it be.
“We’re going to let this one stay, C.H.A.D.D. Your map showed plenty more we can look at.”
[THAT IS REASONABLE, DR. MAYHEW.]
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Kyle was surprised the drone didn’t put up more of a fight, and the duo continued their journey through the caverns. They encountered four more chambers which housed similar slime molds, and Kyle let them be. Kyle also learned why he hadn’t seen any of the small lizards in the caverns, as he came across another group of the eyeless mammals tearing into the body of an unfortunate lizard that ventured too deep.
They snarled at him as he turned and went down a different path, not wanting to disturb their meal. Fighting creatures at their level was no real challenge, and there was no need for him to kill indiscriminately. Once they’d made a little more distance, Kyle found a secluded section of tunnel where he could lie down.
The tunnel wasn’t exactly secure, but Kyle felt confident in his ability to react if he found himself under attack. He sipped from his canteen between bites of the rations he’d brought along, considering his position. Judging by the countdown on his nav bracelet, he had only spent roughly a day and a half in the tunnels, and there was a long way yet to go before the test was considered over.
Despite the harsh environment above ground, Kyle had to admit that the Practicum so far was fairly underwhelming. While there was a chance that he’d simply lucked out with an easier planet for this test, he found it hard to believe that there were meaningful fatalities for D Grades with the test at this level. His perception may have been skewed by his interactions with Chester, Skippy, and Duroc, but he still couldn’t picture many of the presences he felt in the entrance hall struggling.
He almost considered leaving the tunnels to head back to the surface, though he ultimately decided against it. There were still a number of interesting readings to investigate, and he knew that C.H.A.D.D. was hoping to find something it could use. He closed his eyes as he leaned back against the stone wall. “Let me know if anything comes close. I’m going to try to get a bit of a nap in.”
[HAPPY TO HELP, DR. MAYHEW.]
Kyle woke an hour later to the sound of scrabbling claws. He rose abruptly, batons already in his hands. “I thought you were going to wake me up if something got close!”
Both ends of the tunnel where he’d been resting had multiple snarling, snapping figures. The eyeless beasts had apparently decided to make another attempt at turning him into lunch, though for some reason they hadn’t gotten close.
[I FELT THAT I HAD THE SITUATION WELL IN HAND, DR. MAYHEW.]
As the drone spoke. He heard the snap of a fern frond, though this time it didn’t have the same feel as when C.H.A.D.D. was updating the map. The beasts flinched back at the pulse of mana that accompanied the sound, and Kyle realized that C.H.A.D.D. was adapting the skill in the same way the mosquito had. It wasn’t a powerful sonic attack by any means. Against foes who relied so heavily on mechanoreceptors to function, however, it was remarkably effective. He watched as the bat-like ears flattened against their skulls; teeth bared. No, they were not pleased at all with the drone’s attack.
He was considering how he could get clear of the area without killing the creatures when a deafening roar rippled throughout the cavern. The clicking sounds of the creatures became more agitated as they slowly backed off. C.H.A.D.D. projected a map, and Kyle saw that there were dozens more of the creatures surrounding his location, with one particularly powerful signature approaching.
Kyle took a deep breath as he turned to face the source of the roar. At first, he could barely believe that the creature was the same species. While it had the bat-like ears and star-shaped nose, that was about where the similarities ended. Its fur reminded Kyle of a musk ox, coarse and long enough to drag on the ground. It stood over two meters tall at the shoulder, and was easily three times that length, not counting the bushy tail which thrashed from side to side.
A deep growl emanated from the creature as it lunged at him. Its jaws opened wide, as if it was trying to swallow his torso in a single bite. The others, seemingly emboldened by their leader, also charged at him from both sides. It was a basic pack tactic, though Kyle wasn’t such easy prey.
The blue dome of STORM SHELTER erupted around him, and the creatures impacted it ineffectually. They snapped and batted at it after their initial rush, with no more success than they found the first time. Kyle stood unperturbed within the barrier as he considered his next steps.
Unfortunately, it didn’t feel like he had much of a chance to escape without bloodshed. The fact that so many of the beasts were here for Kyle spoke to that fact. If he did get away, they would likely keep coming. In and of itself, that didn’t pose a real danger. Kyle’s concern had more to do with the caverns themselves.
The larger beast nearly filled the tunnel he’d come in through, and the last thing he wanted was for a conflict to cause a cave-in. While he would likely be able to survive an event like that, he’d rather not deal with any possible fallout from the civilization that he expected lived within the tunnels. With a sigh, Kyle resigned himself to what he had to do. Tendrils of mana spread out around him as he activated PARASITIC RESONANCE.
Less than a minute later, the only sound that could be heard in the tunnels was the Survivalist’s soft footfalls. Kyle’s attack was quick, efficient, and brutal. He didn’t relish the deaths, nor did they weigh heavily on him. He hated waste, but had come to terms with a simple fact of the universe – power was king. The beasts had signed their own death warrant when they attacked him.
He looked at the map C.H.A.D.D. was helpfully projecting, and continued his journey into the depths of the world. If he had stayed, he would have seen diminutive figures with mottled grey and black skin peer into the tunnel. The figures barely stood a meter off the ground, with four stubby legs supporting a conical body with two spindly arms. They chattered excitedly as they took in the scene, before scuttling away, melding into the stone itself.