After the hustle and bustle of his brother's workshop, the darkness of the portal and the caves beyond was a powerful contrast. Alistair paused for a moment, appreciating the sudden quiet. He then spotted Simon, who was already waiting for him.
"Ah, there you are. I was about to call you," Simon said as they embraced in their usual greeting.
"Did you get the equipment?" Simon Inquired as they separated.
"Yeah, sorry, I thought I had more time. I checked out the Kaiakos while I was there," Alistair replied.
"No worries, I only arrived a few minutes ago. How's the ship coming along?" Simon asked as Alistair led them to the chasm where he had found the mithril ore.
"Pretty good. Most of the core components seemed to be in place, and they were installing some of the passenger modules from that luxury cruiser when I left," Alistair explained.
As they walked, Simon occasionally tapped his fist against the cave wall; Alistair knew that Simon had some kind of advanced tremor sense skill that would let him detect things within the cave walls, be that veins or monsters.
Eventually, Simon spoke out. "I both sense and hear those damn Wendigos; they are going to find us soon," slight irritation was evident in his voice.
The clicking noises had been audible since Alistair arrived, but they had become more frequent the longer they walked and talked.
"Yeah, I am not a fan of those Cave Wendigos either," Alistair commented as he could also sense one of them approaching, and it would not be long before it came around the bend ahead of them.
"Hopefully, the ones around the entrance have not evolved yet... Oh, hell no!" Simon suddenly blurted out, recoiling at the sight. A long, muscly pale arm reached around the corner, followed by the creature's elongated head turning their way. Its skin flaps, moving furiously as it crawled along the corner of the ceiling, approaching them much faster, presumably because they were talking and moving. As it attempted to approach them, it was impaled by a barrage of obsidian spears that emerged from the cave walls. Though the creature had not yet reached the next grade, it somehow survived Simon's attack, wriggling furiously in an attempt to free itself as its body attempted to regenerate. Alistair swiftly dispatched it with a Razor disk, decapitating the impaled creature and ending its threat.
"What a terrible day to have Dark Vision, Simon murmured as he looked at the body hanging in the dark ceiling, blood freely flowing out of its neck and wounds dripping over the cave floor.
"I kind of expected them to have grown stronger by now." Alistair mused. "Can you retract your spears so we can store the body and move on?"
Simon frowned but did as asked as the body splattered to the ground with a wet thud.
"Your dad mentioned that he could get cores with the concept of regeneration out of these. We should try and kill some higher-grade ones," Alistair teased, watching Simon's unhappy expression.
Alistair stored the body as they continued to walk down the tunnels. They would reach the chasm soon and delve deeper from there, trying to get as deep as possible, hoping to find more dungeons, veins of ore, or, better, a source of growing metal. However, Alistair knew those sources were just as common on the surface as they were underground, though Dwarf Candy was exclusively found deep underground, and they needed a source of adamantine. A new integrated universe often came with never-before-seen treasure, flora, and fauna, and the hopes were that the trial would contain some of them searching deep underground and would have good odds of finding at least some hard-to-find treasures.
Alistair looked around, the smell of damp rock and earth filling his nostrils. Investigating a dark location with Simon on his side stirred some memories within Alistair, and a smile grew on his face.
"Remember the time we got a call to investigate a security alert in that recently abandoned warehouse?" Alistair commented, letting his gaze wander.
"Fuck off. That little beast jump-scared the shit out of me," Simon said with a chuckle.
Alistair let out a laugh. "You were jumping at shadows long before that cat. You outright refused to split up," he reminded him.
"That's how they get you! I have seen enough movies to know how this goes. So I'd rather have you around to throw at them," Simon jokingly added.
"Who's them?" Alistair asked incredulously, a smile plastered on his face.
Alistair had missed the banter between him and Simon. They had spent most of their days working with each other, and it was all too easy to fall into old habits. He knew Simon wasn't a big fan of horror movies. However, Alistair would be lying if he said the darkness and monsters weren't giving him the creeps. If given the choice, Alistair would rather be anywhere else, but he refused to pass on the potential gains. They continued to descend down the chasm, Simon flying alongside him, occasionally tapping his fist against the stone walls until they reached the bottom, where they spotted a handful of tunnels leading in different directions.
"Let's stay in contact and share map data; that way, we should find a way to descend much faster," Alistair mused as he looked at the map, which already had markings where Simon had used his tremor sense skill.
"Unless you are scared to be all alone in the dark with the scary monsters," Alistair teased.
Simon looked uncomfortably at the tunnel entrances. "Man, why did I agree to this?"
"Because you are not bitch made?" Alistair helpfully suggested with a smile as he watched Simon trod toward one of the closer tunnels, flipping him off.
Alistair let out a chuckle as he headed for a different nearby tunnel. He needed to move quickly, as his ability to detect veins and treasures was much more limited compared to Simon's. Therefore, he focused on covering ground instead. Alistair flew down the corridors, navigating bends and randomly choosing branches as he continued to descend. Occasionally, he encountered tunnels leading back up, which he marked before heading down another path.
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Simon, who took his time, found the occasional ore deposit, but it was mostly mundane materials like silver, gold, and iron. He also loudly complained about the number of Cave Wendigos attempting to ambush him. Unlike Alistair, Simon had to tap the cave walls for his tremor sense, which attracted the monsters to his location. They continued this pattern for a week, with the occasional break in between as both of them got tired of running around in the dark. Their biggest find was a large Adamantine vein, which helped cover some of the demands of the Kaiakos. The construction turned out to be a large money sink as materials became more expensive, as others must have started large projects of their own, and the demand started to outpace supply.
The further down the two of them got, the more tunnels became dead ends or incredibly tight before opening up again, forcing Alistair to avoid them and wait for Simon to widen the gap with his earth magic. During this time, Alistair started to ask Riseth to instruct him in her space manipulation technique, which lets her slip through tiny gaps by distorting the space temporarily.
After two more weeks, they reached deep enough that the rock could be considered magical, and the adamantine and mithril veins became more frequent. Although they weren't very large veins, every little bit helped. Alistair could sense there were dungeons around, much like the other trial worlds, but it turned out impossible to find them in the tunnels and Alistair half suspected them to be hidden deep within the walls. They had not found a single Dungeon or worthwhile treasure other than the cores from the Grade 10 & 9 Wendigos, which either stayed the same or grew elongated bodies with an additional set of arms. Alistair gained four levels during those two weeks. He gained noticeably less experience with each Wendigo killed, and Simon experienced much the same on his end.
During this time, Alistair decided to pick up and hone his Telekinesis skill and found it incredibly effective against the Wendigos, especially when they leaped. He could catch them mid-air, slam them into the ground, and even restrain them for a few moments if he increased his energy expenditure despite their high power stat. This small addition even increased the skill’s tier to Supreme.
Skills: Tier: Name: Description: [Supreme]
Telekinesis
Improves the user's ability to telekinetically [Control] objects and empowers attacks made based on the user's relevant stats. The amount of objects or individuals the user may manipulate is based on the target's mass and resistance against manipulation. The user's incredibly high affinity further enhances the skill's ability to bypass the target's resistances and increases the amount of damage inflicted, be that directly or indirectly. The user may also use this skill in a non-offensive manner, like daily tasks or shielding himself with a controlled target. The precision of such tasks is based on the user's [Control] stat. Requires a minuscule amount of focus and [Qi] and [MP] to maintain based on the number of targets and their resistances. The user may increase the energy expenditure to empower his telekinesis with high energy efficiency.
To their frustration, they had not encountered anything besides the constant presence of Cave Wendigos, apart from the occasional non-combative beast and barely sentient fungi. The only reason they kept going was their desperate need for metals. James would otherwise have to use the lower-quality materials they had claimed in the Automata trial world for armor plating, which weren't well suited for anything other than flooring and less critical components.
"Help, I fucked up!" Simon's panicked voice suddenly reached Alistair over the link.
Alistair halted and checked the map; Simon wasn't nearby. "Simon, can you set up a beacon for me to teleport?" Alistair called out, turning and rushing down the tunnel towards Simon.
"Yes, but you're coming in hot. I found their mom," Simon replied.
"What the hell does that even mean?" Alistair asked, sensing the beacon activate. He honed in on it, straining his focus to bypass the interference from the magic-laden rock surrounding him.
Just before teleporting, an ungodly screech echoed through the tunnel from Simon's direction. Upon arrival, Alistair was almost overwhelmed by the intense density of mana, followed by a powerful stench of death. Simon struggled to maintain an obsidian wall in an alcove, long black bony claws piercing through as the wall cracked and splintered. Alistair took a step forward, hearing a crack beneath his feet, and realized the floor was littered with bones and rotten body parts. The overwhelming smell made Alistair gag.
"Sorry for sealing in the flavor, but I needed to buy us some time," Simon said as he pushed out his magic; the cracking wall shattered outwards, and the massive [Cave Wendigo Matriarch - lvl 94] was pushed back as the ebony shards ripped into her. The Cave walls were covered with spider-like eggs and more Wendigos. A cacophony of clicking sounds filled the room, drowned out by the screech of the matriarch as she rapidly healed from Simons's attack.
Alistair looked at the matriarch in horror as her milky white eyes locked onto his. She stood five meters tall, nearly filling the chamber with her bulk. Two sets of pale, thick, and muscular arms ended in long black claws dripping with an unknown liquid. Her massive, elongated skull was adorned with spikes and ridges, drool seeping from a mouth bristling with razor-sharp teeth. Unlike the others, her body was robust and powerful, covered in thick bone plates with her ribcage outside her skin, protecting her internal organs. Her taut, tough skin, combined with a massive spiked tail that lashed out, carving into the solid rock face, enhanced her terrifying presence.
Alistair took that brief moment of respite to take stock of the situation. Alistair could not help but draw some comparisons to the movie 'Alien' as they were surrounded by monsters clinging all over the wall, ready to attack them. A quick glance revealed there were only two entrances, one of which lit up like a Christmas tree with his conceptual awareness and was most likely the source of the mana. But he did not have more time to think about it as one of the pale-looking Wendigoes tried to jump him.
"Fucking hell, Ridley Scott is going to sue somebody," Alistair blurted out as he swung his poleaxe, cutting down the attacking Wendigo. Fortunately, most of the Wendigos in the room were low-level, likely born recently. Still, Alistair sensed more approaching and knew they needed to kill the matriarch quickly.
"I know, right? I didn’t expect those things to lay eggs," Simon commented, summoning an array of spears to pin down as many monsters as possible.
Alistair activated his Razor Aegis and Battle Spheres, which unleashed Fire Blasts, clearing a path to the entrance as the pressure mounted with more Wendigos arriving.
"Watch out!" Simon warned. Alistair's danger senses flared, and as he turned, the matriarch's long claws impacted his shoulder, and multiple spheres of force shot out of his body before she pierced his shoulder, tearing through his body and armor. Although the Aegis cut into the matriarch, she quickly regenerated after dodging the razor disks aiming for her head. Alistair jumped back against the stone wall, blood gushing out of his body as it violently rejected the poison, and his upper body felt like he was on fire.