Inside the cramped darkness of the Gulper’s maw, the trio sat in silence. From a mixture of unease, agitation, and awkwardness, their voyage was silent.
At least I’m in this rucksack so I don’t have to touch this thing’s tongue.
A gentle white light shone in through the gaps of his hiding place’s flap. Caster turned his head, looking outside. He was able to see the flesh of the Gulper and the rest of their immediate surroundings. He looked towards its source.
Keith was sitting with his legs crossed, the source of light within his arms reach, resting on the floor. He had a series of daggers laid out before him, at least 6 from what Caster could see. Keith held one of the daggers in his left and a whetstone in his right. He was fully occupied in his weapon upkeeping, clearly at home in the belly of the beast.
Elenore hadn’t said anything since they entered, but from the bag’s movements, Caster could tell she was glancing around the otherworldly environment.
Her movement stopped as if she was thinking.
“Caster, you still got that crab claw?” She said.
Caster blinked in confusion. But then he remembered, pulling out his handy dandy Crab Claw Staff.
“Yes. Why?”
“Come on out. We ain’t got nothin’ else better to do so we may as well learn you somethin’ ‘bout Arena fighting.”
Caster could barely understand her phrasing, but he climbed out of the rucksack anyway.
The light that shone from the object at Keith’s feet spread far, but its intensity was low enough so that Caster could stare directly at it. It was an oval rock, not larger than an orange. Its body was littered with small craters and crevasses, giving it the likeness of a pocket-sized moon.
“You shouldn’t let it out,” Keith mumbled. “We still don’t know if it’s working for the Elder Gods or not.”
“Alrighty Caster, look in the corner of this thing’s mouth,” said Elenore, pointing toward the darkened corner of the Gulper’s mouth, where its lower and upper jaw connected.
Caster narrowed his eyes and shuffled forward a few steps. After a moment his eyes adjusted, and he was able to catch a glimmer of something snake-like slithering in the corner, but it was impossible to see any better thanks to the distance between them. Caster shuddered, grateful that there was so much space between him and the creature.
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“Here, this might help,” said Elenore.
Reaching into a side pocket of her rucksack, she dug around for a moment. As she pulled her hand out, a glowing rock was in her hand. It was identical to the one at Keith’s feet.
“Moonrock. It’s like a torch that never goes out. It don’t glow around other kinds of natural light though.”
Elenore tossed the rock farther into the Gulper’s mouth. The stone rolled, coming to a stop a little more than halfway between them and the creature. As it did, Caster could see it clearly, and a new databox appeared.
Gulper Parasite
Monster Level: 2
Status: Wary
Info: A moderately dangerous noodle
It was only the size of a small snake, a half-pace long, maybe less. Though for Caster, it seemed more like a slender but very much dangerous dog.
The Parasite was gnawing on a patch of soft discolored flesh, little spurts of mold and blood splashing as it writhed. Caster covered his mouth with his mitten, nearly throwing up at the gruesome sight.
“You still know that spell y'all Minions cast in the Arena? What’s in called… Wind Smack?”
Caster raised his mitten and looked at his abilities for a moment, he’d forgotten Scaling Strike’s name.
“I do,” he nodded.
“Try hurling a few of them at that creature over there. It’s only in a Wary state right now, which means it's being careful, probably since we’re here and all. Once it realizes you’re attacking it, it’ll start chargin’ over here and try to bite your head off, so hit it hard!” Elenore encouraged him.
Caster looked down at the staff he held in his mitten, then back up to Elenore.
Is she insane?
“Are you insane?” Caster asked.
“Well, I did get kicked by a dairy cow when I was little, but I think I know what I’m doing when it comes to fightin’.” She shrugged. “Trust me, if it’s about to kill you, I can kill it with one stomp. Go ahead.”
Caster sighed. Elenore made it seem easy enough. Keith, sitting on the sideline was still occupied with sharpening his knives.
Caster lifted his weapon, charging a Scaling Strike on the very tip of the Crab Claw Staff. It took a little more than half a second for him to rear his arm back, then hurl it forward, launching the ball of energy toward the parasite.
The Scaling Strike hit the ground only two-thirds of the way between Caster and his target.
His attack made a few sparks fizzle on top of the Gulper’s tongue. Luckily, the huge beast didn’t seem to notice the minor disturbance.
Caster grimaced, readying himself to fire another Scaling Strike.
The Gulper Parasite’s head perked up - it could sense it was under attack. The creature snapped backward, hissing as it reared up on its belly. Its mouth was circular, and it carried hundreds of teeth. It made a guggling hiss and lunged toward him.
Status: Aggressive