They felt their way down the ladder as they blindly descended in the dark. Thankfully, as they neared the bottom, a faint glow of light appeared and eased Spook’s sense of worry. It would seem that they wouldn’t be fighting in complete darkness.

The floor of the cavern was composed of gritty sandstone that crunched under his every movement. There was no way stealth was going to be an option here. An array of blue and green torches lined the bottom of the pit, providing a steady source of illumination to Spook’s surroundings. He could see a similarly lit passageway with torches on both sides leading away from the ladder and into the inner parts of the Crawling Cavern.

Yimyo’s voice softly echoed through the chamber, startling Spook out of his thoughts. “The entrance back to the surface can be found if you follow the torches on the wall. The blue torches take you into the cavern, and the green torches will lead you out. Or you could also die but that’s probably not your best choice,” explained the orc.

“Have a lot of people died here before?” questioned Spook tentatively. He wanted to get a feel of how exactly dangerous this area was.

Yimyo shrugged and signaled with his hands in a half-half motion.

More or less huh? Spook felt a mixture of emotions. He was excited to go on his first adventure but was also apprehensive about taking on more than he could chew. Dark and mysterious areas weren’t exactly beginner-friendly environments.

“As long as you stick close to me and don’t pull too many mobs at once, we shouldn’t have a problem.”

Yimyo’s bulky form started moving towards the passageway, prompting Spook to hastily move. He didn’t want to get lost in this dungeon by himself. The duo stepped into the passageway and proceeded down the yellowish-brown corridor. It reminded him of an ant tunnel, moving their way towards the heart of the cavern.

It didn’t take long before the passageway widened into a hollow cave. Yimyo suddenly stopped, causing Spook to crash into the orc’s wide back.

“Two Mane Lizards ahead,” hissed Yimyo, his battleaxe materializing in his hands. “I’ll take the bigger one and you deal with the other one.”

Spook got his first look at a Mane Lizard. They were about five feet in length and were standing on four legs tipped with razor-sharp claws. Instead of a lizard’s head, a maned lion’s head poked out inside. The only lizard thing about them were the scales and the long tail that extended out. He was sure they were more lion than lizard.

[Mane Lizard Lvl 2

A hybrid reptile that has the head of a lion but the body of a lizard. It uses its powerful jaws to shred prey to death and has resistance to physical attacks thanks to its hard scales. Dwells in the Crawling Cavern and often fights alongside its mate.

Scaling Ingredient: Yes]

Oh shit! It’s a Scaling Ingredient!

Yimyo shouted, an aura of red suddenly exuding from his body. An icon appeared above Spook’s health bar.

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[Orc’s Warcry Buff has been applied

+15% Strength

+10% Physical/Elemental Defense

Remaining Time: 5 Minutes]

There was no more time to think for the two Mane Lizards had been alerted to their presence, giving off a deep rumbling roar. Spook rolled his eyes. Yimyo wasn’t exactly the most incognito player in the world.

The battle started. Spook watched as Yimyo whirled into battle in a blazing amount of speed, striking the bigger lizard deeply across the chest. The lizard flew back and struck a stony stalagmite, bouncing off like a rubber ball. The lizard righted itself and roared. It didn’t seem to have taken much damage. Yimyo charged after it, bellowing like a madman.

The smaller lizard lunged at Spook with a ferocious roar, swiping its claws at him. The attack connected with his forearms, raking a deep gouge into his leather armor and dropped him down a tick of health.

He fought back, delivering a to the backside of the lizard. His fist met the hard scales of the lizard and sent a jarring impact up his arm. This fight was not going to be as easy as the mimic. The lizards seemed to be the worst matchup for physical builds like him and Yimyo.

On the other side of the battlefield, Yimyo was still dealing with his opponent, shouting all the meanwhile as he cleaved left and right at the hybrid armored reptilian.

Spook clashed once again, this time making sure to dodge away from the swiping claws. A barrage of normal punches brought his energy back up.

[Energy 70/100]

Slowly but surely, the Mane Lizard’s health bar was dropping. The armor it had was preventing a fast fight, but Spook had the upper hand. He pressed on, forcing the lizard to retreat further and further. A stray tailwhip struck him across the ribcage, but the leather chest plate and his buffs mitigated most of the damage. His health bar was still above eighty percent.

A triumphant yell echoed across the cave, causing Spook to glance at its source. Yimyo had finished his battle as he saw experience shards fly into the orc’s body along with a loot bag that appeared.

“Hurry up and finish it off Spook! We don’t have all day,” called the orc jokingly.

“I’m trying my best here,” growled Spook as he dodged another charge from the Mane Lizard. As the lizard flew by, he reached out and grabbed ahold of the scaly tail. Spook flung the lizard into the wall headfirst. An icon with swirling stars appeared above the monster’s health bar. It didn’t take long for Spook to realize the lizard was stunned.

Taking advantage of the lizard’s incapacitated state, Spook punished the monster by sending blow after blow into its exposed belly. A few more sunders and guillotines later and the monster finally disappeared, leaving behind experience shards and a loot bag.

A whistle of surprise sounded.

“Not bad for your first encounter. You fight like a maniac,” grinned Yimyo. The orc had been watching from the sidelines as Spook dealt with his foe. “These armored freaks can be quite a handful if you have to deal with both at the same time.”

Spook panted heavily, having expended a huge amount of effort in taking down his opponent. After seeing how Yimyo fought, he wasn’t too sure who was the crazy one here. “You reckon I can take on two at once?” Spook asked jokingly as he knelt down to pick up his loot bag

The orc said nothing and raised a thick eyebrow. That was all Spook needed to know.

“You don’t have to be that blunt about it,” huffed Spook, rolling his eyes. “The lizard I was dealing with wasn’t that strong. I bet I could take on a male lizard.”

Yimyo laughed and shook his head. “The one you were fighting was a male. The females are the alphas among Mane Lizards since they need more energy to survive and to breed.”

It was Spook's turn to shake his head in disbelief. He had a lot of learning to do. And a lot more fighting.