Beheld before their eyes: a cavern entry point; one that was situated in the middle of a small yet dense enough forest of sorts. Huckleberry was a realm full of such small patches of forestry, indeed—forests which tended to have a rocky hill and cavern entry at their heart, out from which…monstrosities tended to sprawl. Such forestries of Huckleberry tended to be…dangerous, consequently.

Yet, they had strolled on through without molestation nor the fear of such. Conveniently, despite not having been human-made, there was a rather…linear and clear path through the forest which would lead to its center, this rocky pimple of a hill and cavern.

To Antica, it was immediately obvious that such was not a natural formation. Yet, it felt like she was the only who had made such an observation, for neither Red nor Novea ever mentioned the…peculiarity of the apparent convenience, nor the potential…problems of following down a path that so obviously wanted them to follow.

Nevertheless, of course, Antica had to remain…silent.

Thus, there this makeshift ‘party’ of sorts lingered and stood. The sun’s light gleamed down from the sky up high, illuminating through the trees…yet hardly much was able to penetrate into the cavern. It was a hole, a darkened rocky abyss.

Antica did not need any surveillance to know that this cavern was inhabited with…antagonistic lifeforms. Her ears could pick out their bouncing sounds emanating from within; a cave was, in fact, the perfect location for her so-called ‘hearing sight’.

“This is it, then?” so remarked Novea, her Raven masked eyes glaring at Red; “May you now tell me the specific details you obviously have been avoiding telling me?”

“Yeah… Apologies about that, Red did not want you to flee on us after hearing” Blue…apologetically stated; she was now more cordial, no longer as upset over Novea’s prior remarks.

Red hehed in acknowledgement; “Yeah, what she said…”

“We agreed to help, so we are going to help” Novea bluntly stated.

Though, technically only Novea had agreed to assist these two adventurers; Antica had not consented at all… Not that she truly cared, however, despite this being clearly a…side-tracking of their primary objective in this locality.

Red huffed; “Yeah, yeah, we’ll see… Anyway, according to the letter I got from Pebbleberry, they were having problems with growl-hounds” thus he finally began to explain; “They’d track down the source to this cave—because of course it’s a Gods’ fucked cave… They organized a militia to deal with the problem, but they never returned, so they sought after me”.

“I see” Novea acknowledged; “Though, why did they not seek out their lord or the…Guild?”

“Birdy, you aren’t stupid: there’s a civil war going on, of course their liege isn’t going to do shit for a small unbounded village… And not every free village or town can afford to contract the Guild every time, especially not these days” Red so bluntly explained.

“I see…” Novea simply acknowledged; though, she perhaps…did feel a little stupid for asking something that was…perhaps more obvious than not… Though, asking such was always better than not asking such.

“Anyway,” Red continued on, “knowing these Demon-fucked caves, it’s definitely infested with more than just growl-hounds… Maybe poison death-spiders…or savage-moles… Gods’ sacred library of shit knows what…”

“Aren’t you ex-Diamond? Surely you could do this yourself” Novea…more sarcastically remarked.

“Lady, I ain’t that suicidal… Caves like these could give even an Onyx trouble… Too many flanks, too many ways something can creep up and eat your ass a new hole” he retorted.

Without another word, Red stepped forward, not entering the cave, but certainly stepping into it. He evaluated the sides, rocks, and walls around the entry… “Hmm” he mumbled analytically, keeping his thoughts to himself for once.

Finishing this…inspective cogitating, Red stepped out and returned to the other three. “Alrightly…” thus he began to speak, “Growl-hounds are no simple puppy-dogs… All I need is my back and sides watched; let me do the fighting”—he glared at Novea—“and you, don’t get in my way… One fuck-up, and we’re ass-raped by the Demon-King”.

“I know the plan, Red… I trust you” Blue acknowledged with a smile.

“Yeah, but she doesn’t” he bluntly stated, eyes still glaring at Novea; “I don’t know how much you can fight, Bureua-bug, but I know how much I can, and I know how much Blue can; so, I hope you aren’t going to start bitching”.

Novea sighed with rolling eyes; “We are not adventurers, so we have no reason to be competitive about these matters. And I know your capabilities, Dragon Slayer. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t think I was an idiot.” she rather bluntly replied; “Besides, I have a gun” she added.

“Yeah, everyone’s a Gods’ sacred moron until proven otherwise, and your fancy shooter only doubles my words.” he replied in kind, before lancing his glare to Antica; “You, purple hexagons: you’ll be useless; don’t care how fancy you and your gear are when you can’t even use your Trinity’s damned eyes for shit… So, stay here, got it?”

« … » Oh, this had to be a joke, surely? Antica was, in fact, the most suitable for entering that cavern precisely because she did not need to rely on her sight at all. Yet, Novea’s orders still stood, thus she could not even protest.

« Phí… » her breaths simply slipped.

Novea turned and looked at her; “You heard him, stay here. Despite everything this man has been so far, he’s…trustworthy and competent… So, we will be back” she said, her voice still Raven-esque but…reassuring.

Though, Antica was not necessarily worried… She just hated feeling…useless deep down within, even if such feelings remained within her mind’s shadow.

“It is standard adventurer procedure to have someone remain outside as both a look-out…and a…witness. Don’t want things fleeing the cave, nor new things entering… So, it is an important job” Novea added.

« Éntelliģetùr » Antica simply acknowledged.

“Good.” Red replied; “And make sure that doorknob over there doesn’t start doing anything stupid” he commandingly added, eyes now pointing at that…unicorn.

“Neigh.” the unicorn made that…abhorrent deep-voiced sound again, almost as if in direct reply.

“Yeah, Demon-King fuck you too” Red said to the unicorn, before turning to face the cavern entry… He began to step forward, waving at the two behind; “Come on, no more nothing, let’s get this shit done and done”.

Blue promptly began to follow.

Novea began to follow in kind, yet she paused and…looked back at Antica…who remained static where she was. “If we aren’t back in three-to-four hours”—she tossed a…special whistle of sorts, one corvid thematically—“use that to alert him and…head for Outerberry—there’s a minor Guild hall there… The rest should come easily… Got it?”

Antica simply nodded. Novea then turned around, and began to follow, as the three disappeared, slowly but surely, within the darkened abyss of that cavern. Their footsteps echoed and bounced, withering away.

Now completely alone, Antica opened her eyes. Once her visual sensory processing had adequately readapted, she stared at the whistle now in her hand… It was to communicate with Novea’s corvid, such was obvious. A precaution in the event of the worst case… She placed it in one of her free pouches.

Antica sighed and backed away somewhat from the cavern… She turned her ignited eyes to the unicorn…which, as soon as it was alone, began to…chew on…

What even was it chewing on? It was…obsessively nibbling on…what appeared to be…a stick? No… A chunk of…bark?

So…strange, this creature was, even more-so than any equine she had encountered prior. Yet, she… her essence… remained vigilant to it, nevertheless. She did not know…why whatsoever, only that such was so...

The unicorn only increased its ferocity in its chewing, its strange spit slobbering all over it… Was… was the wood starting to…dissolve slowly? Antica began to realize it was not simply chewing on the wood… It was actually…consuming it.

The unicorn puffed and neighed, most satisfied indeed.

Yet abruptly, it went completely static, frozen in effect. Its eyes stared…dead at Antica, whose ignited own were staring back. She gently moved off to the side; its staring eyes remained absolutely fixated, following her movements almost perfectly.

It appeared that both were staring into each other’s beings, both…not at all liking what they were seeing. That utter stare that unicorn was giving her… It was as if it were the same type of locked stare…a predator gave its prey; Antica could not help but eye the unicorn in much the same.

Then, all so suddenly, the unicorn so swiftly, without any moment’s notice, began to…

Urinate. After which it puffed and strolled its way—with the wagon still attached—to a dying tree which it proceeded to obsessively chew on.

Antica…sighed in…perhaps a sense of relief, or maybe confusion; she did not know, she simply sighed. It was just going to be her and that…that…thing… for the next…however long, indeed. Even though Bee had not marked that unicorn as any…problematic highlight, her sentinel was still overwatching and with extra attention as of late. She was safer than safe.

Though, she relooked at the cavern’s entry way… She was starting to hear sounds echoing out from it. Stabs and clinks, followed along with monstrous screeches and howls.

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She might be safer than safe, but…the others…

She was not worried; she could tell those two adventurers were competent combat specialists, Novea too…

Yet so too were those adventurers she had so attempted to rescue…in that sunny-cave all those many months back. Strength, skill, and willpower meant nothing in face of overwhelming supremacy—she knew that best; the Remnant knew that best.

Antica…began to feel strange the longer she lingered… The deeper those three traversed, the farther…their echoes bounced to reach her ears… It became harder to know…what was even going on in there…

She unholstered her modular small-arm, her fingers tapping the weapon’s own screen…as she quickly configured the weapon into its ‘carbine’-mode. The small-arm modulated as its ‘barrel’, ‘receiver’, and ‘stock’ decompiled and extended, the angular and geometric weapon now less bulky and more comfortable to hold with two hands.

« Bí, mandatù: lower altitude and reangle; monitor cavern entry point. »

Bee acknowledged in a beep-boop.

If the designated time limit passed, she would move in. If anything happened, she would move in. Hmm… Though, how could she know if anything happened…before it was too late?

She stood there, statically with her now ‘carbine’-sized small-arm in hand… Her mind cogitated, deliberating…hesitating.

Antica sighed… She had brought her…toys for a reason; she might as well start using them. Bee was overwatching from the sky, and such was not without…obvious limitations. It was about time she expanded her scope of surveillance and detection.

She pressed a slim button on her small-arm, which immediately dispensed forth a…connector-strap of sorts, a rather stretchy one at that, which she affixed to her equipment-harness. With the small-arm now dangling on her being, she could freely use her hands.

Quickly, her attention shifted to her terminal device. Booping the screen on, her fingers tapped away with rather the efficient speed. She quickly configured what needed to be configured for what she was going to do…both in the immediate present and in the relevant future. Though, there was not much…she actually needed to configure.

All set, she continued to tap and swipe, navigating to a different menu-tab…one which governed her portable storage unit. Navigating, selecting, she pressed the screen; a cyanic light flashed on in her lower-back, the storage device responding. A quiet beep was followed by a sizzling snap as a slot slid open, dispensing practically.

Her right-hand slipped behind her cloak and quickly retrieved, the slot automatically closing as the light flashed off. Now in hand, she brought it to eye…staring at that which now gently laid in her hand, sleeping…

Angular and geometric; synthetic and mechanical; small and in the shape of a ‘dragonfly’ insect; it was a surveillance automaton. Yet…unlike her typical equipment and gizmos, this automaton was not Remnant silver-white, rather it was a more exotic…dark cyanic sort of a color. It was slightly sparkly, as if very faint radiance flowed off of it in reply to her finger’s gentle touches.

This was no ordinary automaton…nor device for that matter. She and this insect automaton were connected in ways…far more…esoteric.

Antica continued to simply stare at the sleeping automaton in hand. She’d had this one for…so very long—a survivor, much like her. She always seemed to bring it along despite hardly ever needing to use it. Compared to most other…proper…Remnant gizmos, it was wholly outclassed. Likewise, it was easily replaceable, therefore expendable. Yet… the fact this thing had managed to stick around for so long…

Indeed, she hardly ever wanted to use it, truth be told.

« Evéģilá » thus her voice commanded.

Instantly, two tiny cyanic lights activated on the automaton’s sides; it began to gently twitch, its mechanical and synthetic head…turning somewhat as it looked around, before, in a spurge of energy, hopping right onto its tiny insect feet. It looked at Antica with attention, its mechanical wings buzzing.

« Salvé Fly, mí’amice » she greeted, her voice…far more…warm and with affect; « Synch with my ancillary terminal device and standby » she instructed.

The automaton—to be dubbed thus ‘Fly’—nodded its tiny little head. Fly buzzed its wings and flew up onto her shoulder, leaving behind a very faint cyanic sparkly trail in doing so.

Hand now freed, she tapped on her terminal device again and quickly synched it with Fly, allowing for shared feedback and information exchange—among other things. This done, she then pressed her communicator device.

« Bí, Fly est operaționales; synch and manage as necessary. »

Her personal sentinel also had automaton management authority; though, she had ultimate authority over them both—obviously.

Antica’s eyes then returned their ignited stare…straight into that cavern abyss in front.

« Mandatù: dispatch Fly into that cavern for surveying, coordinate mapping, and monitoring… Volo éllas thrés denizenes, quae com me erant, located and spectated; collect data; highlight contacts, chimeric lifeforms specifically; and…notify if anything events—conșcís quid vuis. »

She then turned her attention to the automaton on her shoulder. « Fly, remain in signal range and relay to Bee, lower frequencies if necessary—do not ping. If communication is lost, withdraw. Éntelliģetùrne? »

Fly nodded its tiny head before, with a mechanical buzz, the automaton flew off in a barely visible cyanic sparkle-dusty trail…straight into the cavern.

Antica tapped her terminal device again, her eyes becoming glued to the screen, practically… Should anything happen or be on the verge of happening…not only would both Bee and she be able to know when and where, but should she venture into that cavern, she would have a mapped and surveyed…trail to follow.

-||-

Dark, cramped, warm, and…irritatingly moist; it was as if this entire cavern was a mouth, one which only went ever-onwards. The protrusion of a hill this cavern was integrated into did not seem to be that…girthy, so they were likely heading more…underground.

Their only source of light was a condensed dust-wispy ball of mana…which hovered above Blue and illuminated much around; she knew basic light magic—a necessary utility in this profession of adventuring.

“Eck… I still have yet to become used to your…style of fighting… So much blood is sprayed all over…” Blue, with a sigh, was remarking from behind.

Red waved his in a dismissive fashion; “Yeah, well, at least it wasn’t splattered all over you” he replied. Indeed, his strange…Far Eastern polearm was stained with such dripping…rather hot…chimeric blood—blood of an almost purplish sort of color.

So far, they had primarily encountered these so-called ‘growl-hounds’. Vicious and rabid monster-wolves, with distinct purple and black fur. Unlike proper wolves, these monsters were hyperaggressive, with hardly any caution nor consideration for their own well-being—another common characteristic of ‘monsters’ which separated them from animals. But they were intelligent and, like proper wolves, were social enough to be coordinated, making them exceptionally dangerous in groups.

Indeed, these things tended to pincer and flank… However, the closed and unspacious nature of this cavern made such…difficult; though, such did not stop them from simply ambushing from any diverging points and wide-open crevices. None of this was anything Red could not handle, however. Even without using adventurer skills, he was more than capable of smashing and stabbing these vicious hounds.

The two following behind did their part, keeping ever-watchful sight in Red’s own blindspots, informing him whenever anything was…creeping up.

Blue was the most attuned to Red’s expectations and…tactics, thus she was doing her part proficiently. Novea, having been silent for the most part, did her part…as instructed. Her only direct contributions so far was…daggering a few would-be ambushers.

Novea’s special Raven daggers were designed to be sharp and throwable, even being imbued with a…lethal toxin. However, she only had six—out of her original eight—and had to collect them after each throwing—obviously. She had used four during that…goblin incident, two of which she never ended up retrieving.

Though, at least she had that fully loaded revolving-rifle still.

“Hmm…” Novea began to mumble somewhat as she peered around…

This cave was…admittedly large and deep, but still fairly simple. They were and had been…following down this tunnel of a way, devoid of real divergences besides a few looping turns and open crevices. The cave itself…was not what began to linger in her mind, rather it was their…encounters. Something about their encounters did not…sit right with her.

Growl-hounds were monsters, thus even though they were intelligent, there were still…limits to that. Yet their aggression so far had felt more…tame than expected. Likewise, their eyes—as with most monsters—were supposed to be a glowing malevolent red, not a more pinkish…glowing color which these ones seemed to have.

“Mmm…” Blue murmured; “We have been walking for a while for what should be a simple cave… Are you sure we are not lost?” she inquired from behind.

Red waved his hand up; “No, no… Trust me, we aren’t. Caves like these are simple and monoroute: one way in, one way out, one path leading to a center area, with maybe an under-network route from there that we won’t go down” he reassured, explaining.

Blue sighed; “Oh, I trust you certainly… I trust you to get me lost in a cave, since that is all we have been doing since I met you… Getting me lost in cave after cave that always seems to have more than we asked for” she…cordially stated.

“Yet you keep following me” Red countered.

Blue smiled; “Always…”

“So…” Novea finally began to speak, “we are not supposed to be collecting proofs, rightly?”

Red glanced behind; “…now you’re asking that?”—he sighed—“No… We don’t need proofs. Like I’ve said many times, this ain’t a Guild quest, but a direct request to me specifically. Pebbleberry trusts me, and I don’t plan on lying to them when I say the job’s done”.

“Sure, though…about that… You travel all over the place, rightly? Why did they seek you out specifically? Tracking you down would be quite the effort” Novea inquired and remarked.

Blue…lovingly smirked; “As I have said, he is a softy on the inside… Every time he helps or has helped a village or small town, either bounded or free, he always tells them to seek him if they ever need help and cannot afford any; he even gives them something to track with tracker-birds” she explained.

Red shrugged; “Yeah, what she said. Shit’s been the only way I could do anything beyond Steel after I got reset and locked…”—he eyed Blue—“at least, before I met her… Now she’s been quest-carrying me”.

“Hm…” Novea was perhaps somewhat surprised with how…more open Red was being with her this moment. Regardless, she was trying to lead this somewhere, but…it might be better to just…ask forthright.

“Did Pebbleberry ever mention in their letter…what exactly they were dealing with, besides attacks from growl-hounds? Details, I mean” thus she asked.

Red scoffingly hehed; “Ah, so that’s what you were trying to figure out, huh? Ravens really don’t know how to simply ask outright. Always gotta spin shit around to get there” he bluntly remarked.

“…” Novea…remained silent; indeed, such was…perhaps a habit.

Blue puckered somewhat… “Mrmm…” she grumbled lightly; she still had yet to be told a single thing as to who or what this cloaked person even was.

Red shrugged; “No, they didn’t…besides that they were being attacked, trade was breaking down, and all the other details I told you… These requests aren’t as info-dense as the Guild” he explained. Though, his glance abruptly strengthened; “You’re starting to notice too, huh? That something ain’t right…”

“Huh…?” Blue…became disconcerted; “Now you are mentioning this??”

“Yeah…” Red simply replied, before eyeing Novea again; “So, what do you see, Miss Bureau?”

“Restraint… Monsters aren’t generally ones to holdback or retreat, yet these ones have been… Their eyes are not as expected, either” Novea remarked.

“Yeah… Something’s up…” Red said, before…his eyes abruptly became attentive to…the cavern walls around. “Blue, with me. Shine your ball…” He proceeded to make way to the sides of this cavern tunnel way, Blue following along with Novea trailing behind.

Red kneeled down, his gloved fingers scraping off…what appeared to be…not-so-healthy-looking matter of sorts from the rocky walls. Crusty, aged, and more dust-like. “Hmm…” he mumbled analytically, stroking the matter between his two fingers… “Monkey-bat shit…”

Novea tilted her head somewhat… “Monkey-bats? In a cave and not a sewer? So, not skin-eaters… Regular monkey-bats…” she mumbled to herself, audibly.

“Ah, so you Bureau-bugs at least know the basics” Red remarked, eyeing Novea… still stroking the chimeric fecal matter between his two fingers.

“We might not be adventurers, but we are still part of the Guild” Novea simply replied.

Red’s breaths scoffed somewhat; “Yeah, but knowing ain’t the same as experiencing…” he stated frankly.

Yet, so suddenly, before any reply could be levied…a grotesque whining wheeze tremored from deeper within this cavern, emanating further down the way which they were heading.

Blue’s spine instantly shuddered as she jolted back, gripping her staff tightly. “W-w-what… What was that??” she asked with rapid breaths.

“Gods’ sacred…” Red blurted, standing up.

“That was neither a growl-hound nor a monkey-bat…” Novea remarked, trying to…keep herself calm…on the outside at least.

“No shit…” Red bluntly stated… “That sounds like trouble, big trouble…” His eyes lanced to Blue; “Blue, pop the light” he instructed, before lancing his attention to Novea; “Birdy, make sure that thing is loaded… We’ve got definite shit ahead of us”.