After a brief break to restore his Ein, Oscar knelt to observe the tracks. The one in the middle that split the wet sand into two sections was sure to be Serena. This boded well. A good chance Serena survived the explosion and was brought here. His relief turned to caution, and Oscar frowned at the other sets of tracks.
'Webbed feet?' Distinct linings connected the tips of the distinct footprints. The tracks were unlike anything he had seen before. Bundles of algae were scattered in the indents. Oscar picked some up and felt it in his hands. The algae looked ordinary except for the tiny flakes of Ein woven in the wet leaves.
'I don't know who you are….' Oscar squeezed the algae, imagining it was the necks of the unknown creatures. 'But she better be safe.' He tossed the algae aside and followed the tracks into the tunnel. The walls were laced with more algae, moss, and mushrooms. A foul, rotten smell of sewage and eggs permeated the area. Oscar scrunched his nose and started to breathe through his mouth.
The algae around the tunnels varied in color from purple, blue, red, orange, and more. Some glowed dimly, providing Oscar with the light he needed to navigate through the tunnel. Starting a light with Ein was an easy task, but stealth was needed here. He had to find Serena before attracting unwanted attention to himself.
Oscar stepped slowly. The squishy ground and dampness seeping into his toes didn't help to ease his worries. Each squish of his feet was loud as the water was wrung from the moss. Analyzing the area after each step, Oscar moved to the next.
Hearing the sound of slithering behind him, Oscar turned around. His heartbeat quickened, afraid of an ambush. His face paled, and his surprised yell caught in his throat. He covered his mouth with his hand, successfully stopping himself from letting out a sound.
Behind him was a wall of moss and algae. The wet plants filled the tunnel. The leaves squirmed, wriggled, and twisted. The tunnel was locking him inside. Holding back the urge to attack this wall, Oscar turned back toward the unknown. If the cave wanted him to stay, then he would stay. The exit was a problem for later; right now, Serena was the priority.
'Where are you?' The tunnel was largely unoccupied except for algae that continued to expand to block him from retreating a single step—no signs of the owners of the strange webbed feet or signs of Serena. With a silent sigh, Oscar pushed onward. Then after a while, he saw something.
Another dim glow, like a lantern under the bedsheets. This glow was a mix of red and green. It appeared to come from a chamber below. Stepping up for a closer look, Oscar heard strange chants of a strange tongue. Garbled and messy, almost as if the chanters were speaking underwater.
Reaching the edge, Oscar glanced down below, and his jaw dropped. A similar scene to the one he saw in Tectusen was happening. Circles and circles of strange Grovekeepers made of algae and moss were kneeling and chanting. The place he arrived at was a circular pathway that overlooked the entire chamber. Not wanting to be noticed, Oscar lowered his body until only his eyes peeped out.
'This is madness. The Grovekeepers were once people, but they're strangely well-organized. So much can happen in 4000 years.' Putting down his shock, he glanced at the stone altar in the middle. Whatever it was, it didn't look reassuring.
Suddenly, the chanting stopped, replaced by the whimpers of a beast. Holding his breath under his hands, Oscar watched. A large bear was dragged by a group of Grovekeepers and thrown onto the altar. Bound by vines, the bear could not muster any resistance.
One Grovekeeper raised its hands. It held a golden fang, sharp and long. Without so much a warning, the Grovekeeper plunged the golden fang into the neck of the bound bear. The weary light from its eyes turned dull as its blood flowed down from the altar. Then the chamber began to shake, and a voice called out.
Oscar couldn't breathe. It was only a raspy, wheezing groan, similar to an old man's, but the pressure from that single small sound made him fall to his knees. Sweat beaded down his forehead, and he joined the small raspy, wheezes with his own weakened grunts.
'What is that thing? What the hell are they sacrificing to? I have to find Serena and get out as soon as possible.' Standing on his shaky legs, Oscar slowly dragged his feet across the mossy ground. As he moved along the damp walls, wet footsteps other than his came from another hole. Someone was coming.
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Turning the corner, Oscar increased his speed with a silver burst and lifted his arm encased in silver lance. The stranger was one of the Grovekeepers, moss-covered with red eyes unlike its cousins in Tectusen and on the surface. It didn't have a moment to scream before he stabbed its mouth, skewering its head. For good measure, he shot out a silver star through its chest.
The Grovekeeper collapsed into a pile of algae and moss, indiscernible from the rest of the room. The room was small. Oscar focused his gaze on a small flat boulder table, a collection of mushrooms on top, and a small makeshift bowl filled with a strange blue liquid. He approached the table, took out a dagger armament he took from a fallen enemy, and poked around the mushrooms.
It was shabby and not very advanced, but it was certainly a workshop of some kind. Oscar dipped the dagger into the blue solution, bringing it close to his eyes. What was this, and why was this Grovekeeper making it? There was nothing else in the room other than the shoddy workshop. Interested in this strange material, Oscar poured some into an empty vial and stored it away.
'An alchemist can help decipher this thing.' Oscar hurried out of the room, and his eyes went wide. A mass of Grovekeepers stopped and turned to him. Red eyes gleamed everywhere in the dim pathway. All let out a gurgled yell and charged at him.
Bad luck? Unfortunate? Oscar's mind threw all idle thoughts out, and he charged back with all his might. His deer anima formed from thin air and slammed into the Grovekeepers. Their bodies tumbled and broke apart.
With the Eirin flowing into his arms, Oscar unleashed his Eirin lances. One by one, the Grovekeepers fell before his power. His body was wet and covered in algae, and his hot breaths became white from the shivering chill rising from their torn corpses.
Oscar grunted and forged ahead, destroying as much of the Grovekeepers in his way. Whips of algae sprouted from the walls and floor. They tied around his wrists and caught his legs. Mustering his Reis, Oscar sent out a ripple shroud, shredding apart the weak bindings.
He found it hard to breathe. Odd though. He hadn't gone overboard with Eirin and Reis. His chest felt tight, and his lungs grew colder. A slight numbness spread on his fingertips. With short and rushed breaths, Oscar staggered to his feet and covered himself in his Ein.
The cold abated, and the numbness faded from his hands. His suspicions were correct. The Grovekeepers released a cold air upon their death that slowly filled the room. Effects similar to the cold air of the Tundra realm. Oscar solved the issue for now, but he was still in a pickle.
Grovekeepers kept swarming him en masse, unaffected by the chill released from their fellow Grovekeepers' deaths. Sprinting out of the mass, Oscar scanned the area for Serena, quickly entering a room and exiting when he didn't see her. There was nothing, only the endless tide of Grovekeepers surrounding him.
With a single swing, his bulwark tore through ten. Killing them was easy. The problem was twenty more took the fallen ten's place. Oscar cleared his mind and assessed the problem. At this rate, he'd run out of stamina and Ein before clearing this place out.
How many had he killed so far? It must have reached over a hundred. He ran a loop around the entire pathway and found nothing. Not a single trace of Serena. With no other option, he leaped down to the wide chamber of the altar. He chuckled and shook his head. Another mass of Grovekeepers awaited him.
"Fine, let's see who runs out first. Will you run out of Grovekeepers, or will I run out of Ein?" With Ein Awaken, he could fight longer. How much longer was the question? With a burst of Ein, Oscar gripped his bulwark, and his deer anima grunted.
Then an orange ball crashed in front of him. Behind him. To his sides. Orange spheres cracked like glass all around him. Out of the broken spheres, orange gas immediately covered his area, and he caught a whiff of it. Horrified, Oscar tried to leap off his deer anima's antlers.
"Shit!" Oscar stumbled to the floor. His deer anima dissipated. One of the Grovekeepers drank a blue liquid and stretched its hands out. And that was the last thing he saw.
…….
The Grovekeepers dragged Oscar's sleeping body away to another room. In the room were many other people wearing the uniforms of the Blue Ocean Pavilion. Each one was fast asleep and bound by the vines, unable to rouse themselves or break free of their bonds.
They communicated in strange, gurgled voices. Their moss-ridden arms lifted Oscar up and brought him to a free space on the wall of vines. The vines creaked and snapped, moving toward Oscar's body. Before they could entangle Oscar, and to the shock of the Grovekeepers, his eyes snapped open.
The Grovekeepers rushed to contain him, and the vines continued to furl around him.
'Ripple Shroud'
The Grovekeepers and the vines were forced away by the shockwave, and Oscar's body burst out, snapping their heads off their bodies with Eirin lances. The vines receded back to the wall, unable to extend out to Oscar's body.
"Pitiful." Oscar slicked his hair back and revealed a pair of dull, indifferent eyes. It was Demon, awake in Oscar's place. The spores knocked Oscar out, and with his consciousness fading, Demon, who had fully come into existence, swapped places.
"I'll handle this," Demon stomped his foot on the chest of a Grovekeeper. A green orb shot up from the impact. Demon caught it and stowed it away. "They will all die."