Warning bells ranged throughout Cain’s head as he reached for his right hand with his left. He considered yelling out towards the duo, but he felt like they could gain a better advantage if he checked the situation out first. His eyes quickly ignited with the power of his Mark, his vision becoming basked in a scarlet color. Towards the duo’s far right, which was barely lit by their torches, was a pile of bodies. Goblins? Four small, pale humanoid bodies were haphazardly stacked atop each other on a corner, the floor below them covered in a dark liquid. They seemed to be cleanly slaughtered and purposely placed there. Other than that, the cave seemed empty aside from Percy and Cassiopeia. Seeing that it was safe, Cain let out a sigh of relief. Even when they were on the first floor of the Tower, he couldn’t help but feel a huge surge of panic when he found something off with the situation.
“Hey, looks like the expedition has been through here!” Cain yelled out to Percy and Cassiopeia as he walked into the room. They both stopped and looked over to him, who quickly made it towards the pile of corpses.
“What the? Where did that come from?” Percy looked shocked as if the bodies appeared out of nowhere. Cassiopeia’s eyes glimmered with a twinkle as she studied the bodies for a brief moment, before turning towards Cain.
“They seemed to be covered in a small invisible barrier. A normal hunter wouldn’t have naturally found it.” Her eyes were probing with curiosity. Cain coughed, as he stopped tapping into his Mark.
“It’s just one of my Mark’s traits. ‘Scarlet eyes’ is what the tablet called it.” He awkwardly said as he investigated through the bodies.
“Well, it sounds like an awesome ability!” Percy had starstruck eyes, causing Cain to feel even more awkward as he looked at the chests of the bodies. Their crystals were still intact. Which explained why the bodies were still there to Cain. They must be saving them for the way back. It was a common strategy for higher Hunters. Especially because monsters were more attracted to the scent of the crystals.
“Yeah I guess it is.” Cain sighed as he stood back up, turning back towards the two.
“Man, I wish I had a trait like that. But pretty nice to have ya around for it!” Percy seemed pumped up with excitement upon learning Cain’s ability. Cassiopeia, on the other hand, looked like the opposite. She didn’t seem convinced with his explanation, but didn’t say anything. He considered explaining more, but shook his head.
“Well, we’re on the right path if we want to be behind the expedition.” Cain changed the topic as he looked further in the distance. The cave path seemed to continue, but also open wider and wider as it gradually became cavernous.
“It’s strange there’s no traces though.” Percy seemed deep in thought as he looked around with his torch. The ground seemed like clean stone, with no footprints or even much blood. Cain nodded in agreement. While there would be traits and abilities that could clean tracks, he didn’t understand why they would do that. After all, there were guards protecting the entrance and people who wanted to join the expedition would be checked. So why would they hide everything? It was perplexing.
“Whatever, let’s just continue.” Percy whispered out, shaking his head. Cain and Cassiopeia both nodded, and Percy took the lead once more. Minutes passed by as they walked in silence through the cave-like room. Cain could barely see the walls as he tapped into his scarlet sight every so often, making sure there wasn’t anything hidden or following behind. It’s so strange. Maybe it was his paranoia getting to him. There hadn’t been any more piles of goblins or even monsters in ten minutes, only empty cave space. And it was huge, like spanning at least a hundred feet wide, but there still were no traces of humans or monsters. It became even more strange when Cain realized that he’d never been in this kind of area before, even though he had visited the dungeon level a couple of times before. There’s something direly wrong with this situation. Suddenly, a loud gasp that came from Cassiopeia broke Cain out of his thoughts. She had stopped in front of Cain, staring up at the ceiling.
“What is it, Cass?” Percy looked concerned at the frozen mage, quickly walking back towards her. Damn it! Cain hadn’t thought to look above him. It was too late now to regret it now, so he trailed Cassiopeia’s eyes up. Forty feet above him was the ceiling, and hanging from it were large stalactites. Coursing through the stalactites, however, were ribbons of bright crystal strings, intricately woven all throughout. Hanging from the webs were around five medium sized sacks made from the same material.
“What in god’s name is that?” Percy looked stupefied as he also caught the glimpse of the sight. Cain agreed with Percy’s sentiment. Whatever was strung along the cavernous roof was beyond the Tower’s dungeon. He had no idea, no ounce of a clue, of what hung from the roof. But he knew that they were in great danger, and he needed to act fast.
“We need to go back!” Cain whispered as loud as he could towards the two, his voice filled with urgency. He watched Percy nod and quickly animate back to life, pulling the stone-like mage beside him as he began to move back towards Cain. The suddenness of their movement, however, created a soft scuffling noise on the stone floor. But it was enough. Before Cain could turn towards the way back, a thunderous screech pierced through Cain’s eardrums. It sounded like it was a bit farther within the cave, if they had continued it would have most likely been directly in front of them.
“Go!” Cain yelled as he turned on his heels, his life fully on the line now. He ran as fast as possible, forcing his legs to their utmost limit. He could barely hear the bated breath of the duo behind as loud skittering echoed throughout the area around him. Sudden glittering lights appeared from the dark walls, crawling out from seeming nothingness. More? If he didn’t do anything, they would likely die because they had a long way to get back to the entrance. He had no other choice but to fight. Cain inwardly groaned as he grabbed his sword from its sheath. At the same time, he focused on his Mark's power, visualizing the shape of it in his mind with his eyes closed. The draconic shape of the beast, the ten horns. The scarlet eyes of an onyx monster, staring right back at him. Its voice roared out.
“KILL.” It was a sea of coursing red water burning through his veins. He opened his eyes, a burning crimson that flared out all around him. Ten prey, five on flanking each side. His body cracked and creaked as it rushed to the right, moving and contorting like a puppet. Two blurred spider-like shapes jumped out at him. It was hardly enough. With one brutal swing of his blade, he cleaved through the two shapes like they were thin air. Clear blood splattered out from the flying corpses, raining all over him. But he ignored it. He wanted more. And more. His head swiveled. He could smell the fear emanate from the remaining three. But they continued. They scattered in three different directions as they approached him. He grinned as he tapped more into the power, standing still as he closed his eyes. In the briefest of all moments, the three spiders all lept from around him, in flight. An aura of scarlet flame rose from his body, covering him like a shroud. The spiders couldn’t even screech out, couldn’t even react, as their bodies evaporated as they touched the fire, becoming embers upon the stone ground. He stood still for a brief moment covered in red flame, the aura disappearing as he fell to the ground. Cain groaned, his head pounding from the usage of his power. Damn it. He still couldn't control it fully. Wait. Cain didn’t have time to worry about that. He looked back towards the duo who were behind him. His eyes widened at the sight. At Percy’s feet were two spider corpses. He held his giant silver greatsword like it was a shortsword. A blotch of stone blackened and burnt was a small distance away from Cassiopeia, who stood valiantly behind Percy with her staff radiating a bright orange light from the crystal embedded at its tip. At least they are safe. Cain sighed in relief. They were unproven to him, but they seem definitely capable now. However, it wasn’t over yet. The loud screech of something rapidly approaching from deeper within shook the very ground that Cain stood on.
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“We need to fight it!” Percy yelled out towards Cain, before turning back towards the darkness of the cave. Cain’s legs shook as he forced himself to stand back up again. He was exhausted, but he could use his Mark again. Cain coughed as he managed to reposition himself up. Just in time to see the creature enter the light of Percy’s torch. A giant blue spider covered in crystals stood fifteen feet tall as it rushed out towards Cassiopeia, its fangs extended out towards her. However, before it could connect, the torch light suddenly disappeared as it dropped to the ground, extinguished. A loud clanking of metal transformed into a monstrous scream of pain. What is happening? Cain tapped into his power, his eyes flaring once again in scarlet light. Where Cassiopeia stood, now had Percy in place with his greatsword embedded in between the maw of the crystal spider. However, twin wings were now sprouting out from his back, gleaming the same onyx as the darkness around him. The wings spread out with a starry glow, flapping. Even as the spider scrambled to push Percy with its eight legs, he just stood, immovable. Recovering by his side, Cassiopeia stood up with her hood down, her hair flowing out. Her staff flared, the bright orange light that had glowed dimly shone now bright. A ball of fire grew and grew, rapidly becoming ten feet wide before being sent directly at the spider’s back. It exploded in a firework of stars.
“SCREECH!” The spider let out a roar of pure pain as its body combusted in flames, collapsing slightly onto the floor as the fire spread onto its limbs. Cain watched in silent astonishment as Percy managed to pull out his sword in time, the spider quickly turning and running away. It was like a dying sun as it fled back where it came from. With a loud groan of exhaustion, Percy fell onto his knees, breathing heavily as the wings on his back disappeared, fading away from existence. Cassiopeia joined him on the ground, panting and wheezing from casting her spell. That was… amazing. Cain didn’t really know how to react. The duo pulled out magical abilities that he had never really seen in his life. While he had seen strong Hunters before, they never fended off a creature in a manner like the duo did. Do I call out to them? Cain contemplated it, but felt it would be a little awkward. Whatever. Cain shook his head as he walked towards them. He watched as his loud footsteps caused them to jump up in the darkness, quickly turning to face him. Their faces were tense as they stared directly at his glowing scarlet eyes. Percy slowly crouched down to pick up his fallen torch.
“Is that you, Cain?” Wariness filled Percy’s voice as he waved the stick around blindly.
“Yeah.” Cain replied indifferently.
“Oh thank goodness. Your eyes are scary in the dark.” Percy laughed, deflating as his tension dissipated. It honestly amazed Cain how trustful Percy seemed to be. On the other hand, Cassiopeia seemed to still be a little stiff, but slowly lowered her staff. It glowed a dim orange as she tapped it onto Percy’s torch, igniting it back to life. The familiar fire felt like home as it illuminated the cave once again. Seeing that its usefulness is gone once more, Cain returned his vision to normal. A curiosity grew in Cain.
“Was that flame from that staff?” Cassiopeia’s eyes widened at Cain’s question.
“Yes… it’s from our Tower.” Cassiopeia responded, almost sounding reluctant to answer.
“It looks… powerful.” Cain hesitantly nodded. He was being completely honest. Especially after what he had seen, fireball and all.
“Found it on the third floor. We were quite lucky because it saved our butts many times.” Percy's laugh was light hearted as he straightened back up, fixing his armor while doing so.
“Third floor?” Cain coughed. That was a low floor for a staff that was seemingly powerful. He studied the wooden staff with a renewed interest, but it didn’t look any special. Probably needs a worthy user.
“What was that creature by the way?” Cassiopeia broke Cain out of his thoughts as she stared at him with a gorgon’s gaze.
“Yeah, it almost killed me! On the first floor too!” Cain didn’t know how Percy could joke about such a life and death situation so quickly but shook his head instead.
“No idea. Haven’t seen it before. Something like that shouldn’t be here.” The first floor shouldn’t be that dangerous, especially to Greater Marks or even Scars for that matter. But the pressure Cain had felt from the spider was deadly, beyond any lesser creature.
“Maybe it’s because of the expedition.” Cassiopeia whispered out. Percy nodded.
“Could be. The Tower could’ve sensed all the strong Hunters entering.”
“Something wrong is going on. It might get more dangerous if we continue.” Cain’s words were a warning. He didn’t know if it was worth it anymore after that encounter. He might have better chances with the wolves. Or even the assassins that had attacked him.
“I think we should be good. We still need to find Andy as well.” Percy smiled brightly at Cain.
“Alright.” Hopefully we won’t encounter more creatures like that. Cain inwardly sighed. He knew it wouldn’t turn out like how he hoped though.
-
After briefly resting from the encounter with the crystal spider, Cain continued on with his group deeper within the cave. The body of the spider wouldn’t be that far if it had died, and they then could scavenge its corpse. It took around five minutes of walking before Cain could see the first signs of the lair. The cave had slowly become narrower and narrower as they had walked, until the light of Percy’s torch was able to fully illuminate the walls. Large gauges of stone were torn off the sides, fairly recently. The dying throes of a wounded beast.
“It’s near.” Cain whispered out towards the two as he placed his gloved hand over a groove. A sticky-like substance covered the sides.
“Get weapons ready.” Percy took out his greatsword from his back as he continued to lead on, seemingly able to balance the weapon with his torch. Cassiopeia followed behind with her staff glowing, as Cain unsheathed his blade. As they walked, Cain slowly picked up a low noise. The noise of running water. A river? His eyes were fully peeled open as the sound grew louder and louder. Eventually, Cain could gleaming blue light in the approaching distance. It was like the light was illuminating and opening up to an entire new room. The sound of running water was almost like roaring thunder as Cain’s group quickly made it to the blue lit room. Getting a full clear view now, Cain lost his breath. It was a very big cavernous room, where ores of glowing blue crystals were pocketed throughout the sides, allowing vision for the group. In the middle, cut a large black river, its water rushing with insane speed. However, at the bank of the river, was a curled up corpse of what Cain assumed was the large crystalline spider. Its body was burnt to a charcoal, barely recognizable as the creature that had attacked them. Other than that, the room was empty but there seemed to be another entry way on the other side of the river.
“Seems like it didn’t make it!” Cain heard Percy laugh out, celebrating as he ran out to the corpse and throwing caution to the wind. Cain was too caught off guard to say anything, and it was too late as he watched Percy make it to the remains of the spider in mere moments.
“The loot monster was unleashed.” Cassiopeia sighed out as she started to walk over as well. Cain could see Percy excitedly yell out as he picked at its remains with a boundless greed. It seems safe either way. Cain shook his head at the sight. Looking at the two examine their loot reminded Cain of long ago. Of a time when there was still a vibrant hope that filled his being. Of a time when the entirety of his soul wasn’t shrouded in a darkness that smothered him, choking him in unsurmountable despair. When he could still remember those shining emerald eyes, and warm hands that could carry him. When the Tower and the world wasn’t an abyss, but something worth living in. Now it was a dark void, where he could eternally suffer in eternal agony. No. Cain had seen light again. His hand shook in a tight grip. He was going to control his Mark, his beast, his sins.
“Let’s go.” Cain whispered out, to no one but himself. Every time he fought his dark thoughts, his back felt just a bit lighter. It was slow, but he took one step forward each time. Leaving another piece behind, he started walking towards the duo, who now were in sync as they tore pieces of the spider’s body one by one.