Chapter 135 - 135. Cave Exploration and Encountering the Earth Dragon
We returned to where I’d placed the corn seed. I yelled again, calling out for Fam, but there was no response.
"Should I check Cecily’s body or search the other side first?"
"Why are you checking my body?!"
"We need to make sure you aren’t injured from that fall!"
Cecily crossed her arms, covering her chest protectively.
"Then check me right away when it happens, not after we’re done losing her!"
Seeing her rejection, I gave up and decided to explore the other side.
"Honestly, if a monster appears or Aira and the others come to rescue us and we bump into them, what are we going to do?"
"Cecily, stop imagining dirty stuff! I wasn’t planning on actually stripping you. It was just to check for injuries!"
"No way!"
"You guessed it!"
As we walked, a monster’s outline emerged in the darkness illuminated by the lantern. A four-legged beast about knee-height. Its front paws had massive claws—an Earth Dragon. Lying flat on the ground, it looked sluggish, but was that the truth?
"Let's just burn it."
Cecily raised her staff, but I shook my head. It was too late to be cautious now that we were in this narrow cave. Better safe than sorry.
"What if the cave collapses under the shock?"
"What if you make the cave collapse in a huge fight?"
I couldn't answer her question.
“…Alright. Then, let’s burn it. We’ll figure things out later."
“…You know what? Never mind. Mash, take care of it."
Make up your mind, I thought, handing Cecily the lantern. I slowly drew my sword.
The ground was loose, but stable enough to step on. I checked the surroundings. Enough headroom to swing, but the width wasn’t ideal—I could hit the side walls with a full sweep. A thrust would work best, but I hadn’t learned how to counter if it missed, so I didn't want to risk it if I didn't have to. I lowered my stance, aiming the tip of my sword at the monster, and closed the distance. The Earth Dragon retreated as I moved forward. Its movements were surprisingly smooth and fast.
"Is it ambush hunting?"
"What’s ambush hunting?"
Cecily questioned my mutter.
"It was a tactic used in group battles. A bait unit would engage the enemy, then pretend to flee, leading the enemy into an ambush where another unit would be waiting in hiding to strike from the flanks."
A tactic used to lure enemies into disadvantageous positions where they could be attacked with superior numbers.
"So, if we chase it, we’ll be surrounded by other hidden monsters?"
She glanced at the walls. In this place covered in earthen walls, who knows where other Earth Dragons might be hiding. If they jumped out and ambushed us from underground, we'd have no defense. Should we go back and wait for Fam and the others? But the opponent is an Earth Dragon. I didn’t know how quickly they could burrow, but as long as they were in this cave, they could make their own paths to surround us. It felt like an Earth Dragon digging tunnels would be faster than humans digging to rescue us. And they might already have attack tunnels prepared. We could fight here if we were attacked, but if Fam and the others were ambushed during their digging, they’d have nowhere to escape. In that case, it might be better for us to be bait.
"I'll take out that Earth Dragon here."
I dashed forward, trying to close the distance in one go. The monster reacted and started retreating just as quickly.
"Stay still, damn it!"
As I tried to close the distance, a claw shot up from the ground, tripping me.
"Mash!"
Cecily held the lantern out. I managed to steady myself, barely avoiding a fall.
"I'm fine! There are monsters underground—be careful!"
But how were we supposed to be careful? Cecily held the lantern, checking the surroundings. Our shadows danced large and ominous in the flickering light.
"It’s okay. I don’t see anything."
She didn’t see any monsters. The Earth Dragon that had popped out its claw seemed to have retreated back into the earth. I repositioned myself to face the monster, still holding my sword. The Earth Dragon held the same distance. I took a step back, testing it. The monster moved closer. Stepped forward, it retreated.
"Damn it, this is irritating. Let’s just burn it!"
Cecily sent a fireball of magic flames at the monster. The creature created a wall of earth with earth magic, blocking the fireball. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, I lunged and swung my sword again, but the monster parried with its front claws. I braced for a counterattack, but the creature retreated and regained the same distance.
"..."
Cecily and I exchanged glances.
"Earth magic is the way of this era, huh?"
"Don’t be stupid. More importantly, it feels like it’s luring us somewhere."
"It’s been matching our movements, retreating every time we step forward."
"Meaning it has a goal?"
"Who knows? Maybe it’s being controlled by a Tamer?"
Speaking of Tamers, didn’t that transfer student, Emma, have that job? She summonded Hecatoncheir with her Special Skill, but she hadn’t used her Tamer abilities yet.
"Can that job control monsters like that?"
"Who knows?"
"..."
Silence filled the air until Cecily started pouting.
"What?! You don't know either, Mash! It's not my fault! I can't possibly know!"
"I didn't say anything."
"You’re thinking, ‘Maira would know, right?’ Unbelievable!"
She was right, so I couldn't say anything. Trying to hug her and brush it off only reminded me of her earlier complaint. Pinching her pouting cheek was also excluded. Gotta think of something else.
"Anyway, I’m going to chase that Earth Dragon."
"It's probably a trap, right? Or rather, it’s definitely a trap."
"I think so too. But if their goal was to defeat us, they could have had the Earth Dragons hiding underground attack me when I almost fell, and finish us off right then and there..."
"You’re right. Plus, if it’s just for them to pass through, they wouldn’t have needed to dig such a large tunnel, so it’s more logical to assume someone else had them dig this tunnel..."
I nodded. I lowered my stance but kept my sword ready as I approached the Earth Dragon. As usual, the Earth Dragon retreated in sync with our walking. It felt like we’d walked quite a distance, but the darkness was disorienting, messing with my sense of time. I’d been regularly dropping and scattering corn seeds along the way, but would Fam and the others notice? By now, they might have been eaten by some creature or other, but I couldn’t think of anything else to mark the path. I took out my phone from the storage.
"Blinding!"
The OLED light stung my eyes. Squinting, I saw it was 8 PM. Fam and the others might have already stopped digging for the day. I tried flashing the light at the Earth Dragon confronting us to see if it had any effect, but nothing happened. After turning off the phone’s light and putting it back in storage, the surroundings felt even darker. I missed the streetlights of Longhorn Street. We drank water using water magic and took turns eating dried meat from the storage. After walking for so long, any sense of urgency had vanished when Cecily elbowed me.
"Be more careful!"
"S-Sorry."
I was impressed by her dedication. After a while, the cavernous space opened up into a stone corridor. A space of about three meters per side continued deeper inside.
“It looks like a dungeon.”
Cecily muttered. Expecting confirmation or denial, I looked around but could neither confirm nor deny her statement. If it was a dungeon, we couldn’t count on Fam and the others to rescue us. We’d have to escape on our own. I backtracked to the earthen part. Nothing changed much and I could just turn around. Thinking I might have wandered into a dungeon when I fell, I hadn't felt that unique sense of foreignness when entering a dungeon. At that moment, the Earth Dragon, which had been walking backwards with us, turned around and rushed into the depths of the cave. Frantically chasing after it, we lost sight of the monster around the first bend. Instead, we saw a gate illuminated by torches at the end of the corridor. It was a massive, imposing gate made of stone.
"Don’t tell me… it’s an Area Guardian!"
"No, that's too simple."
It wasn't the usual massive gate leading to an Area Guardian’s room. Hesitating, the gate began to open on its own.
"Cecily, prepare for battle!"
I hurriedly readied my weapon. Cecily also raised her staff with one hand. The gate fully opened. About ten armored warriors, clad in leather armor, were waiting inside. Turning around to escape, we found several Earth Dragons waiting behind us.
We were surrounded.
The warriors were about a head shorter than me. The same height as Cecily. They looked slightly hunched over. The defining feature was that from the elbows down, they resembled animal front paws, complete with long claws. One of the knights stepped forward.
"We are the knights of the South Earth Dragon Kingdom. And I am Yannan, the leader."
A young woman. Her face looked almost human. But there were a few stiff, long hairs like cat whiskers on her cheeks. Lashes-like strands were also mixed in her hair. Her hair was black, tied into a single ponytail at the back of her neck.
"Are those arms and claws natural?"
"That's right. We are the Earth Dragon Clan."
Yannan's thick claws retracted. The arm part looked animalistic, but the hands, although a little rough, were mostly human. Then her claws extended again from her fingertips, hardening and lengthening rather than growing like fingernails.
"They can extend and retract them at will? Cool!"
Looking at their claws, I remembered the black panther race girl, Riley. What was she doing now?
"Hey! That's not the first thing you should ask!"
Cecily whispered, scolding me for getting lost in thought.
"Were you guys controlling the Earth Dragon?"
"Yes."
Yannan replied.
"So, you guys are the ones who summoned us?"
"That's right. I also have a question for you."
She said.
"What is it?"
"Are you adventurers?"
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