After walking - in big, hasty steps - for some time, I managed to tune out some of the disgusting smells. However, I doubted I could truly ever ‘get used’ to them, at least not fully.
Then, passing by a side tunnel, I noticed the first life-form that wasn’t a small rat or some disgusting multi-legged insect.
First thing I saw was a pair of tiny red dots, shining in the darkness. A moment later, my eyes made out the outline of a head – short fur, seemingly gray, elongated jaw with countless sharp teeth, two fangs that reach even beyond the tip of its chin.
The creature, about the size of a medium dog, was hanging from the ceiling. After a moment, it opened its membrane wings, each ending in a small hand with three sharp claws.
Clclclclclick!
I heard a rapid series of ‘clicks’, produced so fast even my current perception was barely enough to identify them as such.
By now, all of the party members stopped, following my gaze into the darkness.
“Eeeeeee!”
With a shrill squeal-like screech, the creature descended from its resting place, and.. accompanied by the flapping of leathery wings, darted into the darkness.
A moment later, I heard a dozen or so wingbeats follow it.
“Neckbiters. Those damn bats usually make their home in the woods.”
Bern resumed his pace, as I followed, still keeping my ears peeled.
“They usually eat insects or rats. Sometimes, they’ll attack a lone adventurer, if their colony is large enough, but a group our size is far too big for a dozen or two of them.”
I nodded at the party leader’s hushed explanation, even though he couldn’t actually see it.
As we reached another intersection, a moment before we stepped forward, Hilda, who always took a peek over the corner, so far, suddenly stretched her hand to the side, signaling us to stop.
“Slimes. Medium sized, likely acidic. About 20 of them, just up ahead.”
Bern furrowed his brow, as the dwarf scowled in displeasure, as well.
“Bah! We don’t have time for this… Is there another way?
“We’d be wasting too much time. It’s faster this way. Much faster.”
For a few moments, none of us said a word, as Bern silently contemplated our course of action.
“Ornor, you stay back. Not much you can do, anyway, and most of your equipment will be ruined. Same goes for you.”
After giving his party members their orders, he turned to me, inspecting my gear. Apart from the narrow shields strapped to my forearms, and my helmet, my only metal equipment was the chainshirt, its sleeves peeking under my leather pads, and the sword in my hands.
“Is your sword acid resistant?”
I didn’t know the answer to his question, but I didn’t want to find out this way.
Instead…
“This one is.”
I put the brightsteel sword back into its resting place, drawing the adamantium one, which, by any measure of common sense, wouldn’t be damaged by some low-level slime.
“Alright. Let’s make this quick.”
“One moment.”
I took a few seconds to un-strap my shields, and take off my helmet, giving them to Hilda, who still had the empty sack, the one that previously stored the masks and light orbs from earlier.
Without saying another word, the Slayer stepped forward, with me beside him.
The sight in front of us evoked a mild nausea in my stomach.
The slimes were, as expected, big balls of bubbling gel-like substance, with some of the disgusting thick liquid oozing down one side or another.
A few of them were colored dark-green with some bright-yellow ‘stains’, while most had brown or dark-yellow color, with dots or stripes of other hues.
Their sizes ranged from that of a basketball, to around four times that. Their acidic smell was even more pronounced than its remnants throughout the sewer.
Some of the ‘consumed’ the repulsive liquids and solids flowing through the stream, and
inside one of them, I saw the body of a still-twitching insect, something akin to a centipede, most of its body already half-dissolved inside the acidic gel.
“Try to avoid the splashes. Their leaps are fast. Look out for anything else, too, especially the ceiling.”
I nodded.
Actually, I’ve overheard enough adventurer talk in the guild to learn that much, myself. I also learned slime population control was one of the most hated missions in the Guild, as it was both low-level - thus, relatively low pay - and high risk, at least to equipment. And, getting specialized, acid-resistant equipment just to barely make even after a few runs wasn’t exactly pleasant.
Regardless, it was now time to do the dirty work, as Bern had already begun to advance.
At our approach, the nearest slimes ‘raised their heads’ - as in, their subtly wobbling became faster and more distinct - and slowly began to move.
There were around 5 slimes currently on the sideway, which was around 3 meters wide, with just around 2 dozen more at the edges of the repugnant stream, with those closest to us getting ready to pounce on their next meal, and those farther away progressively ‘aggroing’ as well.
plup
The first slime leaped into the air with an almost cartoonish sound, using its body as an elastic spring, and flying straight at Bern’s face.
whoom - splat
A single, precise swing of the silvery sword bisected the abomination near its midpoint. My eyes managed to catch the ‘core’, a small ball of denser, non-transparent substance, which was located at the center of the creature, cut into two perfect halves, as well.
tss
Unfortunately, even as he did his best to dodge, a few drops of liquid still landed on his leather armor - which he fortunately wore over his chainmail before setting out - rapidly digging into it, leaving a few small acid burns on the armor, albeit not deep enough to get to the metal beneath.
I didn’t have time to focus on the action nearby, as another slime decided to make me its target.
splat
Sadly - for the slime - my sword was not much shorter than Bern’s, and my reflexes were more than sufficient to strike down this low-level monster.
Still, just like Bern, I couldn’t avoid all the subsequent droplets. Unlike him, either luckily or unluckily, no droplet touched my leather armor – instead, I got two on my face.
Instantly, I felt the burning sensation on my cheek. Taking a second to wipe it off marginally diminished the pain, but most of it remained.
‘Later.’
I didn’t have time to worry about it, as the second slime made its jump.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
This time, however, I threw my body to the side, letting it fly past me. As it was flying, carried by its previous momentum, I brought down my sword, slicing it down in a manner that saved me another splash.
I didn’t have time to feel relief, though, as two more slimes were already preparing to take off.
[Arc Slash] ~
I casually stepped forward, striking both of them down before they could inflict any more burns, or worse, damage my newly-repaired equipment.
Meanwhile, to my right, I saw Bern leaping forward, using some skill, cutting down three slimes which were making their way up the edge, still drenched in feces and hell knows what else.
I threw a glance ahead – six more slimes, total, with half of them coming up from the ‘river’. It looked like they were grouping up, likely intending to launch a combined attack.
‘This ain’t worth the price, but the equipment repairs would cost even more.’
Having reached that conclusion, I reached for one of the single-vial cases on my waist…
pfffuum!
A two seconds later, the group of slimes was covered by a splash of liquid flame.
“What?!.. Agh, get back!”
A moment after hearing Bern’s cry, I realized my mistake, as the smell that hit my nostrils nearly made me vomit.
Looking at his side of the impromptu battlefield, the few remaining slimes, who just came out of the waste waters, quickly jumped back inside, perhaps spooked off by the immolation of their kin.
Quickly, me and Bern bolted back, turning the corner to see Ornor’s and Hilde’s confused expressions.
“Quickly, cover your faces! Five seconds, then, hold your breath and run through.”
I now regretted the wasted concoction, but, at least, our journey would become slightly shorter now.
With no time to equip my shields, I took the sack from Hilde, who was busy wrapping a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth, even above the head-mask, and put back my helmet.
“Ready?”
As I nodded, along with the other two, Bern rushed forward. I did the same, holding the empty part of the still-partially-filled sack against my face.
Even with my makeshift air filter, and even as I held my breath, the stench penetrating my senses still made my head dizzy, as I passed by the bubbling remains of the six creatures. Fortunately, after we ran for about twenty seconds, the smell became bearable, and I finally took a breath through my mouth. Following Hilda, we ran for one more minute, until only a trace of the abominable odor remained.
“Sebastian..”
There was no anger in Bern’s voice, but there was definitely some agitation.
“Sorry. I thought this was the fastest way.”
It turned out alright, but I did feel a tinge of regret. If only I actually took the time to actually go to the library and do a proper read-up on-
“Listen. I don’t blame you for the choice you made. However, we are a team. At least, until the end of this mission.”
I lowered my eyes, as his voice softened.
“I understand you’re used to working alone. Just, next time, let me know before you act.”
“Understood.”
Seeing my remorse, Bern turned his eyes to Hilda.
“How long until the first descent?”
“It should be right around the corner. Actually-”
“I hear sounds. Voices too, I think.”
Now that we were out of danger, I concentrated on listening once more. And, in the moment of silence before Bern turned to his companion, I heard the very faint sound of humans, far up ahead.
A few moments of silence followed.
“He has a high level of Awareness. Let’s trust him on this one.”
Following Bern’s remark, Hilda nodded.
“They must be occupying the passage, whatever their reasons are.”
Bern’s eyes narrowed for a moment, as the gears in his head were probably turning at full speed. Then, he turned to me.
“How confident are you in navigating this passage in the darkness?”
For a moment, I thought he might suspect something regarding my Arcane Sense, yet, a second later, I realized someone with my level of perception could manage such a task even without it, as evident by my fight against Zod.
“Pretty.. highly confident.”
“Alright.”
He turned to his companions, while taking off his light orb. Meanwhile, I began strapping back my shields, handing him the empty sack.
“We shall follow you. Once we get close enough, you will reveal yourself, and try to discern their identity. If I do not give the signal to attack, you will try to negotiate our passage.”
“Negotiate?..”
I was a bit confused.
“It’s common courtesy around those parts. Of course, it would include them leaving the undercity tunnel entrance, then – traveling far enough down the sewer tunnel for us to safely pass. They won’t be seeing our figures, apart from you. And, as you aren’t exactly known around those circles, or any circles, I’d wager, it most likely won’t matter.”
“Haaa…”
I didn’t want to do this, but, at the same time, his words did make sense. It wouldn’t be strange for the type of criminals making their home down here - or even their way through - to have this type of unspoken agreement, and avoiding a fight would likely be worth the reveal given that my face was hidden, anyway.
“Alright. However, I have one question.”
Despite Ornor’s impatient scoff, the party leader’s attention remained undivided.
“Yes?”
“What if they refuse to move?”
“If the group is over 15 people, or you sense at least three.. four Path-bearers who are Silver-ranked.. If their combined strength is around that, we retreat, and search for another way.”
After a momentary pause, he added the last part.
“And if not… It will be as I said before.”
His tone changed to a darker one.
“No witnesses.”
***
Ha- Ha- Ha- Haaa…
Another altercation with the hounds – another escape. This time, both Xin and Evelyn sustained minor injuries, but nothing too serious. Not yet.
gulp
Without saying a word, both of them downed a portion of their healing potions, which just so happened to have the same percentage of liquid inside – less than half.
“We’re getting closer. If we could just make it through that intersection, there’d be over a dozen passages up towards the sewers. Even with the hounds on our tail, we could shake off any pursuers."
“That is, if we make it to the intersection. Or through it. They know the layout just as well as us.”
“...”
Without replying, Xin took a small communication sphere from his waist, activating it. A few seconds later, he received a reply, as the sphere - which was actually 64 individual faces - in his hand shook, and a certain dot appeared on one of the faces, its size covering around one fourth of it.
“They are pretty close. Must have entered the tunnels by now. They must have figured out our path – if Hilda is there, I’m certain they had. They’ll make it to the intersection in time.”
For a moment, Eve’s face flickered with hesitation, yet she still asked her next question.
“And if they don’t make it in time?”
A few more seconds of silence followed, as the pair wordlessly resumed their march, once again. The second part of the question, the one which was left unsaid, lingered in the air, regardless.
“They will make it. But, if they come a little late.. we’ll improvise. Just like we always did.”
The soft chuckle of his temporary companion was the first one he’d heard in a long, long time.
“This isn’t Mr. Morton we’re running from Xin. If those guys catch us, it won’t end with a few lashes.”
“We usually did escape, though.”
“I did. That’s why you called me ‘Rabbit’.”
“And I usually managed to talk my way out of it, somehow. That’s why you called me ‘Fox’.”
The pair walked for a few more seconds in silence, perhaps sharing a distant memory.
“There won’t be any talking this time, though.”
The words leaving Eva’s mouth contained the same sadness they did back when she and Xin first reunited after his long absence, less than two weeks ago. However, unlike then, there was also another undertone – that of concern.
“Like I said – we’ll figure something out.”
“I hope you’re not planning to do something foolish.”
“I’m not. Now, save your breath for the road.”
The woman behind him narrowed her eyes, yet, a moment later, with an exhale nearing exhaustion, she silently continued, striding forward.
However, the old memories, ones where Xin would often stay behind to take the lashes in her place, continued playing through her mind.
***
Bzzzt
Deep down below, even farther away from the surface than where the two elves have turned back, the faint blue light of the ample arcane moss, which felt itself at home in those dark depths.
Bzzzzzzt
The man reached for his waist, his black leather glove grasping a communication sphere, one of the few that could be found there.
For a few seconds, he looked at it in silence, halting his step.
“Haaaa… Those guys…”
There was a note of exasperation in his voice.
“Can they do anything properly without me around?”
However, the playful tone showed no true displeasure.
“Fine. I guess I have enough time to help them catch a few rats.”
Instantly, his figure blurred, disappearing in a nearby side tunnel.
Only the dim blue light of the non-vascular plant, which no longer reflected off the dark-gray, nearly black composite armor of the man, remained – a silent, eternal lantern, forever piercing the thick, near-tangible darkness of the Dark Regions.