With a start, Sebastian suddenly stood up in the darkness. 'Shit. We fell down when the ground collapsed. [Augment] Steel body and mind, night vision.'
Seeing perfectly in the darkness, he looked around his immediate surroundings. 'I'm in a cave it seems. Wait. I forgot to check my extremities.' Feeling through his arms and legs, he found no traces of injuries, only bruises and scratches here and there. Considering he was now in total blackness, he thought that he might have fallen deep. 'Given the extent of my fall, I'm lucky to only have these injuries.'
After assessing that he was in stable condition, Sebastian now turned further around him as he looked for his other companions. 'Becky was closest to me while Jin and Mel were far from us. They should be around here somewhere.'
With the help of his night vision, he was able to see Becky's figure lying down away from him. Even with him running, it took him a good minute or two to get to her. Turning her onto her back, Sebastian feared the worst as he couldn't sense any movement at first. Sensing nobody else with them in the vast expanse, Sebastian quickly cast [Light] after disabling his night vision skill.
"Becky, can you hear me?" Sebastian felt a weak pulse emanating from her carotid artery. He was able to feel her slow breath through her nose, but he couldn't check if there were any chest injuries or the like. He quickly loosened her cuirass as he took it off. Seeing nothing serious, he then checked her extremities and her head. She appeared to wince when he touched the back of her head, he checked his hands - clear of blood. It was most likely a concussion or something similar. He cast a basic [Heal] to see if it was something minor that he could fix with his level of magick. Sebastian quietly hoped that she would awaken after. He couldn't imagine any form of advanced treatment whatsoever he could do in the scenario.
"mmmm..." Becky showed subtle signs of movement after being healed by Sebastian.
"Becky. Wake up." Sebastian was still cradling her in his arms as he continued to assess their surroundings. The huge cave remained still and quiet without any form of disturbances. Time appeared to have stood still for the two adventurers within.
"Sebastian. Let me go." Becky opened her eyes and saw the silhouette of Sebastian looking around them with his amber eyes as he was holding her. It would have been romantic if it wasn't for the injured and perilous state they were in.
"Thank goodness you're awake. I loosened your cuirass because I checked if you had any chest injuries. I didn't do anything else. Here you go." Sebastian handed Becky's leather armour back to her as he stood up to face the opposite direction.
"I know you weren't doing anything else. If something else is amiss, I'll have you answer for it." Becky quickly wore her cuirass before checking on her weapons as she was threatening him.
"Good to know you're fully awake now. We fell quite a bit of distance. I can't even see the light of day above us." Sebastian also followed suit as he checked on his weapons. His two swords were still around his waist, offering a form of reassurance to the adventurer.
"Let's assess our surroundings first. I want to cast [Signal] to show that we're alive. Hopefully, it won't attract any unwanted attention, but I want to reassure the others as well." Sensing that nothing was near them, Becky knelt down as she placed her hand on the ground as what Sebastian taught her in the village. She tried to find any unusual vibrations or movement through the ground.
"[Augment] Steel mind, hyper senses." Sebastian also knelt down as he followed suit and tried to feel their surroundings.
"I don't sense anything immediately near us, how about you Sebastian?"
"Me too. I think it should be safe to cast [Signal] now."
"I agree. I'll do it. [Signal]." Becky raised her hand to direct the spell upwards as both adventurers looked up expectedly. Without saying anything, the two of them hoped to be able to see the sky or elicit a response from someone else after the standard rescue spell.
BAM BAM WHOONG
"I definitely saw it explode high up. However, that wasn't enough to reach the outside. We seem to be really far down." Sebastian kept looking up as he waited expectantly.
"Well this is just bloody ridiculous now isn't it." Becky crossed her arms in her usual pose as she looked around. "Let's look for a way out through this cave. We might find something that will lead us up."
Becky lead the way as she used her heightened senses to look around the space around them. Both adventurers took turns using [Light] to conserve their mana as they continued to map the cave at a cautious pace.
"Becky. There seems to be an opening here. It's the only opening I can find around us. Let's go."
Sebastian directed Becky's attention to a well-hidden opening through a sharp corner. Becky's search on her side had resulted in nothing. At the moment, the opening Sebastian found was their only way out of the huge cave room.
After following the winding passage for what felt like hours, Sebastian and Becky finally found themselves in a crudely made-up room. The room was big and spacious, about half the size of the cave room they just came from. There were stone beds with straws placed over it, providing no comfort whatsoever. Tattered rags were strewn everywhere in the room. The musky smell of sweat and piss hung heavily in the air. It reminded them of a prison of sorts.
BAM!
The door suddenly swung open from a man's kick as he entered the room abruptly. Sebastian stood in front of Becky as both drew their weapons for combat.
"Ahh, how rude of me. We have visitors. I thought that it was a bit noisy today." A burly man in a coat stood in the doorway, blocking the entire makeshift door frame. With the light behind him, Sebastian couldn't see clearly his facial features, although he guessed that the threatening man was human.
"We just want to go back to the surface." Sebastian broke the silence as he gripped his weapons tighter.
"It's funny you should say that. Everyone that has been here always says the same thing at one point. I always answer them the same: why should I do that?" The man took out metal cylinders that sat flush in his hands. The intricate carvings gave the metal cylinders a complex and expensive appearance.
Sebastian couldn't figure out what sort of weapons they were. Although he didn't want to find out the hard way and continued to keep his guard up. He stacked multiple instances of [Augment] while both men were waiting for the other to make the first move.
Within a breath's time, Becky appeared beside the man!
The man nonchalantly pointed both his metal cylinders towards Becky as her face showed an expression of surprise before it turned into an expression of pain.
BLAM BLAM!
"Becky!!" Sebastian rushed forward to engage the man and allow her to retreat, however, Becky maintained her pained expression as she dropped her daggers and clutched her stomach.
"No Sebastian don't" Becky couldn't continue her sentence before the man dropped both spent cylinders and then grabbed her by the throat while twisting her right hand behind her in the one-sided scuffle.
TOK!
The burly man twisted Becky's hand abruptly, dislocating her right shoulder. Her right arm hung limp as a shriek bubbled in her mouth. The main in the coat simply tightened his grip on her throat, stifling her scream. He turned her facing Sebastian before taking another metal cylinder out of his pocket then pointed it towards Becky's face.
"From where I come from, we call this a gun. Don't fucking move."
***
"[Shield Bash]!" Jin pushed a mutated wolf away as he made space for Mel to circle around the wolf. It was difficult fighting in a cramped space, but they focused on the rat imps first before dealing with the mutated wolves. Although the rat imps numbered more than 5, they were no match for Mel as she used her sword skills like before. With the rat imps out of the way, the duo then focused on the mutated wolves. Jin's shield kept getting in the way simply because he wasn't accustomed to the size and weight of it yet.
"This bloody shield is annoying! I'll focus on strikes now Mel, be prepared."
"It's doing its job though in protecting you and me. Complain after. I'll also attack it at the same time."
Jin nodded as he fell back to silence. He studied the wolf's movements as he waited for the right time. When the wolf stepped back to prepare a pounce, Jin stepped forward to close the space.
"[Spear Thrust]!"
"[Sword Slash]!"
Both Jin and Mel found their mark as their weapons were buried deep in the wolf's neck. With a whimper, the wolf fell with a thud.
"That's one down." Jin turned around as he saw the second wolf try to circle them. The cramped space also proved disadvantageous to the beasts as well, they couldn't attack at the same time and had to wait until the beast in front died before they could move forward.
"The rat imps are gone. There will be enough space for two or three wolves Jin. We have to play it smart." Mel offered her brief input as she pulled out her sword and readied it again.
"I'll use my [Shield Bash] to get them off-centre before you attack them. Weaken them before we deal the final blow. Don't let your guard down."
Jin took a deep breath before rushing towards a mutated wolf.
"Below! [Shield Bash]!"
Jin's shield pushed the unexpecting mutated wolf off its front paws as it's neck received the full brunt of his heavy shield's force. Mel didn't waste time as she ducked below Jin's now-raised shield and aimed for the opening leading to the wolf's underbelly.
"[Crescent Slash]!"
With a graceful arc, her sword traced a horizontal line that appeared unhindered. It was a quick sweeping motion, which was all it took to carve a red line into the wolf. The wolf didn't seem fazed as it continued to growl and prepared to pounce. However, as soon as the wolf placed its front paws on the ground again, the beast's bowels emptied itself out onto the cave floor. Even as the wolf struggled, gravity did the rest of the dirty work as the mutated beast continued to spill its contents through the gruesome gash.
Relying barely on brute force, Jin stabbed his glaive straight into the fatally-injured wolf's head - not leaving anything to chance. The wolf let out one last whimper as it fell onto its steaming innards.
With their combined tactics, the two adventurers fought with close-knit coordination in the tight space. They managed to take down two more mutated wolves before silence found them once more.
"Hah hah. I think that's all of them." Mel braced herself as she leaned on the cave wall. She sheathed her weapon as she took deep breaths.
"Don't let your guard down!" Jin kept his weapon up as he held the shield tighter. Even though he kept complaining about the shield getting in the way, he still used it for his defence and offence.
Mel felt the familiar feeling of a panic attack creep up as she looked at the mutated wolf and her sword. With the lull after the battle approaching, her anxiety started to take over. She remembered the deep breathing exercises taught by Sebastian as she started to take breaths in while counting. After a few moments, she was able to draw her weapon again while looking ahead. She didn't dare to look down at the wolf corpses for fear of triggering another panic attack.
"Let's slowly advance to where they came from. Are you hurt anywhere Mel?"
"I'm okay Jin. How about you? Do you need a [Heal]?"
"A few more cuts on top of the fall. I can still manage with this. We should conserve our mana, we don't know what's ahead of us." Jin lead the way as he maintained his battle-ready pose.
bam bam whoong
"Did you hear that? A [Signal] spell. It's faint but it's nearby. It should be them. Shall I cast [Signal] as a reply?" Mel perked up as she heard the spell.
Jin abruptly raised his hand as if he punched the empty air. "It's best not. We still don't know if there are other mutated beasts nearby. We don't want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. Let's continue to scout ahead. If we're safe then we can cast it."
With the newfound excitement of finding their allies soon, Mel and Jin continued to trudge forward.
***
"[Signal]!" Aima pointed her staff towards the clear sky with fervour as she cast her fifth [Signal] spell.
"Aima, that should be enough. If there was somebody near us, they would have heard it by now. You have to conserve your mana." Zes held Aima's hand as she tried to urge her to sit down and rest.
"I will not rest until someone comes. I can't go down but somebody can report this to Leo. He should be able to hear this with his scouting ability. [Signal]!"
BAM BAM WHOONG!!
"You're showing signs of fatigue now. If you collapse then you won't be of much help to them. As soon as someone comes, we can organise a rescue party then. The rest of us are weakened, but we should be able to cast a [Signal] or two before we collapse. If needed, we're prepared for that. Please don't push yourself." Zes resorted to begging as she resisted the urge to take Aima's staff away from her. She knew it wouldn't stop her from casting [Signal] until her mana burnout. She also knew that she couldn't overpower Aima even if they were both weakened. However, the thought of physically stopping Aima weighed heavily on her mind - she was simply desperate for Aima to stop and rest.
"You lot don't understand. I need to find help and go down there now. [Signal]!" Tears streamed down Aima's face once more as she cast her seventh [Signal] spell.