It was a quiet, sunny day on a certain small farm near the border with the Burronian Empire.
A group of people was currently gathered around a hole in the ground.
A few days ago, the ground suddenly collapsed after a substantial rainfall and a massive underground cavern was exposed.
The farmer was shocked to see such a thing happen, but then, strange sounds kept coming from the hole periodically. Especially at night.
The sounds carried a certain tone that made it extremely unnerving if one listened to them for a long time.
Since he didn't dare explore the cave on his own, and the anxiety from the sounds grew stronger, the poor man had no choice but to alert Warrior's Guild and have them check it out.
The people gathered around the sinkhole were precisely the experienced Warriors from the Guild.
"Khand, make a way for us!" the one that looked like the leader called out.
The man in question, Khand, replied strongly, "Yes, boss!" Then, with a serious face, he lifted his hands and then pushed them down while chanting, "Shifting Earth, Moving Ground!"
Rumble!
The ground around the sinkhole shook and shifted, making a ramp that led to the underworld.
"Elly?" the leader turned to a young girl.
"I'm on it, boss!" She grabbed a shiny amulet around her neck and held it tightly in her small tender hands. "The sun as my guide, I call from the sky, a ray of light, and a drop of sunshine! Let there be Light!"
With the magic chant coming to an end, the light in the surrounding area dimmed for a second and gathered to a single point in the air.
The ball of light was about the size of a fist and shined brightly like a small sun.
"Your Light magic is still just at the beginner rank, eh Elly? Are you sure you are still a mighty Wizard?" a guy teased the young girl.
"Oh, shut up, Cot! I would like to see you cast Light spells if you know so much!" Elly replied while keeping an eye on the ball of light. A constant connection had to be established with a spell, otherwise, it would go out.
"Enough you two, knock it off!" The authoritative voice of their leader sounded out and disrupted their bickering, "Elly, lead the way! For the rest, keep your eyes open wide! We are going into the unknown, so it's not the time to mess around!"
Everyone present confirmed the order in unison, and Elly led the group, with the ball of light illuminating their path.
The sinkhole led to a humid underground room in which moss and weird big mushrooms were growing.
The leader turned to face the rest and said, "Weird… Soll, what do you make of this?"
"Hmm…" After being called, Soll took a step forward and went to check. He thoroughly investigated the moss and mushrooms, as well as the ground and walls of the cave.
"This is the common Cave Moss, there is nothing special about it… These things, however, are Demon Mushrooms, extremely poisonous, so don't carelessly touch them!" Soll warned and went on to place his hand on the cave wall.
"Although I'm not sure why are they growing here… As far as I know, they should be only growing around Forbidden Lands."
"But those aren't anything dangerous if we are careful… What I'm worried about is that we might come across a dangerous beast! Look at these walls!" He pointed with his finger. "And here! These marks are all over the ground!"
Taking a deep breath he spoke with a heavy tone, "This cave is not natural, someone excavated it not long ago. It has been a few months, a year at most! I think this is where the beasts grow their food."
Soll went on to point out even more peculiar things, "Look over here, someone munched on these Demon Mushrooms." The mushrooms he pointed at were dark red, almost half a meter tall, and extremely thick, like a tree stump.
"Some marks are fresh, while some are old! That means whatever lives here is resistant to its poison and is probably extremely strong, we should be careful!"
Soll proudly displayed his knowledge and skills, while the leader took his time and calmly evaluated his words. Eventually, he nodded with a serious look, "Good! Elly, step back. Shield carriers, to the front! Let's proceed slowly, no pushing!"
"Yes!" Everyone answered in unison and the warriors redistributed themselves. Elly stepped back to give way to a few tall, muscular men with heavy armor and thick shields. She stayed in the back and controlled her Light from afar.
The group slowly moved forward in the damp environment. The rocky tunnel was weirdly symmetrical and long grooves ran along the walls.
It looked like some animal ran its claws across the stone surface and it was apparent that it was not something weak.
Krrrt, krrrt, krrrt, krrrt...
Walking for what seemed to be an eternity, the group stumbled upon a crossroads. Tunnels spread out like a spider net in all directions, even going up or down. From some, they heard weird grinding sounds, as if someone was chewing on rocks.
"Sssh! Don't make a sound!" The leader whispered his warning and then pointed at one of the tunnels, "Follow the sounds."
Before they entered, though, he marked the wall with chalk, in case they got disorientated later.
Walking on their tip-toes, the group slowly advanced. They passed many tunnels that went in different directions, and the leader marked them all down. It would be tragic if they got lost underground because of carelessness.
The sound was getting louder as they progressed deeper into the underground, and it was also coming from different directions.
Finally, just when they thought the road was endless, they came to see an animal scraping at the stone wall in the distance.
"Aw, shit! It's the Minecrawlers!" The leader of the group, going by the name Belmar, silently cursed.
As the one in charge of Mad Weasels, such was the name of the group of young people present, he was responsible for choosing appropriate jobs for them to take on.
Before the start of this expedition, they spent a week in the wild, chasing down disciples of Blood Sun Viper with little success.
Of the few that they managed to capture, one of them managed to commit suicide, which further decreased their profits.
Tired and with low morale after a failed bounty hunt, the team requested an easy job so they could get their spirits back up and recover at the same time.
He never imagined stumbling upon such a rare creature.
Who knew that a simple mission of checking out a hole in the ground at a small farm would turn into this mess?
Belmar frowned at the sight of the Minecrawler. The beast had a similar body structure to an ant, though it was hundreds of times larger, measuring almost two meters in height.
It had four legs supporting its body and two front-facing arms that were curved at the ends like a sickle. It was using those sharp appendages to scrape into solid rock, making long grooves on the stone surface.
Its entire body was covered by a gray stone-like chitin exoskeleton armor.
Just as Belmar was debating whether they should retreat, the Minecrawler turned its thin antenna towards them. It detected foreign vibrations in the air and immediately stopped what it was doing.
Skreee!
A loud, high-pitched screech reverberated in the cavern, making the people cover their ears in pain.
"We've been discovered," the leader stated in a heavy and serious tone.
Skreee, skreee!
Soon similar sounds came from other tunnels and the sheer amount of them made the members of Mad Weasels' blood run cold.
"Get ready to fight!" After the shout, Belmar gripped his mace and lifted his shield to cover his chest.
They were surrounded. Unknowingly they came deep into the Minecrawler's nest and now the only way to survive was to fight for their lives!
Soon after giving the warning screech, the first Minecrawler charged forward.
Bang!
The sickle-like front legs collided with one of the big shields the guys in front were carrying, producing a booming sound.
The force of the impact made it so that he had to take a step back to keep his balance and his hand holding the shield felt sore.
In retaliation, the guy lifted his other hand and smashed the Minecrawler on the head with a spiked hammer.
Bam!
Despite taking a strong blow to the head, the Minecrawler seemed to be unconcerned with what just happened. Although the exoskeleton was smashed hard, only a small crack was formed at the point of impact.
"Damn, the beast is so tough!"