Ash pulled John away from the door and Ora blasted the Igaaws with a fireball. The flame spell hit the small, agile creatures directly but the effect was far from expected.
The usual crackling sound of fire was noticeably absent and the flame fizzled out as soon as it hit.
The Igaaws are small humanoid creatures with large ears and cracked skin. Their eyes are deep set and reptilian. Their limbs are short but they move surprisingly fast.
Ash barely had enough space to maneuver as she tried to shield John from attacks.
The shrieking creatures attacked the party with their sharp claws and teeth.
Ora was protected by her cape. It flapped and moved on its own, rendering the sharp claws of the Igaaws ineffective.
Vince was not so lucky. He stumbled in surprise while Zone and Grace could barely keep the attackers off him.
His cheap armor soon filled with dents and deep scratches. He tried getting to his feet but the heavy armor and their poorly made joints prevented him from doing so. He resorted to wild kicks.
Zone and Grace pelted the Igaaws with rocks but that, too, proved as ineffective as Vince's kicks.
Ice was behind John and Ash and while she saw everything that was happening, she was locked in fear. Nevertheless, she got her healing spells ready.
Ash found that her blade is effective so she slashed at the Igaaws attacking them while trying to get John to safety. The latter's bloody hand is getting in the way and he found it nearly impossible to help Ash prevent the small creatures from swarming them over.
Grace managed to get the Balete Branch out and used it to hit the Igaaws. One of the attackers jumped towards her and she stumbled back.
She dropped the branch to the ground. As soon as it hit the ground, it shimmered and instantaneously grew into a tree filled with vines and intertwining branches.
However, the tree didn't look substantial. It was dull in color and lacked definition in some places. Sounds emanated from it and that distracted the Igaaws for a moment.
There was shrill laughter and sounds of flapping wings. In an instant, bats flew out of the phantom tree's branches and attacked the Igaaws.
The insubstantial bats distracted the Igaaws enough for Zone to take out his Buntot Pagi whip and the wiry teen began whipping the creatures back towards the door.
Ora brought out her sword and helped drive the shrieking creatures back.
Ash saw this and left John to join the fray.
The phantom bats continued to dive and flap their insubstantial wings at the Igaaws who seemed frightened of the nocturnal animals.
Although superior in numbers, the Igaaws were slowly driven back towards the floating doorway.
John managed to take out his gun and aimed. His hand was shaking so he used his bloody left hand to help steady the weapon.
Ice saw that his left hand is almost whole again although it is still bloody.
The gun glowed and seemed to absorb the blood dripping from John's left hand. Blood-red bullets formed in the air and seemed to seep into the gun.
John shouted for the others to step aside. The Igaaws are all almost completely driven back.
The gun's barrel glowed brighter and as the 3 stepped aside, John fired.
The ensuing blast took them all by surprise. It was at least as loud as a cannon shot and as spectacular.
Light that is peculiarly shaped like a giant bird formed before streaking fast towards the Igaaws.
The shot all but obliterated the creatures - those that are near the door anyway. The rest quickly fled inside, screaming.
They all looked at John who also stared at the smoking doorway in disbelief.
His left hand is now fully healed but they are shaking from exhaustion. Ash nodded at him with awe in her eyes and even the usually irreverent Vince looked at John with amazement.
John raised the gun at eye level and turned it every which way. He checked his game menu.
He returned the gun in his inventory. Under its name, it had 6 slots with different colors. Beside the slots are names of attacks. Habagat in green, Buhawi in darker green. There are some others that still have a greyed-out status bar. The shot he just did was called Minokawa and its status showed it as unlocked but it was in a duller font than the others. He shrugged and closed his menu.
He waved off their questions and pointed at the horizon. It was almost dark. They had to go.
They all went inside the door as the sun painted the sky an ominous red.
The inside of the door is surprisingly cool. The rock wall was smooth and contained baybayin writings.
Ice, wide-eyed, looked at the writings and stopped to read some of them.
"This is incredible John," she said. "It tells of a great deed of three heroes who banded together to imprison the Bakunawa."
"This is great game content. I wonder where they got their material from?" mused Zone out loud.
"I have a feeling this is no longer the game," Grace said.
"Yeah, I get what you mean," added Vince. "Somewhere along the line, we crossed dimensions and ended in a location that used the game as a doorway. At least that's what this feels."
"There is one way to find out," suggested Ash and before anyone could ask, she summoned Rai.
"Hey sprite, you are here. So that means we are still in the game, right?" she asked the gaily floating sprite.
"Uhh...yes and no," Rai answered.
"Is this gonna be another of those times where you turn useless?" Ash crossed her arms.
"Hey, I resent the insinuation! I have never been nothing but useful. You were just asking the wrong questions," Rai said indignantly.
"Although it doesn't matter that much, will you satisfy our curiosity, honey?" asked Ora.
"You are inside one of the God portals. Even I do not fully understand how these work but apparently, these two," Rai pointed at Vince and Grace, "Hit the bull's eye. These are not really part of the normal game. You already guessed some of it so I can talk about them a little. I have with me a copy of a book called Chronicles of the Land of the Morning. It describes an island nation in the southeastern part of the pacific ocean, below a small island named Formosa..."
"Hold up… I know my geography. That part has nothing but water," interrupted Zone.
"I know. I was talking about what the book said. Anyway, it is somewhat connected with these portals. The game developer either also has a copy of this book and used it as a basis for these levels or these actually exist in an alternate dimension where an island nation called the Philippines exists," explained Rai.
"If our theory was correct, that might explain why gamers can take out items from here into the real world. Because these levels are not virtual at all. We have talked about it before when I told you about the MBCs. I have connections with some people who assumed that it is indeed the case. The underground scene circulated these rumors for quite some time now but info regarding this was closely guarded. It is the first time I have heard of that nation but everything else fits," said Grace.
"Can we have a copy of that book?" asked John.
"I don't have it with me now. And I can't take it from the library. Maybe there is a way to take you there. I will have to find out and tell you as soon as I can," Rai said.
"Alright. Do that, please. Thank you," John said and waved for the others to continue walking.
"Don't you wanna know the rest of the story?" asked Ice who continued reading as the others talked.
"Give us the abridged version," said John.
"Okay. It says here, the Bakunawa is a great dragon that wants to swallow the moon. I guess that's why the Igaaws want to free it. Anyway, three heroes apparently teamed up to capture it and after a long battle, managed to trap it under this volcano. One of the heroes used his sword to seal the dragon but the dragon in a last ditch effort to escape forced the owner of the sword to stay locked in here with him."
"Tragic," said Grace.
At last they reached the heart of the mountain. The rumbling is now thunderous and the earthquakes that came with them are equally frightening.
Ice clung to John and the others found similar comfort in huddling up.
Vince kept looking up apprehensively.
"Remind me again why we came here," he said in a shaky voice.
"That reminds me, what happens if we refuse these quests and just take the easier ones?" asked Zone.
"I don't think this is the time to be asking that. We are already here and like it or not, there is no turning back. If you want to find out the answer to your questions, do it some other time," John said gruffly.
Ora probed John's face for any indication that he meant what he said or how he said it and found that he is struggling to maintain a calm demeanor. The harsh voice was intended to mask the fear he feels and he did not want the kids to see that.
Her heart went out to him.
"I understand your fear, especially now that there is a probability of real damage in light of what we talked about earlier but John is right. For now, all we can do is go forward," Ora said gently to the two boys.
Ash's expression is solemn but determined and Grace is just slightly less so. Ora hid her smile. It seems that the girls have sturdier backbones.
One more rumble dislodged some rocks from the ceiling of the cave that made Ice and Vince scream.
"Hush. Did you hear that?" John put a hand on Vince's shoulder.
"Hear what?" Vince struggled to listen.
Then a massive quake was punctuated by a roar of some vast animal.
"That," John said simply.
After several more minutes, they reached the cause of the earthquakes. The Igaaws are chipping away at a gargantuan stone block full of Baybayin markings. For some reason their attack was making the stone block, which is the size of several houses, shake violently thus causing the earthquake.
Hundreds of the diminutive creatures swarmed the stone block while a thousand more stood nearby awaiting their turn.
John could see that the Igaaws are not merely attacking the stone. They are hitting the stone with their whole body, crashing into it without a care.
After several tries, they simply disappear into the stone like it was a sponge and they are water.
They are feeding the Bakunawa!
At the same time, they are worsening its thirst. John knew that this would drive the dragon insane. Judging from the small cracks appearing on the stone's surface, the dragon could soon break free from its cage.
Vince stepped forward and tapped John aside.
"The stone is calling me," he said.