"seems like we get company as soon as we stepped in ?"
Mada put his new light saber between him and the eerie sound source. it was a loud screeching sound that the two kids had never heard of. of course They never heard of it, it was a cricket, or rather, a colony of one. the cricket was already extinct in this polar World. these here were Mutated cricket.
although technically speaking They still were indeed cricket, They grew into the size of an Ancient Human vehicle called SUV car, it was still somewhat expected from a Mutated creature.
The problem was, not a single record or account of the Ancient Human mentioned that They ate Human as staple food, or having a pair of katana-shaped hind legs to kick their sorry victim's a*s, chopping them in the process, before eventually eating them.
what Mada and Rani met today, unfortunately, was not a species the Ancient Human had met in their era.
gulp...
Rani spoke in a very low volume to Mada, a whisper that still echoed no matter how She lowered her tone in this giant cave .
"I have read about them in our family library, the Ancient Humans called them by the name of cricket. if my memory is not deceiving me, these insects shouldn't be this big."
"lucky for us then, we got more supply this early without actively looking for them--"
"or..., we may be the one who will become their nutritious diet instead"
"we are not really sure if they eat Human, are we ?"
"Mada, I'm not kidding, They were not supposed to be this huge, They were known to be herbivore, but, can't You see those eyes ?!"
Rani was restless, She thought Mada was ridiculous
'He could still be this carefree in front of giant bugs which may turn out to be carnivorous. tsk'
She felt anxiety weighing her down.
"Rani, I know not to underestimate our current predicament. but we have to be calmer and more cool headed the more dangerous our foes are. I'm still on my guard, don't You worry.
protect my back while I protect Your fro-"
tack !!!!! slashhhhhh!!!!
before Mada finished his long sentences. one of the cricket jumped on them, it did not after Mada, it arrived on a space between Mada and Rani, it wanted to separate them apart. preventing their exceptional teamwork.
"I take my words back !!!!, if You were in danger, don't even bother to try guarding my back !!! protect yourself !!!!"
tens of crickets rained down like water water fall.
Mada drew his light saber and swung it hundreds of time in less than five seconds. He felt both of his arms stiffened before remembering He wasn't activating his Mutation yet.
[Mutation Type : Body Transformation]
[Special trait : Adaptation]
activate
after He unlocked his innate power, He rampaged through the bugs colony.
evading hundreds of slashes from their hind legs was still a matter He couldn't scoff at. He might not use his Ancient poem just yet, but considering his special trait was somewhat over powered, being able to see their incoming tracks while unable to fully avoid them all, was so frustrating for Mada.
'this under developed body, Shit !!! if only I was already an adult, I could roast this bugs easy-peasy. '
He had accumulated more than twenty cuts for the past fifteen seconds. in this super state, time was perceived slow as a snail.
He wasn't going to be the only one being beaten of course. He retaliated by continuing swinging his recent favorite toy. hundreds of rays flew and shone in this spacious cave, which seemingly wide enough to contain the fierce battle between two children versus the bug big family.
Mada light saber artifact grew even brighter the moment his Special trait : Adaptation full potential kicked in. He felt his body mass was rapidly growing. his body grew bigger by the minutes this fight went on.
'Holy cow, I do wish to become an adult already but what the fu-'
his body was growing, but also shrunk in an instant. it made him difficult to land accurate hits the longer this battle continued.
"hei Rani ! why the heck I felt this artifact of mine literally sucking up on me !!!????"
"it shines brighter !!! the power output must have gotten bigger !!!! it was said that Your light saber artifact absorbs the biomass of its wielder !!!! it seems really suitable with Your special tra- ackkk!!!!"
"Rani!!!!!"
"I'm fine !!!!! these cursed insects !!! why don't You go extinct like Your older kind !!"
She was struggling shooting the plasma gun.
Mada refocused his attention towards his own battle. He had killed about thirty of the crickets by this point. around thirty more left, not including thirteen more preying on Rani.
Mada knew He had to finish this quickly before both of them depleted their stamina.
'by the Looks of it. They seem pretty Intelligent. but it was still on the level of animals. They are not even in humanoid class.
beast class, I'm sure of it. They almost at the peak of evolving even further. too bad They have to end in our belly tonight'
Mada had enough. He did not plan to drag this longer. so did Rani.
She was in the middle of activating the plasma gun first option.
[registering new shooter]
[subject 145]
[lowest authority]
[requesting access on first option : pulverizer]
[request accepted]
[activate]
a spray of beam punched on the thirteen giant crickets in front of her. lighting their exoskeleton asunder.
----------------
"çri naranatha kastawaniran dinakharasama digjaya prabhu"
(Soaring melodious song of praise of the king)
[Dance of Heavenly emperor : shockwave]
activate
only thirty three percent of the poems power could be generated while reciting just the first stanza, but Mada predicted it was enough to deal with these left over bugs.
now it was real slaughter.
Mada stomped hard on the cave ground. resulting in the whole place rumbled and trembled under his feet influence.
'They mostly still follow their natural instinct. now let's see if You all are smart enough not to come close to me'
the crickets were just of beast class, of course They could not sense the danger of closing into Mada's saber light's reach.
in this state. no beings could move Mada away from his position. the first stanza of the poem was a defence stance to prepare the following attack movement.
but in Mada's mind, it was not needed. the shockwaves from his slashes were enough as his ranged offence.
a complete circle sharp wave flew to everything around him within twenty meters radius, luckly, Rani was far enough from Him. so He could deal a full power blow on to the bugs.
splat splat splat splat...
crash crash crash crash.....
slash slash slash sla...
it was a total of five full Moon slashes of shockwaves
the cricket sturdy exoskeleton was pierced and chopped mercilessly, without them being able to jump back in retreat. when Mada saw a brilliant blue-bright light. He knew the fight was over.
Rani had opened the first power of her current artifact. not her katana, but the plasma gun.
----------------
"it feels like that thing was a bit of an overkill"
Mada pointed one finger to the plasma gun
"said by someone who rooted out eighty percent of those bugs alone..... hmph !!!"
"hey..... I did not mean to wash away Your amazing achievement alright ?"
"stop spouting rubbish and let's just keep walking Mada. I hear more screeching sounds coming."
" sure. we can think of a better ingredient to cook than this giant crickets or whatever. let's move out."
They walked deeper into the cave. trying to light their path with every possible method They could use.
normally. They would need flamable stuffs such as straw, cloth or wood to set alight using the the fire stones rubbed with one anotherto produce sparks. right now, They couldn't afford any of those. Wood is out of question, unless They went to the most wealthy nation out there which may possessed an incredible artifact to control weather. having something like a forest was practically impossible. the World average temperature had always been below zero since more than five hundreds years ago.
the best they could find was tundra grass doting the snowy landscape here and there. that was the main fuel for their camp fire, they also brought some straws from Their wheat supply.
They still had few wheat left but the straw had already run out since yesterday.
and no winter grass could be found the closer They got to the Ancient Humans ruin. so They had not been able to have a proper meal for about a day.
it was nerve-wrecking to fight an intense battle with empty stomachs. but what option did these two have ? in the outside of Terraria City state' wall, it was either to eat or being eaten. if They wanted to have the right for choosing the former option. They had no choice but to fight.
grumble...
"what was that !!?"
Rani tensed up almost immediately, She heard a grumbling sound near their current Location.
"it was my belly. don't be alarmed like that....."
Mada touched his shrunken belly with his left hand.
He was already very lean..... or extremely thin. the bones was obvious through his Skin. it was a miracle how a small muscle of this Nine years old could muster shockwaves that killed not only sixty beast class Mutant recently, but also tens of Evolvers in the past.
"oh Ancient Humans !!. I wish we could take a breather and have breakfast...."
"we have to look for the fire fuels first."
Rani seemed disturbed by their current situation. They had enough ingredient for their due Meal, but no way to cook them.
eating cold food in this winter temperature ? that would be the last thing the Human in this era would do in their list of choices. even if it means starving. the food supply might never rot in this climate. but eating half forzen material would only make them experienced an excruciating death by being choked up.
"do we really still have ingredients to work with ?"
Mada wanted to assure himself by questioning his colleague about their supply status
"You don't need to be concerned about that. we can even go back and take some of those bug meats if necessary. the problem is, we can't even light a bone fire to cook them You see ?"
"how about using their legs ? " Mada gave his idea.
surprisingly enough, this was a good one.
so Rani agreed to him right away.
"good idea, should we go back ?"
"sure, but please do stay cautious when we retrack our way back, these bugs may have been looking for their brethen killer for awhile now, They won't be so too welcoming like before."
"I know, even my special trait has detected some are heading this way. should we welcome them instead ?"
"seems like we got plenty of food coming on their own, hehe. let's take our time and hunt to our heart content"
----------------
thirty minutes later.
They had breakfast at last. They eradicated most of the cricket colony by this point. stocking up piles of fresh ingredients. and ensuring a their camp fire fuel worth for several days.
the two kids walked back to the direction where They came, this time deeper than before. Mada did not have to activate his light saber and wasting his stamina to lighten their way. the same with rani. She was using the visor this entire time since entering the cave.
although Mada did not necessarily have to light their way along the cave steep path if He activated his Mutation. by doing so, it would only drain his stamina. when an emergency situation did occurred in the forseeable future. and He had not what it took to resolve it without his Mutation being active. both of them would certainly be doomed.
using the light saber was more efficient than using his Mutation outright.
.....
one hour since They had their breakfast.
"is... this... I am not dreaming right ?....
Rani, please slap my cheek. "
slap !!!!
Rani slaped Mada so hard that his cheek became red and swollen.
"thank you..."
"my pleasure"
Mada was dumbstruck by the landscape He saw in the end of the giant cave.
"what... is that even building ? ho-how... how deep these Ancient towers had been buried..."
Mada looked down on the blackened bottom. of course He couldn't see anything.
this could only mean someone would certainly die the moment They fell from the edge's entrence of this archaic underground landscape. buried under thick layer of snow up above.
"They are technically towers, but the Ancient Humans called the skyscrapers. literally means scraping the sky. it seems these Ancient structures are really preserved eventhough five hundred years had passed."
from where They stood. They cold easly see more than twenty towers, one higher than the other and vice versa. They were standing tall quitely. an eerie and creepy atmosphere oozed by this ancient City was more suffocating than the wondrous and maestic sight it showed to them.
"I don't know how this place wasn't completely buried under the snow raining down from the sky ,or hadn't been destroyed in the World War They waged for years. it feels like a strong barrier was protecting and preventing this ruin from totaly collapsed and crumbling from the weight above."
"Rani, did we just get in here through this cave because You knew this was its entrance ?"
"yes, this tunnel was the only passage that leads here. it was said by my master that the Ancient Human seems to live in this place for some periods before They completely went extinct from some unknown reasons."
"this place feels strange and surreal the longer I look at it."
"be amazed bum, ckckck, I won't blame You. You can relive these sights and carve them inside Your head. this is the achievement our ancestors accomplished to conquer the earth. we will need more than a month to completely explore this place's every nooks and crevices. anyway, this place would be our home for the next few months."
a tunnel that connected the past and future. a passage to take a peek on their ancestor glorious history. the cave They passed just now, was technically the link between two eras .
----------------
the mouth of the entrence tunnel was Located up high on the wall of this humongous underground space, seemingly forming a cliff like landscape.
from the many craked and broken window glasses, on one of the underground skyscrapers. a pair of red eyes stared into two figures who stood on the edge of the entrence of this buried city.
hissing sound could be heard from its direction.
waiting..... from inside centuries of darkness-
----------------
to be continued.