"Kosha! I have need of a question," Ryuma said.
"Go ahead! I don't mind. Anything to keep my mind off these tunnels," Kosha said.
"Why is it that I'm the one that's holding the lantern?"
The tunnel they were walking through was deep and dark. No light illuminated through it and whatever light they had with them failed to make it that far enough to see ahead. If they were dealing with a field beast that prioritized stealth, they wouldn't happen upon it until it was staring at them directly in their face.
Especially one that used the darkness to its advantage.
"That's simple. It's because you're a duel wielder. I hold a single blade. You can still fight with a single hand. I need both my hands,"
Ryuma grumbled. Much as he hates to admit it, he was right.
He could still use a blade with one hand and was adept at doing so. It still left him feeling vulnerable since he loses all the advantages in duel wielding but keeping all the penalties. He was still expected to perform as normal should something arise and that annoyed him.
"Look. No matter what happens, I can react to it. Don't worry so much. I doubt there's a field beast in here we couldn't deal with. This is for the best," Kosha said.
Ryuma could only grumble more. He tried to sense anything by soul force only to find nothing out there. If only this tunnel was the one with the apparitions in it and the field beast at the top. Not only would Kosha be the one holding the damn lamp, but he'd also be able to sense exactly where the apparitions were without the need for lighting.
They continued walking down the tunnel in relative silence. They had to step over the broken tracks, crunching over the dirt and dust. The wooden beams on the side looked old and cracked. There was a feeling that this area could cave in at any moment.
At times like this, it would be helpful to have a priest of the yellow monkeys here. One who specializes in Terra Artes.
They've been walking in here so long, the light from the beginning of the tunnel no longer reached, and they no longer felt safe from behind. For all they know, any field beast could have walked themselves in after them. Better yet, the could have passed a connecting tunnel without knowing so.
"I'm starting to rethink my decision. If it's a maze in here, we might have a problem other than the field beast," Ryuma said.
"Relax. A few curves, but there aren't too many passages. It's mostly a straight shot through," Kosha said.
"If so, then for what reason were they built?"
"For the reason we're using them for. To avoid being seen. It's not like they were mining for anything specific. These tunnels are only about a hundred years old. The Skylands and the present of The Order was far older than this,"
"You're telling me a tunnel was built right up under The Orders noses and they were never one the wiser?" Ryuma asked.
"You'd be surprised at how many people were in solidarity that there were just some things The Order shouldn't know about. A hidden tunnel was one of them,"
"Something like this had to have been done shovel by shovel," Ryuma said. This process might have been taken over the course of decades.
"Sad to see that something so hard earned is being occupied by field beast. Naru can't even make a request to exterminate, otherwise they'd be tipping The Order off its existence,"
"So if WE exterminated them on the way, we'd be doing Naru a favor…"
Makes sense. Nobody isn't going to do this job for zero reward. The two here just needed to get to Naru and this was a mere obstacle in the way.
"Well when you put it that way…"
Kosha stopped talking. There were clacking sounds on the ground coming from the hidden darkness of the tunnels. Over time, the clacking sounds got louder.
Kosha put his guard up. Ryuma held the white blade in his right hand in front of him while the lantern hung on the end of the sword.
The tension grew as the sound got louder.
"Kosha. When they appear, you'll only have a second to recognize what creature we're dealing with to react to it," Ryuma warned.
"I know," He said.
Kosha was hyper focusing on what little light was in front of him. Ryuma went off towards his side so the light wasn't directly behind his back. Every bit of distance counted with a warrior like Kosha.
The clacking got louder.
What kind of creature were they dealing with? How fast can they strike? How far away are they? Worse yet, how many of them are there?
These kinds of questions plagued Ryuma's thoughts. All he could do was trust in that reaction speed that almost did him in prior. Like it or not, Kosha was a respectable opponent, and he knew about field beast more than he did. Ryuma only had a rudimentary knowledge of them when most of his focus was on the apparitions.
Kosha took a deep breath. The clacking sound got louder. It was to the point that Ryuma was sure that these things were right in front of them. Despite that, they couldn't see anything. It's like the creatures were stomping in front of them deliberately staying outside the range of their light.
They each took a small step forward.
Suddenly a creature with an armored shell on its back launched out of the darkness with their pointed claws.
Though Ryuma saw it, he was frozen stiff. There was no time for him to strike the creature at the speed it was coming in.
Kosha, however, saw the beginning of its claw and instantly recognized the creatures with which they were dealing.
He moved with blinding speed and sliced the creature where it was most defenseless. The inside of its joints.
Multiple claws started popping into their line of vision. Each one of them getting dismembered as their weakness kept coming into the light without hesitation.
The two slowly walked forward hearing the cries and screes of the creatures getting sliced.
As their felled bodies lay on the ground, Ryuma realized what sort of creatures they were dealing with. Karaku's. Humanoid crab creatures, usually found near moist caves and underground lakes. They would often be near the ocean. Some have evolved to nest in dry tunnels such as this, but it wasn't a common occurrence.
The most troublesome thing about them was their numbers.
He wanted to say something to Kosha, but looking at him, he could tell that Kosha was in the zone. His concentration could simply not be broken now. They had to keep moving forward. It was the only way. To turn around was simply asking for death.
He wanted to tell him that karaku's don't nest in narrow tunnels like this. Their numbers were too great. The only answer for this was that there must be a wide area up ahead. Though he wanted to tell him that, he had to trust that the boy already knew. Kosha should know a great deal more about the field beast then him. If he already knew and walked forward any ways, then he must've had a good excuse.
Ryuma kept his katana up just in case any of the karaku's made it to him. A futile effort. None made it past Kosha's slices before showing up to Ryuma in pieces.
This kept going on for ten minutes without end. Ryuma couldn't even tell how far forward they'd gotten, but if it kept going like this, they would drop long before they reached the other side of the tunnel. He had to make a decision and quickly.
Without warning, Ryuma bent down and set the lantern down. He spun in towards the front forcing Kosha to stop swinging.
As he neared the end of his spin. "Wind Artes: Pressure Blast!"
Since the tunnel was narrow up ahead, all the pressure of the wind was pressurized even more, creating a powerful wind current that blew whatever was ahead of them to pieces, while forcing all the karaku's, dead or alive to be blown all the way to the back of the narrow tunnel.
"FUCK MAN! A LITTLE WARNING!?" Kosha yelled. He dug into his own ears from the pressure blow back.
"Sorry about that. You looked too focused for me to say anything. I didn't know how long you could last," Ryuma said.
"Oh don't worry about that. I was going to keep going all night and day if that's what it took. Though I'm glad you just made it that much easier," Kosha said.
"You're right. We should close the gap before they crowd back into the tunnel," The two started running forward after Ryuma picked up the lantern again. "By the way, there's a good chance that there's wide open area.
"I figured that would be the case. I was wondering how karaku's were living in this cramped tunnel,"
"Damn. If you came to the same conclusion I did. We're going to have one hell of a fight on our hands,"