The situation was hectic, to say the least, Constantine grunted slightly, he had just been teleported here, naked... with a raging boner that was progressively dying at the sight of those insightful creatures and his hand was casually laying on top of some shining ore that everyone here seemed to look with a covetous gaze of sorts.
'Perfect... is this really the kind of punishment you're going to impart?!'
[If you manage to get out of this alive, it might earn you some of my, Zebellia's respect... now show me~]
"Damn you!"
The next thing he saw was a clean sweep of a spear coming his way, his eyes caught it a shining glint!
*WHOOSH!!*
He evaded it and jumped back, surprised at how nimble this body is, almost rejoicing.
'I feel so young!'
"Give back the stalactite!"
"Forlon, what are you waiting for? Slaughter that ant!" One of the green ogres, the biggest one, the one Constantine recognised as the big boss yelled with might as if mocking his homologue due to his lack of overbearingness.
But the moment Constantine evaded that sweep, his body got coincidentally outshined by the cave's flames, the torches that were being held by the members of either party.
His hair shone brightly and those long ears were visible!
!!!!
"An elf!"
"It's an elf! a pure elf!"
Constantine held that ore, looking at it with curiosity, it was some piece of shining blue stone, his gaze wandered around, looking at the shocking monsters.
'Is the fact that I am an elf so great?'
He didn't give it much importance, right now the priority is to run out of here, and then... get some clothes.
Since they were interested in that stone, he threw it away swiftly towards the green ogre, causing immediate outrage!
"NO! BASTARD!" Forlon, the giant ant wielding a spear yelled, sadly, Constantine couldn't see that creature as anything else.
"HAHAHA! GOOD RAT!" The leader of the other tribe, Samson, caught the crystal and by the time everyone recovered themselves, the small 'rat' was already kicking one of those ants!
*BAANG!!*
He jumped with his entire weight kicking the ant's abdomen, that particular creature had something that he needed, a torch.
"UGH!!" That ant grunted and fell, the torch was taken by Constantine who immediately evaded a spear coming from one of the other ants, and squeezed through the tunnels!
"GET HIM! SAMSON! GIVE THAT BACK!"
Half of the group went after Constantine, and it didn't take long before grunts started to be heard through the channels.
"Where did this root come from!?"
"Get him! he's an elf!"
...
"Hehehe, I'm afraid this Blood of Sandork has exchanged ownership now... you're sending half of your people after that rat, an elf, while the rest remains here, tell me... shouldn't I take this chance to kill you right here?" The ogre's gaze turned wicked, surprised at how fast the situation had changed in his favour, now not only had he gotten the stalactite, but even the general of the other tribe is here, Vulnerable.
"..."
Forlon could be anything, but not stupid... realising his predicament he hurriedly led the rest of his entourage after the little rat!
"RUN!"
"You want to run now?! get that bastard, today we plunder their treasures!" The ogres tried to catch, their mere steps shaking this cave.
The situation turned chaotic very quickly.
**
**
'RUN RUN!'
Constantine squeezed through the tunnels, his heart palpitating as if he was back to his younger days, his hands waved, moving back and forth and protruding roots all over, trying to quickly cover the channels to stop his chasers, sadly... his magic was still too weak and the ants went through his roots as if they were weak timber.
He could hear the yelling in the distance, he is faster, but they know the terrain.
'W-Where can I go?!'
He panted, his feet pained after stepping on those raw rocks, not something he wasn't used to.
At some point, he saw the literal light.
There was a certain hole where he could squeeze, with his size, he could, but the others couldn't.
But what if it is a dead-end?
"Dammit, Zebellia!"
[I would do it if I was you, do it, it will be fun]
The voice sounded as if she was enjoying the entire show!
"Damn you!" Without anywhere else to go, he decided to do just that, strolling inside the small hole he crawled his way through.
*BANGG!!*
The shocks were heard from the other side and he felt as if something impacted against his leg, a rock!
"COME HERE LITTLE RAT! YOU'RE AN ELF, YOUR ESSENCE WILL BE SO VALUABLE!"
"Leave me alone! I'm a virgin!" They heard the echoes of that voice and their impacts stopped.
"..."
The ants looked at one another with a bewildered gaze.
"What did he just say?"
"He said something about being a virgin."
"What does that have to do with anything!?" They didn't understand.
"Hmph! I knew he's a manwhore, he has the appearance of a little girl, let him be, he's going to come out sooner or later, two of you stand here, we're capturing that elf!" One of them, the biggest ant ordered and following orders, two of them remained in the entrance of that hole.
They couldn't allow a precious elf to escape, the money they could make by ransom or simply using him as an incubator!
"He's a pure elf at that!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Let's go, we have to go and help general forlon!"
The rest of the ants laughed and departed through the tunnels.
**
**
"AAAHHH... AHHH" Constantine panted, he was squeezing through a tight dusty hole.
'That sounded a little dirty... what should I do now?'
The whole went progressively narrower, disallowing him from going further, and he could still hear the laughter of those ants from the other side.
'Should I use the roots...?'
He thought having the flora magic was a blessing in a situation like this, he had already tried to use the roots before, and one thing he knew.
Was that he could sense through the roots.
...
Holding a deep breath he first rested, that was a great sprint he took to run away from that situation.
'Okay... now.'
Closing his eyes, a root protruded out from his hand.
That root extended slowly but that speed was enough for him, the root extended and although he couldn't see, he could feel, the terrain and even the air flowing through, he'd use that to guide himself.
'This is marvellous... w-wait... what is this?'
He felt something rather slim, like a polished surface that resembled the crystal that he had just taken from those creatures and returned.
Everything was too abrupt.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!--------
**
**
The ants outside of the cave felt the shockwave spread through the entrance of the cave, outwards towards their bodies followed by a bluish haze and myriad dust!
"CAREFUL!"
They were blasted away by the sheer explosion and the gate was completely sealed.
"T-That rat..."
"He touched some volatile ores... what a fool."
"That's such a waste, an elf... where did he even come from?"
"I don't know, but we have to tell General Forlon... it's no use staying here *tch!* that's really a waste, let's go."
They left reluctantly, the bluish haze confirmed that it had been indeed a 'volatile ore'... one of the countless ones you encounter in this cave and have to be careful of.
**
**
"W-What... the hell!?"
Constantine's body was completely crushed by the cave, he coughed repeatedly as the air turned into a liability... something that he couldn't afford.
He inhaled as much as he could, and desperately tried to think of air, wind... wind magic.
It took him several seconds but he managed to produce some air to breathe.
'A-Aurelianne, you said it would be difficult but this is ridiculous!'
He was thankful that he had scouted the cave first, if he had met that explosion head-on, he'd perhaps not be here now.
Merely minutes after arriving in this world!
[Not bad~]
While he thrived to survive, Zebellia was having the time of her life.