{Passageway 6}
SPLAT!
SPLAT!
SPLAT!
Moments later moist footsteps echoed throughout the dark chambers.
A small boy standing about 5'8ft (152cm) lumbered through the cave, his lower body soaked in crimson red with a cinnamon aroma looming from him.
The dark-skinned boy walked up to a dark gelatinous wall and thrust his hand inside, swirling and causing the blood-ridden boy to be pulled in.
His vision shifted as the feeling of vertigo overtook him, nearly causing him to vomit.
Alas, the boy was back where he started, with the floating ball of flames welcoming him back with its warm glow.
"5 more", the boy murmured as a thick veil of bloodlust oozed out of his pores, a malicious smile painted across his face with streaks of red splashed across his cheeks.
The boy disappeared, fading into the dreadful shadows, into passageway 2, and gone without a trace once again.
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{Meanwhile... at the Entrance to Cave...}
Warm, that's how the group of men who had just entered the cave would describe the dreary cavern.
The horrid shrieks from deeper within had caused them to approach this cave cautiously; the boy may be dead, but that doesn't mean they had to die while searching for him.
The lanky man's green eyes dimly lit up the passageway in front of the group, 'I have a feelin'… that the boy's somehow still kickin'...'
The group moved silently.
Their buoyant laughter and jokes were gone and in place was a carefully crafted silence followed up with hand signs and nods to communicate as the group slowly continued forward.
Eventually, as they advanced along the slight decline, the group's leader raised his hand.
Even with the suffocating darkness, the smidgen of light from his eyes allowed the group to see his cue, stopping them in their tracks.
'That light up ahead…', the lanky man mused to himself.
The group's leader continued on his own, walking slowly and quietly, not even a single footstep sounding out through the hollow cave as he advanced.
Finally, he stared awestruck at the source of the light.
An orange, floating ball of flames hovered within the center of the room.
Snapping himself out of his stupor, the mini boss' eyes glowed with a mysterious green light, immediately calling his men to him.
"Everything alright mini-bo…", the man wasn't even able to finish his words as he just stopped and stared at the spheroid of flames.
"Woah.", was all the men were able to stutter out.
The lanky man looked on ahead, his gaze followed up by his men as they all analyzed the different pathways ahead.
The leader peeled his eyes as they shifted from doorway to doorway.
"I can't see him", the lanky man muttered, his eyes widened in shock.
His group looked on with concern and confusion, "Waddya mean boss, no way we coulda' missed him… right?"
"No…", their leader's face shone with a grim light as he glared at the pathways in front, "There's somethin' about this place…"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!!
The horrid shriek rang throughout the cave once again, causing the group to tense up instinctively.
The lanky man pointed to the far-most left cave, "No way in hell the newb went that way, so for now… we all split up."
He turned to face all of his men giving a long stare to each of them as he spoke, "But be careful, there's somethin' up with this place, and probably other things to worry about than just that boy."
The group nodded assuredly, as they all cracked their knuckles and stretched their limbs.
"I'll take this one, just in case that newb was suicidal enough to go this way.", the lanky man walked to passageway 2.
"The rest of ya split up and go in. I'll see ya on the other side", he ordered as the rest of his unit split themselves up accordingly and prepared to enter whatever lurked behind the sinister shadows.
"And remember", the mini-boss called out one last time, "Stay safe!"
All of his group smiled and nodded as they lunged in, ready to take the prize that was "The newb's head."
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{Meanwhile in Passageway 5}
Tiny paws could be heard scurrying along the cavern floors.
A young boy whose legs were caked in blood stealthily sat in the shadows of the dimly lit room.
After going through the next portal, Oz had come across a vast opening where the ceiling stretched nearly 100ft (30.5m) high and seemingly wide enough to fit a whale.
Oz had planned to continue his embark on his leveling experience; however, his plans had been halted by what he saw in the room.
A sea of red everywhere.
Compared to the baby pool from before, this area was more akin to a lake in which the small baby rats instead of being the size of apples were now the size of cantaloupes.
Oz's mouth watered at the prospect of the experience from all those rats, yet his instincts blared warnings at him as soon as a particular hunch came, and so, choosing to be safe Oz crept through the far corners of the room, shaded by the shadows to cover him.
Yet, as he waited and glanced around for any signs of danger, his eyes bulged upon what he found.
Within the sea of red and among the children, multiple rats, all around 8ft (2.4m) tall lay among the furry fruit, resting alongside them, but also seemingly blending in and waiting for any intruder.
Oz's forehead began to glisten with sweat, 'Fuk, what would happen if I had just ran in…'
Thoughts of his previous encounter just barely surviving one of those rats raced through his mind.
Unsure of what to do, Oz mentally called upon his ol' reliable black box.
[Oz]
[Level: 4]
[Realm: 1]
[Proficiency: Medium]
[Bloodline: Available]
The plethora of innocent lives taken propelled Oz's level to even greater heights, and he had a feeling that he wasn't too far from reaching new levels once more.
'How do I approach this?..', Oz pondered from within the shadows, glaring at the lake of red that was seemingly begging to be gobbled up.
His brows creased as he attempted to formulate any potential plans that wouldn't end with him dead or seriously wounded.
Then out of the corner of the boy's eyes, he saw movement.
At the mouth of the expanse, a shadowy figure appeared from out of the narrow cave, glancing around and slowly walking up to the sea of red.
A malicious smile spread across Oz's face as he watched on, 'That'll do.'
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{Meanwhile in the grasslands...}
BOOOOM!!
An ear-ringing explosion shook the sky near the corners of the grasslands, shaving the tall grass bare.
In the wake of the destruction, the surrounding grass was devastated and beast corpses lay plastered around the field, large craters littered the earth, and the sky's pleasant warmth was replaced with bitter cold.
DRIP.
A creature, the source of this havoc, disappeared as if never there in the 1st place.
On its way to lay more havoc.
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