Loëalun Travia
Upon arriving at the shop, I noticed the owner at his desk. He greets me with a warm smile, and a shiver runs down my body. I still can't look him in the eyes for fear of getting lost in the nacre ocean they contain.
I approach him and smile back, even though I am nervous in his presence, he remains a kind being. I have never seen him show malice or have an outburst of anger and power. I would even say he is caring.
He asks me if I'm in a hurry, and I'm surprised. Seeing my reaction, he continues and asks if I would like to have tea with him. I nod, still surprised, and Zéro, one of the two clerks, appears with a tray holding a teapot and two small cups.
Nervous to see him looking at me so intensely, I start the conversation by asking him how business is going. He tells me it's quiet, except for Gor'Lhemakgney, Minolas, and me, only one new customer has come: Mordakus the Lich. Hearing his name, my instinct tells me to stay away from him, after all, a Lich is anything but natural, and as an Elf, I am sensitive to that. He continues to explain his encounter with him, while introducing me to the new alchemy department. Joyfully surprised, I asked him a few questions as we finished the teapot. I buy the usual potions, the Red Heart Potion and the Exp Potion. I decided to explore the new department by myself before returning to the kingdom and telling Father about this novelty.
....
After about an hour of walking, the corridor became defined, as if it had been carved and refined by men. It was about the same size as the previous corridor, but the walls were now smooth and illuminated by small beads embedded in the walls. Here my vision returned to normal, so I became able to see clearly in the dark. The effect of the crevasse had dissipated, allowing me to inspect the corridor a little better.
I noticed traces of paint and drawing, but they had faded over time. However, scratches were visible here and there, indicating the presence of monsters with very, very sharp claws, I observed. I checked that my equipment was in good condition and continued my exploration, trying to be as quiet as possible.
The corridor widened and led to a large room with several alcoves. A little further on, I thought I saw large lizards. Before killing them, I intended to examine them a little since I was not sure of their species and did not want to have to fight with unknown monsters. They were as big as a small horse, about 5 feet long. Their jaws looked powerful and contained many teeth certainly as sharp as their claws. Their scales tended to take on the color of their surroundings, a bit like chameleons. After spying on them for about ten minutes, I managed to count five of them. With my current abilities, it should not be too difficult to defeat them. I aimed with my musket and shot it right in the lizard's eye, its head tilted backwards and fell heavily to the ground. There were four left. While reloading, the other lizards that were not too far away woke up, growled, and ran towards me... I began to feel vibrations around me and without taking the time to turn around, I dove to the side. One of the lizards missed me by a hair's breadth. I started to get a little more nervous because this one came out of nowhere. I scanned the corridor and the large room to see if I could sense any new vibrations and realized that five new lizards had appeared in the corridor. This means that I had passed by them without even realizing it! The fight was going to be harder than expected…
I dash towards the center of the room and summon my fiery cloud. A heavy cloud with shades of red, green and small electric arcs covers the entire cave. The lizards surround me, and I take the opportunity to put away my musket and draw my dagger and breath pistol. One of them lunges at me, I dodge and slash it as it passes. Without waiting for me to regain my footing, two more lizards jumped on me. I fire my pistol and a large cone of flames engulf them. Their charred corpses fall to the ground with a dry thud.
There are still more than seven left. My pistol has scared them a bit, giving me just enough time to reload. I think the lizards are regrouping because their eyes start to glow yellow and small sparks shoot out of their jaws. One of them opens its mouth, growls and rushes at me. An after-image appears and the lizard bites my arm, its teeth trying to pierce my skin, but thanks to my defense and passives, I hold out. I stab it in the eye to make it let go and use Shadow Step to get out of their encirclement. I quickly move to the side of one of them and open its side. Its entrails start to spill out and it groans in pain.
I'm not sure if it's going to die, but it should be out of commission, I think as two lizards appear in front of me. I try to react as quickly as possible, but their jaws are already on me. I use Shadow Step once again to get out of this situation, but my left arm, which had already taken a first hit, gives out. I put away my dagger and quickly switched the pistol to my other hand and shot at them. The two lizards get burned. I dash to the side and feel a current graze me. I'm starting to understand their tactics. They attack alone or in pairs, and when the target defends or dodges, two more lizards counter-attack and so on. Unfortunately for them, I'm agile enough and the acidification, electric arcs, and ashes from my fiery cloud are starting to take effect on them. However, my mana is slowly draining.
I switch weapons to retrieve my musket and use Shadow Step to move towards the corridor. This will force them to regroup and make it easier for me to kill them. I aim at one of the remaining lizards and fire. It dies, collapsing in the corridor and blocking part of it.
There are only two lefts, so I switch weapons again to my dagger. One of the lizards jumps over the corpse. I dive to the ground, cutting its lower belly. The other lizard takes advantage of my back being turned and attacks me. Sensing it coming, I dodged and leaped over the corpse that was blocking part of the corridor. I retrieve my breath pistol and shoot the remaining two monsters. Their carcasses fall to the ground, and I can finally catch my breath. I am glad that my efforts to practice switching weapons quickly have paid off.
My arm and leg muscles are all sore. I take a Red Heart Potion and decide to continue exploring after reloading my weapons. Several times I come across small groups of lizards and eliminate them. I become more and more comfortable with this task and after killing more than fifty and sending their corpses to the Void Mall, it becomes even less challenging.
I continued to explore and after a long time, I discovered a large cavern. The vibrations emanating from it indicate that several hundred lizards are inside. This must be their nest.
An idea pops into my head and I quietly make my way towards the cave. The cave is actually set up in a way that the entrance overlooks it. I can sense all the activity below and I summon the Ocean Flame Potion. I look at it and smile at the thought of what's about to happen.
I throw the potion down into the cave and it hits one of the monsters on the ground.
Flames quickly shoot up in the cave, illuminating the rough rock walls with a reddish glow. The flames consume the lizards, lighting them up with infernal glows and moving shadows.
Thick smoke soon fills the air, and the heat suffocates. Roars of despair echo through the cave, testifying to the pain they are experiencing. The flames spread rapidly, destroying everything in their path. The monsters burn and twist under the intense heat, turning into piles of charred ash.
The walls of the cave are blackened and cracked, fissures form and hot boulders fall from the ceiling. The heat intensifies even more and the fire feeds on the available oxygen. Condensation droplets create a moving illusion of dancing flames, making it look like a beautiful show of dancing shadows.
Some lizards try to extinguish the fire, but their efforts seem useless in the face of the absurd intensity of the flames and the complexity of the cave structure. Following the assault of this ocean of flames, the destruction is total, everything in the cave is reduced to ashes. Some try their luck and climb the wall, but I shoot them down with my musket.
The fire continues to consume everything, including oxygen. As I breathe in the smoke, I begin to feel nauseous, and my vision slowly fades to black. I instantly return to my shop and collapse onto my bed in my personal quarters before losing consciousness.