• Blackwaters District.
After some minutes of running, Archibald and Velrossa finally arrived at their designated location. The Blackwaters District.
Being on the outskirts of the Berkyl Region, the notable landmark of the Blackwaters was the large demonic skull deeply rooted into the earth. The mouth of the skull led to a large, naturally-occurring cavity formed underground.
Another very notable factor was the extreme blackness of the river. There were no fishes in them either.
"Woah! What the hell is this?!"
Filled with excitement, Archibald couldn't stop himself from asking. He had already forgotten they'd come here for an important reason, which was to search for Mr. Derte the weaponsmith.
"You don't know?"
Velrossa wore a puzzled look. He was obviously surprised Archibald didn't know of this landmark.
"Wait! You're telling me that's normal?! What is it?!"
"Well... It's the skull of the Demon Lord Avarakneis."
"Avarakneis?"
"Umh yes, he was the most powerful Demon Lord who was defeated and banished by Lord Uther."
"Lord who?"
"You don't know about him either?"
"Honestly, I don't know either of them... Haha!"
After an intensely awkward chuckle, Archibald rubbed the back of his neck gently. His facial expression was by appearance ignorant.
("Dude, I can't even contain my excitement right now. I mean, I've been stuck in this fantasy world for a decade, but there's a freaking demon lord here! How can I not be stoked about that? I'm pretty sure Lord Uther is the hero who took him down. Like, that's just common sense, right? And let me tell you, that must've been one epic battle. I can only imagine the kind of sick moves and spells they were throwing around. Man, I wish I could've been there to witness it all. But hey, at least I'm living in the same world as the guy who took down a demon lord. That's pretty cool, if you ask me.")
He'd been silent for a while, and for Velrossa it was a bit concerning to see Archibald this way.
"Archie...?"
"Yeah?!"
He was a bit startled to have heard Velrossa utter his name, evidenced by his instant reply.
It didn't take very long to recall they had a goal here. It was one of the few things Archibald was trying to work on, and that was how not to lose sight of the important things.
*****
Some minutes were dedicated to searching around the demonic skull and after they decided to call out Mr. Derteʼs name occasionally. Ultimately, their actions yielded no results.
"There's no sign of him.."
There was some frustration behind Velrossaʼs voice, it was obvious he'd grown tired of searching.
Archibald on the other hand remained quiet. "Sigh. We have no other choice.." said the lad out of the blue.
"What do you mean?"
Following Velrossaʼs question was an elevation of his eyebrow to depict his confusion of Archibaldʼs vague statement.
To answer him, Archibald pointed to the mouth of the skull. This was visual communication for: "We're going inside." A straight to the point reply that required no words.
"W-W-What?! You want us to go inside?!"
"Yeah... Is there a problem?"
"N-No... We should go."
Although hesitant, Velrossa was incapable of refusing any request Archibald made. This was natural, given that he viewed Archibald not only as a teacher and friend, but also as a brother.
"Hmm... But it's gonna be pretty dark, we'll need some light.. What to do.."
Even with the safety of Mr. Derte being potentially unsavory, Archibald was still excessively calm. It was expected of religious practitioners of the Thunder God Arts to behave in this manner.
Gadi was a fine example.
"I can handle that.."
The usual gentle voice of Velrossa claimed to have had the situation under control. In light of this, his palms were placed directly across from each other with some centimeters of space in-between.
"Luminah Te..."
Uttering these esoteric words resulted in the creation of an orb of light in the space between his palms.
"Woah! You didnt tell me you could cast spells Vel!"
"I didn't think I needed to, hahah... Besides, it's just a basic spell for illumination. You should learn it some time Archie, it could be a lifesaver."
"Nah, I think I'll pass. We should head in."
"Right.."
*****
• Avarakneis Caves.
They traveled through the dark caves with the aid of the orb of light as a visual guide.
"But how are we so sure he came in here..?"
Velrossa was unsure the missing individual entered here. As much as he was scared having to ambulate these dark cavernous reaches, it wasn't an excuse to go back.
"Mrs Nune said her husband went to the Blackwaters District to gather special welding minerals right? Then wouldn't it make sense that he'd go into the caves? I mean it's possible the stalactites and stalagmites here are precious."
From another point of view, this was purely speculation.
"I guess y--" Velrossa immediately paused.
There was a loud scream masculine scream that came from the deeper reaches of the caves. The two didn't waste any time, they ran in the direction of the voice.
When they finally arrived, they could already see light at the end of the dark cavernous passageway. Wisely, Velrossa had dispersed the orb of light he created earlier to ensure they didn't get spotted.
The moment they entered stayed behind the cluster of stalagmites to keep themselves concealed.
There were numerous flame torches in the large room inside the cave, the duo found that Derte had been abducted by a group of orcs.
It was a well-established fact that orcs were a cruel, sadistic, black-hearted, vicious, and hateful species. They were humanoid in shape, but short in stature, with a squat, broad build. Their flat noses, sallow skin, slant eyes, and fangs were distinctive features. orcs were bow-legged, with long arms and dark skin. It was important to note that they despised order and prosperity, and were particularly hateful towards those who embodied such traits.
There were about nine orcs in total.
("Orcs? At this point I shouldn't even be surprised..")
Archibald defensively held the hilt of his Velgrynd. It was a medium grade one, but in his skilled hands it could do some serious damage.
"What next?" Velrossa whispered.
Those questions didn't matter. The orcs could notice the displacement of their shadows due to improper lighting.
"We have some white turtles hiding!"
One of the orcs stated. He used the derogatory name for humans, their intense sense of smell could identify certain races by smell alone.
"Crap!"
Archibald immediately got up to his feet as the monsters approached the boys with the intent to kill them.
Velrossa did the same after hesitating for a moment. He was unsure he had what it took to back Archibald in this confrontation.
Just when they thought that was all, their situation worsened.
"We'll kill them and make more meat for our army!"
These words came from Danzar, the Orc Lord of the East.
Danzar, the orc, was a formidable figure among his henchmen. He stood twice their size, clad in scale mail and a two-horned helmet. His red eyes and yellow teeth added to his intimidating presence. Equipped with a berserker-sized sword unlike his comrades who used machetes, Danzar's muscular build compensated for his lack of height.
"Just my luck.." said Archibald.