The river of strange energy seemed to flow endlessly. Caelum and Erta had been following it for a few hours when they encountered another river just like it coming from another direction. And yet the two did not connect. They seemed to stretch further apart.
This confounded Caelum and Erta who had hoped that it would lead them somewhere that would have answers. In the end, they decided to give up.
They were unwilling to split up in this unknown land and thus could only follow one river. And they chose to stick with the one they had been following for a while now.
They proceeded onward and traveled for what seemed like two days. The dark atmosphere of the forest did not seem content at remaining within its borders and had spread past it. At some point, Caelum and Erta had already gone through the veil of fog, but the sky did not seem any brighter.
They could only guess by their body clock that they had been following this lead for at least two days now. Along the way, they encountered a few more such rivers of energy. Some were far apart from the one they followed, while some others intersected with it at one point.
Even more strangely, the river they were follow had diverged, splitting into a few more streams along the way which they were forced to choose from. Right now, they were resting by an actual river.
It was a good distance away from the last diverging point of the energy stream so they were not worried about any possible negative effects it would have on the water. Though it was a moot point when practically the whole dungeon was dark and bleak.
The two were currently taking a dip in the clear and cold waters of the river, washing off the dirt that had accumulated in the last two days. Everything around them was silent save for the steady flowing water, at least until Caelum spoke.
"I think I might know what those energy streams were."
Erta looked curiously at him before swimming closely. They had been wondering about the nature of this energy streams for a long while now as they believed to be one of the things that would shed light on the mysteries of this abnormal dungeon.
But with every other stream that they found, they grew further and further away from an answer. It was only now that they were washing away dirt and fatigue with a good soak that something came to Caelum's mind.
"Erta, let me ask you. What do those energy streams resemble?"
Erta was confused at the sudden question. What were those energy streams supposed to look like other than streams? But she knew Caelum must have realised this as well and must have found something else about it.
She stared at him while looking for an answer. Her eyes drifted unconsciously, shifting from Caelum's face to his neck then to his chest. At some point, she had already closed the distance between them.
She clung on to him, seeking his warmth amidst the frigid waters. And as her breath bore down on his neck, her eyes locked onto the reddish tint of his warm skin around the pulsing artery that pumped blood to his head. Her eyes widened in realisation.
"They... look like veins."
"Exactly."
Caelum held her close as he recalled the winding streams of energy underground. It was such a strange thing that he was seeing for the first time. He thought it was another oddity of this abnormal dungeon, but perhaps that was not the case at all.
"I remember hearing about something from eastern mysticism. There are channels of energy flowing underground that carry the very lifeblood of the world. They're called dragon veins or ley lines."
Erta looked into his eyes, but her focus was on something else entirely. Her mind was occupied by the thoughts Caelum had sent to her through the Life Covenant. He showed her the raw details of what he felt and saw when following the energy streams.
And although they could not feel the kind of aura that should be tied to something regarded as the lifeblood of the world, the energy did seem to be of a rather intrinsic nature, not to the world itself, but to its inhabitants.
"So you're saying that these energy streams are mimicking dragon veins?"
"Yeah. And if that's true, then I don't know if following it would lead us to the answers we seek or just take us around this dungeon world."
They fell silent as they thought about what to do. They were completely lost in this place. There was no clear and linear path they could follow to just clear the dungeon. Even their senses were being hindered by the mixture of dark mana and the strange energy from the dragon veins.
And now, their only lead seemed to be heading toward nowhere as well. They needed to rethink their steps. But as though fortune was finally shining upon them, a faint sound reached their ears amidst the silence of their surroundings.
It was a faint clink, like two coins hitting each other. It was followed by a noise, faint voices that could easily be drowned out by the steady rushing water of the river. But it was enough to catch their attention.
"Cal, do you hear that?"
"It sounds like fighting. Let's go and see."
They swiftly left the river, got dressed and flew toward the direction of the sounds. Soon, they arrived just outside the edges of another forest where they saw what looked to be a battalion of soldiers wearing medieval fighting against a huge pack of large black hounds the size of an adult human.
The sight froze both Caelum and Erta. They took a while to confirm what they were seeing, wondering if they were under an illusion created by the dark mana. However, it did not seem to be the case. What they were seeing was very much real.
"Erta, that's… a monster, right?"
"It feels like a monster, but… I don't understand."
The reason for their confusion and hesitation was that they could feel the presence of multiple monsters. And by multiple, it meant all of them.
The black hounds were a given, but even the soldiers who looked human exuded the unique presence of monsters. It was a strange and jarring sight for the two. It felt like someone had tampered with their senses, but they knew it was impossible.
"Damn it, Earth is too strange!"
"I told you so! Well, what do we do?"
"I don't think we should kill the humanoids right away. They may have some answers. Let's clean up the mutts first!"
"That's a pretty nice compromise considering they're not actually humans!"
Erta's holy mana covered Caelum in a film golden light as he dove straight toward the hounds. Fusing his wings' tips in front of him, he was like a comet that trailed of black, white and gold.
He mowed down several tens of the black hounds upon landing, digging up a crevice on the battlefield. Erta casted a spell that created swords made of golden flames and shot them at the hounds, impaling and killing a lot of them as well.
Caelum's wings split into tendrils and tentacles to grab the swords and swung them around. As he cut apart more and more black hounds, Erta was showering them with golden flames.
None of the black hounds could escape their massacre and even the monsters that looked like humans backed away from them in fear. They were truly like a storm, a whirlwind of golden flames that burned the monstrous beasts to ash.
When no more hounds were left, Erta landed beside Caelum and silently prepared a barrier in case they would have to fight the humanoids as well. Caelum spoke to them instead.
"Greetings! We mean you no harm! Do you understand my words?"
"Who are you? Did that barbarian king send you?"
In response to his words, a man who looked to be the commander stepped forward. He was wary of the two who annihilated the black dogs so easily. But more importantly, the wings on Caelum and Erta's backs were giving off a pressure that suppressed the soldiers' mana and weakened their bodies.
"I don't know if you can tell, but we do dress pretty nicely. Don't you think it's a bit rude to call us barbarians? We're travelers from a distant land. We were looking for a friend, but we've lost our way. Can you help us?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Caelum decided that they had intimidated them enough and retracted his wings. Erta did the same, but she still held on to her barrier spell secretly. The soldiers finally breathed easily and the commander responded in a stronger voice than before.
"I suppose you don't look like those barbarians. Although that lady over there looks like a Valkyrie for sure. So, who's this friend you're meeting with?"
"His name is Kyle. Do you know him?"
"Do I know him? He's my idol! Of course, I know him! If you were friends with Sir Gawain, then you should've said so from the start! Come on, we're heading back home. You'll be able to meet Sir Gawain there!"
"Thank you very much. My name is Caelum Grace. And this is my wife, Erta Ki'ana. Please take care of us."
[Gawain? I thought we were looking for Kyle?]
[Yeah. I guess he's roleplaying. What a guy. Even his guild is called Knights of the Round.]
From the overly excited words of the humanoid commander, Erta confusedly asked Caelum through their connection while he was trying his best to hold back his laughter.
As the soldiers began marching back, the two followed from behind. The soldiers moved so slowly that Caelum wanted to just leave them behind, but Erta kept him on a leash. It took them nearly half a day to reach the city and what they saw was both surprising and confusing.
Walls of over twenty feet in height surrounded the city. But they could still see the towering skyscrapers of modern day Earth behind them. The city maintained a good balance of the modern buildings of Earth and medieval style buildings made of stone. And at the very centre was a large palace. The commander, who served as their tour guide, spread his arms wide and shouted out.
"Welcome to the Grand City of Heroes, Camelot!"