A tall spiky haired man with deep blue eyes sat at a long wooden desk with candles that neatly stood on golden round dishes. Stacks of paper and different hardcover books were stacked sloppily on the shelves, and an extremely oversized sword that looked like it was a custom piece laid against the chair the man was sitting on.
"Ahem, what's wrong guys?" Aslan was worried about his friend's reaction. To be fair, his uncle was intently staring deep into the eyes of Elijah, as if he saw something within.
The man stood up from his seat, walked around his desk in front of the ten year old children, and completely changed his expression. "My name is Andal, and I see great promise in you all." Andal switched his gaze back to Elijah, who had just put his hands behind his back. "However, one of you seems to not have a weapon. Why would that be?"
Elijah smiled and secretly took out his black knife from his spatial storage and quickly replied while revealing his hands. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Oh! A trickster with a water affinity. How interesting." Andal took steps toward the wall with a large map hanging by threads. A series of entrances were illustrated in a simple manner with a symbol code that explained what level and beasts appeared in each cave system up to a certain distance. "This is number eleven, the clagmire cave. I did want to tell you that this cave system has seen new beasts recently in small numbers. These pesky fellows that we call gorgons are faster than a rabbit, and rather freaky looking as well. Long and thick arms that reach to the ground with equally strong legs. Their chest is rather weak, but their speed makes up for it. Unfortunately, that is not even the worst part. They have extremely sharp claws that can cut through stone. It is completely up to you if you want to battle these beasts. I don't think they would give you guys a hard time if there were only a couple, which is what my scout squad encountered."
The party erupted in a quiet discussion.
Raylen started. "A beast that can't use magic seems simple to deal with."
"You are right, but remember that we don't have the same physical advantages as beasts. If we agree to this, we must be quick and implement defensive barriers and changes in elevation to disrupt their speed." Harry confidently replied.
"That sounds like a clever idea Harry, I'm in just because of that strategy." Theon replied excitedly
Novius had whispered into Elijah's ear. "The reason why my backpack is rather stuffed is because I brought the invisibility suit. If we run into signs of these beasts, I'll give you the suit."
Elijah knew exactly what Novius was thinking, and chimed into the discussion. "I think this is a great way to test our skills against beasts who don't rely on magic."
"Okay, it seems everyone is in agreement. I will notify our scouts that you will be leaving soon. Whenever you are ready, make your way to the loadout room, the room with all the ziplines." Andal was both excited and scared. Those pesky gorgons had given even him trouble, however, it made sense due to him not having any advanced physical or mental abilities even being a green core mage.
The party made their way to the loadout room after receiving wishes of luck. Elijah so desperately wanted to find out how heavy that sword was. If his guess is right, Andal has a superior understanding of water magic, and how to use it to transfer the force of an attack.
Everyone had their weapons attached to their back while tightly gripping their ziplines. The wooden floors underneath the zip lines disappeared, and all it took was a jump of courage that would start their mission.
3…
2…
1…
Aslan counted down as everyone seemed to be filled with nerves.
"JUMP!"
The metal scraping against metal sound quickly dissipated as the clothes and hair of the eight friends fluttered through the air. Elijah was looking straight down, while half of his party were closing their eyes. The zipline slowly lost speed until the party members slowly touched the floor.
"This is one amazing invention!" Novius had a new idea flying around in his mind.
The party quickly made their way to the tunnel marked with a decrepit symbol of a yellow eyed mud monster. With the signal of Aslan, everyone got into the formation they practiced on the way to Nova40, and began traversing the pitch black cave. The only light source was Raylen creating a small sheath of fire on his sword that he drew. Alexia was twirling her silver floral staff that was just slightly shorter than she was. Everyone was ready for a battle.
The pitch black and small cave slowly expanded into a ginormous cavern that looked like it used to have separate tunnels right next to each other. Curved rocks that stopped after creating a pointed tip lined the cavern. Nothing was in this specific cavern, but very likely the next.
Aslan makes a quick sound with his mouth as a signal to stop. He began to assure everyone that after crossing this point, there is to be no playing around. It is a battle to the death.
After passing through a slim and tall passageway that seemed like the entrance to the female gender's gate of heaven, Elijah noticed something moving out of the corner of his eye. Something that was definitely not human. "Westside, clagmire."
Quick and soft callouts were made as the group moved to the opposite side of where the clagmire was roaming. This cave emulated grassy hills, and was also quite slippery, which caused the party to move slow. Their goal was to get a view of the area from a higher point, and to also get into a better position. Aslan had explained the basics of positioning to the party before leaving for this mission. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can kill anyone.
The hand of Novius was raised behind his back, along with his five fingers that were opening and closing twice. This indicated more than 10 beasts close by, or in the visible distance. With the amount of standing rock formations in the area that rose to the ceiling as a natural support, the group spread out into specific teams.
"Two on the westside, eleven in the flat earthen area. I have a suspicion that the west side is a trap." Theon was at the forefront with his offensive and defensive affinity. "What is the plan?
Elijah chimed in with his famous distraction plan that Alexia knew very well. "I think we should lure the large group over to use to kill as many of them at once with a barrage of different attacks. Two people should go to the west side to deal with the loners."
"I like that plan. I think Raylen and you should go. Emelia is better at healing than you if anything happens." Aslan said
Elijah nodded to both Aslan and Raylen. The two sneaked down the hilly and slippery slope with Alexia frowning at her protection leaving.
Novius noticed her look. "Don't worry, he will be back soon."
To approach the west side where the two lone beasts were, they had to quietly climb up a steep and slanted rocky wall that was about thirty feet in the air. Both Elijah and Raylen peeked their heads over the ledge, and didn't see just two, but six.
Elijah looked at Raylen and noticed no discomfort, but still said what he wanted to say. "Don't worry, we can still take them."
"Of course we can. I'll attack with a condensed beam of fire. You can do whatever you want."
The thought on Elijah's mind was knocking him full of brain fog. If these monsters primarily used mud by manipulating earth magic, then wouldn't water only make them stronger?