Flashing lights, wind currents, and rumblings were scattered around the glowing cavern.
"ARRGH ELIJAH! HEAL ME!" Raylen had gone too far forward without any cover, and became surrounded by kappas. Even with him evaporating the spears of water, not every spear was affected with a blind spot to his behind. Blood was seeping from his left butt cheek.
While sending a small wave of water to knock the kappas on the feet temporarily, Trey followed up with an earthen barrier that Raylen fled to close by. A small ethereal light was within the water Elijah washed over Raylen's butt. A small chuckle was heard from Trey, which made Elijah feel a little better about the situation.
"You guys better hurry!" Alexia was the reason why they had not seen any kappas. From a distance, Elijah was holed up in a small earthen tower that could barely be considered a tower, but rather a platform with walls as cover. Her long range wind blades allowed their group to move forward without much hassle. The only challenge was determining whether the kappa lying on the floor was dead or not.
Elijah gave a quick pat to Raylen's behind, and quickly made his way into the fray of beasts. However, once in front of the lake, Elijah took a quick glance around him, and quickly flew close to the waterfall and finally into the floristry filled opening. His feet dragged gracefully along the water like a pelican dragging its wings across the ocean floor.
What Elijah saw wasn't just the beautiful sight of flowers, greenery, and vines, but also the horrifying sight of an irregular looking kappa.
Its disfigured triangle shaped teeth were placed into its brown beak, seemingly long black hair that gave obvious signs of dysfunctional hormones, its green scaled body, and something new. A thick tail that resembles the tail of a beaver.
Without hesitation Elijah tightly grasped his black short sword, and sent a simple water blade entwined with space magic towards the neck of the opponent. Just as he expected, it was easily blocked as a shield of water quickly appeared.
This kappa had an orange core, and could not be taken lightly, especially in the small confines of this space that was split by a small surging river. The kappa obviously had more speed by the way it lunged forward. A trident made of water quickly materialized in its hands and thrusted forward, but was quickly blocked as Elijah wanted to stop its momentum as soon as possible.
The flight of Elijah gave the kappa a surprised look as it sneered. However, with the dissipation of the trident of water, the water that composed the trident splashed into Elijah's face. A few seconds of blindness was all the kappa needed to realize its opening. The claw of the beast slashed across Elijah's arm, which tore lines of skin directly from his arm and caused him to drop his sword.
"Dammit I forgot!!" With Elijah wincing in pain and retreating, he calmed down and let his right arm go limp. With a quick glance the attack was not severe and could be healed later.
Another trident of water materialized while Elijah was more than thirty feet away, and was dodged as soon as it was thrown as there was no need to wait to see where it went.
The space between the legs of the kappa formed a faint ripple, and as soon as Elijah had touched the ground, the kappa was falling to the floor, face first. A wave of water swept over the beast blocking its vision, and subsequently, its head was severed.
"It's not surprising you made it up here with that tail of yours." Elijah was slowly walking towards the beast with an ethereal glow within the water that was coating his right arm. The fight could have been much easier if Elijah manipulated the space from the start, but within the eyes of the public, using his space affinity was not something in his cards. It would be smart to not rely on something he is choosing to not reveal.
Nothing else was within the small cavern above the lake, so with a quick thought, he returned after making sure prying eyes would not see him. It seemed Alexia and Trey had seen the action, but decided to continue their onslaught as they slowly split into two groups of two that would rejoin the groups of four.
The sound and lights had settled, which meant the cave had been cleared. Even the kappas that were funneling out of the water were killed.
"Hey! Get over here! Let's continue!" Damir was eager for more, but could easily tell the state of everyone else. The groups of six slowly came together again, and Aslan announced a small break to rest and restore mana while keeping an eye on their surroundings.
"Fine, me and Cael are going to venture into the next area and wait for you." Damir said.
"Be careful. That Chasm is dangerous." Elijah quickly said what he wanted to say, albeit with a grin of bitterness. This battle had tested his strengths exactly the way he wanted to. His sword was pathetic against any beasts, his water magic could deal damage but mainly as a distraction, and when alone, he could traverse the subtle weaknesses of an orange core beasts as well by simply manipulating the space of the environment to deal a devastating blow. It felt like a videogame, or the best virtual reality simulation he had ever experienced. Addicting was the first word that came to mind.
"Hehe, we will be just fine buddy." Cael responded with a side eye glance.
"Emelia, are you okay?" Aslan, who was considered the father of the party, noticed Emelia's anxious breath.
"Yes. This is just a little more than I signed up for. I want to contribute to the kingdom and help retake the wall. But… I think I would prefer to be a healer. Someone who does not go onto the battlefield…"
"I understand. We still need to finish this mission, so just stay close to me, I will protect you." Aslan's kind words warmed the heart of Emelia.
Meanwhile, from what Aslan could see, every other party member felt like they were drooling with anticipation, especially Elijah. Twenty minutes passed without hearing a single sound coming from the chasm entrance. Elijah told the group to stay on high alert, without insinuating that Damir and Cael had cooked up a plan for chaos.
A small opening led the party into the chasm, and instantly, a seemingly infinite drop was seen where the thick layer of water was flowing. No more than five feet of space was the ground the chasm allowed them to walk on. And beyond that was the final feeling of freedom before instant death.
"So this is the reason this was named the hardest red core dungeon." Elijah said, as he confidently led the group down the wet stone stairs.
Built into the sides of the chasm, were small steps made using earth magic. The stone steps descended until it reached a small cavern where there would theoretically be a group of kappas, however, all the party saw were dismantled and burned corpses. The layout of the chasm, and the path of descent was rather simple with bridges leading across the chasm, and the waterfall dropping down the gap in the center. Thankfully, vines were halfway down the chasm, which means eventually, the party would be fighting within the darkness.