The cold groundwater slowly transform into water droplets on the tip of the stalactite, and began to drop decisively on Oscar's face, making a swirling sound.
This cave full of stalactites, was pitch black. Only the turquoise light dots on the stone wall flickered, emitting a dim light.
At the center of the cave was a puddle of several square meters in size.
Beside it, the body of Kiara laying on her back on a flat boulder. She was completely drenched in water. Her hair was tangled in strands on the stone floor and her complexion was unusually pale. She lay stiffly on the boulder, apparently dead for a long time.
As the cold water droplets fell on Oscar's forehead, it didn't take long, before his eyes finally opened, albeit with difficulty. The emerald light on the stone wall emitted faint green lights, producing a faint clarity of the place.
Where was this place? Why was it so dark? Am I dead? He turned his head slightly, avoiding the coldness of the water droplets.
[Well, not yet. I couldn't watch you die. I had to use my essence to shield you but at a great cost to me. I've lost a great part of me and the rest is slowly fading away]
"Thank you." Oscar said and looked around. He saw that all around him was darkness, and he couldn't see anything. Only the sound of ticking water seemed to come from far away, yet so close.
[It is what it is]
"Mother, mother." Oscar yelled as he saw the body of his mother a few feet away from him. His mother!
He thought of his poor sister, Hespera again, she looked so helpless and hesitant when she was dying. He hated himself for not being able to protect his loved ones. He no longer had any relatives, only himself alone, and probably his sister Shesara, who was married into another clan.
After a period of time, the echoes in the cave gradually subsided, and Oscar fell into his mother's stiff arms and passed out.
[Child. I'll let you vent your anger as much as you like. Otherwise, keeping it inside won't do you any good]
After a long time, Oscar finally slowly opened his eyes again. His eyes had regained calmness, and his face no longer had the previous expressions. He slowly got up from the ground, and suddenly there was a burst of soreness on his body, but he ignored it.
"Daghr. I, Oscar, swear a blood oath against you today. We are enemies in this life."
[Are you making an oath of vengeance. If you are, I'm bound to acknowledge it and you're bound to fulfill it. Are you making an oath?]
"Yes,"
[Blood for blood, oath of vengeance acknowledged]
Standing up, Oscar looked around and began to observe the surrounding terrain. Although the cave was very dark, there was a faint glow of amber light, and he could still see the outline of the cave vaguely by focusing his sight.
He checked his storage bag and brought out a flaming torch and ignited it, and the outline of the entire cave immediately appeared in front of him.
With the torch in hand, he walked around the cave for a week, and discovered a medium sized hole at the middle of the cave.
In addition to the puddle in the middle, there was a hole above the cave, the size should be enough for a person to squeeze through.
He knelt down in front of Kiara again and said softly, "Mother, please forgive me for doing this, but I have to take your body with me, even if its just ashes. Then I'll bury you along with father when I bring you back to the village."
After that, Oscar checked his mother's storage bag and brought out a funeral pyro. He tapped it and placed it on his mother's body.
Within seconds, the whole body was caught up in flames before turning to ashes. Safely stored inside a urn, he placed it in his storage bag.
"Remnant, remnant." Oscar tried to contact the remnant, and even called him several times, but he didn't receive any reply in return. So, he shrugged it off. He must find an exit any.
He didn't know where this cave was. He had already discovered that there were many green orbs of light in the cave, and he didn't know what they were. So he approached a spot of light and watched it carefully.
He saw that the green light was a big meat worm. It looked very similar to a silkworm, but it was much fatter, almost the size of half a finger, and its whole body was transparent, as if its body was full of liquid.
And there was a small green dot on the inside of the center of the body, flashing a faint green light to the outside of the body.
What kind of insect was this? Oscar had no memory of the Ironwood tribe or nearby tribes mention this kind of creature. He touched it with his fingers and saw that the bug didn't respond, so he grabbed it with his hand.
He saw a few pairs of small fleshy whiskers under the belly of the insect, which should be considered feet. He didn't think it was flesh, but it was very powerful when grabbing on rocks, and Oscar almost burst the bug before pulling it off. He put the bug on the palm of his hand and watched it carefully.
The head of the worm had no eyes, only a small mouth, and it seemed that it was about to degenerate. The whole body was translucent, with two rows of small dots on both sides of the body.
From the memory of his time studying biology in his previous life, Oscar knew that these two rows of little dots should be breathing holes. It seemed to have been mentioned in biology classes before that insects breathe through small holes on the sides of their bodies.
There were eight pairs of small fleshy whiskers under the worm, and they felt very sticky to the touch. The small green dots in the body were still flashing green faint light, it felt amazing. Oscar only remembered seeing glowing bugs called fireflies in his previous life.
It was only after he moved back to his hometown from North America with his mother that he saw it with his own eyes. At that time, Oscar was very novel. He put a few fireflies in a bottle and watched them all night.
But the firefly and the bug in his hand were completely two species. Moreover, the light of this bug was a little brighter.
So, he brought out a small burlap bag from the space stone, and then grabbed a large number of bugs on the stone wall and put them in the bag. He saw a faint green light suddenly emitting from the gap of the cloth bag, very beautiful.
He couldn't help thinking: If only he could have a glass bottle, then he could fill it with these bugs and use it as a light bulb.
After tying up the bag and putting it back into the space stone, he held the flame torch and climbed to the top of the hole, step by step. He took a survey of the hole with a flame torch, but the hole was very deep and dark, and he couldn't see anything.
So, holding the flame torch in front of him, he took a last look at this small hole, then sighed, and slowly walked towards the hole. The small holes were uneven, and in some places he could walk by jumping on his feet, and in some places he could only crawl to pass.
The small hole was slowly descending, and he couldn't help but wonder if the further down he went, the further he would get from the ground level.
But there was only one passage here, and he could only keep going on and see where it would lead. Along the way, he occasionally saw one or two bugs with green light lying on the stone wall, but he ignored them.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the entrance of the cave gradually became wider, and the ground was much flatter.
Oscar held the bug light and walked forward for ten minutes. It seemed that he had reached the entrance of the cave. A faint green light came from outside. The light was very soft, but the brightness was obviously much stronger than that of the previous stone cave.
He put away the flame torch, and his eyes adapted to the light. Then, he strode to the entrance of the cave. As soon as he stepped out of the hole, he was stunned by the sight in front of him.
It was a huge cave. There was no wind inside the cave which meant it was completely sealed off. Around the walls of the cave, all the way to the top of the cave, were these lucid bugs, which were more than the stars in the sky, and appeared more radiant in their colour. His eyes continued to widen in surprise at the sight in front of him, the world seemed to become magical at this moment.
After a long period of time, he finally woke up from the shock and gathered his thoughts. Through the faint green light, he could vaguely see the entire cave which was more than two hundred meters high and covered a wide area. The whole cave was semi-circular.
He was standing on a stone wall that was hundred meters high from the ground.