Lucian
"Are you ready?" Draven yelled out through the cave, which seemingly echoed for miles on end even after it had reached me.
"Yeah, I'm catching up now," I replied back.
I was quite far behind, however I made it to Draven soon enough.
"This place is giving me the chills," Draven remarked. "Remind me to never take your suggestions seriously, because just... what the hell is this?"
"Hey, it's about time we did something I wanted," I replied.
I remember back to when I had woken up, exiting the void of which I met the humanoid form of whatever the artifact was, and I also clearly remember what it had told me before I left as well, that could never leave my mind.
Despite what Draven had told me otherwise, I made sure we got a higher risk job. While the pay was greater, which is probably the only reason Draven would ever agree, more importantly, I would be able to have a chance to grow even stronger.
If I wanted to grow, I needed to get real experience, and not just practice. There's only so much practice that I can take before I hit a block in the road to get stronger.
Experience is key, and I lack quite a lot of it despite the amount of fights I've had.
Braindead bandits who don't even know how to fight became nothing but useless to me a while back to be honest.
They made up for their insanely low attack knowledge and stupidity with immense numbers, and that's the only way they gained any ground.
However once I was able to manipulate the elements, they stood no chance.
I was more eager to fight something stronger. Outside of bandits, the only common occurrence that's stronger would be wild spirit animals. Majority of them are quite fodder, however they can scale pretty high.
Because of the high risk factor on this mission, it was claimed to have a high chance to pose higher level spirit animals, which I was most excited for.
Obviously, Draven wasn't.
While he was no doubt stronger than I was, that didn't matter.
He was scared of the fight, and I couldn't really figure out why. He tried everything he could to make sure that I was the only one fighting, and would only step in if it was life or death.
Even when he had to step in, it was always usually quite easy for him to resolve.
Which makes it weirder that after that, he still is laced with an expression of sadness, even with the lack of bloodshed.
I won't ask him about it yet, as it's obviously sensitive.
Something I've been thinking about recently is maybe a way to return back to Elyndor, or even Serathis, although I never really became fond of that continent.
The memories those contents pose are quite harsh to the taste, but the foes that I'd face if I were to partake in the war would be very valuable to my growth if I were to choose going down that path, which is the only part that I don't like.
At the end of day, there's a lot more people on Vorrakhan that could benefit me, I just have to find them... somehow.
Years are flying by, which is worrying, yet I'm still only 13 right now.
Regardless, I have plenty enough time to spare in the end, even if I don't really want to lose this life. For the millionth time I've said this, it has been the most helpful.
"Hey, do you hear that boy?" Draven whispered.
While I didn't hear anything casually, I decided to try and put my perception to the test and scan the surroundings.
And just like he said, I did hear something.
It was coming from down into the darker areas of the cave.
This was where we needed to go anyway, so whatever was there, we would have to face it, and it was more than likely just a strong spirit animal.
***
Unknown Character POV
"The leader has spoken," the voice over the intercom rings throughout the crammed room. "We must extensively test based off of the most recent unexpected variables."
One of the men on the operating desk flicked a few switches, making a click sound for every switch that he changed.
"What's the status?" I asked him, just leaning behind.
"It should all be in place, we just have to let it play out," he replies, looking back over.
"Very well then," I sigh with relief, thankful that this emergency mission will be done and over soon. "The leader will be very pleased."
***
Lucian
We continued down for as long as we could before we genuinely could not go any farther unless we wanted to travel in the pitch black.
"What do we do from here?" I asked, still in a low tone.
Draven seemed to think for a moment.
"Hey, can you maybe shoot a little slither of fire down the tunnel?" Draven asked. "Should be enough to give us a glimpse of what's to come, and maybe that'll help our shitty courage to actually go through."
"That's... actually a pretty good idea," I reply.
Draven was awfully smug to this remark. "Please don't be too surprised when I actually have a good idea..."
"Sorry," I spoke as I began channeling spirit energy into the tips of my fingers. "It's pretty hard not to be after all of your previous attempts at a good idea."
Just as I finished, I lift my hand up and form an almost gun-like motion, with my index and middle finger holding firm outwards as the rest of my fingers curled up tightly around my palm. I released the spirit energy just following this and a slight gunshot of fire dashed out of my two fingers each individually and were sent out into the empty darkness of the cave.
Thankfully, nothing came up. The light that radiated off of the bright flames was just enough to fully capsulate the thinning cave as it bolted out into the distance, fading away into the nothingness only seconds later.
"From what I can see, it all looks clear, however let's still try and proceed with a bit of caution, yeah?" I nudge Draven as I hold out my palm, casting a small fireball to float above the palm of my hands, acting as a makeshift torch almost.
Draven seemed content with my choice, although still prompting for me to head first. 'Using a 13 year old as a meat shield for potential dangers...' I thought to myself.
"What exactly are we supposed to get from this cave anyway?" I ask over my shoulder.
"I don't know. It was pretty off-books, as most of these higher risk operations are," he replied back expressionless, so I knew he wasn't joking.
It didn't worry me too much, we should be fine anyway.
"I did check though, there's been no reports of any abnormal animals nearby, so I doubt there's much to deal with if anything," Draven remarked, hoping to ease any worries.
I appreciated his feeble yet full attempts, however that didn't help any unsettling feeling that remained within me.
As we continued walking, that sense of dread seemed to stumble upon me more.
And looking over, I noticed it was devouring Draven as well. "You feel that don't you?" I asked as I slowed my pace down just a little.
"Yeah... I do," he swallowed a lump down his throat.
We both came to a screeching halt, as the presence became too overwhelming for us to continue any farther.
But we were lucky that we did stop.
Looking just ahead, I could see two faint red eyes from the shadows. However, it didn't stop there. Another pair appeared, and then another. It was like a symphony of red eye pairs slowly appearing around in the dark.
There were easily dozens of them, maybe over a hundred if I had to be a bit more accurate with my guessing, however it was too in the moment for me to tell.
Draven was quickly painted with dripping sweat in a matter of seconds, as was I.
Sounds began creeping it's way out from the distance, making out growling amongst other notoriously dangerous sounds.
It was pretty clear when it was too late. They were wolves.
The wolves that I used to know were easy to get rid of. Even hunting them for sport, a bullet is the mans best friend.
However, not in this situation. Not these ones.
These ones are spirit animals. Spirit wolves. Not only is their durability comparable to that of a cockroach, but their attack potency and general awareness is leagues beyond the typical wild animal that would roam around.
"Yeah hell no," Draven shouted as he began sprinting away. "Let's get out of here kid! They can't pay me enough to handle any of... whatever that is!"
As sarcastic as he sounded, I couldn't agree more. I wanted out of here.
However not everything goes the way we want it to.
The wolves, as expected, began chasing us down, the sound of footsteps causing the cave around us to shake, which ultimately ended up forcing rocks to cover our way out.
Draven and I came to a halt at the piled up rocks that stopped from exiting. I could clear it easily if I was stronger, and I don't think Draven is even strong enough for that. Maybe if we had time to spare... but we don't.
The wolves were swift to catch up, nailing us in against the wall with no room left to move.
As my hand clenched around the dagger that was kept nicely at my side, hoping not to get used for the better, I felt my own instinct scrape out.
'Kill them all.'
I clenched my dagger, quickly pulling it outwards just as a wolf lunged at me, allowing me to slice it's head clean off.
This seemed to resonate with the other wolves, only pissing them off more.
I dashed forward, taking the initiative. This allowed me to quickly dismember countless wolves in just a mere second, blitzing through the hordes.
My scarlet red eyes only began to grow brighter with every kill, the blood spilling across the floor doing nothing but getting me excited. Excited to fight.
As I mercilessly hacked away at every wolf that dared step up to me, I felt myself slipping away from reality. My bloodlust was growing, which means so was my strength. This didn't come without it's downsides, as now there was nothing to me except killing.
It was all I was now, and it was all I felt. I even took a few slashes to the chest, causing me to spill some of my own blood.
My blood or not, it only made me stronger.
I danced around the walls and mounds of corpses, placing myself in positions to easily cut through the monsters that seemed to constantly stampede in my direction, not having any sense of fear as they rush through their own brethren, lifeless on the floor.
Normally I'd feel regret putting myself here, or even a bit scared—where had that feeling gone? Now I was just... smiling?