by Ennki Hakari
Practically clinging to the precipice walls, we made our way into the canyon along a rock-strewn path just wide enough for one person. Due to my armor’s massive pauldrons, I had to turn sideways and face the wall, crab-walking. Worried that the wind might blow Ponta away, Ariane held the fox tight against her chest.
After painstakingly hugging the wall the whole way down, while also trying to keep my Twilight Cloak from fluttering in the breeze, we finally made it to the cave entrance—about fifty meters from the clifftop. I peeked inside the large opening and was met with darkness so absolute that it seemed to pull me in.
Now standing on a slightly larger outcropping, I pulled back and exhaled deeply.
The cave was about five meters in diameter. Moss-covered stone shelves—what looked like stairs—led deeper inside, toward the canyon floor.
“All sorts of monsters live in here, so keep your guard up.” Ariane pulled a crystal lamp from her rucksack and turned it on, its glow filling the cave.
Chiyome and I retrieved our own crystal lamps and lit them. The light grew brighter, illuminating the cave interior. Even then, it still wasn’t enough to reach the cavern depths. The way forward was nothing but darkness.
With such limited visibility, Dimensional Step would be useless.
Ariane led the way into the cave, holding out her crystal lamp. Chiyome and I followed.
Aside from the occasional chilly breeze blowing from the cave floor, and ominous echoes deep within the cavern, the only sounds that broke the silence were our own footsteps.
In addition to the main path leading down into the cave, multiple smaller paths branched in various directions. Ariane ignored these and continued marching deeper into the darkness.
Looking backward, I could no longer see the entrance.
I raised my crystal lamp, glancing around. “You mentioned something about monsters living here, but I haven’t seen any.”
Just then, Ponta cried out worriedly from where it sat on Ariane’s shoulder. Ariane instantly drew her sword.
“Bats!”
I followed Ariane’s gaze and spotted a meter-tall bat hanging from the ceiling, stretching out its wings to an impressive two-meter span. The creature’s ears resembled gills. Large fangs jutted from its mouth. It let out an eerie cry, and a dozen more bats dropped from the ceiling and flew toward us. They circled in lazy, irregular orbits, occasionally swooping as a group toward Ariane in front or Chiyome behind. I was stuck in the middle as my two companions faced off against the swarm.
“There are so many of them!”
“Kyuuukiiii!”
One bat got too close, and Ariane struck it down with a single blow. Ponta, in a rare show of courage, summoned a blast of wind around Ariane, protecting her by obstructing the bats’ flight paths. Ariane made quick work of any creature caught by the wind, chopping them cleanly in two. I wasn’t sure what inspired Ponta to dive into the fray, but perhaps it had something to do with just how unintimidating the bats were.
“Body to water, liquid shuriken!”
At the back of the party, Chiyome hurled a shuriken of water into an oncoming bat, knocking it to the ground.
Completely ignored by the monsters, I chopped down several bats as they continued their assault on Ariane and Chiyome.
Given how randomly the bats moved, I wasn’t completely confident in my ability to hit them with a magical attack. With my superior reflexes and eyesight, I should have been able to wipe out all of them. Large as my sword was, though, it wasn’t quite long enough to reach the bats as they raced through the air.
Then I recalled a skill I’d used previously to put down a bandit.
“Wyvern Slash!”
I aimed at the bats flying above us and let loose an invisible attack. A second later, severed wings fell to the ground. It was a pretty effective mid-range attack skill, but it was also incredibly risky, since my allies couldn’t see it. One wrong move, and they’d be doomed.
I continued to launch Wyvern Slash attacks one after another at the bats above, slowly reducing their numbers until the survivors decided to escape.
“Were those monsters? For some reason, they didn’t really seem interested in me.”
I put my sword away and looked around. A dozen or so bat corpses were piled in a mound on the floor.
Ariane wiped her sword with a cloth. “No, they weren’t monsters. Just normal animals. Those bats suck blood from their prey, which explains why they weren’t interested in you, Arc. You probably didn’t look too appetizing.”
She shot me a mischievous grin.
Being a bone-dry skeleton covered in metal armor, I likely didn’t come across as a food source to the bats. I wondered if they were able to tell that there was nothing inside me simply by using ultrasound.
I looked back at Chiyome, who crouched in front of a fallen bat, pulling its wing.
“You seem to have fared all right, Miss Chiyome.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Hey, do you think we can eat these things? I’ve eaten smaller ones before.” Chiyome picked up a severed bat head and showed it to me, her head tilted to the side inquisitively.
I was pretty sure there were quite a few regions back on Earth where people ate bats. It seemed unlikely that the mountain people, who were constantly persecuted and enslaved, could carry out any large-scale farming or ranching. I imagined that they subsisted on a diet of whatever they could find.
With their long fangs, gill-like ears, and porcine faces, the bats could hardly be considered beautiful. I glanced at Ariane, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
“I’ve never eaten one. They don’t look like they’d taste very good.” She shook her head. “Anyway, we better hurry up, or we won’t make it out of here today.”
Ariane lifted her crystal lamp and aimed it ahead.
“Right. Sorry about that.” Chiyome set the bat’s head back on the ground with a look of disappointment. Then she jogged after us.
***
We continued into the cave, slaying our way through meter-long, ghostly millipedes that crept along the walls, slime creatures waiting in hollows for prey, and monsters that would have sent a chill down your spine just to hear about.
Under normal circumstances, seeing monsters emerge from the darkness at the edge of our lamplight would certainly have made me scream. I was somehow able to keep my cool, though, thanks in part to being a skeleton myself.
A bizarre, oddly shaped monster floated toward us.
“What is that, Ariane?”
It hung in the air, like a balloon covered in eyes and tentacles, or the ghost of a jellyfish. I reached for my sword, ready to chop the bizarre creature in two, but Ariane placed a hand on my arm to stop me.
“That’s a spoyl. Don’t touch it. As long as you leave it alone, it’ll keep going. But if you attack, it’ll release a poisonous gas.”
From time to time, as it floated along, the spoyl shot out tendrils to snatch insects that flew too close. Its eyes darted about, inspecting its surroundings, as it feasted on the bugs. The whole scene felt rather fantastical, but an eerie tingle ran up my spine all the same. We carefully avoided the spoyl as it moved deeper into the cave.
Suddenly, Chiyome called out from behind me, alarm in her voice.
“Ariane, I’m picking up a rotten stench ahead. It smells like an undead.”
Ariane stopped and raised her lamp. Off in the darkness, far beyond our limited illumination, came a sound that was a mix of the wind blowing and something being dragged. Moments later, several human-shaped figures lurched out of the shadows.
“Zombies?”
Their ashen arms and legs jerked spastically as they lumbered toward us, eyes staring vacantly into space. Wriggling, worm-like tendrils covered their bodies. One zombie slowly wrenched its rotting corpse in two, splitting along the midriff as though it had been glued together, and spilling writhing tentacles from the opening. It looked like a sea anemone on the hunt.
“Wha…?! Those aren’t z
ombies, those are ghoul worms!” Ariane’s voice echoed through the cave. That drew the attention of the ghoul worms. They kicked off from the ground and flew through the air at us.
“They can fly?!”
These creatures had been carrying out their routines in the dark, just beyond the bubble of illumination cast by our crystal lamps. Now, revealed, they dove straight toward us. I placed my lamp on the ground and leaped back, drawing my sword.
Fighting in darkness restricted my movements to the area around my crystal lamp. Ariane and Chiyome, however, had great night vision. They could see just fine, even when they moved away from the light. That made me the ideal target for our enemies.
I met the advancing ghoul worms with a mighty swing of my sword, attempting to chop them in half as they flew out of the shadows. However, a spoyl also floated nearby, forcing me to pull my sword back before I struck it by accident.
My massive sword’s ability to take out multiple opponents at once was great out in the open, but it wasn’t suited to close quarters. Given the proximity of a monster I’d rather not drag into the fight, the blade was more a hindrance than a help. And I certainly wasn’t at Ariane’s skill level. She was able to strike at the ghoul worms while deftly avoiding the spoyl floating among them.
“Sword of Judgement!”
I decided to try the Paladin skill, which I’d used to fell a giant basilisk in a single strike, on one of the ghoul worms.
Light surrounded my blade, and it began to glow. As I swung it down, a magic circle formed beneath the ghoul worm. Then a blade of light sprang from the ground and shot toward the cave’s ceiling. Unfortunately, the ghoul worm moved out of the way in time, and the light blade only grazed it.
It was too difficult to hit these human-sized enemies. Not only did they lack the giant basilisk’s size, they were far too fast for the Sword of Judgement; they bounced around like giant grasshoppers.
After fending off several more attacks, I returned my sword to its sheath, picked up my crystal lamp, and made my way over to Ariane.
“I’m going to stop them in their tracks! Bring Whirlwind!”
Ariane cried out in surprise. “What’re you doing, Arc?”
I called forth the wind elemental area-of-effect spell I’d learned from the Magus class. A tornado formed around me, powerful blasts of wind shooting from my outstretched arms. One gust caught the spoyl, and threw it far into the cave’s depths. The ghoul worms, however, were only knocked about a bit. They continued to close in on me.
I summoned another spell. “Rock Fang!”
Sharp, fang-like rocks jutted out of the ground, tearing open the earth and impaling several ghoul worms. The creatures’ movements slowed considerably as they tried to pull their bodies free of the stones that speared them.
Ariane shouted at me, clearly alarmed. “Arc, you shouldn’t use earth-based magic here! We could be…”
A loud rumbling drowned out the rest of her sentence as the cave floor began to shake beneath us.
The ground gave out under me, sending me tumbling down the massive hole that suddenly appeared.
“Wauuuuugh!”
The world spun as I picked up speed, rocketing through the narrow tunnel that had opened up in the earth. I felt like I was on a roller coaster.
“You shouldn’t use earth magic in caves and other enclosed spaces! It can weaken the ground around you!”
I looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ariane and Chiyome sliding down behind me. Apparently, they’d been dragged into the ground as well. Ponta was safe and sound, clinging to Ariane.
I hadn’t even considered that earth magic could have this kind of impact.
“I’m really sorry! Once we find somewhere we can stand, I’ll teleport us out of here!”
Despite the beating it took, my crystal lamp continued to illuminate the darkness. I clutched it as tightly as I could. From time to time, rocks fell on my head as the cave walls continued to crumble. That actually hurt a bit. However, the rocks did nothing to slow my momentum as I slid ever deeper into the cave.
Finally, the darkness gave way to bright light as I flew into a vast, open chamber.
My tumbling slowed as the slope grew shallow, and I was able to stand at last.
“Look at that. It’s an underground lake! And is that a…?”
I turned, following Chiyome’s gaze, and discovered that crystal-clear water filled over half the chamber, forming a large, subterranean lake. The water itself appeared to glow, giving off a mystical, pale blue light.
Even more unbelievable, however, was the fact that a massive ship was anchored in the lake, just a short distance from the wall we slid down.
I glanced around, taking it all in. The chamber itself had to be at least a hundred meters tall. The rock surfaces around us gave off the same pale blue light as the water. The light seemed to come from brightly glowing crystals scattered about the room. The lake stretched into the distance and out of view; I spotted holes in the wall where water poured into the lake like waterfalls.
A simple wooden pier extended from the shore to the ship. The ship’s three masts made it look like a galleon, although oars lined its sides just above the waterline, like a galley. The fact that we found such a massive ship suggested that the subterranean lake was connected to a river, or even the ocean.
Ariane, however, seemed preoccupied. “I can’t believe it. This place is full of natural light crystals.”
“Kyii!” Ponta let out a cry as it looked around.
Chiyome walked up to me and fixed her gaze on the ship. “So, obviously, people have been coming here.”
“But why would someone build a pier underground?” I took note of the fact that there didn’t seem to be any signs of life around us.
Ariane picked a stone from the ground and showed it to me. “It could be for these.”
The stone emanated a gentle purple glow as it caught the crystal lamp’s light.
“Rune stones.”
Chiyome’s eyes widened. “There are near-perfect rune stones just lying around all over the place. Finding this many natural light crystals explains why the cave is lit up.”
I lifted my lamp and looked at the glowing pillars inside.
“Are these crystals the same kind that are in the lamps?”
“Those are artificial light crystals, made for use in magical items. Natural ones are extremely valuable. They aren’t something you’d use in camping equipment.”
The way Chiyome spoke gave the impression that the thing in my hand was some sort of knockoff, but according to her, any of the elves’ magical items would be invaluable by human standards.
We were standing on a literal mountain of treasure.
I suddenly remembered that rune stones could also be used as fuel. “With all these crystals, I could probably run a bath year-round and still have some left over!”
Ariane laughed, exasperated. “Yes, well, with so much raw material here, I should probably talk to father first, and see what he thinks about putting together a group of soldiers to collect it all.”
Chiyome’s eyes were still fixed on the ship. “We’ll also need to figure out who exactly is using this place.”
The ship didn’t appear to be some long-lost wreck. It was in good condition, and looked like it could depart at a moment’s notice. However, there wasn’t a single soul in sight. In fact, aside from the distant roar of water pouring from the falls and splashing into the lake below, I couldn’t hear any signs of life in the cave.
“I suppose we should check out the ship first,” I said.
Ariane and Chiyome nodded, as if they’d been thinking the same thing.
The shoddily constructed pier creaked under our combined weight. Once we reached the ship, we stopped and looked up.
The ship was about sixty meters long, including the bowsprit. It was probably thirty meters from the waterline to the mast tops, where the sails were neatly folded. A plank extended from the ship to the pier for easy boar
ding.
From a distance, it looked like a simple wooden ship, but now that we were closer, it gave off an ominous vibe. The upper half was almost certainly wooden, but the lower half seemed to be embedded with massive bones of some sort.
Ariane looked stoic as she peered at the docked vessel. “It really doesn’t seem like anyone’s around.”
We climbed the plank and boarded the ship. On deck, we found a pair of double doors, which I assumed led down into the hold. At the deck’s highest point, I spotted a darkened metal lantern. There were six cannons as well, which struck me as a small number for a ship this size. Then I realized how interesting it was that cannons were even used in this world.
Ariane’s shocked tone interrupted my thoughts. “Are these mana cannons? What are they doing here?”
“What are mana cannons?” Chiyome looked at Ariane inquisitively.
“They’re a type of magical weapon capable of shooting large metal balls using the power of mana. Only the elves in the Great Canada Forest, and the Great Fobnach Kingdom down in the southern continent, should have access to them. I’ve never heard of humans having them.”
Ariane looked intently at the barrel of one cannon. Now that she mentioned it, I didn’t recall seeing cannons or similar weapons on the ships docked in Lamburt, back in the Rhoden Kingdom.
“So, this ship’s owner must be an elf, right?”
Ariane crossed her arms. “This definitely isn’t an elven ship.”
“Well, in that case, who does it…”
“Kyii! Kyiiii!” Ponta cried in alarm.
Chiyome’s cat-like ears twitched. “Someone’s coming!”
The double doors on the deck opened wide, and a horde of armed skeletons, looking not unlike me without my armor, poured out.
“Whoa! More skeleton knights?!”
The skeletons said nothing as they moved. The only sounds were their clattering footsteps on the deck, and the scrape of their swords and pickaxes.
“These are just undead. If they were like you, the whole country would be done for!” After Ariane got her little jab in, she drew her flame-covered sword and engaged the attackers. They didn’t seem all that skilled at fighting.