Annoyed by the dampness of the cave and that stinking spread within it, Enatsu pulled a long, narrow drape out of his coat and wrapped it around his neck. As if it were a scarf, he covered his nose and mouth, increasing his resistance to that stinky environnt.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the first area of the dungeon, bouncing off the narrow solid walls. The only additional noise was generated by the mud dripping drop by drop on the floor and by the wings of the butterfly demon.
Enatsu snorted, trying unsuccessfully to stop shaking. anwhile, Yoichi walked next to him, and Shioko opened the line. Nobu followed the three adventurers behind them, projecting their shadows forward.
Preparing for any looming danger, Yoichi pulled out the dungeon map and used the light to study it in detail. The cave had an inverted T-shape: after the tunnel they were walking, the road would widen, opening into one room to the right and another to the left.
At the bottom, after another corridor, wider than the tunnel, a bigger room. Right on its drawing, the inscription 'boss' was written in capital letters not to escape attention.
"Hyobe told us that the Komoerus had chased him and his friend to the entrance, specifying that the bat demons had stolen the necklace shortly before they left the mine," Yoichi reported, breaking the silence. "The map clearly shows a crossroads at the end of this narrow tunnel. Shioko, do you have any idea where those demons might have hidden a necklace?" he asked.
"You're kidding, aren't you? How do I know?" she replied, puffing. "I haven't co to this place in years, and I don't rember very well what the rooms you're talking about hide. Also, even if I rember, dungeons change very often. It is impossible to establish the precise position of demons and relics", Shioko explained. She was the only one to have practical experience in that field.
"The relics found in dungeons are worth a lot of money..." Enatsu comnted. He continued to rub his hands on his arms, trying to retain the heat under his coat.
Shioko and Yoichi gawked at him with a questioning air. "What is it? What's wrong with thinking about profit?" the tar rchant asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I remind you that the real reason that pushed us to this place is precisely the reward we've been granted!" he added, justifying his sentence.
"Relics can be valuable items to sell, but also pieces of weapons or equipnt. Wild demons are vile and greedy beasts... they tend to hide all kinds of objects in dungeons, generating a real loot for us humans", Shioko remarked. "Put simply, only a fool would sell a relic before becoming aware of its intrinsic power."
"If they have intrinsic power, it ans that relics are magical objects, right? We tars could use them to upgrade our equipnt," Yoichi underlined, reasoning on his own.
Shioko's hand moved towards her quiver, slamming twice on it. "I recovered this relic in a dungeon much further north of here, on the other side of Tentochu. Combined with Nobu's power, it can create light arrows."
"Wow... it's aweso," Yoichi answered, stunned, trying to stay focused on the goal. By using Kenji's enhancent skill, I always end up fighting with my bare hands... I'm sure there's a relic that suits . The real problem is knowing where, he thought.
"Usually, low-level dungeons do not provide particularly gluttonous relics or loot. But the Blackvault Mines are not basic level..." Enatsu comnted, confirming his thesis.
The echo of the footsteps of the three adventurers beca less loud, and the sound of mud dripping from the ceiling started to disperse into the air. The tunnel connecting the mine entrance to the dungeon's danger zone was almost over.
Shioko, with her usual mysterious way of doing things, pulled out the bow. Yoichi looked at Kenji, ready to activate its upgrade skill in case of need.
"What's going on? Did you hear anything?" the rchant asked. Shioko's hand promptly silenced him, trying to focus on other kinds of sounds.
At the end of the tunnel, the ceiling suddenly rose, disappearing from sight. Similarly, the side walls also distanced themselves, bending left and right and forming 90° angles.
"The map was right. We just walked into the main area of dungeon," Yoichi whispered, reporting the information step by step. "Now, all we have to do is choose which direction to take", he added, trying to look beyond the light of Nobu.
The light beam created by the tail of the Hotasagi seed much less wide than the one that illuminated the tunnel up to that point. The new rocky room was so vast that the light was gradually devoured by darkness, dissolving into the air.
"Grrr" Kenji's growl suddenly broke the silence. The three Nightblades warriors looked at the little dragon, trying to figure out what it perceived.
At the sa ti, many tiny red dots shone in the dark, pointing at them. "Oh, fuck... oh, fuck!" Enatsu quaked aloud. His arms and legs were shaking like leaves.
As soon as he could catch a glimpse of the eyes of wild demons in the darkness of that damp cave, Shioko slipped her hand into the quiver and jumped backwards.
She grabbed four arrows with one hand with a swift movent, holding one between each finger. The archer placed them simultaneously on the rope of her bow and, with a reaction ti of a few seconds, shot them blindly, pointing forward.
Before Yoichi was able to activate Kenji's power, Shioko's arrows illuminated the area along their trajectory, revealing the high stone vaults of the mine.
Continuing to fly, two of them hit hidden targets, and a loud screech echoed among the mine's rock walls. "Screeech! Screeech!" – the harrowing verse of pain emitted by the bat demons forced Enatsu and Yoichi to cover their ears, not being accustod to those high frequencies.
The two arrows that missed the targets hit the wall in front of the tunnel exit, illuminating the area for a few seconds. Before dying out in the darkness, dozens of bats just over Sora's size took shape, flitting chaotically under stone vaults.
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