Shapeless Hero

45 - Excursion II

Liszka raises a hand, signaling me to stop. The corridor ahead of us ends, where a cavern big enough for a whole village begins. An underground river blocks the path to the exit on the other side. Only the manually altered riversides and the lit torches elude to a past bridge's existence. The noise caused by the thirty feet wide strip of untamed water masks anything quieter than a casual conversation.

"Looks clear to me.", I say after casting my eyes over the cave.

"Same." The fox-kin points up to a group of enormous stalactites. "See that?"

I follow the trajectory of her finger, then squint. "Sorry, what am I looking for?"

"The color. The purple tone hints at a less stable mineral deposit. If we hit the stalactites above the river, they'll drop and might make a bridge."

"Why the purple ones?"

"It means, there's too much mana in them. Any exposure to magic from outside will overload them and make them crumble at the impact points. Great for crushing enemies... and creating bridges."

I nod in understanding, as my mana vision confirms the correlation with purple. That said, the river still looks like a hassle to cross. "Should we check the other two paths first? Maybe they had turned around, when they saw the river."

"Usually, I'd agree, but...", she sniffs the air, "I smell something burning from the other side. Could be a campfire or a spell."

I try to catch the scent too, but to no avail. "Wow, that's an impressive nose, you've got there. Proper predator senses!"

She grins. "Hehe, just let me know whenever you go dive a cave. I'll be happy to join you."

I smile. "I'll keep that in mind." My gaze shifts to the stalactites again. "So, how do we drop them?"

"Damn, you have no spells for that?" Liszka sighs. "Fine, I'll use my sling. I have some enchanted ammo with me, although I hoped to use it on a monster, not on rocks."

"Wait.", I interrupt, as a selfish idea crosses my mind. "I might know an alternative."

Her ears twitch. "Ah, do you know a spell after all? Is it Light Bridge by any chance?"

"No... but remind me to look it up later." I roll up my sleeves. "What do you prefer: Clinging to my my back or princess carry?"

Her eyes narrow, confusion written all over her face. "What?"

#

I can feel Liszka's head and body press against my chest, the instant I launch myself over the river. Physics. To my relief, the skill Water Step works on uneven, evermoving water too, otherwise I'd have to crawl out of the torrent beneath me. With each step I make on the river's surface, we gain speed. The fox-kin's grip on my clothing gradually tightens.

I come to a sliding halt beyond the other riverside. Having confirmed that I'm on solid ground again, I kneel a bit for Liszka to jump off. "There we go. It wasn't that bad, was it?" Lacking a response from my passenger the moments after, I look down at her.

I blink several times. She exudes satisfaction, refusing to leave my arms. "Hello...?", I try again.

She sighs. "Let me have this moment."

"That'll be a silver per minute."

She practically teleports out of my arms, now standing next to me and clears her throat.

I laugh, as I catch up with her marching to the next exit. On the way there, we spot the remains of a wooden bridge. It hasn't been burned or destroyed-rather disassembled.

"I would have expected more traps.", I say five minutes later. We're still traversing the same tunnel, through which we left the cavern.

"Traps?", Liszka asks.

"I mean things like pressure plates, spike pits, acid pools, et cetera."

She suppresses a laugh. "I don't know, where you're from, but I've only heard of such traps being used in fighting arenas. Okay, spike pits are nice to have in a forest, but that's still quite the hassle to re-construct and clean."

"So traps aren't used that much for defense purposes?"

"Not really-or specifically: Not anymore. There are only so many traps you can invent, before adventurers figure practically all of the viable ones out. At this point, it's far more cost effective, to make direct defenses that can adapt to and outsmart intruders."

"Artificial intelligences?"

She hums. "Certainly a fitting term for it. However, traps still make for great distractions in combination with other mechanisms. If you stumble upon a building complex with only simple traps, you've discovered something pretty old."

"Older than the complex, where you found the cartridges?"

"Honestly, no idea. The turrets there seemed to be ancient, at least." The arctic fox-kin rubs her chin, a smirk on her face. "Oh gods, there is too much for my lone self to discover! I sure wish, I could go there again with, let's say, a knowledgeable quest assistant?" She perks her lips, expectant eyes on me.

I chuckle. "I'll have to ask 'mother Kella' first."

After fifteen minutes of walking through an everchanging tunnel, we finally reach another spacious area. While the walls are still of stone, it deserves to be called a hall, rather than a cavern: With roughly two yards in dimension, countless rectangular tiles of smooth stone cover the walls, floor and ceiling. The architectural monotony is broken by one thing only: The stone gate at the opposite side from us. A thin streak of smoke rises from the opening.

"Besides the massive gate doors on the ground, this looks too well maintained.", Liszka whispers to me, her eyes scanning the room, over and over.

I hum in agreement. "This is giving me boss-fight arena vibes.", I mutter to myself.

"Bless you."

#

Rev watches Kella slam the freshly emptied mug on the counter. She seems rather content with herself. "Did something good happen?", he asks, a brow raised.

"I've hidden away one of our most precious assets.", she says, her eyes unfocused, as she enjoys the aftertaste of her drink.

"Assets?"

"The noble lass."

"Why? She seems capable enough to fight for herself."

"Not against our guests. They should soon arrive, by the way."

Rev frowns. "You're planning something big again, aren't you?"

"Later, yes. I just have to make sure nobody snatches away my pawns."

The doors open. Two humanoids completely covered in camouflage suits of leaves and twigs enter the main hall. Each of them carries a heavy crossbow on their back. On closer inspection, one can notice a glow emanate from the flight groove, where usually a bolt would be placed for shooting. Despite their heavy looking boots, the steps remain silent. Not even their camouflage causes the noise associated with leaves moving.

Rev tries to keep his expression neutral, but he can't stop the sweat. "The so called 'guests' are coast rangers? You're picking a fight with one of Tyllat's military divisions now?!", he asks in a strained whisper. "Coast Rangers" might sound like a local group for just maintaining beaches, but with almost all of Tyllat being coastal areas, they wield quite a bit of power.

Kella scoffs. "I'm not that reckless. But I'm not gonna let them take whatever they suddenly find interesting either." She stands up and faces the newcomers.

Rev sighs. "I tell Clint to stay in the kitchen then..." He shakes his head, while leaving with Kella's mug for a refill.