Leading towards the valley, the trail continued to wind through the fields. Beyond the flat plains leading to the mouth of the valley, the visible knife edge of its peak tapered down. The trail had become more broken, and the cart was no longer a smooth ride, SJ being jostled and bouncing as it travelled over the ruts.
“I think I am going to stop here,” SJ said, pulling the cart up to the side of a tree just off the path. Leading Humberto off the main trail, she led him, pulling the cart until it was behind the tree by some bushes, and although not hidden well, it was not as obvious. Unhitching Humberto, she stroked his mane and led him towards the tree before tying him off. She didn’t want him wandering away while she continued to the caves.
“I hope Humberto will be ok leaving him here,” SJ said.
“I have seen nothing around the area large enough to attack a horse yet.”
“Yet. Sounds ominous.”
“You never know what could be wandering.”
Looking towards the valley side, she was probably still a few hundred metres from it. She quickly rechecked her inventory to ensure she had everything she needed. Torches, Flint and Steel, Rations, Waterskin, the basket from Grewlas and the healing potions and anti-poison. Having left all the other items from the cart at the cottage would at least mean nothing could be stolen. It annoyed her that a minor item as her Flint and Steel took up an entire slot in her inventory.
“I should have got a new belt with some pouches to carry the smaller items.”
“It would have been helpful,” Dave replied.
She closed her inventory, happy she had what she needed but frustrated that she had only two free slots for other items apart from her tailoring slots.
“Let’s go,” she said, transforming into her miniature form. Taking off almost instantly, she flew along the trail. Her speed was much faster than the cart had been travelling at, and it wasn’t long before the landscape changed and the slope of the wall began. Flying made travel so much easier, not having to walk up inclines. She increased her height and surveyed ahead. She was very wary of checking the skies for any sign of hungry birds.
In the rock face that presented itself, she could see several dark openings dotted along its face. At the distance, she still was. None of them seemed to have any distinguishing features to identify them apart from their position. Heading towards the nearest opening, she came to land by the entrance. The cave opening had enough space for a bear or a similar creature to enter, and she suddenly felt the urge to ask about them.
“Do bears live in caves?”
“Why bears?”
“Oh. No specific reason it was always a thing back on Earth that they did.”
“Bears live wherever they please. Some live in caves, others don’t. The territory or region normally plays a large part, and it is warm here, so they do not need to find shelter.”
“What can live in caves, then?”
“All sorts. Spiders, sometimes wolves, have dens, puma, various insects, and anything else could set up a home in one.”
“Well, that isn’t great then, is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I could be about to walk into someone’s home, but they may not wish for guests.”
“You worry too much. You can defend yourself if there is anything.”
“I am only level 7 and still haven’t got my second Martial Arts skill yet.”
“You have already proven your ability on multiple occasions. You need to have more confidence in what you can do.”
SJ felt shocked by Dave's frank and positive comment, but then smiled and gained strength and confidence from his words.
“Thanks.”
Dave didn’t respond, so SJ took out a torch, her flint, and steel and began lighting it. Doing it in miniature form meant that the torch would give off very little light, but if she grew it, it would provide light, knowing what it had been like inside the cave from the cocoon visit.
Once it was lit and burning well, she approached the entrance. The air in the cave entrance smelt damp and stale. Slowly flying inside, she took her time and proceeded cautiously. She was keeping her eyes and ears primed for any sound. Nothing was unusual, and she hoped she wouldn’t come face to face with anything wanting to eat her. The cave entrance went back quite a distance before opening into a cavern. She could not see the roof with the pitiful light cast from her miniature torch and could hear water dripping from the ceiling above and landing in a pool somewhere in the dark.
Her senses were calm, and she could feel no other presence or any unusual sensations that her senses had showed since her symbiosis. Flying around the chamber close to the floor, looking for any mushrooms that could be blue-coloured, she found nothing. Eventually, she completed a full circle and found nothing of interest. She flew back up to the entrance, the bright sun streaming into the cave mouth, squinting as she flew back into the sunlight.
“One down,” she said, looking further down the cliff face of the valley. There were several, and she proceeded to the next, a couple of hundred feet further away. The torch was quite awkward to fly with outside, the mild breeze blowing the thin smoke it let off back towards her, and she had to hold it out to the side to prevent it from going in her eyes as she flew.
The next cave entrance was much smaller, and looking at it, she wondered if a normal person could have fit inside, even though she still took the time to enter and search. It was even shorter than the first cave, and it suddenly came to an abrupt end, only being a mere tunnel rather than entering a cavern at its end. Turning, she left again.
“This could take some time,” she sighed.
“You have enough,” Dave replied.
She spent the next hour flitting from one cave to the next with no sign of mushrooms. When she reached the seventh cave, her hopes rose. A chilly breeze emanated from the cave’s mouth. It was the first she had come across had a breeze inside. Hoping that an unfamiliar environment would be what she needed to find them. Entering the mouth of the cave large enough to drive a coach into it, it fell away sharply on a steep incline. Flying meant that she had no concerns about moving down the passage. The tunnel wove into the Earth until it eventually came into an open cavern. She had seen no signs of mushrooms in the tunnel, but as soon as she reached the cavern, she saw a blue-coloured mushroom at the tunnel entrance.
“Yes,” she said excitedly.
“Looks like you have found some at last,” Dave replied.
The mushroom was probably half her size in miniature form, and she could do nothing unless she grew. Landing by its side, she grew. Once she had the torchlight cast into the chamber and covering the floor were clusters of blue mushrooms. Smiling, she bent down and plucked the mushroom from the loose earth on the cavern’s floor. The ground was damp, and the walls had a sheen from the constant moisture. Removing the basket from her inventory, she placed it on the ground and walked around the cavern, collecting more of the blue mushrooms and slowly filling it.
She had been doing it for several minutes when her senses triggered. Stopping and looking around her, she scanned the interior of the cavern. She had not even got more than several feet from the tunnel entrance; there were so many mushrooms.
“I can sense something,” SJ whispered.
“I have seen nothing. Then again, the light isn’t great. You should invest in a lantern at some point. They provide much better light than torches.”
Rolling her eyes, not replying, she focused on the cavern’s darkness. Her senses triggering were her warning sign, and she shrunk down to her miniature size. The torchlight was now nothing more than a match’s head in the darkness—visible but casting no light apart from just around her. The basket was on the floor by her side, now towering over her.
Standing still, she could hear a scraping sound. It wasn’t nearby but coming from deeper into the cave.
“There is something there,” she whispered.
“I can hear it too, but can’t see anything,” Dave replied.
The sound stopped, and silence returned to the cavern, the only break being the occasional drop of water landing on the cavern floor. SJ’s nerves were tingling at the unknown, and she felt a trickle of sweat run down her back. The cold sensation made her senses flare. There was something there; she knew it but did not know what.
The basket suddenly moved, and SJ nearly had a heart attack as it rocked sideways slightly. A thick black feeler suddenly appeared over the top of it. As SJ looked upwards, an enormous insect greeted her with its open jaws.
“Ahh,” she squealed, dropping the torch in fright. The sound made the creature recoil from the basket. “What’s that?” she cried.
“A giant crepar. They have a toxic bite, so don’t let it nip you.”
Flying backwards across the cavern, she looked at where the basket was. The tiny torch provides a minuscule amount of illumination. SJ watched as the insect, which she thought looked like a massive centipede, again hit the basket and dug into its contents, removing one of the blue mushrooms. SJ watched as it picked it up in its mandibles and bit into it.
“It’s stealing my mushrooms. Why doesn’t it just eat the ones in the cavern?” SJ exclaimed, her initial fear now being replaced with annoyance. The creature was not paying her miniature form any attention as it grabbed another and began devouring it. Looking at the creature, she identified it.
Giant Crepar
Level: 10
Hit Points: 65
Mana Points: 0
Armour Class: 25
Attacks: Bite/Slash
Special: Toxin
“It has a high armour class,” SJ said.
“Its chitinous body provides it with natural armour.”
“Do you know what its toxin does?”
“Two seconds.”
Silence.
“It attacks your cells, preventing healing,” Dave replied after a few seconds.
“So, stay away from its bite,” SJ replied.
Flying sideways away from the creature, eating another of her precious collection, she moved around to the creature’s side. It was difficult to make it out in the pitch black with the tiny torch light. She could at least tell where it was, with its movement being heard easily. She approached its side. Looking at it in miniature form, several pairs of legs were visible, and its body resembled plated armour. It was difficult to determine its true size while she was small, so she noticed that the underside did not seem as well protected as its top.
She grew, equipping her claws and, immediately reaching her full height, drove them into its softer sides. Her claws scraped against the chitinous armour that still covered its body but aimed as low as she had, and with the element of surprise, they penetrated its soft flesh. The crepar let out a hissing sound, and its body curled back on itself. Its head suddenly hit SJ on her side, throwing her off balance and making her fall sideways.
Jumping back to her feet, she saw the shadowy form in the cave’s darkness and moved to attack. As she did, her legs went from under her. She had not seen how long the creature’s body was, and it had moved to hit her from behind. It had the freedom to move its parts independently.
“I need light,” she stammered as she again regained her footing. The creature went to strike her again with its mandibles open. Seeing the movement late in the darkness, she only moved aside, and the creature’s head missed her by millimetres. She ran to the basket, shrinking as she did. As soon as she did, she grabbed the torch and grew again, still moving away from the crepar. Another hiss and scuttling sounded behind her. With the brighter torchlight, she could see better and headed straight for the entrance tunnel.
The crepar gave chase as she did. Running up the steep incline, she could hear its feet scraping and scratching on the tunnel’s surface. Glancing backwards, she saw it wasn’t very far behind her. Running as fast as she could, she needed to make daylight, if possible, and fight it in the open.
“Attacking a creature in the dark is never a good idea; at least you can draw it into the light now,” Dave said.
“You think!” SJ growled as she continued to run.
Turning a corner in the tunnel, she saw the bright light of day ahead; her muscles were burning from running up the incline, and she wished she had flown but needed the creature to follow, and she wasn’t sure it would have bothered if she was small. She broke into the light of day, being momentarily blinded, and continued from the cave mouth, turning to see the creature appear behind her. Dropping the torch, she turned and waited.
The crepar’s deep brown colour seemed to absorb the sun’s light in the light of day. Its colossal head and mandibles snapped as it moved towards her on its unnatural legs. With its armoured body, it reminded her of a millipede. She stood ready as it neared, rearing up the front part of its long body before striking down at her.
She dived sideways out of its way, rolling across the rocky surface, wincing slightly from the pain of the motion. Thankfully, she had only received minor damage when the creature hit her. Jumping up immediately, she turned back towards it and moved in to attack its weaker sides. Where she had cut it in the cave, she could see a green substance leaking from the wound, and its health was down to 42 hit points after the initial strike.
That was poor considering what her blades had done against others, but knowing the creature’s armour class, it did not overtly surprise her. Striking with precision and swiftness from her training with Lorna, she used her claws as extensions of her fists, striking the creature’s side as it twisted its head to strike at her again. This time, being ready and aware it could strike from both sides, SJ watched its head move and brought her claws around in defence. Its large mandibles met her blades, sounding like swords clashing as it clacked and hissed at her.
Stepping back as it drew back from her, she struck out at its side again and noticed its rear moving to sweep her again. Seeing it coming this time, she jumped high enough for its rear portion to miss her. Landing, she turned again to strike, lashing out with a sweeping claw towards its legs rather than its armoured body. Her claws cut into its legs much easier, and it hissed, pulling away, leaving several of its lower limbs behind.
Its health was now down to 33, and slicing into its many legs was easier and more effective with her claws rather than trying to penetrate its armour. It struck at her again, its mandibles clacking and tying itself in a knot almost as it twisted towards her. SJ tried to parry the blow away, but its strength overcame her defensive pose, and one of its mandibles dug deeply into her shoulder.
Grunting in pain from the hit, she experienced a reduction of another six in her health, and she retaliated with another attack. The creature was much faster than others she had fought, and it turned on the eye of a needle. Its body positioning was so versatile that its rear portion moved either in synchronicity or independently. It reminded SJ of a friend’s pet corn snake she had held as a child, slithering around her hand as she held it. She was completely terrified.
“Keep taking its legs out,” Dave yelled at her.
“I am trying,” SJ grimaced as she deflected another strike from its head. It had caught her again, this time at her side. Thankfully, it could not bite her yet but had sliced into her with its sharp weapons. Swinging her claws rapidly again, she severed more of its lower limbs. Hissing in pain, it withdrew again, her display triggered.
Congratulations! Bleed effect inflicted.
The crepar was now down to fifty per cent health, and as it turned again to face her, she saw it tick down by another point. “I need another couple of strikes to land,” she said, panting slightly from the exertion. The fight was one of her longest so far, with the amount of dodging and weaving they were both performing. Standing with her hands high and claws extended, she ushered at the crepar to come at her again.
“You know it does not know what you are doing, right?” Dave said.
Growling, SJ moved towards it as it moved at her. Ducking under its head, she drew her claws down the underside of its exposed abdomen. They cut into the softer armour, and the crepar kept moving, suddenly jerking SJ backwards. The creature dragged her underneath as her claws got stuck in its carapace. The abdominal strike had been effective, and its health had reduced to under a quarter.
She panicked, crying out in shock, not expecting the sudden change in circumstances.
“Remove them,” Dave screamed.
Trying to avoid the creature’s many feet as it dragged her over the valley's rocky surface, SJ removed her claws. SJ stopped moving as the creature continued over her, and she felt the pain in her shoulder from being dragged. Immediately recalling her claws, she discovered that only her left hand had claws. Glancing at where the crepar had moved, her other glove still hung underneath it.
“Damn,” she cursed. Climbing to her feet, it again turned on her. Screaming in pain and fury at the horrendous abomination of a creature, she ran at it. She would not give it the room it needed to turn. Closing the distance quickly, she punched out towards its head with her right. Catching it squarely did minor damage, but it gave her the opening she sought, driving her left hand up and into the underside of its jaws. The ferocity of her strike with her claws easily pierced this time, and her blades stuck upwards into its mouth.
The bleed effect was still working, and she struggled to hold it pierced on her claws. It shook its head, trying to free itself as its health slowly reduced.
“Hold it,” Dave cried.
"I am trying," SJ hissed as the head's movement pulled her along. She continued to punch it with her right, her blows ineffective with no claws. Her shoulder screamed at her with every punch she threw, but she was determined to defeat the mushroom thief. Its health continued to fall until it eventually reached zero, and its body weight fell forward towards her. The sudden weight shift took her by surprise, forcing her down to her knees before she could free her claws and forcefully push its head to one side.
Sitting heavily on the ground, she let out a cry of victory, and anger, frustration, and rage left her instantly.
“Well done,” Dave said cheerily.
“Well done! I lost one of my claws and tore my shoulder, never mind the pierced shoulder and side.”
“You are alive, though, which is always a bonus, and didn’t get bitten.”
Forcing herself to her feet, she moved to where its body still held her claws and pried them free. Thankfully, the blades were undamaged, having just caught a much harder substance than she had expected. Returning them to her hands before removing them. Pulling one of the lesser healing potions from her inventory, she uncorked the vial and downed it. She hadn’t received too much damage. It was more the pain in her shoulder. Allowing the warmth of the potion to seep through her body removed the aches and pains, clearing her mind.
SJ bent forward and looted the corpse.
Congratulations! You killed a level 10 Giant Crepar 110xp, awarded.
5 x Chitinous Armour Plates
“All because of some damn mushrooms,” SJ huffed, turning to walk back to the cave.
