Todd has been waiting for monsters to pop out at any second. Every passing moment that they don’t raises the tension further. Deep shadows obscure the boundaries of the room.
“Should we draw them out? Make some noise?” Officer Bernice suggests.
Joe wavers. “I don’t know. Maybe we caught them when they’re out hunting?”
The four step forward, coordinated through many hours of practice.
“That would mean they’re coming back,” Candra warns.
The implication of that statement is that they should rush ahead.
“I dunno. I’m getting a bad feeling about this,” Todd professes, “their nest shouldn’t be empty.”
“Even still, I don’t see the point in sticking around,” Joe declares. “Let’s get out of here before another force field pops up.”
Todd puts his concerns onto the back-burner. He follows along as the group passes through the columns. Along the way, nestled into all corners of the room, reside neatly kept beds of dried fungus. Dozens of the nests are within view.
On the far side of the chamber is another large tunnel. This one arches high overhead, with carefully cut stone voussoirs. Halfway through the length, the ceiling has collapsed entirely, but a smaller hole is carved through the fallen dirt. The only way to traverse the rough round passageway is single file.
“Watch our backs,” Joe dictates.
Candra files in line behind Todd. Officer Bernice no longer takes the front, Joe leads.
The tunnel stretches a long distance. Joe has to duck his head. The further they get, the more a faint rustling noise echoes in from the fore.
The breath is caught in Todd’s throat. Alarm bells are blaring in his mind.
They see the light of an exit. Joe raises a hand to stop them. They hold.
“Back up! Go back!” he exclaims.
“Shit, there’s something behind us!” Candra shouts back.
“What?” Todd blurts, looking aft.
It’s hard to see around Candra, but a furred shape emerges from the dark. The brunette moves to face it, shield and scepter out.
She doesn’t make it to her opponent. The animal rears up and waves its claws. It looks like it’s pushing through molasses. In response, the walls and ceilings of the tunnel ripple. Dirt liquefies, pouring from the ceiling onto Candra.
“What the shit!” she exclaims as mud spills down on her. Parts of the solid ceiling come unmoored. Her whole body is engulfed in seconds.
Todd is left looking at a collapsed pile of earth.
“Candra!” he cries. He rushes forwards and starts digging with his bare hands.
“What’s going on?” Joe shouts.
“It’s a cave in! We’re blocked off!” Officer Bernice shouts back.
“Damn. Then we push forward!” Joe declares.
“Candra’s buried!” Todd hollers.
Joe doesn’t reply. He charges forward to establish a beachhead in the next chamber. There’s no time to look back or they’ll be trapped on both sides.
The tunnel ripples again and another section partially collapses, this time nearly on top of Joe. Mud plops on his head and shoulders, but he pushes through and throws it off.
Officer Bernice gets it worse. She ends up half buried and prone underneath hundreds of pounds of earth.
Todd is having a crisis. What should he be doing? He clears his thoughts. Paralysis is useless, any decision is better than no decision.
He curves his hands into little shovels and jams them forcefully into the dirt. His fingernails crack and tear. Cosmic energy flows through his arms as he drags out pile after pile.
The sounds of Joe fighting alone reach his ears and he redoubles his urgency. He’s just going to have to hope that his friend can hold on.
There’s still moisture and softness in the mud. It seems to him that this property has been conjured, probably by cosmic energy, as it is fading unnaturally fast. He moves two cubic yards of it before he unearths Candra’s hand. It twists in the air desperately, grasping.
Now that he knows where she is, he dives in and uncovers her head. She wheezes out of her nose as it appears. When her mouth is free, she gasps.
“I can’t breathe,” she says.
Todd’s fingers brush her cheek. “I have to go help Joe, stay put I’ll come back for you.”
“No! Fucking help!” Candra cries as Todd picks up his ixwa and runs the other way.
Officer Bernice has lifted herself in one titanic pushup and the dirt has fallen off of her. She frees her feather from the drying mud and she dashes to join Joe outside.
The tunnel ripples again as Todd is passing out of the aperture. He leaps through the opening. Mud rains down behind him.
Joe and Officer Bernice are back to back, swinging for dear life. Everywhere surrounding them is an entire tribe of brown furred mole beasts. The creatures have heavy front paws with thick blunt claws. Nevertheless they possess terrible crushing power, like living excavators. Joe’s leather armor is severely damaged already, and his shield is dented too.
Todd’s eyes dart over the assembled beasts. He starts charging a [water spear], looking for a target.
There is a large mole standing back from the front lines. It raises one paw and makes a very anthropomorphic gripping gesture. Joe curses as the ground beneath him turns soft. His boots sink into the stone and he struggles to free his feet.
Todd points and unleashes his skill. The beam cuts a zigzag line across the face of the lead mole and bursts its eye out of its socket. The beast screams.
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Todd bursts forward. He chops with his [mercury rod], cutting a path free to join with his fellows. The moles seem to hesitate at first, they appear to be unprepared for their opening gambit to fail. But their leader bellows in anger and the whole colony swarms.
Todd wishes he had time to take an energy replenishment pill, but his enemies give him no opportunity. The mass of beasts slaver as their heavy claws swipe at him. For his opening move, Todd leaps on top of a creature’s back and starts stabbing. The beast swings about, trying to throw him, but its vital infrastructure takes a sharp incursion. It slumps and Todd rolls off of it. He throws himself against a newcomer and aims for its neck. It takes a deep cut across its nose, then throws its head back and retreats.
Todd lets the monster out of his mind. There’s plenty more that need to be put down. He whips around and lashes out against another mole, cutting open its shoulder.
He keeps one eye out for more spellcasting beasts. Any unusual gesture catches his attention. He lets off two unnecessary [water spear]s just to be safe. His machete cracks into the skull of a mole and he grimaces at the squelch as he frees it.
Of course, his contribution is small potatoes compared to Joe and Officer Bernice. They cut through beasts like paper. Blood wets the floor. Joe steps through it barefoot, having had to pull out of his boots to free himself.
The lead beast raises up on its hind legs again, raising both claws. This time, Todd aims at its mouth. His skill tears at the moles soft palate. It chokes on the spray and falls over backwards.
Bloodthirst fills the moles as their alpha is injured. Intense pressure is put on the three combatants as the beasts flood them. Todd strikes until his elbow hurts.
Officer Bernice’s feather reaps. She swishes in deadly two-handed semi-circles.
A mole deep in the mass makes an unusual motion. It’s suspicious enough that Todd spritzes it without hesitation. The beast rolls across the floor and squeals as it rams into another.
“Watch your back,” Officer Bernice warns.
“I’m tackling the big one,” Joe calls out.
“Don’t hit me I’m behind you!” Todd implores.
Still, the three of them start taking wounds. Todd takes a scratch across the back of his legs that burns. Officer Bernice is scraped across the belly. Joe is punched hard – he rolls back to his feet, rattled.
They are pushed hard. Hard, but not to their limits. The difference between this mode and extreme mode is revealed in the reduced physical defenses of the beasts, their lack of hardiness, their vulnerability to lesser weapons.
Their aggression is lower too. The more damage the cultivators do to the mole tribe, the more the beasts’ conviction wavers. Eventually individuals start holding back. Distance opens up between Todd and the moles attacking him. Fear starts to take hold.
Todd wipes his forehead with his arm. He only has to hold out a little longer.
Damage to his gathering bag causes the bottom to burst open. The bottles filled with mushrooms spill out. A spike of rage pierces his exhaustion and he lunges at a nearby mole.
When the beasts break, they break before Officer Bernice. In a wave that starts with her and spreads across the entire colony, they start fleeing into adjoining tunnels.
Bodies cover the floor. The three of them stand to make sure the battle is over. Just a little sooner than they’re certain, Todd turns and rushes back towards the entryway. He starts digging through dirt with urgency. Joe jogs behind him. He moves the effluent out into the chamber to make it easier for Todd.
Candra is hyperventilating by the time they reach her. Freeing her takes long minutes. Todd holds her hand to calm her while using the other one to dig.
“Let go and dig, let go and dig,” she wheezes.
“Sorry,” Todd apologizes. He puts both hands to it.
Slowly, steadily, Candra is freed. She steadies herself. She doesn’t say thank you. She only goes back to recover her buried shield and [marut sonic scepter].
Todd stands back awkwardly. Then he gives her space and exits the tunnel.
“Is she alright?” Officer Bernice asks.
“I don’t know. She’s not hurt,” Todd says.
“She’ll be alright,” Joe asserts. “Candra, you good?”
“Let’s just finish this up,” Candra practically whispers as she joins them. She wipes at her eye and blinks rapidly to get the grit out.
“It’s just up ahead,” Todd states. He shifts his bag around and inspects the damaged part. Sighing with regret, he lets it down. Then he points in the distance. “It should be that way.”
Officer Bernice, Joe, and Todd all take a healing pill. The burning on the back of Todd’s legs softens.
Then the squad of four reapplies mushroom juice, and traverses another cavern. This time, there are ruins built out of stacked stone. Most of the walls have fallen over, but a few still stand. The roofs and interiors are long gone, and a stale stink lingers. Further in, a decrepit fountain decorates the center of a square with broken flagstones. There are signs of actual civilization, not just industrial centers. Dead crystals glitter in the ceiling, devoid of energy, or spirituality.
The cavern continues to increase in size. The little circle of light which spreads from their clothing reaches out into the black.
There’s something tranquil about this place, untouched. There are no signs of beasts of any kind. It just goes on and on.
They start peering into doorways. They hop over toppled walls. They search for clues. The process takes over an hour as they follow the main thoroughfare deeper into the town.
During their investigation, Todd takes a moment and assigns his free points to dexterity and intelligence, raising them both to nineteen. There’s a brief second where he looks at his lagging wisdom score, but so far he’s had limited use for the attribute so he leaves it be. Finished, he exits his menu and returns his attention to his surroundings.
It’s as if nothing remains here. Not even ghosts. Just as the group starts to lose hope, they spot the dim glow of mushrooms. Taking them as a sign, they are guided towards the back side of the cavern. There, flush with the wall is a solitary surviving metal vault. Whatever material it is made out of, it hasn’t decayed in thousands of years. The door of the vault has a heavy handle and is slightly ajar.
“There’s no way this is it,” Todd doubts.
“This is absolutely it,” Joe laughs. “Nice work!”
Officer Bernice sighs in relief. “Let’s get this treasure and get out of here.”
“We can’t leave until we get teleported out,” Todd reminds her. “We’re stuck for a little while.”
The police officer chuffs. She walks forward and reaches for the vault handle.
“Wait!” Todd shouts, “it could be booby-trapped!”
Officer Bernice recoils. “Trapped?” she insists.
Todd explains, “another team got hit with a trap last mission. The man ended up getting killed. We should be careful.”
Joe rubs his hair vigorously in consternation. “I don’t know anything about defusing traps,” he says, “so what do we do?”
Todd looks at the vault with consideration. He doesn’t know anything about them either. So the question is, how exactly do they open this thing safely?