Chapter 91: Chapter. 77: Moonfang (1)

The ground was hard and my boots had pretty much lost all grip, at the same time my footsteps dully echoed in between rounds of growls and howls, they sounded distant and didn’t seem to make any effort in getting closer. I found solace in that at least. The cave was damp, but it also had holes on the ceiling, allowing natural light to seep into the place. It took a few minutes of awkward walking before I decided to begin sliding. There were a lot of chambers within the tunnels, most with some form of greenery inside of them, but oddly enough the first two that I passed were empty, even though they clearly had small caves as homes and traces of activity, they were desolate.

I entered the third chamber, and for the first time, I saw something different. It was much like the other ones, the tunnel was up high almost like a balcony overseeing a home, the path circled for a bit before going down into a small system of tunnels, and once more towards the end it tapered back up to lead to the next chamber. However, the difference was within its contents. It wasn’t empty. My eyes followed the other slope that led towards the next tunnel, I saw what was basically a pack. Or well, a group of Bloodfangs, my eyes wandered as I counted about ten of them lined up trying to go up towards the tunnel. And soon, I saw more of them as well.

Light pooled from the ceiling, everywhere and nowhere at the same time, diffused into the entire chamber of gray rock, all chambers were the same. It was quite strange. That said, the strangest thing in my eyes were still the Bloodfangs, as I moved and switched the angle I saw more of them, and every single one was walking into the tunnel. What was in the next chamber?

I frowned, I was curious, but I also felt like I needed to know, it was just out of safety and also knowing what to expect of the nest. At the very least just knowing what level the Guardians here were. At the same time, even the Bloodfangs were level 20s, so maybe the Guardians were 30s or even 40s, needless to say it was troublesome, to make everything worse the nest itself was at the very least as big as The Nadir of Royals nest. In terms of quantity, it did not seem as populated at least.

My mind wandered for a second before I remembered the Skirmish. If I had the ability to climb out of the hole with trees, couldn’t I do the same here? I stared at the filtering light through the ceiling, perhaps it was much the same, I just had to… use trees.

Finding newfound enlightenment I grabbed some seeds from the ring, and pushing my mana I made some mushrooms followed by a Deep Dark tree. Before long, a tree sprouted, tilted and went as high towards the ceiling as it could. Even though the tree stood approximately at close to seven meters, it wasn’t nearly enough to reach the ceiling. At least, I needed two more trees.

I climbed atop the black tree crown and once more, using seeds I sprouted another one. It wobbled ever so slightly as it grew unstable, it became considerably more evident as I climbed it. Even though I could feel my mana coursing through them, I did not trust the footing at all, the weight distribution was too uneven, just a single movement and the wood would wobble and creak.

A sigh left me as I inevitably reached the crown of the tree. I kinda wanted to see if I could stack another one on top, but the ceiling was close and my footing was creaking. With a sigh and some quick wits I grabbed my bow and nocked a Wisteria arrow. I pushed my mana onto the string and the arrow by extension, without a second thought I aimed at the rock walls inside the small clearing. Fired, the arrow hit with a dull echo, only its leaf fletching remained.

With a command the Wisteria vines bloomed. Some dug deeper with the initial sprout, and others came towards me as per commanded. Soon I had a vine ladder that was barely sturdy enough for me to climb. With a small hop that made the trees creak, the vines wrapped around me, helping me climb. It was tough, and the trees were beginning to dry, the vines rubbed and threatened to snap, but I persevered. Finally after a minute, I reached the solid rock and found a foothold using the boot spikes. Pushing mana and sharpening the spikes, I managed to climb, though I had no choice but to use the mana knife to create holes for perches.

The rock was smooth and dusty, the grip was low but using the mana knife allowed me to somewhat climb without too much trouble. Some minutes passed as I began to sweat, but eventually I reached the top. My muscles ached as I slowly vaulted over the ledge, the blistering ground made me not linger for long as I stood up. My entire body felt heated and somewhat tired, it was considerably harder to climb than what I had initially anticipated. Having to twist my body at times and other times break the rock.

I pulled the water pouch from my ring to quench my thirst. I examined it briefly before drinking some of its water. In the end, my mind couldn’t help but wander off to the explorer, as well as a bit of how society was among elves.

Elves were… Long lived. But for some reason, or well, I was beginning to understand it, we constantly fought and hunted, preferring it over anything else. In the end, my memories were still hazy, I didn’t wish to remember too much. I didn’t wish to forget either. Society was strange to me, bartering was the main method to gather goods from the outside⁠—

I shook my head as I stowed away the water pouch. In the end I really didn’t wish to remember anything, I didn’t wish to forget, but the status quo of haziness was probably for the best. Though, admittedly I felt a bit lost. A small sigh left me as I scanned my surroundings. I stood on what was the equivalent of a flat land, nothing but a rocky ground with the occasional mineral formation. The ground itself was littered⁠—filled with holes, all of them serving as nothing but ventilation for the inner chambers.

I followed my sense of direction and quickly I heard some growls. They were low and slightly muffled. It didn’t take long before I found the right hole to peer in, it was deep, and I had no vision of whatever was happening. Still, the curiosity inched me forward, and I ended up climbing down it. It did not take long before I saw something down. Peering at an awkward angle I finally saw the entire room, dozens of Bloodfangs filled the room, I identified some Blood Fangtooths as well. All the monsters were lined up around the corners, seemingly watching the center of the room where a tunnel stood. It was deep and dark, but I couldn’t see too far into it due to the angle.

A public gathering? I frowned. I was… familiar. With them, though if I remembered correctly I simply never attended one. It was always just. Something in the background? I didn’t quite remember too much… Penumbral Sense manifested as white-gray lines filled the area I was in, with some spots inside my footing being a blue color.

I heard footsteps deep down, they scraped against the rocky ground echoing dully on the cave. It was like soft scratches, but rhythmic enough for me to identify them. Slowly, they inched forward until I saw it. It was a monster, much similar to the Blood Fangtooth and Bloodfangs, similar body, except this one was a pale purple color, almost white. Its spine had markings on the fur, purple ones as if they were arrows pointing back. Behind its fluffy ears it had two purple strings, immaterial and waving as it walked. Its eyes were a deep gold, and its paws were too.

[Moonfang, Lower Moon. Lvl. 36]

It moved around and about as if it commanded the place, its neck craned, clearly looking down on every fang and fangtooth alike. Some growled at it, hatred evident in their eyes, but their legs were shaking.

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[Oh, that is… bad,] Glim spoke. [It has a… tag in its name? It’s not quite a Guardian, but it’s close to one. Remember The Star Slayer? It’s kind of like that. A title that accompanies them, though in this case it’s bloodline related.]

What are you saying? I asked Glim inwardly, hoping it would get it.

It bobbed. [Well, you know. If it has a title in its tag along with race or name, then it must mean it’s pretty strong?]

I nodded. That made sense at least. But I couldn’t help and ask. Between the Worm Monarch of Rime, and this, what is stronger?

[Since the Monarch is from the Skirmish I am allowed to say, the Moonfang would wipe the floor with it, no contest!]

I frowned. It’s not what I needed to hear right now. But if Glim was being honest, then I was probably better off killing Bloodfangs and Fangtooths for levels until I could take the Moonfang. Though admittedly, I found their names weird, and I also found it weird that Fangtooths existed here too. But, who was I to question whatever twisted thing the New World was? I shook my head and simply stared.

A deep growl entered my ears, enough to make them twitch. A Blood Fangtooth stepped from the crowd, but it was different. It had already entered a frenzied state. And its level was not to be underestimated either.

[Blood Fangtooth. Lvl. 32]

I was certain it would last a lot longer than the one I had fought, though I also felt sure of my victory should anything happen. Though, nothing particularly mattered, for I was simply watching. The Fangtooth bared its teeth at the Moonfang, who well, did not react at all. It stood in its spot, the ethereal strings moving as if air passed through them.

The Fangtooth tensed its muscles and jumped towards the Moonfang, it turned into nothing more than a blur as it lunged, but something strange happened, at that moment, the purple strings of the Moonfang lit up with mana, and snapped⁠—whipped towards the Fangtooth. After the powerful snap there was no other sound. The Fangtooth dashed past its adversary, but when it landed, its legs gave way and its body skated with all the momentum. Its head hung low as it crashed against the distant wall with a powerful sound.

Mana whips?

The Moonfang let out a small snort. Its eyes regarded the dead Fangtooth for no more than a second, but I saw visible scorn as it solemnly turned towards the Blood fang-type monsters. Most of them refused to make eye-contact and lowered their heads, others simply just met its gaze but still trembled, and very rarely did they just not react. It took a second, but after taking a seat with its hind legs, it let out a small sound.

“Invader. Forest.” It could… speak? “Bring. Here.”

Nothing moved. No Bloodfangs or Fangtooths moved. And the Moonfang, its eyes slightly curled as if it was overjoyed. It took a deep breath, and looking in my direction with its eyes closed it howled. Its deep call echoed throughout the cave, and soon more followed. It lingered with power, and after the Bloodfangs and Fangtooths finished, they all ran out of the chamber. The Moonfang however, remained, lingered as its howl trailed into silence. I hurriedly moved and hid myself away by shifting my position. I couldn’t see it, and even Penumbral Sense marked the area as blue. A color I had come to understand meant not visible for either of the people.

“Invader.”

I froze as my vision shifted to pure red. I was certain it hadn’t seen me. It couldn’t have. Penumbral Sense, never marked it. It took me the briefest second to register it, but I quickly hopped and moved up. However it was too late⁠— with a bright flash of purple the rock shattered, a cracking sound resounded in my ears as I felt all of my weight disappear for the briefest moment. My eyes widened, as the ceiling itself gave way to sunlight.

How?