Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Scent Lures the Prey

Harsh shrieks pierced the air.

The sound of thick liquid melodically dripping against the cavern floors produced a beautifully eerie cadence.

PLOP

PLOP

"Ughhhh..."

"Ughhhhhh..."

...

"Ughhhhhhhh..."

The agonized sound of muffled grunts alongside the rustling of rubbing fabric played out in the dreadfully dark cave.

The low light from the flickering torchlights alongside the muddy walls poorly illuminated a figure dragging his body along the floor, a trail of red following in his wake.

Huff huff

...

The figure stopped, deeply inhaling before dragging himself forward once more.

"Ughhhhhhh..."

The figure's body was bare from the knee down, his knees wildly splurting out internal juices as marble-colored bone hung from his gashed legs.

As the man crawled on for sheer survival and gritted teeth, tears leaked from his bloodstained eyes.

"Ughhhhhhh... huhu..."

Pained breaths leaked from his mouth as he slowly traversed, his aching breaths morphing into mournful cries for a savior.

His hoarse voice called out through the darkness, "please..."

. . .

Yet there was no answer, only the eerie silence occasionally broken by shrieks of other victims within this abysmal maze.

However, as the silence crept on him, he felt the presence of another.

Tap

Tap

Someone had answered his beckoning.

Tap

Tap

Sturdy footsteps clopped against the muddy floor from behind, and a voice laughed out, "Heh, I was wondering where you were."

This stranger was no god, nor was he its apostle.

The debilitated man, upon looking back, screamed in panic, "No!! Noooo!!"

Tears cascaded down his cheeks, and he erupted into a full bawl, crying to anyone, anything to save him, "Please no!"

However, his screams only meshed with similar pleas being sung out in this dreaded place.

"Yala, please!" the crying man prayed.

Yet, this only brought about the laughter of the stranger as he grasped the man by the exposed bones of his decapitated legs and pulled him back into the shadows.

The sound of blood splattering, tearing muscles, and nightmarish howls blended with the similar sounds in this "game."

.

.

.

"Haha, no way you ate a rat!"

"It's true, it's true!"

The cheerful laughter of the two boys filled the cave as they walked through the cave.

Oz gave a cheeky smile, "I ate a snake this big, too!" while making exaggerated motions with his arms.

"Hahaha, sureee" Zee responded as the two laughed some more and continued down the muddy path.

However, now there was what looked to be an animal leg in their hands.

Oz enthusiastically dug in, taking large bites and causing streams of red to run down his chin.

Zee, however, just gazed down at the meal, hesitating to take a bite and holding back a nauseous urge to vomit.

Oz, upon seeing this, spoke with his mouth half-full, "what's wrong? It ain't gonna kill ya."

In both boys' grasps was a leg of the EarthCat that Oz had struck down.

Zee turned to Oz and let out a nervous chuckle, "Uhh, Oz..."

Oz met Zee's gaze whilst he continued chomping on the EarthCat leg, "wassup, bro?"

A nervous smile appeared on the boy's wheat-colored face, "heh, uhhh... ya know these are poisonous to humans, right?"

The boy aside him responded with a full mouth as he took another bite, "you sheriush?"

Zee nervously replied as he took another glance at the meat in hand, "yeh..."

"What about the dinner with Nana and everyone?" Oz asked.

Zee shook his head and sighed as he replied, "That's because it's prepared a certain way. They say eating too much not only makes you sick but... can even kill you."

The sound of silent munching filled the cave as the two boys continued onwards.

GULP

"Damn, that was good!" Oz tossed aside his bone which was now completely stripped of all its meat and skin, "you gonna eat yours? If not, I'll eat it."

"Grrr..." Zee's face began to resemble a cherry as his face turned red in rage, "Dangit, Oz! Did you not hear what I said y-"

"Shhhhh!" Oz quickly put his fingers on his companion's mouth as they both listened out.

sqee sqeee squee

squee squee

Oz peeled his eyes at the dark cavern in front of them.

A golden flicker shone in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Zee, whose mouth was still covered, began to shiver in fear as he let out a faint whisper, "th- that sounds like... l-like... rats?"

Just as it would have it, a pair of mud-brown eyes shone from the darkness connected to a 4 leg creature at the height of the boy's knees.

The creature looked like the combination of a rat and an otter

Its 2 jagged teeth were bent with layers of brown crust atop it.

squee squee

Oz peeled his eyes at the creature, 'what is this thing?' he instructed his mystery box to scan it, 'I need to examine i-'

His eyes widened in shock as the results shown in front of him caught him off guard.

--

[Creature: Unknown]

[Level: 3]

[Realm: 0]

[Proficiency: Low]

--

'Unkown?.. how, hmm...' Oz's mind raced as the creature slowly prowled towards the pair.

The two just stood there silently, 'it can't be because it's too strong, right?..'

A cocky smirk spread across the boy's face as he removed his hand and confidently strutted toward the beast, "heheh..."

Zee, upon seeing his friend's strange behavior, called out, "Oz?"

However, those calls fell upon deaf ears as laughter rang through the halls and his friend zoomed ahead.

WHOOOOSH!

A small crack was left in his wake as he launched himself forward.

The ceiling was only about 12ft (3.7m) high, yet that was still plenty of space for Oz to get adequate air time, appearing like an eagle coming to swoop down his prey.

The cave was dark and dreary, yet his gleaming golden eyes were akin to the sun beaming down on the lone rat.

Deep in its bloodshot eyes, a look of fear could be spotted, and Oz could see it.

He could feel it.

Yet, as he descended, it gave one last yelp.

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SQUEEEEE

BOOOM!!

Oz's fist collided with its head, splattering it into bits and sending blood into the air.

--

[Experience Gained, Killed Realm 0, Low Proficiency Creature: [[Rotter]]

[Experience Witheld]

[UNAVAILABLE: System Fragmented]

[Collect Other Half to Confirm]

--

Oz peeled his eyes at the corpse, 'A rotter? This place sure does have some weird names...'

Scrscrt

However, his attention was pulled back up ahead by the sound of tiny footsteps.

squeee squee

squeee squee

squee

The sound of squealing reverbed throughout the cave, yet Oz kept his gaze ahead, a slight smile upon his lips as he sighed.

"I love leveling."

WHOOOOSH!

He ran forward once more.

"Oz!" Zee called out, yet his call once again went unanswered.

WHACK!!

Oz zoomed forward as he felt his fist solidly connect with a tiny skull.

CRUNCH!

It felt like splitting a pistachio as he felt the skull caving around his fist, the warm-thick goop spraying along his arm as he swung his entire fist through the rat's head and all the way into its stomach.

SPLAT!!!

The creature went flying, splattered against the wall like a fly, yet now its wings were clipped.

squee

squee

Its group squealed in rage as Oz looked around, observing his surroundings, 'damn, guess I should've observed first before diving in head first, but I can't help it.'

A sickeningly perverted smile spread across his cheeks, 'it felt like ages since I've gotten to level like this!'

Luckily, this was all concealed by the shadows, as Zee stood by the flimsy torchlight on the wall, nervously waiting as the sound of battle took place not even 10ft away.

SPLAT

WHAACK!!

PLEUK!

SQUEEEE!!

Zee felt his knees shaking, and his vision started to tilt as if he were on a rocking boat.

Sudden nausea had overtaken him out of nowhere.

No, this was more than nausea.

Was this... fear?..

Zee tried to soothe himself with self-talk, 'heh... hehe... wh-why am I afraid, Oz... Oz will be fine... he promised we're gonna make it out alive.'

Yet as he tried to convince himself of this, tears began to drip down his face.

All this may just be too much for a mere 13 boy to handle.

SPLAT!

WHAACK!!

PLEUK!

SQUEEEE!!

Darkness began encroaching on him as the light from the dwindling flames began to die down.

The suffocating darkness enwrapped him.

Whispers rang through his mind.

'We're gonna die! We're gonna die! Is Oz alive? Why is it so dark? Oh my god, I can't breathe! Nana. everyone.'

"Zee."

POP.

Like a window had shattered, Zee noticed the flickering flames were as they were, dull but enough, and there was Oz in front of him, looking like he had been dipped head to toe in... flesh and mush.

Regardless, a bright smile was still on his face as he asked, "you okay?"

Zee just forcefully gulped down and nodded, "y-yeh!" as he did his best to force a smile.

Oz was in a very good mood, 'hehe, I wouldn't mind more of... ugh!"

His eyes widened as he looked behind Zee.

A deathly silence permeated through the air as the pair stood there frozen.

Zee, confused by Oz's look, opened his mouth to question him when he froze.

He felt it.

Behind him...

He tried his best to calm himself, cautiously turning around. 'Slowly...' sweat was dripping down his face... 'slowly...'

He saw it.

Like a nightmare itself, just there in the shadows, a mere meters away.

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