Chapter 57: HBA -Chapter 57 – Arc 4 – Maybe, Further, Inside?

“The Southern Forest of the Central Continent is a place I detested visiting.”

 

“It was dumpy, wet, darker than I imagined it would be, and most of all. It was full of Insects.”

 

“I detest it even now, but I must say that I still pity it.”

 

“I truly pity it.”

# Quote - Unknown traveler - Date Unknown

 

*

 

Central Continent - Southern Forest - Survival Tribe - Alexander

Days after days, months after months passed as Alexander trained his physical body.

 

Days after days, months after months passed as Alexander trained his spiritual self.

 

Yet, all that required resources to fuel his progress.

 

That being the case, it was once again time for the acquisition of those resources. As such Alexander found himself before a familiar Cave entrance. 

Today he would act as bait once more. He would enter the Cave, and dive deep inside in search of the prey sustaining him, and his ever-going progress of attaining strength. 

 

However, there was a problem. A big problem. A big problem that stemmed from his ever-going progress. 

 

With every Giant Black Many Legs caught and eaten, one less remained for him to consume.

 

In the beginning, all Alexander had to do was travel lightly into the Cave, and a few of them would chase after him. Outside the Cave, other Hunters waited for the incoming prey. 

 

Depending on the numbers of the incoming prey, Alexander would have the chance to fight two or three Giant Black Many Legs at once. Such a bounty would sustain him for some time. However not too much, as the killed prey would turn terrible after enough time passed.

 

With each fight in the Nightmare Pit, he improved his tactics. With each fight done out here, in Reality, it got easier and easier, until the point he had no more need for external help. 

 

Still, as if it became a custom, the Hunters stuck around just in case, as he had trouble over three Giant Black Many Legs if he did not tap into his Heart of a Rebel, and that became a problem for Alexander. 

 

While using the Heart of a Rebel, he felt unstoppable. However, there were conditions to use it to its full potential. Emotional conditions that a general fight just did not bring forth.

The Hunters aside, the scenario had occurred so many times, and now Alexander had to travel deeper and deeper into the Cave to find the prey. Every time he had to get deeper and deeper, the danger increased for him, but that did not diminish Alexander's drive for progress.

 

With that being the case, Alexander entered the Cave once more. It took but a few steps for things to darken as the Light failed to penetrate inside too deeply. 

 

That did not deter Alexander, as his eyes could see in the dark. It wasn't as clear as it was outside during the day. The fact was, even during the night, it was brighter outside than it was inside the cave once you stepped inside deep enough.

 

Even then, Alexander was not in deep trouble. 

 

Neither was any other Badg’Er at this point as they had powerful noses to guide them. Still, just relying on a powerful smelling ability was not enough to traverse the Cave and its pitfalls. After all, while the smell was a powerful indicator of things, it did not help with traversing the Cave. 

 

If one was not careful enough, it was easy to lose footing and slip. The slip itself was not dangerous. It was getting stuck that Alexander had problems with. At the start of this hunting endeavor, Alexander had not paid enough attention and slipped into a crevice inside the Cave. 

 

At that time, he got stuck between the pointy rocks decorating the ground and the ceiling. Therefore, aside from the creature inhabiting the Cave, the unique landscape of the Cave contained its own perils.

 

It had taken time for Alexander to free himself. 

 

A time that could have been abused by some creature if it had been there at that moment. From that point on Alexander paid more attention to his footing because he did not want to get stuck in a vulnerable situation while a Giant Black Many Legs crawled up to him. 

 

Luckily the first time it happened, nothing came to bother him.

 

Nevertheless, there was a point deep in the Cave that all Badg’Er Hunters stopped at without going an inch further because it was too treacherous to trek through the Cave when your sight, smell, and hearing barely worked. 

 

However, Alexander was an exception. He became the only Badg’Er to go further and that achievement relied on one particular uniqueness of his. 

 

A uniqueness only he possessed in the Survival Tribe.

 

Alexander was the only Badg’Er that gained the Chakral Ascendency Path. Everybody else followed the Path of the Shaman. 

 

Why that was Alexander did not know for sure. However, Alexander was sure of one thing, him being the only Chakra Ascendency Path user had to do with his Friend.

 

Stopping for a second, Alexander remembered his Friend. He remembered the last words spoken to him, and the advice his Friend left to him. 

 

Alexander shook his head to drive away the thoughts, as now was not the time for them. 

The reason why only Alexander could travel deeper stemmed from the Elemental Earth  Attunement. 

 

It all started the first time he'd gained it. However, being advanced further two more times changed things. Alexander would have loved to do it two more times, as five advancements were the limit according to his Friend. 

 

However, Alexander was a bit skeptical about the limits. He was skeptical because the Elemental Earth Attunement advancement worked differently from what his Friend told him would occur initially. 

 

Therefore, until Alexander indeed reached the limit, he'd remain skeptical. 

 

The first time Alexander noticed the difference was when he attempted to further advance his Elemental Earth Attunement. 

 

One reason for the attempt was advice from his Friend to delay any Elemental Fire Attunement. Because he was extremely resonant with it, it was best left for later. Unless, of course, he mastered Heart of a Rebel. 

 

Therefore, Elemental Earth Attunement became the major advancement for Alexander.

 

However, it turned out that after the first Chakral Elemental Attunement, which required only one full Chakra infusion, every further Elemental Attunement advancement required one extra dose of Chakra infusion. 

 

Thus, it took Alexander a bit more than two months to advance to the second level of Elemental Earth Attunement. After that, it took another four months for the third advancement. With that being the case, Alexander needed, at least, one more year before achieving full Elemental Earth Attunement. 

 

At least, if he wanted to be safe from investing in the Elemental Fire Attunement. But Alexander learned his lesson. He'd take the slow approach for the next Chakral Ascension.

All that taken into account, Alexander still enjoyed the privileges of having Elemental Earth Attunement. The first level of Elemental Earth Attunement brought forth a feeling of surety in every step that he took. 

 

It mattered not if the ground was soft or hard. That surety was always there, if vague. 

 

The second level increased that surety to the point that even with closed eyes he could feel the right footing that he needed. However, it was on the third level of Elemental Earth Attunement when Alexander got introduced to new things. 

 

Right after achieving it, and right after the first steps he took, Alexander realized that the pads on his feet sensed something from the ground. It was faint, and it had required further familiarization regarding it, but after that process, Alexander realized he could understand the sounds the ground made beneath his feet.

 

With every step his feet took, his feet heard the Sound of the Earth. And with every step he took, he heard the sounds his feet made. Those sounds roughly told him of his immediate surroundings. 

 

As such that gave him the confidence to walk much deeper into the caves without any kind of fear. Those facts combined with the innate toughness gained from further Elemental Earth Attunement advancement and raised Alexander's chances in this perilous environment. 

 

As such, with every step Alexander took, they took him a step deeper into the Cave.

Time passed when Alexander realized something. 

 

It would take him but a few moments to reach the limit of his previous dive into the cave. Nonetheless, the thing that bothered him the most, was that he had yet to see/hear/smell one Giant Black Many Legs. 

 

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It was as if they had vanished from the Cave. However, Alexander’s previous experiences told him that should not be the case.

 

With a few more steps he reached the self-imposed limit. It was his limit as this part of the cave was fairly wide and tall. The last time he was here one Giant Black Many Legs had dropped on him from above. After the surprise and an efficient kill, he'd stopped going forward as more could have dropped on him. 

 

Yet, today that turned out to not be the case. Alexander was sure that no creature graced his presence today. Even after straining his sense of smell, the only smell that graced Alexander's nose was a very old one.

 

Somehow, their disappearance made everything eerie to witness. 

 

Not understanding where every single creature went, Alexander crouched down and placed his hand pads on the ground to increase the sensitivity of hearing the Sound of the Earth. As a result the clarity that Alexander received increased. But as the only thing that reached him was drops of water falling from the pointed ceiling, the clarity was still very low.

 

With that being the case, Alexander considered his next approach. Once he assessed the risk, he raised his right hand into the air and with strength brought it down on the stone on which he crouched.

 

BLAM

 

The sound echoed in the air, but that one Alexander ignored as he focused on what his pads told him when the sound he made returned to him. 

 

Last time he was here, he'd not dared do this, but today carried more surprises as he faintly senses three openings to this enlarged part of the Cave. Noting their directions he stood up and prepared for something to come forth due to the sound he made, only nothing ventured forth.

 

When nothing came, Alexander relaxed slightly, but one part of his thoughts stayed on the Sound of the Earth and the possibility of its usefulness increasing with the next advancement. At the same time, his curiosity wondered if something would happen when he advanced to the supposed limit.

 

Once those thoughts passed, Alexander wondered what to do. “What, To, Do?... Go, Back? Or, Go, Deeper?”

Deliberating it for some time, Alexander made the decision. 

 

With slow steps, he went deeper in the hopes of finding something. However, Alexander was very firm with his promise of not going too deep. 

 

Otherwise, it would take too long to return, and that would mess up his scheduled evening training regime.

After exploring this wider part of the cave, he found nothing aside from the three openings had sensed earlier. After sniffing each entrance at least once, one of them provided him with a familiar but old smell.

 

Yet, contrary to what he'd imagined, it was not the smell of a Giant Black Many Legs. No, it was the smell of fresh air. 

 

Air that reminded him of the forest, only muskier with its tone.

 

A bit stumped at the finding, Alexander scratched his left cheek in wonder. Then with confidence that he'd be fine, he carefully entered this narrower path. 

Pat Tick Pat Tick Pat

 

Only the occasional drop of water, and his own light steps, echoed in Alexander's ears. 

 

Still, it did not take too long for things to change. Alexander realized that he was slowly moving upwards. 

 

Not too much, but it was definitive. 

 

Exploring carefully, the smell of fresh air became stronger and stronger. Yet, the one thing Alexander was sure of, was the fact that he was nowhere close to reaching the outside forest. 

 

Then things changed. It wasn't sudden, but it may as well have been. As Alexander’s eyes, long accustomed to the darkness of the Cave, noticed a brightness ahead of him. 

 

It was very faint, but Light was Light. There was no way Alexander could mistake something that basic at this moment, especially with how sensitive his eyes were. 

 

Once he reached the source, Alexander realized that there was something stuck in the ceiling of the Cave. 

 

Ignoring the gentle green glow, Alexander stared at the Light, when he noticed that it kind of wiggled here and there. The ceiling was too far for him to see clearly, but Alexander was pretty sure that it was some kind of Insect with a glowing butt.

 

After that was figured out, Alexander followed the path indicated by the green glow of the Glowing Butt Bug. 

With careful steps, in case something dropped on him again Alexander found a Cave exit. There was no doubt that it was an exit as the green glow beyond it increased by large magnitudes.

 

Reaching the exit, Alexander did not pull through his whole body immediately. No, he'd learned that lesson in one of his earlier trips. 

 

Still, it mattered not if he brought his whole body or only his head to observe everything beyond the Cave exit. What he saw and what he saw in the distance stunned him regardless.

 

Even that stunning state of mind became a non-concerned fact as a whole new world manifested in his eyes.

Moments passed. 

 

Alexander’s awareness returned from the shock of seeing a Forest in a Cave, at least, a type of Forest. 

 

The trees in this one had no branches as they towered over everything in various sizes. On the contrary, the shape itself was familiar to him. Those that he knew had multicolored tops and shapes. But there was no denying that these ‘Trees’ resembled the mushrooms his Mother liked to experiment with and then feed him.

 

For one single moment, Alexander wondered how his Mother would react to seeing this Mushroom Forest. Immediately, a shiver manifested along his spine. After it was gone, Alexander shook away those thoughts.

 

Then he compared the sizes of these mushrooms. Once he was done comparing those closest to him, Alexander had no choice but to admit that these mushrooms were indeed big. The closest to the Cave exit was almost tall as two or three of him stacked on top of each other. 

 

However, those in the distance were probably even taller.

 

Moments later, Alexander got used to the strange shapes he was seeing. Then he began paying attention to other strange things. Everything that he saw was only possible because of the huge number of Glow Butt Bugs on the ceiling. They provided the necessary light for him to observe everything. 

 

Still, no matter how much Alexander searched with his eyes, from the Cave exit, no living prey caught his sight. Despite that, Alexander had a feeling that there had to be some. Especially as the Giant Black Many Legs came from this place

 

“Maybe, Further, Inside?” Alexander wondered.

 

Nevertheless, Alexander had learned about his own character from his previous lessons. His innate character favored him going forward. It favored him with exploring and understanding this strange and new environment. 

 

However, Alexander was no longer alone. He had a Tribe at his back, and they would worry for him if he went absent for too long.

 

That being the case, Alexander made his way back to the upper world. 

The way back was much quicker, as he had no need to pay too much for any hidden enemies jumping on him from out of nowhere.

 

When he did come outside the Cave, and the darkening evening light welcomed him, Alexander knew that he'd overstayed inside. 

 

Now he'd have to do his nightly regime in the dark without anything to fortify his hungry stomach.

 

Once outside, he was greeted by his Father and three other Hunters. After a thorough interrogation, Alexander explained everything he did and did not witness. 

 

Moments after, they all made their way back home, only for Alexander to veer off in another direction. The Hunters did not stop him as they were used to it.

 

Back in his makeshift little special training camp, Alexander made use of the remaining light to start the second part of his Daily Routine. Done with those, Alexander made his way back home, in the full darkness of the night. 

 

Once he was back in the Tribal Clearing, he made his way to the Home Den. 

 

There, he entered the same room his parents used to sleep in. Then he lay beside them. 

 

Clearing his thoughts, with habit gained from meditation, Alexander summoned forth a desire. 

 

Once he had it, Alexander’s physical body entered the resting mode. 

 

His Consciousness, on the other hand, transferred into the Tribal Dream, as it has become known.

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