They were a strange thing, attributes. With almost double the Constitution he had when he first reached the age of Class selection, he would have thought he’d feel different. Hell, he probably had a higher Constitution than anyone had ever had in his village, and yet he still felt the same as he always did. Sure, he recovered from injuries much quicker and, though he hadn’t tested it, could probably take a lot more of a beating. He still felt like he had the same amount of vitality, or life force, or whatever it was that Constitution improved.

Of course, he definitely felt it when he distributed new attributes after gaining a level. Like yesterday, when he reached level twenty with Blood Mage and got three points to play with. Adding one into Strength, to match his nineteen Agility, and the other two points into Constitution, triggered an instantaneous change to his body. Thankfully, it was a short period of change – perhaps his body and mind had started to adapt to the many changes he’d made over the last couple of weeks. The bout of pain and burning that ran through his limbs, and especially his heart, was never pleasant, so he was thankful that it didn’t last very long.

That was yesterday, before they’d discovered the cave.

Today, he was trudging through the innards of yet another tunnel, exploring the seemingly endless forks and winding paths that he suspected ran throughout the valley. The valley that was so wide, he could barely see the far side. It could take them months to explore, if the tunnels extended the entire width of the enormous valley. Katai knew they wouldn’t do that though – they were here to train, not to explore. The whole point of exploring was to find creatures to fight.

Whoa, what is that?

He’d noticed something, at the edge of his awareness… a strange pulsing. Like a tic that had latched onto his mind, growing fat while he was completely oblivious, it had sat there, pulsing away while his subconscious ignored the subtle sensations. At least, until something had made him aware of it – that something being a shimmering veil of red that had appeared on the edge of his Blood Sense.

How long has that been going on for? He, of course, didn’t have an answer to the rhetorical question. It could have been quietly thumping in the background the entire time they’d been underground. It wasn’t a sound, or something he could see. It was more of a… feeling.

A feeling that he could mistake for his own heart-beat, it was so gentle and regular.

He held his fist up and closed his eyes, not waiting for an acknowledgement from the others. They were used to this by now and the frequent stops.

The crimson veil that had intruded on his Sense was the trigger for all of this. It seemed to pulse in time with the feeling he’d just discovered. Strands of dark red swelled and wavered within the transparent membrane, ripples and eddies spreading outwards with each pulse. He’d never seen anything remotely like this.

Curious. I wonder what it could be? A massive sentient plant? After spending some time examining it, he shrugged and told the others what he’d found. They also had no idea what it could be.

“Nothing to do except go and see what it is.” Silas piped up happily. He seemed pleased to have something to break the monotony and looking around, Katai could see no-one else had any objections.

Investigation it is then.

They drew closer, slowly making their way deeper into the tunnel. Katai started making out more details, clusters of denser Blood becoming visible within the sea of red – an area that had grown to cover most of his Blood Sense. Whatever they were approaching was massive.

It was starting to give Katai a headache.

Each pulse of the unknown creature pounded at his mind, his senses recoiling in vain. It was like an angry woodpecker, jabbing deep into his brain. He was tempted to disable the skill and continue on without it, but that’d leave them blind to anything approaching. If it got much worse though, he’d be forced to.

What could be doing this to a Blood sensing skill?

He was beginning to worry about what they’d find, if he were being honest with himself. What would they find if its very presence caused this kind of reaction?

The worry wasn’t enough to make him turn back however, his curiosity driving him forward. He wanted to at least see what this thing was.

They approached the edge of where Katai could see the area of Blood flowing ever so slowly. Small ripples moved through the crimson mass, pulsing in time with the pounding that Katai felt through his whole body, the sensation spreading like a tumorous cancer.

Sense Blood has reached level 6 (Proficient).

Katai didn’t even notice the message, transfixed by what was in front of him.

It was a cavern filled with eggs.

Rows upon rows of giant, white eggs.

They must reach as high as my knee, he thought with wonder, and there’s hundreds of them!

The eggs were mostly clustered in groups, sitting in clutches of loose earth, with little specks of green on their otherwise pristine white shells. Katai gazed around wide-eyed and spotted clumps of slightly larger eggs that appeared to have more of the green speckling. These eggs were much rarer, only two or three groups of them visible from the cavern entrance, and with far fewer eggs in the group.

Different species of Megasoma I guess?

He carefully backed away from the entrance after noticing some mature Megasoma wandering through the hatchery on the far side of the chamber. Luckily the cavern itself was lit with the same kind of luminous grubs as the others, otherwise he wouldn’t have sensed the creatures. That strange pulsing was obscuring everything in the egg chamber from his Blood Sense.

Ahh, that’s what it must be! The eggs would be chock full of vitality and there’s so many of them here in close proximity – they must be causing the pulses. No wonder they’re interfering with my Blood skill…

I wonder if they’re connected in some way, some kind of racial connection? There’s definitely some kind of energy moving between them.

Lost in his own thoughts, the quiet chatter of the others barely registered.

“Surely it’s not just one mother, there’s so many here,” Lariss said breathily. “and can you imagine the size it must be to push out eggs this big?”

“Some kind of mega mother?” said Silas with a wry smile. Lariss rolled her eyes.

“Seriously though, these are huge!”

A change in his pulsing Blood Sense caught Katai’s attention. A discordant ripple spread outwards, before it quickly disappeared into the red sea. The ripple was soon replicated in rapid succession, this time joined by a series of cracking sounds that got everyone’s attention.

Huh, are some of them hatching? Katai crept forward, peaking around the cavern entrance.

The mature Megasoma he’d seen before were now standing around a clutch of broken eggs. As Katai watched, another egg broke open, releasing a juvenile Megasoma covered in a milky fluid. There were about half a dozen of the newly born creatures crawling and wobbling about on unsteady legs.

Katai realised with a growing horror that they were only slightly smaller than the juveniles they’d had to fight off at the Rift entrance. Had they been slaughtering Megasoma that were only months or even weeks old? No wonder they’d seemed so vicious and dumb ­­– they’d probably only been able to act on instinct at that point.

He pulled back, along with Kenemen who’d joined him at the entrance. They joined the others further down the tunnel and Katai relayed what they’d seen, as well as his observations using his sensing skill.

“So, what’s the plan then?” Silas asked. He didn’t seem to particularly excited about their discovery, which Katai could empathise with. What were they going to do with a nursery? Slaughter the unborn creatures? No thank you, Katai thought with a grimace of distaste. There were definite limits to what he’d do for experience. He already felt bad about the juvenile Megasoma.

“What are they doing now? We could follow them to wherever they take their young – might lead us to more of the mature variety, or other types of Megasoma.” Lariss piped up, surprising Katai. Now that’s an idea. Better than randomly exploring these tunnels anyway.

“Can you sense anything nearby Katai?” Kenemen said, clearly considering the idea.

Katai shook his head. “I can’t really sense anything through the egg chamber, it’s full of interference. There’s nothing behind us though.”

“Good enough.”

Kenemen turned and peaked around the corner, looking into the chamber once again. Satisfied with what he could see, he stepped into the chamber, his movements calm and relaxed.

Then all hell broke loose.

Spawn rate has increased to high.

“Ah dammit.” Kenemen looked back, a sheepish look on his face. “There was a magic trigger across the entrance. How the hell did these critters figure something like that out?”

He seemed more annoyed than anything now, his face creased as he pondered this turn of events. If they had more time, Katai was sure he’d have some questions of his own to ponder, but a more pressing matter had captured his attention.

The sounds of shrieking came from the far end of the egg chamber. The mature Megasoma that were shepherding their young had turned and started to cry out with their distinctive piercing sound as they stood protectively in front of their young. Katai had a sinking feeling.

The sound died down for a moment and that’s when Katai’s fears were realised. A rising crescendo of sound could be heard rising from deeper in the tunnels, cries of rage and alarm matching the nearby Megasoma caretakers. This is not good.

As if to punctuate his thoughts, mature Megasoma began spilling from several holes in the walls, pouring into the room. More cries of alarm could be heard coming from deeper within.

“They’re coming from both sides.” The normally unruffled Yoto looked worried. The hunter spent most of his time in open forests, hunting and trapping wild animals. Being trapped underground with a horde of murderous beasts baying for his blood was probably not high on his list of favourite things to do.

“Let’s go,” Kenemen urgently waved them back down the path, away from the chamber. He didn’t need to say it twice, everyone turning and rushing down the tunnel, their torches flickering at the sudden movement.

“We can’t get bogged down. If we stop, they’ll catch up and then grind us down with their numbers. Be ruthless and efficient Katai, no more skill training.” The Questor called out as they ran, abandoning any semblance of an ordered retreat. Somehow, he still didn’t sound panicked.

How annoyingly unflappable is he? Katai thought with irritation, his own heart threatening to jump out of his chest at the very real thought of getting swarmed by a horde of angry Megasoma.

They raced through the cramped tunnels, hearing more and more cries joining the cacophony as they sped away.

Katai looked back and blanched. The tunnel behind them was filled with furious green skins, racing to catch the intruders. Anger and bloodlust seemed to have transformed the creatures, their cries lower pitched and rumbling ominously through the caves. Katai was sure he could feel the sound reverberating up through the soles of his feet.

Focus! He looked ahead and surged forward, fear lending him a burst of speed. Thanks to his increase in stats, he was able to move to the front of the group, just behind Silas, who was focused on navigating them through the warren. Emilia on the other hand was terrified and it showed. It probably didn’t help that she was also the slowest, making her lag back near Kenemen, who was thankfully keeping an eye on the Megasoma front-runners.

“Don’t stop!” Katai called out to Silas. A group of three Megasoma had lurched into their path from a side tunnel.

Barely slowing, Silas deflected the first attack as he pushed past, Katai taking advantage of the move with a hurried thrust. The creature went down with a wail, more anguished than in pain.

The next two they both managed to avoid. Silas rushed at one, barging through it and knocking it aside. The other targeted Katai, but he had already slowed from having dispatched the first Megasoma, so he had ample time to deflect the first blow and retaliated as he ran past. A single Lacerate for the two of them and Katai was through, racing down the tunnel and looking for more dangers. He heard the others running behind him, Lariss or Kenemen mopping up the bewildered creatures as they followed in his wake. His heart raced, the frantic run and rush of emotions forcing his breathing into short, panicked gasps.

A cry of fear made Katai look back.

A horde of Megasoma poured through the tunnels after them. Snarling with rage, spittle flew from a multitude of frenzied mouths as they flew down the tunnel after the interlopers, nipping on the heels of Kenemen, Emilia and Yoto. They leapt head-first at them, as soon as they were within range of the humans, performing suicidal attacks that Kenemen and Yoto barely managed to deflect or avoid. Emilia however, was having more trouble – she was struggling to keep ahead of the two Warriors, Lariss roughly dragging her up from where she’d fallen and cried out.

There was no time to think about what they should do. He couldn’t help the others without slowing everyone down – there was only so much room in the tunnels. Instead, he put his head down and charged after Silas, determined to clear a path. They needed to get out of there.

They raced through tunnels that rang with the sound of bloodthirsty Megasoma. Twists and turns had Katai lost after the first few minutes, but Silas seemed confident in his ability to remember their path. They were all trusting the young man to lead them in the right direction. One mistake by him now could spell their end.

Another group of Megasoma poured out of a side tunnel, right in front of the two men. Shrieking in delight, they rushed towards them.

Fuck! We need to charge through these guys... This is gonna hurt.

Before he could attack however, Kenemen's voice carried to them from further down the tunnel.

“Silas! What’s Yotos Class and skills?”

...Is he serious right now? We’re fleeing for our lives; we don’t have time for this! Katai thought furiously, momentarily stunned at the Questor’s request.

Silas also seemed to be taken aback, glancing back with a look of incredulous consternation. He had no time to question however, as their attackers were upon them.

A Megasoma leaped at Katai face first, snapping at him with slavering jaws, so enraged it seemed to have forgotten it was holding a club in one hand.

These things are really fucking angry that we found their eggs, he thought, wide-eyed as he plunged his blade into its snarling mouth, the sword sliding easily into the soft flesh.

He effortlessly dodged a wild strike and then activated Lacerate several times in quick succession, anticipating the after-effects with gritted teeth. It wasn’t as bad as he expected, the wave of nausea and tiredness instantly washing through his body, but leaving him able to continue his attack.

“…Honey Trapper has the following Traits…”

Katai almost snorted in disbelief, hearing Silas. Did he really want the Class that badly?

He quickly refocused on the battle, sweeping a spear away from his body and lunging towards a surprised green-skin.

“…Alluring Target attracts and distracts those targeted…”

Katai ducked and felt the wind of a club whirl past his head. He grunted as another weapon thudded unsteadily against his blade, before he shoved them both back, giving him some room in the cramped tunnel. He thrust at the off-balance creature closest to him and activated another Lacerate, targeting the other one. Another tendril of pain wrapped itself around his chest, adding to the rapidly expanding whirlpool of vitality loss.

“…Shot removes all sound produced by the–”

Silas abruptly stopped speaking.

Katai anxiously shot a glance his way, as he ducked underneath another attack, to see Silas frozen in place. A split second later and he was back, a wide-eyed grin on his face.

“Hahaha, I got it!”

It took Katai a second to understand what had happened, busy as he was dispatching the last of their attackers.

“Yes!” Silas pumped his fist into the air, far too happy with himself.

Katai ignored him, focusing on the sounds of a blade smacking into flesh. Kenemen had stopped to buy them time, holding back a howling wall of frothing creatures. They literally threw themselves at him, some of them actually managing to grab a hold of the terrifying, golden-hued Warrior. For his part, Kenemen wasn’t holding back, having activated his light-emitting battle state. Every swing of his blade cleaved through multiple bodies, green-skinned carapace flying away from him, along with chunks of flesh and eviscerated limbs. Even with the carnage, Katai could see it would be only a matter of time before the Questor was overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.

They needed to leave and hope they didn’t run into any larger groups coming the other way. If their exit was blocked off, their chances of survival dropped from slim to near zero.

Let’s hope Silas got some incredible combat-oriented Mage Class. That’d certainly help.

Looking at the excited glint in Silas’ eyes, unfocused and no doubt examining his new skills, and still unaware of their impending demise, Katai shook his head.

There’s no way this idiot’s a Mage.