Husan watched the stone statues moved and ebbed across the stone table, “If this old man is to guess, these show what are around us, right young missy?”

“Old Man is half correct. There are still some unknowns that Ava encountered.” The young girl shook her head at the four-armed elder.

Even so, Husan was surprised yet again. He had never heard of something like this, let alone seeing it personally. Anyone with similar ability would be highly valuable as they can help their peers in planning for currently developing situation. Knowing was indeed half of the battle.

This might be one of her strange powers again. He left his thoughts at that and changed the topic, “By the way, young missy isn’t going to look for black rock?”

“Ava friends are looking for it so there is no problem. What about Old Man material request?” She answered his question with another question.

When he thought of it, Ava did have thousands of Azure Centipedes that can do so. Her question however made him felt awkward, “Uh..bout that…this old man can just wait. There’s no rush as young missy once said.”

“Ava confirms. Ava want an opinion from Old Man.” The young girl tapped the table again, changing its scene.

Husan raised his eyebrows, “What’s it, young missy?”

Just before Ava talked, a small bat flew into the room. The guarding Azure Centipedes were startled a bit but then settled down. Ava glanced to her left and a stone pillar emerged from the floor. The bat perched on the pillar upside down, shrieking something to the young girl.

Husan kept his silence as it might be important to Ava even though he didn’t hear any of it. Several minutes of later, Ava threw a piece of Pink Pad Cacti fruit. The bat caught and ate the fruit in mid air before circling her a few times. She nodded at it and the small bat flew away.

“Old Man Husan, Ava’s bat friend found some traces above, likely from Muzaid and Makya.” The stone pillar next to her crumbled back to the ground as she talked.

While inconclusive, he still felt it’s something at least, “Uh-hum. Well, let’s put the matter bout them aside for now. So, what’s troubling young missy?”

“Ava have some concerns. Old Man know Forgesmith Guild, right?” The girl raised her right hand and one of the Azure Centipedes came closer.

Husan was perplexed on why she called the centipede here, “Yup since this old man is friends with Akeila too. What’s bout it?”

“Ava been making some items for Azure Centipedes.” Ava touched the dog-sized insect’s head. Multiple metallic objects appeared on its body after she lifted her hand, “The Guild have a rule to report new creations but Ava and Old Man is here and not there.”

“Hum, based on what I know, we’re kinda special case.” Husan scratched his chin, “The rule is a voluntary thing. Not every Forgesmith follow it.”

“Ava asks for deeper explanation.” The young girl tilted her head in response.

Husan closed his eyes as if he was in deep thought, “As young missy said, we’re here and not in area with the Guild. It only applies if young missy wants to use Guild’s connections for business. Otherwise, nah.”

“Ava confirms, so Forgesmith Guild is like Wanderer Association?” Another doubt cleared in her mind. So, it was more of societal norm than an ironclad rule.

Husan agreed with her, “Yup, young missy. The Guild is like place of meeting and have looser rules due to nature of forgesmiths. Some live like hermits so the Guild help them to find clients, with certain conditions.”

“Ava confirms.” She dismissed the centipede and then got off her chair, “Ava is planning but not sure if Old Man want to join?”

The four-armed elder arched his back, “Gahaha! Young missy said we’re in this together so consider it a done deal! When I signed up with Muzaid, I was prepared fer anything!”

“Ava express gratitude. Then Ava will show the plan.” The scene on the table changed again as Ava sat back on her small chair, “Ava bat friends gave useful information. From this we are planning for series of raids.”

“Raids huh. If you don’t mind me asking, why, young missy?” Husan was puzzled. He was just a golden age brewer with some skills, not a soldier!

Ava shifted her gaze to the morphing stone table, “There are several reasons, Old Man. The first, to help Azure Centipedes against their nearest bullies. The second, to clear some volume of cavern for future uses. Lastly, to open a path to the surface with help of Azure Centipedes.”

“Hum, I got the first and third reasonings. Bout the second?” The four-armed elder had an austere expression.

Ava summoned her azure-glow cylinder from the ground, “Ava want to look for materials. Purple crystals and Aqua Green Lilies were used for this item. Ava friends told there are other resources in here.”

“Oh, that’s the way it is. Mining huh.” Husan unconsciously stepped back, he was still shaken with his previous encounter with the strange Aqua Green Lily, “What can this old man contribute? Who are we raiding?”

“Old Man Husan can carry Ava if required? We will raid Black Yellow Centipedes, one of their forward outposts.” The floating cylinder behind her broke down to multiple parts and vanished into the ground.

Husan knitted his eyebrows, “I get that young missy is stronger but don’t exert yerself too much. This old man would be sad if yer get gravely injured. We still need to meet up with Muzaid and Makya.”

“Ava acknowledges. Ava will try to be more careful this time.” The young girl got off her chair and patted one of Husan’s four arms.

Husan felt conflicted; this girl looked no older than twelve but conversely, she had showed him abilities beyond his common sense. Even if I’m weaker, I suppose I can still give her advice as senior in life. The old man had a pensive expression as he looked at her emotionless face.

The young girl stared in return, her golden irises swirled under his gaze, “Old Man? Is Old Man okay?”

“Ohaha, nothing’s wrong! Just thinking some bits, yeah…. just thinking, gahaha!” Husan quickly reverted to his cheerful state. What was…that? He noticed her unique eyes but left it as that, assuming it was just part of her great magics.

Ava’s eyes flickered as she moved her gaze to the guarding centipedes in the room, “Ava confirms. Now if Old Man could stand? Ava want to give Old Man some stuff for this raid plan.”

“What kind of stuff, young missy?” Husan got off his stone chair and spotted the centipedes in the room had assembled themselves in front of the young girl. What are they doing? He then spotted some metallic objects on the insects, similar to what she had shown to him earlier.

Ava lifted her tiny hands after touching the head of the last centipede in the room, “Some insurance, Old Man. Instead of spitting webs like Ava’s friends, Black-Yellow Centipedes spit poison. So Old Man definitely need protective measures.”

“Uh-hum, okay then. So, where’s it?” Husan nodded at her. When he thought about it, what she said made sense.

She moved to the stone table again and waved her right hand over it, materializing several objects, “Here they are, Old Man.”

Husan moved to the table in order to take a closer look; the first object was a simple belt with metallic black sheen while the second was a white cube. The third was two pairs of oddly-shaped black swords with curved-ends. The old man had never seen any weapon like it.

“Old Man, wear the belt first.” The young girl beckoned the old man to pick up the first item.

A belt? What? Husan was still confused but he wore it anyway, “Uh…sure…”

Shup! Clank!

As soon Husan locked the belt on his waist, a grey coloured suit immediately materialized on his person; all parts of his body were covered with some kind of resilient material. A sealed helmet also formed around his head at the same time, linked to other subsystems of the suit.

“What in the cursed desert is this?!!” Husan panicked.

Ava shifted next to him, “Calm down Old Man Husan. This is the first insurance. Black-Yellow Centipede shoots contact poison so Old Man need to be fully covered.”

“Poison? Err…makes sense…” Husan scratched his neck. He found himself unable to move, Ava was holding down his waist.

The young girl lifted her hands and gave the white cube to him, “This is second insurance. A triage. Old Man just need to touch it when hurt.”

“Triage? So, it’s something like a medicine?” Husan calmed himself down and flipped the cube. It didn’t look anything special, just a white cube. He accepted it regardless.

Ava nodded at him and then picked up one of the black swords, “This is the last gift from Ava. Ava noticed Old Man do not have any weapon. This can be used to attack joints of Yellow-Black Centipedes.”

“Oh, thanks young missy.” He lifted one of the swords and swung it around. A second later, multiple floating images formed in front of his eyes, “Ghosts?!! Are these swords cursed?!!”

This time Ava firmly grabbed two of his arms, “Old Man, can you stop being surprised at every little thing?”

“Ahahaha…ha. Sorry young missy. Just that these are…too much to take...” The four-armed elder avoided her blank stare. His arms were hurting from her hold.

She let the old man go, “Ava confirms. Old Man do not like Ava’s gifts?”

“Oh, nonono! These are.... great, yeah, great! This old man had never gotten so many gifts at once before!” Husan waved two of his arms in response, “So, uh, young missy, can you explain these to the old man again?”

“Ava confirms. The first is full suit. Black-Yellow Centipede shoot poison so by covering up, no poison will enter.” As Husan blinked, her robes had changed to similar suit worn by the old man, “The second, a medical kit. Our enemies do not only shoot poison but they bite. So white cube can solve poison. The third, two pairs of khopeshes, for Old Man to fight back against them.”

Khopeshes? What a weird sword name. Husan nodded in understanding, “Uh-hum, thanks young missy. So…what are these images I’ve been seeing? Not ghosts?”

“Yes, not ghosts. See how it changes as Old Man sees things.” Ava pointed one of her fingers at a random object.

Husan marveled inside; when he focused his gaze on stuff, he was able to identify most of them, “Oh…interesting stuff you got me here, young missy! No wonder yer asked if you should ask the Guild! I never seen or use these things before!”

“All is necessary for our raid on Black-Yellow Centipedes. Now let us depart to our first objective.” Ava was halfway across the room, beckoning him to follow her. The rest of Azure Centipedes guarding them had already left earlier.

The old man agreed, following Ava to enter different part of the caverns. The path was full of twists and turns on purpose, so whatever enemies that came their way would be delayed. It was all temporary however, as there were other opponents that can simply dig through them.

Tap, tap, tap.

There were no whistling winds but instead sounds of dripping water. The path became colder and dimmer, prompting Husan to put up his best guard lest anything jump at him. On the other hand, Ava walked not too fast nor slow, as if she was just strolling here at her leisure.

As their journey went, lesser amount of glowing lichens and minor critters can be found. At one point, their presence had ceased. The ground gradually became uneven, cracked and randomly pitted, suggesting something terrible had eroded them, something else than water.

Husan nearly tripped several times but Ava stopped him in the nick of time. These terrain irregularities casted doubts in his mind; how can one fight when there was no stable footing to begin with? The old man had a gut feeling that things would be quite troublesome soon.

They carefully walked until Ava suddenly stopped. In front of them were three entrances, each sans long line of sight. The young girl’s golden eyes flickered as she viewed the entrances one by one. She raised her left hand, summoning several Azure Centipedes to her location.

The four armed elder questioned her action, as they had gone through multiple similar paths earlier without pause, “Young missy, are the paths ahead dangerous?”

“Ava do not know. They had been recently changed by something.” The golden-eyed girl tapped one of the Azure Centipedes. They soon left for the three different paths.

Husan looked at the entrances one by one, “Young missy, we’re close to the outpost you talked earlier, yeah?”

“Ava confirms. Ava speculates that Black-Yellow Centipedes had moved their outpost here to somewhere else. The front might had been shifted.” She also looked at the entrances.

Husan glanced left and right, “So to say, if they did that, won’t this be some kind of tra-”

Gudong!

Ava immediately stomped the ground to summon several arm-thick stone pillars. She punched them, sending multiple stone javelins into the three entrances. Her actions jolted Husan up, to quickly withdraw his swords out. What were things lying in wait ahead of them?

They waited for some time yet there was only an eerie silence. Yes, complete silence even though Ava had just sent stone javelins weighing more than tens of jins into the three tunnels. The old man had unspoken understanding with Ava, to noiselessly back out from this place.

Honglong!

Multiple holes appeared, wriggling with insects! Black Yellow Centipedes emerged; they were black with yellow stripes. Their legs and mandibles were razor sharp, able to cleave a man into halves! Each shrilled inside their holes, wishing to kill these new humanoid intruders!

Psshhht!

Husan dodged by reflex, a stalagmite behind him was dissolved in seconds! Seeing their attacks had failed, the vicious centipedes began to leap from their holes, to enter close combat! Ava and Husan were immediately swarmed over by these insects in all directions!

Keqiang!

Husan felt sore in his arms, hitting these insects was like trying to hammer a thick metal plate. Morever, they were viciously fast and small, dodging most of the old man’s attacks. Some of the insects shot noxious liquids from their tails again, carving gulleys on the walls and floor!

Crack, crack, crack!

Ava jumped between the walls, floor and, ceiling. Each jump created stony spikes and walls that either trapped or pinned these vicious insects. However, they were simply too many of them. These centipedes gradually knew to dodge and used poisons to dissolve her attacks!

Husan had lost count how many he swung his curved swords, “Young missy, we need to shake them off!”

“Ava confirms. We need to revise our plans. Old Man, run first.” She somersaulted backwards, to move closer to the four-armed old man.

Husan thrusted his swords upwards, barely stopping an incoming Black-Yellow Centipede from snapping his neck, “We can talk bout plans later! Okay, this old man will escape first!”

“Follow Ava’s item, Old Man.” She summoned her azure-glow cylinder again and urged Husan to chase the hovering object.

The old man hesitated but he didn’t have any choice. He needed to follow it or else! “Okay! Don’t forget to escape too, young missy!”