The tunnels were narrow forcing the group to walk single file and in some sections having to lower to a crawl to fit through tight holes the bandits had dug to connect unused passages. It didn’t take long before they reached the dead-end that marked the extent of the bandits previously expeditions.

“So what’s the plan now, we barely have thirty minutes left before we’re dealing with the ants.”

“We dig! The patterns suggest there is another active route just past this blockage, we’ll have to move fast though if we want to make it to another unused route.”

They started digging, one at a time, when the digger started getting tired they would swap positions. After a few minutes the bandits stopped and one put his ear against the dirt.

“Sounds like there is no action right now! Let’s go.”

He kicked the dirt hard opening the end of their newly dug tunnel and they all crawled through. Running down the tunnel the group inspected each intersecting route for crystals or sounds of movement, the task was exhilarating yet stressful as a giant ant could intercept them at any time. Finally, they found a route that they expected was abandoned.

During the briefing at the shrine, the bandits had told them that the route from camp was approximately fifteen kilometres as the bird flies, and so far they had covered roughly five.

“We’re about one third of the way there! Another five or so tunnels and we should be clear!”

“We have to find somewhere safe, we don’t have time to get back to the shrine and in ten minutes the ants will be on us!”

The group reached the end of the tunnel and started digging an alcove for them to hide in, hopefully giving them time to calculate the rest of their route and avoid being attacked by ants.

As they were just finishing up the alcove, they felt tremors through the tunnel.

“They know we’re here! We have to finish this off quick!”

“Start closing off the hole! Saxon and I will stand guard until the last minute!”

“We.. we will?”

The bandits started closing the hole, making sure the soil was packed and unsusceptible as Cain and Saxon stood in the tunnel. Cain threw his torch further down the tunnel and hid against the wall so Saxon could get a clear shot if the ants came.

Up ahead they could hear the scurrying of ants, they were in the main passage. Suddenly one appeared in the glow of the torch. Cain heard the twang of Saxons bow only to be hit in the back.

POISON EFFECT: PARALISED FOR 5 SECONDS

He missed? He can’t have, he used the sharpshooter ability, I saw the arrows glow on the caves wall…

“Cain’s dead! Cover the hole!”

He targeted me! He used me as bait to save himself

Cain hoped this cloak would mask him from the ants to at least have a fighting chance.

The single ant scurried past Cain to the end of the tunnel and searched the walls with its antennae.

The cloak is working for now, there must be something its searching for… The crystals! The loot we stole from the shrine! The items that weren’t gold were precious gemstones, that’s what they must eat!

Once the paralysis was over Cain searched his pack to find only a few small gems, the threw it to where the ant was and it devoured it quickly before continuing its search.

Saxon must have taken more gems than gold, then can smell him even behind the dirt wall! And I bet those bandits would have taken any of the ‘crystals’ for themselves as they dug new holes making them easy targets and having to retreat each time!

Cain slowly approached the giant ant at the end of the tunnel and inspected it to see it was only a level 3 Worker Ant

I can take it!

He quickly moved forward slicing off its antennae leaving it uncoordinated as he easily finished off the kill. Once it was dead and he couldn’t hear any other ants coming he hit the recently built wall.

“Open up! No ants out here”

The bandits dug a small hole to look out, and once they realised it was only Cain they opened the wall and came out.

“We’re so glad you’re alive! Saxon said you were dead!”

“I’m sorry Cain, I missed my shot and thought you were dead…”

“It’s ok, the ants here don’t smell us, but the gold we are carrying, you have to drop all your gold so we can travel unseen.”

Saxon frantically offloaded his gold into the alcove, at the same time Cian noticed the two bandits throwing a few pieces in themselves.

“Bandits, threw all the loot you took from the shrine in there, you’ve been down here more than once and we don’t know if the loot you’re carrying has been contaminated with gold.”

The bandits quickly offloaded a bunch of large gems that they must have been holding onto.

That should protect them, now we need to trap the traitor!

They quickly covered the alcove once again locking the loot within.

If the ants come they’ll be attracted to the gems and might buy us some time.

They quickly tunnelled through to the next passageway feeling slightly safer than before. They continued to travel through the tunnels avoiding most ants, but they didn’t have much time until they caught Saxon’s scent.

Reaching another dead-end the bandits began to dig and finally put their ear to the dirt to see if any ants were approaching. It was silent. They could continue. As they immerged into the active tunnel they heard the scurrying of ants.

“They’re coming, stand your ground.”

Unsurprisingly to Cain, Saxon stepped into the recently dug hole so he was out of the battle, though held his bow out as if he were ready.

He’s going to run. I can use this to our advantage.

The noise was clearing coming from the front, Cain knew what to do.

“Bandits, stand behind me!”

Cain took a stance in the main tunnel right next to Saxon.

“Saxon hand me your torch!”

Saxon handed over the torch, he couldn’t wield it anyway requiring two hands for the bow so he wasn’t suspecting.

Once again Cain threw the torch ahead so he could see the ants once they approached.

As soon as Cain saw the ants appear he launched himself backward knocking the two bandits and himself to the floor and as he expected the ants never reached them. They charged into the hole where Saxon and already started retreating down.

I counted five, he doesn’t stand a chance. I just hope he doesn’t respawn back at the camp.

Using the distraction Cain jumped to his feet running along the tunnel collecting Saxons torch as he went. The bandits followed.

The bandits and Cain continued to trek through another nine kilometres of tunnels without much difficultly, continuing the same method as before until they reached a problem.

“We’ve never planned for this part Cain.”

“What part is ‘this part’?”

“The assent to the surface! We’re still at least a hundred meters underground and the only way up is through the ants surface hole…”

“I thought you said they only eat the crystals? And we were only a few tens of meters below the surface at the start…”

“We’ve been travelling deeper ever since the start, haven’t you noticed? Anyway, the queen requires a mix of crystals and flesh to produce her larvae, that’s why the solider ants travel above ground. They work in teams to take down animals, we’ve heard legends of them dragging goblins and even the odd young troll down here!”

“So what do we do?”

“We don’t know, we were hoping for your guidance Cain, you managed to reach us at the shrine with your skills surely you can figure out a plan from here!”

Cain thought for a while,

The soldier ants must be bigger and stronger than the workers he faced earlier if they could take down trolls! But they only work in teams, and must only go to the surface one team at a time so they can coordinate the tunnels otherwise they might hit another team and be stuck at a standstill, there isn’t room for two ants to pass at the same time.

“Get me as close as possible to the exit tunnel, I have a plan.”

They continued their journey, slowly ascending as they travelled through tunnels and dug through walls until they reached the final dead-end.

“If the patterns are correct, as they have been so far, then beyond this wall is the exit tunnel. Where we are now must be less than one hundred meters from the surface, what do we do now Cain?”

“As we’ve done before, dig until you can hear their movements, once you hear the ants start to ascend we push through!”

“That’s a death trap! We’ll be trampled before we get to the top!”

“We will fight them head on, aim for their antennae, if you cut them off they lose all sense of direction and we’ll have the upper hand!”

“Cain. You’re a madman, but you got us this far so we’ll follow you no matter what.”

One of the bandits listened in on the wall for what seemed like hours but would have been only minutes until he pushed through

“We’ve got around fifty seconds until the next team comes up, what do you need us to do?”

“Stand back, and start digging uphill! Quick!”

The bandits started frantically digging upward in their tunnel as Cain waited by the small hole that exited onto the ascending path, once again launching his torch downward in hopes to see the ants coming.

As soon as Cain could see the first ant he prepared for the attack, it had to be timed perfectly. As soon as the first ant ran past he stuck out his dagger slicing off one of its antennae whilst using the other to dismember its legs, it crashed it a sliding halt. He followed up by slashing its abdomen continuously with his daggers!

SUICIDE SLASH ACTIVATED

As Cain attacked he noticed the damaged he was dealing significantly increased with each hit until the ant was dead, but he wasn’t done yet. Even though the dead ant filled the tunnel the momentum of the rest of the team were pushing it through. It had to keep going. He kept attacking the ants one after another as fast as possible slicing off their limbs dealing double his normal damage with the ability activated until the flow of ants finally stopped.

He looked back to the bandits to see they had dug past where the first ant would have been pushed to.

“Connect your tunnel with the exit tunnel!”

The bandits did as they were told.

As Cain exited the tunnel he looked back only to see a massacre, but he only felt one thing, happiness.

That was some good experience, I should level up once I finish this quest for sure!

The bandits and Cain immerged from the tunnels and found themselves on the outskirts of the forest.

“If we get out of the forest now, I can find the way back, I don’t know about you Cain but we don’t want to be in this part of the forest much longer. We’re not sure how these ants will react.”

The bandit with the cartography skill lead the way out of the forest, they walked the outskirts until they found the recognisable path back to the camp.

Once they were back in the camp, the bandits Cain had saved were telling all kinds of heroic stories about him. Though he wasn’t interested. He approached the original bandit whom gave him his quest.

“I reached the shrine and saved your bandits, give me my reward.”

“Of course, Cain! We are forever in your debt, you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need and we will always be at your service for the next voyage into the forest!”

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*Quest: The Shrine of Parowits part 2 - Competed

The lost bandits have been Safely returned to the camp. The bandits of the camp are now forever in your debt. They will follow you on any quest within the forest.

Reward:

Armour from another time

1250 Experience

*Level up!

You have reached level 7

Stat Bonus:

20 (+2) speed 14 (+1) attack speed 14 (+1) Agility 14 (+1) Dexterity 14 (+1) Stamina

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The two bandits that Cain had saved approached him.

“We are forever in your debt for saving us from the shrine. We managed to take this armour we were planning on keeping for ourselves, but now it is obvious it belongs with you.”

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*The Lost Leathers of a Hero

A set of leathers from an old hero who passed whilst discovering the shrine, the armour is strong yet versatile, perfect for any man of the rogue classes.

Stats:

+5 Agility +5 Dexterity

Effects:

Reduces the effects of damaging abilities by 10%

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“Thanks, I have to leave now. I have places to be…”

Cain left the camp back towards the village, he knew he couldn’t enter it because of what he had done to the blacksmith but he hoped he could find a wandering villager that would direct him to the next town so he could sell the loot he took from the shrine.