《Arcane - A Progression LitRPG》15: Cavern Of Ruins [III]
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The decayed bodies were evidence of a great battle that must have taken place here, a long time ago. Lost souls could probably be lingering around tunnels. He wasn't ready to face some angry ghosts at this time. So, he tossed a token for any wandering spirits to find their way to the afterlife.
Afterwards, Lindley moved cautiously through the skeletal remains, ocassionally checking for any item that could be of use to him. Several minutes later, he found nothing but rusty blades and body armour. He discarded them with an audible grunt.
He had no needs for this stuffs, he wanted treasures.
Ever more vigilant, Lindley approached the first door painted in green. He knew the existence of the dead bodies outside these doors resembled what he had learned about dungeons. That meant there could be some sort of treasures, and dangers, behind these doors. But wasn't he inside a cavern full of tunnels? So, it couldn't be a dungeon, could it?
His curiosity won over. He slowly opened the door and took a peek inside. After waiting a few seconds for any lurking surprises, he pushed the door open and entered.
It was a large chamber lit by a reflective light on the ceilings. There were broken runes on the walls of the chamber. And at the center of the room, was a large opened chest.
This place was resembling a dungeon more and more. He could have sworn that it was a true dungeon if he hadn't seen the tunnels that lead to other places such as the crypt of the fallens. Some even with strange and soul-grinding sounds.
Lindley slowly walked to the chest and looked inside. It was empty. Whatever was inside had been taken a long time ago. He checked the chamber but couldn't find anything useful. He shook his head in disappointment and left the room.
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He opened the second door, painted in blue, and found rows of empty shelves on the sides of walls. The thick cobwebs showed that the magic operating the room had long ceased to exist. After a careful search, he turned up empty handed.
He continued until there were only two doors left.
Lindley opened the yellow door and stopped at the entrance. Before him was a large open space, littered with more dead bodies. It was obvious that the battle outside had extended to this room.
Lindley proceeded into the hall, and cautiously searched the remains, hoping nothing dangerous would come up to attack him. The claw and blade marks on the floors and walls indicated the nature of the battle.
By the time he finished rummaging through the whole place, he had found four bottles of lesser healing potion, two potions of greater healing, one lesser potion of climbing, and one potion of giant strength.
This was more than he could ever dream of finding in a place like this. He now had a potion of climbing. Maybe, he could use it to climb back up the hole to the upper floor. But the amarok and its wolves could still be waiting for him.
Hmm, he thought about it for a few seconds before deciding to check the last door. He put the items, including the broken Harbinger blade, into the bag of holding and fastened it to his body.
The last door was different from the others. It was pitch black with arcane runes on it, and had a keyhole. Beside the door was the decaying body of what appeared to be a mortal adventurer. The bony fingers were still holding what looked like a large obsidian key.
Cautiously, Lindley tried to open the door but found it was locked. He realized he probably had to use the key the remains was holding to open the door.
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While trying to remove the key, he found a low-grade ring of protection, and one old bag of holding. Inside the bag, he found only a large round piece of grey metal. Having no idea what the metal ore was used for, Lindley put put it away, and proceeded to open the door.
The moment he entered, he found himself in a larger cavern, the size of a small village. He wasn't sure if he was still in the same tunnel as before. It was as if he had stepped through a portal to another place entirely.
Could it be? But to where?
He was still thinking when two large red eyes, blazing like two angry suns, rushed towards him. It was a huge kobold, resembling the one he saw earlier. It was many times bigger than any average Kobold. Its claws could easily rival that of any dragons.
But before it could reach Lindley, from the underground burst a massive worm-like head at the end of a sinewy neck. It was several times the length of a giant wereworm.
A wyrm. A level 45 wereworm.
The abomination's huge and oddly shaped mouth seized the mutated giant kobold at the midsection, and raised the kobold high. Its claws wildly scratching, the mutated kobold tried in vain to wriggle free from the deadly vice-like grip.
More and more parts of the burrowing monster emerged, showing numerous brown bumps and black spines on its pale tan body. Its fanged mouth takes up most of its front end, perfectly designed for ripping through dirt and rock.
With the ease of biting into a piece of soft cheese, the serpentine giant bit through the giant kobold's muscular torso. The massive kobold's movement stopped. Parts of its tail and hind legs fell in one direction, the head and one foreleg another.
With cherished enjoyment, the wyrm swallowed all that was left in its mouth. Down the wyrm's great gullet went nearly a third of its prey. Dropping its head down, the wyrm stuck its circular and powerful mouth under the giant kobold's tail and hind legs, clamping its jagged teeth around its hindquarter.
The sweetest part. The wyrm raised its mouth skyward, tossed the bloody gobbet up, and let it fall into its gullet.
The burrower's eyes darted around in their sockets before falling on the extremely scared Lindley. It let out a furious croaking roar, and was about to attack when five obsidian spears hit it on the side of the head. The wyrm let out a louder croaking roar and turned in the direction where the spears came from.
From behind the rocks, a pack of stocky, muscular creatures attacked the wyrm. They were a little taller than the dwarves, and clad in ragged and thinly veiled clothes.
Scavens.
Lindley had heard of the scaven race before, but not the dark scavens with grey stripes he was now looking at. The striped scavens are one of the legends of the underground. Once, they were living above the ground before their retreats into the underground tunnels, just like the dark elves, the drows.
Looking at them now, Lindley understood why they called them the prominent killers.
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Wizard's Tower
The humans call me Nemon Fargus. They call me wizard, and [Elementalist] and [Enchanter]. They call me teacher. They call me adventurer. But I don't care. Not anymore. For more than a hundred and fifty years I've served the Kingdom of Sena. Through four Kings and a Queen. Two wars and a rebellion. I've founded and taught at a magic school. I've fought against beast waves and dungeon breaks. But now? Now, the one close friend I had left has passed. So, I'm done with their politics and their economics. The short and busy lives of humans are more burden than benefit on the weary soul of this half-elf. Now, I'm looking for a refuge, a place that can well and truly be my own. Away from the growing cities and the bustling markets, away from the pointless wars, away from the eager students and the arrogant adventurers. It's too much. I'm seeking the peaceful life of a wizard in his tower, studying magic to advance my spellcraft. We'll see if that happens. *synopsis covers book 1 / ac 1 Author's housekeeping: This story is a rough draft. Feel free to point out errors, grammatical, spelling, plot, etc. This is a slow burn novel, but will only ever be told from one POV. (Exception: rare interlude chapters will be told from a different pov, but won't impact storyline). How well this story is received by readers here will determine if I continue writing. Cover commissions Discord Other stories by this author: An Old Man's Journey I hope you enjoy!
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