Contrary to the tunnel he emerged from, this huge cavern had some form of illumination. Crystal outcrops were growing from the floor, walls, and even from the ceiling. Those crystals were glowing in a soft blue. Their light wasn’t strong but it was enough to distinguish the surroundings. The darkest it was, the more effective the faintest light was. The glow could have been missed in the radiance of a sunny day, but in an underground cavern with no other access to light, it was the main source of brightness.

Edward looked around to assess the area. A vast expanse of water was in the middle of the cavern, reflecting the crystals’ glow. Its depth was unequal, with most of it being only a few feet deep, the stone of the cavern still visible, but Edward couldn’t ascertain the depth of its center. Numerous stalactites and stalagmites were ornamenting the cavern, some were so old that they joined together to form columns.

Apart from those, the cavern wasn’t presenting many asperities, the ground was smooth and slippery due to the passage of waters for years and years. Edward couldn’t see any plants or mushrooms since there was no soil, the whole ground was made of rock. However, the cavern wasn’t devoid of life, all the Murlocs that had fled earlier were gathered in this place. They were roaming here and there or resting against columns, but each one of them was armed with a spear.

Ok, that’s a lot of Murlocs. From their numbers it must be their main gathering, there are definitely more than just the ones we saw on the beach. I can’t estimate their actual number but there are definitely at least hundreds of them.

I don’t know if I can take care of all of them on my own. It sounds completely ridiculous. And yet…if I am teleporting and staying on the move, I will only have to fight four of five at the same time. And that is something that is perfectly in my capacities. From then on, it becomes a game of attrition. Can I continue to fight four of them at the same time for long enough to kill them all?

If I didn’t have any healing, I would say probably no. but my daggers enable me to absorb their blood even in the middle of a fight. That should be enough to heal minor injuries.

And the last step is to plan a way out if I am grossly overestimating my capacities.

I guess I can just run away from the same way I came in. The passage is small, but the distance is not so much that I can’t teleport through. Edward looked at his pants which were still stained with soil. Actually, I should have done that on the way in too.

Edward watched the Murlocs attentively before deciding to launch himself into the fight.

There seem to be several types of Murlocs. The ones we saw on the beach looked like the illustration I saw in the book, but here some of them are clearly different.

The first noticeable ones he saw were standing out due to their size. They were a lot bigger than the regular Murlocs and clearly defined muscles were visible under their skin.

Are those still Murlocs? They are twice the size of the others, at this point, they have the same size as a regular human.

Then he spotted another variety of Murlocs with bright spots on their skin. Their skin was spotted in colorful blue and red contrary to the other Murlocs who had green skin.

The book wasn’t explaining anything about those either. I wonder about their capabilities. He shrugged. I guess I will soon find out. There is no point in thinking about it too much.

Edward walked closer to the group, being careful not to get spotted, and hiding behind a column. His teleportation power was the perfect tool for an ambush, but he had to be close enough first. There was no point to it if he teleported ten meters away from the group giving them the time to react to his presence. No, just like any other predator he had to creep closer to his prey. Once he would be clean enough, he only would have to bounce out of his hideout, not leaving his prey a chance to get away.

This is close enough. From there I can teleport directly inside that small group of Murlocs.

He stopped to collect his mind for one moment. Once I’m out, there will be no break. I will have to stay on the move. He smiled remembering his fight with the Teleportcrows. Time to show off.

Edward teleported, appearing in the opened area of the cavern, right in the middle of a small Murlocs gathering that was on the outskirts of the main group. Before the Murlocs had the time to react, still stunned by his apparition out of thin air and watching him with big bulging eyes, Edward transpierced two of them with his daggers. The lifeless bodies dripped to the ground in a wet noise as the rest of the Murlocs turned toward him.

Edward didn’t stop and stabbed another one right through his head. The Murlocs finally reacted, the whole cavern erupting in a cacophony of angry hisses. As the monsters converged toward his position, Edward was gone, once again appearing in their back. Two more monsters were added to his kill count. Edward didn’t let them reorganize and teleported elsewhere once again.

With each teleport, two to three Murlocs joined the grave. The Murlocs were completely disoriented, groups of Murlocs were running in opposing directions to catch him. Edward wasn’t able to teleport from one side of the cavern to the other since it was too large for that, but he didn’t need to go that far to find a target. He was spoiled for choice, the number of Murlocs was impressive, and without any competition from fellow hunters, this time, he could slaughter them to his heart’s content.

However, even if the Murlocs couldn’t catch up to him and had been shocked by the surprise effect, after a few minutes they started to catch their bearing. A strident whistle echoed through the cavern, and the Murlocs stopped running everywhere and hold their position instead.

Edward continued to teleport, but this time he was only able to kill one of them before they reacted forcing him to retreat to avoid their counterattack. He reappeared a few meters away from any Murlocs and stopped, frowning. Contrary to their initial fury, the Murlocs had calmed down. A silent standoff started between Edward and hundreds of globular eyes reflecting the light.

What happened to them? They calmed down all of a sudden. Well, it just means it’s time for round two.

Edward harrumphed and teleported back into the melee. The Murlocs were waiting for him, not knowing where he would teleport to, but staying in position with their senses on alert. Of course, that didn’t prevent Edward from killing his target with each teleportation, but the others were reacting far quicker than in the previous chaos, preventing Edward from creating a massacre each time he went on the offensive. He had to teleport back once more, some of the Murlocs starting to grin at him with anger and hunger in their eyes.

“Fine, you want to play it like that. Let me show you what I can do.”, he declared.

They are getting on my nerves but I have to stay focused. Their behavior changed when they heard that whistle. They must have a chief somewhere ordering them. I can’t stay fighting on the edge of the group. I have to go deeper in. Only then will I be able to spot and kill their leader.

This time, instead of teleporting back to them, he physically charged as if he was trying to ram them. He needed to be closer to them to increase the range of his teleportation. The Murlocs facing him lowered their spear to block him, and others even through their spear at him choosing to give up their weapon. However, even without a weapon they still had their claws and teeth.

In front of the flood of raining spears, Edward had no choice but to teleport aside. He still chose to continue his offensive, appearing further inside the Murlocs mass. He kept his momentum and killed another Murloc without stopping with a glancing blow of his dagger, the hit enough to cut its throat. With how the Murlocs were behaving, he couldn’t afford to stop, otherwise, they will be ready to cut him into pieces.

He continued on his path, running straight ahead, killing a Murloc when he could, but not stopping if he couldn’t. His priority right now was to spot their leader, he would have plenty of time later to slaughter the rest of the Murlocs. When they were trying to block his path or target him, he teleported to the side while still moving forward.

Another whistle echoed in the cavern. This one was closer. Edward was able to sense its direction further ahead on the right where the density of Murlocs was increasing sharply.

That wasn’t all, with this signal, the beefed-up Murlocs gathered there too. They didn’t form a cordon but dispersed in the group. A line of defense wouldn’t be able to stop him, so they had chosen to disperse so that anywhere he went, there will be one in proximity.

Found you. Edward changed his trajectory to aim at the massive, and still increasing, Murlocs’ group. This group is huge. They are pooling together so that I can’t go close enough to teleport directly into the middle, my range won’t be enough. But if you think that will stop me, you are mistaken.

Edward didn’t slow down, from the corner of his eyes he noticed that the bright skin Murlocs had also increased in concentration in this area. You all can wait. Once I kill your chief and become disorganized, you will be easy to deal with.

When he was about to crash into them, he teleported again. He didn’t have enough place to teleport inside of their group since they were too close to each other. So instead, he teleported above them. Edward stumbled out of thin air, using their heads as footholds, literally trampling on them to advance. Furious hissed of outrage raised in the answer.

However, the beefed Murlocs were a lot taller. One of those picked up his fellow Murlocs standing in front of him, and threw it wildly at Edward. What the fuck!?, he thought before jumping to avoid the improvised projectile. While falling back, he almost fell down, the Murlocs’s head couldn’t be considered as a secure foothold. Luckily, he was fast enough to react and he managed to regain his balance while continuing to move forward. However, most of his momentum had been lost.

Another whistle echoed and the Murlocs pointed their spear in the air to threaten Edward. Shit, I can’t let them adapt. If I don’t manage to kill their leader now, they will know how to foil my next attempt. I have to do it on the first try.