The answer was a whole lot of nothing. Frustratingly, the group hadn’t come across even a trace of something down the left side of the tunnel for a hundred meters. Thus, Niko had asked if they could go a bit further.

Three hundred more meters, and Niko had to admit begrudgingly that there was a good chance that the underground was going to be a lot like the open ocean. A whole lot of nothing until a whole lot of something was right in your face.

‘Ugh… good thing thalassophobia isn’t something I ever had to worry about.’ Niko thought to himself as Ronald called for the group to turn around.

“There’s nothing immediately threatening on this side,” Ronald whispered, still being cautious, “We’ll check four hundred meters out on the right side and then start our route back to town.”

Niko nodded, heading to the front of the group once more. The tunnel was monotonous, but intimidating in a kind of subtle way. The light from the group’s lanterns danced against shallow rises in the stone, casting long shadows at odd angles that constantly made Niko feel a need to check to be certain there wasn’t a crevice or hole that something could come out from. He’d seen enough shows and certain animes to know just how traumatically an expedition could go if the scout wasn’t literally checking every nook and cranny. The last thing he needed was some goblin tribe attacking them from the walls.

Every now and then, Niko would feel a slight breeze move through the tunnels, and he began to wonder what it was that was moving the air around down here. Skye’s answer was less than charming.

“Either there’s an air shaft going upwards, there’s some geothermal movement going on, or something really, really big is moving around deeper in the underground.” Skye explained, and Niko immediately had to put out of his mind the images of skyscraper sized worms tunneling through the earth beneath his talons that that explanation had called forward.

“I’m beginning to second guess my ancestors' obsession with living underground,” Mithel jokingly stated.

“What, it’s prime real estate!” Dachna exaggeratedly swept his arms out, “You even get free garden tilling, the worms come to you!”

Ronald stopped walking and half-glared at Dachna, “Please, don’t tempt fate with that.”

Dachna stuck his tongue out at the man, “You’re no fun anymore! I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Mithel and Niko both exchanged meaningful and dreading glances at each other, silently hoping that Dachna wouldn’t trip even more flags.

“Hold.” Skye spoke, dashing those hopes. The Wyldwalkers froze in place as the half-elf moved to the wall and put an ear to the stone.

She frowned, then held her hand out for the universal sign of ‘Stop’ followed by a few hand-signs that Niko didn’t recognize. Judging by how the others went completely and totally stock still, though, Niko could guess it meant, ‘Don’t move a muscle.’

After a minute, Niko thought he could hear a kind of distant grinding sound. Another minute passed, and he was certain he was hearing something churning through solid stone, but far, far away. Skye’s expression tightened all the while, only loosening another five minutes or so after, when the sound began drawing farther and farther away.

Only after it seemed that the coast was clear, did Dachna say aloud, “Honestly, I don’t know why I say things like that. I know it’s going to bite me in the arse the moment I say it.” The rest of the team just shook their heads in dismay.

“Seems like this territory is still active for Earth Wyrms,” Skye whispered, “But they don’t sound like they’re in much of a hurry, so I think they have plenty of food in the earth itself.”

Ronald asked Mithel, “Do Earth Wyrms move in groups or anything? Nothing I read told me anything about that.”

“Uhhh… Sorry, I have no idea.” Mithel embarrassedly admitted, “We never really got a lot of Earth Wyrms in our territory. Too much noise, so I never really had to learn about them.”

Without judgment, Ronald nodded, “Alright, so, let's assume it’s more than one, just to be safe. Skye, keep an ear out for them?”

She huffed, “Well, I’m not going to stop now, am I?”

Ronald chuckled, before turning to Niko, “Alright, lead the way again?”

Niko squawked in affirmation before resuming a steady pace. They passed by the pile of debris leading out of the underground, and were well on their way down the opposite side of the tunnel when Niko finally came upon something unusual.

“I see something ahead.” Niko announced, “About fifty meters or so, it’s too dark for me to make it out from this far, though.”

The others tried to see what he was talking about, but not even Skye could make anything out past ten meters. They neared, slower than before, and Niko corrected his previous statement, “Several things, at least seven. Small piles of what looks like… garbage?” Niko stated with confusion, “It reminds me of something…”

“Like?” Skye asked, senses on high alert for any noises out of the ordinary, but finding nothing.

“Honestly? Like owl pellets, I guess.” Shrugged Niko as they paused.

“Owl pellets, like the regurgitated stuff they can’t digest?” Mithel asked with a frown. Niko nodded, and she continued, “So, we definitely have a predator in the area.”

“We’ll examine the remains,” Ronald said after remaining silent for several long seconds, “But then we’re leaving. My guts telling me that we’re overstaying our welcome.”

The others nodded at that, before they moved forwards, Niko scanning the walls as closely as he could for any crevices. Thus far, nothing out of the ordinary, and with the stone walls, there were very few tells he could use to see if something had moved through the area.

‘No sign of movement, but the pellets are all arranged against the side of the tunnel. That doesn’t seem like an accident.’ Niko frowned, now only twenty meters out from the kills. ‘The underground probably has a lot of ambush predators, but I don’t see any crevices… Unless they’re not using crevices?’

At that thought, Niko stopped walking altogether, focusing his essence into his eyes even more.

“Niko?” Skye asked, but he only sent a thought blurb of ‘Patience’ her way in explanation.

Instead of focusing in on any one thing, he simply stared at the whole of the tunnel ahead, letting his visual acuity gradually increase with the pattern within. Niko couldn’t do this when he was moving, equating it to a telescope gathering greater detail on distant objects via light. He was using the essence of the environment and light together, trying to put together as high definition of an image that he could. Every line and contour sharpened, and eventually even the flickering of the shadows was reduced in his mental image. He focused on that internal image as much as he could, losing clarity occasionally, but as he scanned strips of the environment, he let go of parts that looked clear.

Stone by stone, Niko dismissed parts of the tunnel from his awareness, until he was left with a strange strip of stone on the opposite side of the tunnel from the packets. In reality when he looked at it, there was maybe, barely a slight divot in the earth where it was deeper than its surroundings. But to his essence-laden image? It might as well have been several centimeters deeper, a completely different color, and very, very clearly intended to fall away from the wall.

“That wall is fake.” Niko pointed out the location with his beak, while trying to send the image to Skye.

She winced from the image, and looked up at where he was pointing out. Niko watched her eyes glaze over as she tried to figure out what he was pointing at, before her expression gradually grew more and more bewildered. “I don’t see anything, Niko.”

He clicked his beak, before walking next to her and briefly pointing at her bow and arrow, “Start aiming, I’ll help.”

Skye hesitated before nodding, pulling out her bow and arrows while the rest of the group wordlessly assumed positions around them. Ronald stood at the head, Dachna to Mithel’s right, and Skye to Mithel’s left along with Niko. Niko would move forward after the first shot, depending on what happened, but the last thing any of them wanted was to walk into a potential trap. Niko half feared that there was some massive trap-door spider waiting for them.

“Lower, to the right. Too far, left. Yeah, there should be good. Do you see anything?” Niko guided Skye’s aim by looking over her shoulder.

She subtly shook her head, arrow knocked fully and arm straining against the bow, “Not even a little.”

Niko warbled with amusement, “Oh well, just put some power into it. I don’t want whatever that is to think it can keep hiding.”

“Got it.” Skye replied shortly as her body flushed with essence, empowering her physique. Niko moved into position beside Ronald, who conjured forth a large shield in front of them. They had no clue what they were dealing with, so Niko certainly was happy with as many precautionary measures as possible. The essence here was enough to sustain second tiers easily, so there was always the possibility that they would have to deal with something in the third. That might not be an issue for them, but Niko doubted that all creatures were weighted on the same power scale.

“Firing.” Skye whispered just before releasing the string. The arrow tore through the air, whistling as it went, before cracking into the stone depression like a gunshot. With a harsh, dissonant cry, something smashed the “wall” away with many tar-black limbs, an arrow sticking out of a joint in one of its three arms that rose up and over the creature's torso.

To Niko, this was the first real example of something that just didn’t look natural. Oily skin shone in the lantern light. The creature that had violently emerged stood at three meters tall on five stalky, trunk-like, digitigrade legs that ended in bizarrely pancake shaped ‘feet’. It had a large torso, which Niko noted was dominated by a meter-wide, three-sided maw. The creature had another large trunk-like limb that protruded from the back of its torso, that limb seemed to joint off into three more, smaller arms with grasping, hooked talons that glistened in the light. Three such limbs protruded, giving it a total of nine arms. A thorax that looked more like it belonged on a fat spider connected to the torso at the base, where aforementioned stocky legs held it up.

It was such a hodgepodge of parts that Niko wasn't entirely sure where to start in on the thing.

“Kotyuk! Don’t look at the eyestalks! They’re above the mouth where a person’s head would be!” Skye shouted, before immediately cursing, “Bant’s arse! Mithel, slow it down! Ronald, thicken the barrier and brace your spear, it’s going to charge us!”

Ronald immediately deferred to Skye’s orders, Niko took that as a sign that he had no idea what this thing was. None of the others seemed to, either, and Mithel let out a short ‘Hap!’ as she pitched a flask through the air.

Just as the thing began to screech, whilst unfolding the top of its torso, allowing several stalks to begin to rise up–

And then catch the flask that Mithel had thrown out, which then promptly exploded into an even denser foam than usual. Almost instantly, the creature went from threatening screeching to something resembling confusion and, quickly, into panic.

Skye paused at the sight, “Huh. That works, too.” She said, before knocking an arrow and aiming slightly lower. The thing scrambled around, its many limbs quickly becoming gunked up, before an arrow penetrated half-way through one of its legs. The Kotyuk cried out shrilly, scrambling around in half-panic and rage, before turning in their direction. Though it was blinded, Niko still avoided looking at where the eyes might be, just in case the foam wasn’t as obstructive as it appeared. He didn’t know what the eyes could do, but he also knew he wasn’t keen on finding out.

Niko had thought that any creature using trap-door tactics would likely rely on stealth only, hence why he felt very unprepared for what the thing did next. The creature bolted forward from a complete stop like a galloping rhinoceros, and Niko scrambled to hold the shield beside Ronald. The big man grimaced at the sight of the thing, “Dig in, Niko!”

Doing just that, Niko engaged his leg patterns and keyed up as much power as he could muster, rooting his talons centimeters into solid stone. He felt Dachna move up next to them, though Niko knew that his play was not to hold the shield.

The Kotyuk hit the barrier hard, and Niko gasped as a jolt of force went through the essence constructed shield and into him from his proximity. Beside him, Ronald grunted, but the barrier held, and moreover, the blinded Kotyuk hadn’t seen Ronald’s essence empowered glaive sticking out of the barrier.

An agonized screech resounded from the other side, and Niko felt his eardrums ache at the sheer volume. Ronald held fast with his weapon,the essence that covered his blade pulsed in a way that Niko wasn't familiar with. “Go! I’ve hooked it in!”

Niko nodded, noticing that Dachna was already gone. The Phorus quickly darted through the barrier as Ronald made it permeable one-way briefly, and landed on the right flank of the Kotyuk. It reached out for him, somehow sensing his movements, with all of its grasping arms, before a pair of arrows hit two of its main trunks. Those arms stalled and curled inwards, but the third sailed through open air with shining claws.

Until it abruptly snapped back upwards, chasing after a tumbling, luminescent object above.

‘Damn, Dachna’s coin trick is so broken.’ Niko couldn’t help but shake his head at the sight, before essence burned through his leg patterns and his beak at once. He darted forward, slamming his beak deep into the Kotyuk’s side, below the maw. On the other side, he heard the slicing of flesh, and briefly glimpsed Dachna darting away with a serrated blade.

Niko could not disengage so easily, but he didn’t need to. The Kotyuk tried to turn away, but was rooted firmly in place by Ronald’s now, apparently, hooked glaive and his shield construct that dug into the ground for leverage. Mithel shouted, “Slime out!”

Niko grimaced, but accepted his fate. He saw the flask sail through the shield, just as the Kotyuk somehow contorted its torso around to face towards Niko. For a feather-raising moment, Niko got an altogether too-good look into its many toothed maw, just before the flask landed in its mouth instead.

“Oh! Hole in one!” Mithel cheered aloud, just before the flask exploded. Niko cringed as the thing went from snarling to gurgling, an orange slime fountaining out of its flailing and wrenched open maw. Niko moved farther back and behind the Kotyuk, then leapt atop the back of the thing, hooking in with his wing claws. This was a maneuver he’d never really been able to do before, since most of his targets were just too small. But this? This was perfectly sized.

The thing trembled with his weight, but obstinately held firm. Niko bit into one of the smaller arms flailing about from behind, and just when it started trying to reach him, he did what every cat he’d known did when in a similar position.

He raked the pecking hell out of it with his back claws.

Niko’s talons cut through the flesh of the thing with abandon, empowered as they were, and with every carve swept away an entire rivulet of shining, oily flesh. The Kotyuk bucked beneath him, but every time it made headway in getting to him, Dachna or Skye fended off the limb.

In only half a minute, the Kotyuk stopped moving entirely as Niko felt his claws hit something and crack straight through it. Niko staggered away from the mess, heaving for breath, he felt like his essence reservoir was struggling to refill his pseudo-veins. Still, he admired his handiwork, the large, oil-black creature’s back completely torn apart by his efforts.

“Hot damn, Niko,” Dachna stared at the damage from behind the Kotyuk. Then he laughed, “You’re quite the shredder! I’ll be honest, I was worried about what we’d do if something was bigger than you, but I guess that’s not really a problem.”

Skye came over then, before uttering, gobsmacked, “Great Mother, that’s a lot of damage.”

“Is it salvageable?” Mithel asked her, “I know nothing about… what’d you call these things?”

“Kotyuk,” Skye answered with a troubled expression, “They’re deep dwellers, this is… way too shallow for them to show. But, that explains why nothing’s come through this area. Kotyuk are lethal to just about anything without mental defenses.”

“That’s nice and all,” Ronald grunted, “But can someone give me a hand? The bastard is still stuck on my glaive, and he is not lightweight.”

Niko chortled at that, before noting that his essence shield had actually bent inwards, probably from the combined weight of Niko and the Kotyuk. “Oops, my bad.”

“It’s fine, just–” Ronald began, before Niko braced his already filth covered beak against the Kotyuk and pushed it upwards, “–perfect, thanks.” He pulled his glaive back with a sucking sound, leaving the essence shield in place momentarily as Niko flopped the thing back against it. The body of the thing was rapidly cooling, and Niko briefly considered eating it.

However, unlike everything else, this thing didn’t particularly smell like food, nor did it smell especially bad, though. Niko chirruped, before looking to Skye, “Is this thing edible?”

“You’re unbelievable.” Skye sighed heavily and then shook her head, “I… have no idea. Try it, I guess.”

“Waste not, want not,” Shamelessly, Niko declared, before pecking out a chunk of meat from the creature's side.

And immediately wretched as it hit his tongue, “Oh, ewww, ew ew ew! How does that not smell awful!?”

Dachna, meanwhile, couldn’t help but point and laugh hysterically as Niko’s feathers all shot up fully from disgust, “Had to happen eventually! Hahaha!”

In retribution, Niko stripped a bit of meat off and threw it at him. He dodged it, of course, but he dialed back his laughter.

“Well… I don’t have a lot of space left, so, going back to if it’s salvageable at all, do you know what’s valuable on these things, Skye?” Mithel asked.

Skye shrugged, “I don’t know entirely, maybe the eyestalks? Just don’t look at them too long, they still have some potency after death. The organs are good…” She paused, looking at the devastated abdomen, “If you find any.”

Niko snorted, “I’m sure there’s plenty in there. Anyone wanna check the other bodies over there?”

Ronald nodded, “You and Skye go check the pellets, we’ll strip what we can off this. Anything toxic, Skye?”

“I think the claws? I don’t remember though, just don’t prick yourself on anything.” Skye shrugged.

“Advice for the ages,” Dachna echoed Niko’s thoughts on the matter aloud, earning a snort from Skye as they went to check out the pellets against the wall. Niko looked down at himself as they went, grimacing at the dark red, almost black blood that covered his legs and lower body.

“There’s a cleaning station just outside of the sewer entrance,” Skye said apologetically, “Maybe we can ask Mithel to make some kind of cleaning potion in the meantime, though?”

“I think I’d like that. I can already tell this stuff is going to be a pain to clean off when it sets.” Niko groaned.

Skye dismantled the pellets with no small amount of confusion. He didn’t blame her, they were dried out and desiccated, but had an unusual amount of metal pieces in them. The skulls very clearly belonged to Dawr Goblins, though. There was also a rather large amount of bone coins.

“I guess we found where the rest of the group was, doesn’t look like a tribe though. Maybe a scouting band. I doubt they’ll be trouble though, since I’m fairly certain the Kotyuk would have killed most if not all of them. Dawr Goblins won’t go anywhere near here thanks to that.” Skye explained, before staring at the assembled metal gear, “But, they’re really well outfitted. That’s… odd.”

“Why is that?” Niko tilted his head as he considered the surprisingly high quality weapons and bits of plate armor. The leather had been digested, but everything metal and bone remained unscathed.

“Dawr Goblins don’t arm themselves with anything better than stone on their own. They don’t smith tools and such. So… I don’t know. They might have just stumbled upon the gear, or taken it off of someone else. They’re not exactly in the best state of repair.” Skye hummed thoughtfully, “Well, all we can do is report it to the Guild, we’ll see what they think.”

“Why do I get the feeling that Orson is just going to love hearing from us after this?” Niko joked as he helped carry the excess gear that they could salvage.