The Surface

Doing their best to use the extra time Savina had given them. Iseul tried to lead the group back to the well.

Just as the light of the well came into view, two adults Scorpsis appeared out of the shadows.

Skidding to a halt, Iseul readied himself to fight.

Grabbing his shoulder, Rio pulled him back. "Come on, you idiot, we don't have time to fight those things. We need to go down a different route."

Rolling his eyes, Iseul followed Rio. Summoning a ball of fire, Savina held the adult Scorpsis at bay whilst the group ran back the way they came.

As the baby Scorpsis turned the corner ahead of Rio, he gestured for the group to turn down a side passage in the caverns.

Again, covering their escape, Savina used her skill Firepit to put some time between the party and the Scorpsis.

"Rio, where are we going?" Savina shouted over the sound of gnashing teeth. "There's no point in me buying us time if we're just going to run into a dead-end!"

"You don't need to tell me that!" Rio shouted over his shoulder. "Iseul, Find us a path!"

Banging his swords on the floor as they ran, Iseul sped up as the sound waves bounced back to him.

Turning into cave after cave, the group ran faster as more Scorpsis poured into the caverns.

As they continued to run, the party turned a corner, natural light poured into the cave.

"An opening!-" Rio fell quiet as four adult Scorpsis stood between the party and the surface. Running past Rio, Savina joined Iseul in rushing the Scorpsis.

As Iseul's Unique Skill Hunter's Resolve activated, Iseul threw one of his swords directly into the first Scorpsis' face. The speed and strength of which crushed through the Scorpsis' chitin, killing it instantly.

Taking on the second Scorpsis, Savina summoned two balls of fire in her palms. Throwing them at the beast. Bringing up its claws, the Scorpsis attempted to shield itself from the fire.

Hitting the claws, the fireballs exploded, coating the beast's claws in violet fire. The Scorpsis released a pained screech as the violet fire ignited its claws. Flicking her wrists the fire worked its way down the claws, jumping from the arms onto the beast's face.

"I can't stand insects," Savina muttered as the fire flared, burning the beast to a crisp.

Hearing the Scorpsis approaching from behind them, Rio shouted at the group. "Stop messing around, you two!"

Glancing to Rio, Savina looked back to the burning Scorpsis corpse. "Hey, Iseul." Holding her hand out to the fire, Savina flicked her wrist, causing the fire to jump from the corpse, igniting Iseul's sword.

Looking back to Savina. Savina could feel Iseul glaring at her. "Don't worry Iseul, your sword's fine. Go swing it around before we're eaten alive."

Turning back to the last Scorpsis, Iseul smiled.

Jumping at the third Scorpsis, Iseul brought his sword down over his head, with the added power from the flame. Iseul cut through the Scorpsis' claw as it tried to defend itself. The fire continued forward, cutting the Scorpsis in half.

Bringing his sword up, Iseul looked around. Staring down the last Scorpsis, the group watched it skitter away.

Pulling the violet fire off of the sword, Savina held it in her hands. Slamming it onto the floor, Savina used Firepit again as Iseul retrieved his sword from the first Scorpsis.

"Good job. Let's get to the surface, with any hope they won't follow us there!"

Running towards the light, the four humans managed to escape the horde of Scorpsis. Continuing to run as they took a breath of fresh surface air. The group collapsed on the ground.

Panting, Savina looked back to the cave mouth. Seeing that none of the Scorpsis had followed them out of the entrance. Savina collapsed. "Next person who tells me to jump into a dark cave with no backup plan." Raising her fist into the sky, Savina hit the dirt next to her. "I'm going to punch."

Resting against his swords, Iseul looked to Rio.

"Yeah yeah. Just give me a moment to breathe before I plan on what we're doing next…"

Watching the old man, Iseul raised his sword, pointing it at the man. Looking at Iseul, Savina stood up, flexing her fingers. "Iseul has a point, Rio… When are we going to question the old man who randomly appeared in a cave after leaving in the opposite direction of us?"

As the old man was about to say something, Rio spoke up. "He already told us. He got paralysed by a Scorpsis, and dragged back into their caves."

"That's actually something I have a problem with," Savina muttered. "Scorpsis don't preserve their victims, they paralyse and then kill, they also don't create caverns that large… Something isn't lining up."

As the party were talking amongst themselves, Iseul span around as a voice shouted over to them.

"You four, what are you doing here?"

As Rio and Savina looked over to the voice, they saw a group of men walking in formation towards them. Savina's eyes widened as her mouth slightly opened.

"Who's asking?" Rio shouted back.

"Oh of course." Stopping before them, the man took his helmet off. "My name is-"

Savina's mouth moved before her brain had any time to think. "Tushin Olagard… Captain of the Wild Guard, appointed by the queen herself. The Kingdom's defenders against the Beast Kingdom."

Smiling, Thrush nodded. "Why yes, I am." Furrowing his brow, Tushin looked at Savina closer. "Have we met, you look familiar?"

Slowly shaking her head, Savina almost whispered her response. "N- no, we've never met…"

"My mistake..." Tushin eyed Savina for a moment before continuing. "Now, may I ask you all what you're doing here?"

Taking a step forward, Rio spoke up. "This old man told us about a ghost town, so we went to go investigate it. We jumped down a well, after some walking. We found the old man, say's he got paralysed by a Scorpsis and dragged down there… We found some kind of nest, a hive. It's full of Scorpsis down there." Gesturing to Savina, he continued. "Neia thinks there is something more going on down there, she mentioned that Scorpsis kill their prey soon after paralyzing them."

Rubbing his chin, Tushin sighed. "We heard reports that people were going missing in this region. It's unfortunate that we arrived too late to help save anyone in that town. Anyway, that's in the past. We're outfitted enough to deal with whatever Scorpsis threat we find. If you four head south of here you'll find our camp, tell the men there I said make yourself at home. We'll no doubt be back by sunset, see how many of the town's folk we can save."

"Thank you, Captain, I'll make sure to pass the word onto your men."

With a nod and a wave, Tushin rallied his men, drawing his sword. "Come, men, let's burn this Scorpsis cave and save as many civilians as we can."

Watching Tushin and his men charge towards the cave, Savina shivered. A notification appeared in front of her.

- Minor Trauma Resistance activated -

Feeling herself calm down, Rio tapped Savina's shoulder. "Hey, are you ok, you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"I'm…" Taking a second to gather herself, Savina smiled. "I'm good, Rio, thanks. I'm just glad to know where we are now. Somewhere in the southeast of the kingdom. Close to the ocean and close to the border to the Beast Kingdom."

Starting in the direction of the camp, Rio nodded. "Oh, I already knew where we were."

Savina blankly started at Rio as he created a portal for Iseul to store his swords.

"You already knew where we were?"

"Of course." He responded, closing the portal. "The system has a map feature. Just tell it to open the map."

Blinking, Savina wanted to know more. "System, open map."

After finishing, a system screen opened in front of her. Seeing a map of the surrounding area, Savina chuckled to herself. "Y'know, I'm liking this system more and more."