World, Combat

While the party of four was preparing for rest, Lan was snapped out of his constant underground projects by four completely new Mental Mana Signatures which appeared on the surface of his domain.

Said signatures were strong, completely unlike any animal he felt before, signifying great intelligence.

'Dammit, the Huntress brought me a surprise 'visit' not too long ago, but now there are more?!'

Still, the fact that the creatures moved together meant that it was either a herd of strong herbivores... Or a pack of strong predators. The first option would be desirable.

Still, however much Lan was prepared, he wasn't prepared to find...

'Humans!'

Yes, when he turned his 'gaze' towards the surface he witnessed four humans on the edges of the clearing where the entrance to the underground was.

They were currently trying to set up camp, making a campfire and pitching tents.

'...Ahhh I'm kind of excited! First sentient being I've... Met. Humans of another world!'

Still, when he gave them a closer look he found out that they looked a bit weird to be typical 'medieval fantasy humans'. Their clothing and weapons didn't exactly match his imagination.

While some of their equipment looked the part, like plate armor, giant swords, and maces, some of it didn't.

'...I guess fashion here is a bit modern with those slacks and a jacket, but...'

Looking towards the woman who was supposed to be the 'Rogue' or the 'Ranger' of the group, a sense of incongruity emerged.

'Isn't a recurve crossbow a tad too advanced for a fantasy world? With a scope at that... And camouflage too? That clothing looks as if it came from a modern army storage!'

Lan's fantasies about Fantasy worlds were cracking, however further reinforced his doubts about the world he was currently in was the conversations they were having.

"Stacy! Seriously? We were going on an expedition yet you took alcohol with you?"

They spoke in English, though with a distinct accent.

The woman, apparently named Stacy, took a swig out of a bottle of alcohol with an eerily familiar brand engraved upon it and responded to the Ranger.

"What, you jealous, Anna? I saved 'specially for tense moments like these!"

Raising up the bottle proudly, she proclaimed.

"And look what good stuff it is! Found it inside of a ruin, somehow intact, 'Huntermeister', made before the Planetary Awakening! If I die tomorrow, I'd regret not having drunk it!"

While the group was bickering and chatting, Lan was thrown into a world of his own thoughts by the information he acquired.

'...Could it be?..'

A previously unlikely possibility appeared within his mind.

'Could it be... That I'm still on Earth? That I... Could see them again?'

--------------------------(POV Switch)--------------------------

Dawn soon came, most of the group was asleep except for Ian who was taking the last watch.

Soon though, Anna groggily got out of a tent she shared with Stacy, who followed not long after. 

The group leader Johann came out last, and the part of four gathered together to discuss their exploration. Johann spoke first.

"I'll repeat it once again, we go in, find out what's going on down there, and go out. If it's something we can't handle, then we retreat immediately, no playing hero, no trying to push your limits. I'd prefer we all return alive after this."

He then turned to the entrance which was covered in shadow, yet seemingly had a faint light coming from within.

"I'll go in front. Stacy, after me."

She nodded.

"You got it, bossman!"

"Anna will cover our rear."

The ranger fistpumped.

"You can count on me!"

"And Ian, stay behind me and Stacy, as always."

Ian answered calmly.

"Got it."

"Well then, off we go into the unknown."

The Four gathered into the previously discussed formation and cautiously advanced to the entrance to the underground. The shadow cast by the giant tree loomed over them, seemingly casting invisible pressure on their minds.

Still, undeterred they went towards the opening in the ground, and went in.

Once they did go in, they sun's light disappeared, a soft glow of unknown origin replacing it. Once their eyes adjusted completely, they were met with an unexpected scene.

"This is unlike anything I've seen before."

While they expected a dark and dreary cavern, what greeted them was like a small underground forest.

The ground was covered in bushes and shrubs, trees of moderate sizes emerged all the way to the ceiling, and you could hear various sounds of wildlife: A rustle of bushes here and there, or an occasional insects' noise.

In fact it could be said that this cave was more lively than the outside forest.

What attracted the most attention however, was the crack in the ceiling, from where a soft white glow illuminated the area akin to moonlight. Ian the Mage was especially astonished by it.

"The mana in here... Is even purer! And over there, up in the ceiling!"

As the party focused there he exclaimed.

"The mana there is tremendous! It's almost blinding to me!"

Looking at the overeager mage, Stacy asked.

"So, whatevers' there is valuable or somethin'?"

Ian nodded at first, but then shook his head.

"Of course it is! But don't even think of trying to take it. We'd have to carve it from beyond the ceiling, whatever it is. And if we try to damage it... With the amount of mana there, I would not be surprised if we would be blown to bits along with most of this cave."

"Soo... It's useless as it is then?"

"Pretty much."

While the two were discusiing, Anna was looking around, admiring the scenery yet paying attention to her surroundings at the same time. Suddenly, seemingly detecting something, she exclaimed.

"We've got incoming hostiles! 1 O'clock!"

Immediately alert, the four explorers gathered back together, ready to face whatever danger came their way.

And their way came a giant fox, enlargened by mana. It attacked out of the bushes, aiming for Ian, the smallest target, but was deflected by Johanns shield, being bounced back.

Stacy came forward as the attacker.

"Just another overgrown animal, piece o' cake!"

She swung down with her unsheathed broadsword, which the animal evaded, only to be shot by an arrow to the neck by Anna.

"Nice one blondie!"

Giving a thumbs up, Stacy turned to the would-be predator.

The dead fox looked rather starved, perhaps that being the reason for the sudden attack.

Johann then reorganised the group, rubbing his shieldbearing arm.

"Back to positions, it was just a normal monster. It was tougher than the ones on the outside though."

Ian then intruded.

"I'd suggest to harvest meat from this one, it's practically soaked in mana. I've never seen such a thing before."

Anna, which usually did the job, shrugged.

"Well if you say so. Doesn't take much effort with my evolution direction. Gives a nice increase to dexterity."

While Anna was disassembling the dead animal, the group protected her. They moved on as soon as she finished.

"Advance carefully. While that fox wasn't too strong, we don't know what else lives here."

So, the party did as Johann suggested, moving meter by meter. It didn't take them long to encounter another opponent.

Anna was the first to sense them, though later than usual. The reason being...

"Watch out from below!"

The enemy this time came from under their feet.

The ground erupted, giving way to an earthworm a meter in length, which lunged towards Stacy's leg, not threatening her very much. 

It bit into the leg protecting armor, not piercing it. Although the worm itself was pierced by her broadsword the next instant.

"This little!.. Johann, on your six!"

Having dealt with the attacker, she noticed multiple bumps in the ground, from which more snake-like earthworms attacked Johann.

Immediately reacting, Johann turned around, blocking two of the attackers with his shield. Another earthworm lunged toward his arm, however Johann intercepted it midair with his mace, slamming the creature into the ground, and finishing the monster off with another swing of it.

"Careful! There might be more! Anna!"

The ranger, knowing what she was commanded to do, put her crossbow on her back, and switched to a melee weapon, that being a combat knife on her waist.

A new wave of enemies soon came, this time from the rear. Five of them to be exact.

Anna attacked deftly, evading the one which aimed for her leg, sliced the one aiming for her torso in two, and pierced the third, which tried to attack Ian.

This left her open to another two behind her, one of said earthworms managed to catch her off-guard, biting her thigh.

"Ugh-"

Grunting in pain, she sliced off the worm which was stuck to her.

"Don't get too distracted!"

Hearing Ian's shout, Anna turned around, only to see him extend his hand, from which an invisible blast swept past her. That blast turned the last worm which was midair into mush.

That seemingly put an end to the attack, as no new enemies appeared even after waiting for a minute. After that, party relaxed slightly, and went to support Anna, which had a bite wound on her thigh. Ian quickly checked up on her.

"Hey Anna, you alright? How bad is it?"

She answered, sitting down on the ground with a wince.

"Not too serious, it's shallow... Hurts like a bitch though."

The mage then went on one knee and put his hands around the wound.

"Well, good to hear it. Let's patch you up."

Anna then felt a warm current, which she long knew was mana, entering her leg through Ian's hands. The wound then began quickly closing up, as if it was a sped up timelapse.

After 20-something seconds, it was as if it was never there, except for a hole in her clothing. Ian then wiped the sweat off his forehead, and stood up.

"There you go, good as new. That took a bit out of me. It would seem that those nasties carried some sort of poison or disease, it took more mana to fix than a wound of that size should have."

The leader of the group then asked.

"Is it too much, or can we go on?"

"Nah, I'm fine. My tank's far from empty."

"Good. Then let us continue. Ian, do you have a direction for us?"

"Sure. The flow of mana is obviously denser and comes from over there."

Ian then pointed his finger to a wall opposite from the entrance, which was hidden by nearby greenery.

Following the given direction, the party advanced. What soon met them was an opening in the wall, behind which was seemingly... A corridor, behind which another room was present.

Johann, being in front, inspected it.

"It looks artificial. Too smooth to be a natural opening."

Stacy the Warrior then asked.

"So like what, you're saying someone dug this out? That someone lives here?"

"No, it's also possible that it is a pre-Awakening mine, though it lacks any other traces of human activity. Still, it gives us yet another reason to investigate what's going on here.

With that, the four explorers advanced, into the room behind the corridor.

It looked pretty similar to the one they just came from, though with a major difference, which didn't go unnoticed by Anna.

"Guys, is it just me, or... Is it too quiet in here?"

Indeed, compared to the previous room, the 'forest' here lacked any sound of activity. And as the party was carefully moving inside...

Two pairs of eyes, one yellow, one crimson, opened amidst the darkness...