Finding the Trail

'First I fought like a warrior, then helped people like a cleric, and now I'm sneaking around like a thief. If this goes in the right direction I'll end up brawling like a monk too. What's next, will I get to ride around on a mount like a tamer for a while? Oh, but doing some more magic stuff would be cool too.'

I started counting other skills on my fingers getting excited that I was finally starting to be as versatile as a real adventurer. 'I made some new armor, so that's crafting, of course, I enchanted it. I should use the minotaur blood to brew some potions, then I can work on my alchemy. What's even left after that?' I felt a chill go down my spine. 'Right… I still haven't been to a shrine yet… Sorry Plutia… I'll make sure to make you some ribs when I visit ok?' I couldn't see her, but I was sure she was rolling her eyes as she passed my prayer on to God

"I'm surprised you're so relaxed!" Finn yelled back at me as we ran through the treetops.

'You should see me when I have a reason to be tense…' "You smell that!" I yelled back, stopping at the clearing, still covered in the scent of blood. "The smell keeps everything away, well, at least here. If we were in a higher leveled area it would probably have the opposite effect, but this is the great forest. The only thing attracted to minotaur blood would be like a spider queen or something."

"Right…" He said slowly, jumping down to the pool of blood and dipping his fingers in it. "And if that happens?"

I froze stiff for a moment at how serious his voice was but quickly relaxed. "Don't say stuff like that, please… You might give me a heart attack. I doubt there are any spider queens, and if there was one, no way it would leave the dungeon over something like this."

"You right, you right" He sighed, standing back up. "Well, obviously this is where you killed it. This is where you found it too?"

"Well This cave was its home for sure, it brought food back here to eat, I attacked just before that."

"So the question is simple, how did it get here, and where did it come from."

I walked out in the middle of the field, squatting down and taking a long look at the entrance to the cave. "Which area do black minitours come from again? I usually just stay around here, so I don't actually know much about them."

He continued checking the surroundings as he answered. "You know how this cave is at the base of a cliff, well, on the other side of the cliff is an icy mountain, and tucked away in the icy mountain is a semi-active volcanic crater. The minitours that are black are the tribe from that crater. It's said the volcanic magic charred their fur with ash and gave some the power of fire magic. There are plenty of good stories from that area."

'No one told me there was a chance that thing could use magic…' My whole body quickly shuddered as I left the past behind me, deciding to be more careful in the future.

"I find it unlikely that they drug it around the mountain through the snow, even if they did they would have been seen, there is only one common path right?"

He nodded. "Right, so that would suggest a hidden route through the mountain, possibly underground, like the dwarven tunnels that run north.

"Aren't those overrun with demons?"

He came over and sat down next to me. "It was just an example. What are you looking at?"

I pointed to a discoloration on the stone See that, scratches on the cave wall, probably from chains, a warg, or spiders would leave deeper cuts in the stone. Standing up I headed over to take a closer look, piecing the scene together in my mind. "It probably woke up too early and struggled, these marks are from them trying to drag it out of the cave."

"You mean into the cave?"

I took a closer look, examining other marks deeper in. "No, out of the cave. I met a tamer once, he told me that when relocating a monster you never wanted to leave it inside of a cave, because if it woke up there it would feel trapped and find somewhere else to make its home. So you had to leave it outside, and when they woke up they would naturally make whatever was closest to them their home. Whether or not this applies here I have no idea, but if they were dragging it out of the cave–"

"Then that implies they went through it…"

Turning back I waved him over and we continued inwards past the first part over to the large, slightly hidden crack in the wall where I found another chamber. "When I was here last time I found this secluded area that made for a good hiding place I wasn't thinking about it before, but check this out. See this water?"

He shrugged, simply waiting for me to explain.

"Well, it had to come from somewhere right? And not from the rain, Even if somehow rainwater dripped in through all this rock, it would be absorbed by the crystals, the ones lighting up the cave." I pointed. "They work like sponges and glow brighter the more water they take in."

"Right, and the ones here aren't glowing. They tend to only grow in dry areas anyway because they ironically don't like water. So an underground river then?"

That's what I was thinking… But… It would have to be something the minotaur could fit through…"

He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, scanning the cave with a discerning gaze. "Right, well, see if you can find anything in the lake and I'll check around the walls. I guess we're looking for a secret passage, probably one that involves water."

"Sounds good." I took off my unfastened my sword belt, throwing my gear to the side and unbuckling my jacket. Just as I pulled it down off my shoulders though he pushed it back on, firmly holding it with a hand on each side. 

"I changed my mind. I'll take a look in the lake." He said confidently, patting my armor as he walked past me and started taking off his own gear, suddenly making me more than a bit embarrassed, pulling my jacket closed in front again. 'It's not like I was going to strip… I could just use my magic to dry myself off afterward, so why does my face feel so hot…'

I covered my face with my hands, taking a deep breath through my fingers before opening my eyes again. Just like that, he was already stripped down to his underwear, stretching his arms, and my face was heating up even more.

"Ok, we're probably looking for a mechanism, if it's a hidden door, but try searching for magic just in… Case…" He stopped and stared at me for a moment, taking a wide stance as he relaxed his posture.

"Right!" I turned around, freezing up. 'Is my face so red it left him speechless?'

"I'll get started then." Again his voice was confident, making me feel like I was the only one embarrassed… making me more embarrassed. Eventually, I did somehow manage to calm down though, and after that, I started my own search. 'A mechanism huh… I scoured basically every corner of the room gathering the herbs last time and didn't see anything strange.'