Master Of None

Chapter 455 - 455. Fork In The Cave

The party followed Bree a fair ways away from the first gate, so much so that they passed through two more similar gates. There were fewer elves the farther they had gone and even some small underground plants. The pathways themselves were littered with more loose stone and dirt, unlike the busier ones that were kept cleaner.

"This is the entrance to the section my brother and I own. It is a little farther from the floor but it is very high in natural mana sop it is able to grow crystals faster. Also, the reason that the glowing mole must have come here for food. I don't know why it didn't choose one of the abandoned sections though. There are plenty off that way."

"I Would guess because this part is unkempt more than the abandoned ones. If you are growing crystals here it would mean it smells more enticing." Su made her logical conclusion as to why a monster that fed on ores would want to come here. 

"That is a fair point. It is most likely the best place for it to find a snack around. The problem is where it came from. If possible I would like the entrance it came from sealed or at least marked so we can watch it." Bree didn't expect this to be easily possible but thought she should put it out there. 

"I can do that if we can find it. I will use my high earth sculpting to make sure it is reinforced as well." Walker chimed in with an immediate response making Bree smile in surprise. 

"Then I will leave you all to it. I lack the offensive skill and will, be returning to the main floor. I would just hinder your duty if I cam." Bree was no fool, she did not have any battle spirits with her nor did she ever plan on bonding with one. She preferred her peaceful life of crystal making and gossiping. 

"Alight, we will be back when we can." Walker looked in to the section that Bree had brought them to and did a final check of his gear. He made sure that he and the p[arty were ready to go. "Onyx, I want you to slither around on the ground. You are more sensitive to vibrations due to your species. I expect you to be paying attention to any strange vibrations."

You can count on me brother." Onyx was more than happy to be asked to help. He never felt that he was assisting his family as best as he could and this was a chance for him to do better. Walker could feel that Onyx was more than determined so he let him take the lead of the party. 

Surprising him Midnight used her shadow wrapping skill and blended in with the shadows. This cave environment was an amazing place for her to be able to sneak up on any opponent. Between her and Onyx they were sure to either surprise an enemy or predict when an enemy was near them. 

"Leader, there are some small crystals here that appear to have been broken by something." Su had noticed the small details on the sides of the walls. The crystals that she pointed out didn't look like they were taken out of the wall whole but instead shattered off.

"There are no pieces anywhere so it would be safe to say this was not an elf harvesting them." Remey chimed in after looking through some of the loose dust on the ground. She had come up with nothing but soon held up some greyish black hair. "I bet this is from the culprit."

Gil looked at the hair and jumped right in to tracking. Onyx was right next to him as Gilk followed the traces left by the glowing mole. He waved now and then to stop and have them move forward. He had started to see some slight scratches in the dust and dirt but not much hair. There was also no sign of the mole digging through anything in the wall or floor. 

Gil held up a hand bringing them, to a stop. "The cave splits here. There are traces of the mole going both ways...I think it is just one but it has traveled over this area so many times that I can't even tell which way it has been going." The fact that Gil had said it had been traveled so many times he couldn't tell direction was worrisome. 

"The mole is comfortable here to travel through often. We need to figure out why that is." Walker looked down one of the tunnels and could feel a slight breeze. "I have a bad feeling that the breeze coming from that way is bad. Mostly because there shouldn't be a breeze coming from a dead end." 

"Brother, sister says she can hear a strange noise from the other cave." Walker looked at Midnight who had her head perked up looking down the opposite tunnel. The party was torn. If they went to the tunnel that did not have the breeze then they could meet their enemy. However, if they went down the one with another entrance then they could solve the problem of where the mole came from.

"No matter which way we choose to go we will end up with the possibility of being trapped on both sides. Either a monster comes from the opening of the right tunnel or the monsters in the left try to leave through the right tunnel." Su's logic was sound, but Remey was having a brilliant idea. 

"Walker can just use his skill to block one path. Then when we deal with one we can unblock the other, then deal with that one." Remey said this like it was the most common thing ever. However, Su felt that her wisdom was being dashed. She had completely missed this logic. 

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