Post-Apocalyptic Dispatch Society

Chapter 46 Xuna’s Journey (Part 5)

Boom!

Xuna crash-landed on a region of snow, flinching in shock when the snow before her suddenly caved in, creating a large hole. She was standing on the edge of the hole.

Had she been a bit careless or slow to react, she would have fallen into the hole. Thinking that the snow would cushion her fall, Xuna had leapt from high up in a playful mood.

But at this time, her attention suddenly fell on the tree farther away as she reacted spontaneously, using her grappling hook to grab hold of the tree trunk.

The rope began to pull her when she landed on the ground. Had she been a moment late in using her grappling hook, she would have jumped right into the hole.

Xuna then peaked into the hole, noticing a sprawling cave inside, thinking, 'Is this where I was drawn towards?'

She still was unsure where her lucky encounter was. It was somewhere on the mountain, but she didn't have anything concrete to go about it.

Therefore, she could only probe around until Coincidental Luck gives her a clearer hint. 'If only I can see it as Master does, then I'll be able to harness it better.'

Xuna held the shaft of her grappling hook, slowly descending into the hole as she looked around, seeing that it was not only narrow but also forced her to crouch forth to move. But she was able to see that it was a sprawling cave, for multiple paths branched out and a couple of them were pretty straight, allowing her to see at least a couple dozen metres forward.

Crrick!

Xuna crouched forward, moving underneath a protruding rock when suddenly, the sound of a critter resounded, alarming her, causing her skin to crawl.

'W-Where is it?" Xuna lost her cool, definitely not a fan of the creepy-crawlies.

Tuta-tat-ta!

Goosebumps appeared on her skin as the tail of something brushed past her ear; she began to sweat in response, jittery.

She felt cold all of a sudden as her body was losing its heat rapidly, terrifying her as Xuna was unable to control herself, summoning her rocket between her legs as she assumed a sleeping pose, allowing the thrust to carry her through the tiny hole quickly.

Tuta-Tat-ta!

Unfortunately for her, the sounds only became worse in response as Xuna ventured into a wider section of the cave, noticing jagged rocks strewn everywhere on the floor. 'I can't walk over them easily…'

She didn't even conclude her thoughts when the jagged rocks began to move. Or at least, it seemed to be like that when Xuna blinked her eyes in confusion, noticing that they were in the same position as before.

'Are my eyes playing tricks on me?' She wondered. After all, it was dark in here, for the only source of sunlight was the hole she had arrived from. And this deep inside, there was barely any sunlight for her to rely upon.

Therefore, she wasn't able to see things clearly.

But, it seemed her eyes truly weren't playing tricks on her as the jagged rocks on the ground gradually turned around to face her, alarming her, "No, no, no…"

"Kyak!" She let out a shrill scream when all the jagged rocks rushed at her, pointing her rocket at them to unleash a strong thrust, blowing them all away, "Go away!"

Tuta-tat-ta!

Rhythmic beating resounded from time to time as the creatures of the cave were blown away by Xuna. It was getting hard for her as she didn't wish to spend more time in this cave. She wasn't good with such things.

At least, the forest was wide open, but here, the cave was too narrow, causing her to feel a bit suffocated.

Unfortunately for her, just as she intended to leave, her eyes came into contact with the eyes of a strange creature, reptilian in nature, spanning a metre in length.

Its scaly eyes were degraded, having evolved to see in the darkness as they were mildly bioluminescence. While Xuna was blowing intense winds using her rocket in all directions, she missed one particular region as the walls were too close to her here.

But, what she didn't know was that this closeness was thanks to the creature that had been chilling here from before.

And now, the moment she turned around, she came face to face with the creature when suddenly, her hands shot back in reflex, slamming on the wall for support.

The walls were cold as a chilling feeling seemed to be emanating from them. Her eyes were locked with the lizard's as a sense of doom enveloped her.

Time seemed to have slowed down for her as she saw the lizard's eyes tearing up, letting out a droplet that condensed into a pearl that was sucked into something that resembled a nostril, hidden underneath its eye like a vent.

And then, its mouth shot open, causing the tongue within to fly at her with terrifying speeds, and placed on the tip of the tongue was a pearl-like item, condensed using the tears it shed.

The peal was tiny, a tenth of her nail, but it was through this that a violent sense of death enveloped her.

But suddenly, just as the tongue was about to touch her and spell her doom, the air seemed to coincidentally crack, making no sense as suddenly, a static charge developed in the place, discharged through her clothes that slammed into the lizard through its outstretched tongue, shocking it.

The pearl-like substance was vaporised while the lizard flinched, numbed by the electric discharge. It was only numb though, for the level of discharge wasn't much.

But, it still allowed her to survive as Xuna panted, feeling like she was drained of all her strength. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed that she was now able to see her surroundings clearly, 'Strange, was it always this bright?'

She was stunned to see that it was her body that was emitting all this light. It was a pale-yellow light, gentle in nature, illuminating her surroundings. The light resembled her Nacre in nature.

Xuna noticed that the numb lizard before her was emanating a greyish-blue light, way weaker than her in terms of intensity.

She then noticed similar greyish-blue lights scattered all over the cave. And now that she could see, she realised that they were all lizards.

'Is this…Luck?' Xuna recalled her master's teachings, looking above her to see the silhouette of a Klock.

After she became a Horned Human, her Luck transformed into the shape of the Klock, remaining as such. Rhizen had once commented on the way her luck looked, describing it in detail.

And now that she witnessed it, Xuna confirmed that she was indeed able to see the luck of all living beings now.

It was the light from this luck that illuminated her surroundings. If she didn't perceive luck, she wouldn't have been able to see much in the cave, just like before.

Every lizard had a small greyish-blue outline over its body, showcasing its luck. It was a tiny sum, nothing noteworthy, signalling that these creatures could die anytime under any cause.

Her focus finally fell on the numbed lizard staring at her. Its body was twitching but based on the signs, it would be able to move after another ten seconds.

Thinking of something, Xuna took out some rope from her pocket and tied up the lizard into a bundle, taking care to not touch anywhere near its eyes, for its tears seemed to be a death sentence for her.

'Is it a type of toxin?' She wondered, noticing a greyish-blue coating that covered sections of the walls, increasing in area the deeper she went.

Soon after, she ventured into a large enough cave where she could freely walk forward, noticing that the walls here were entirely covered by the greyish-blue substance that was produced from the tears of the lizards.

Tuta-tat-ta!

Tuta-tat-ta!

The lizards stood on the walls, making sounds while staring at her, not daring to attack as this was the first time they had seen a human. So, they too were nervous.

Thankfully, this worked in her favour as Xuna continued to walk forward, noticing that all five heads of her Klock—that the projection of her Luck formed overhead—stare forward, deeper into the cave.

Thinking that they were guiding her in the direction of her lucky encounter, Xuna continued to walk, expressing no desire to attack the lizards. They were slowly moving, keeping pace with her, contemplating whether or not to attack her.

Xuna was nervous, afraid that they would suddenly spring onto her. That would pronounce her death sentence, especially since she had no idea of the nature of toxicity their tears produced.

But, her thoughts came to a smooth halt as Xuna arrived at the end of the cave, noticing hundreds of lizards huddled on the walls, sleeping or doing whatever they wanted.

From time to time, their eyes secreted tears that flowed over the greyish-blue walls, the thickest colour displayed in the entire cave. The tears didn't seem to be absorbed by the walls like in the rest of the cave as the walls here seemed saturated.

And along one section of this saturated wall, there was a protrusion that created a cup-like structure in which the tears had been collecting gradually, for decades, if not centuries.

Collecting, and vaporising, the same had been repeated, thanks to the tears shed by generations upon generations of the lizards. And when the tears vaporised, they left behind some remnants that had over time condensed into a sphere.

The moment Xuna laid eyes on the sphere, all five heads of her Klock roared in desire as similarly, a serpentine head emerged from the sphere itself, staring at her in silence. This was her lucky encounter.