Transmigrate to another world

Chapter 35: The Cavern

Ruby says, "Is it okay, do we normally rest after a fight?"

"I'm tired of being underground, I want to find my way out of here and see the sun!"

Ruby says, "That'll be great, I've never seen the surface of this world."

So we head into the tunnel, unlike the rest of the area, which is brick, the tunnel is made of roughly hewn stone. As we go along, the tunnel twists and turns and some places are so narrow that I have to walk through sideways. When we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, I guess we have gone about forty-five meters.

The light gets brighter as we get closer to the end of the tunnel, it's brighter than the twilight of my camp, but steady, so it's not the light of a fire. When we finally reach the end of the tunnel, we see a beautiful cavern filled with plant life in a variety of colors.

The light is similar to sunlight and comes from crystals on the ceiling, I am not sure if the crystals are generating the light or if it is reflected sunlight somehow. Taking a long look, the cavern is huge, broken by many pillars and covered with plant life.

"This will take longer than I thought, let's leave it at that for now. Besides, I'm hungry. We'll rest for the night and start again tomorrow."

Ruby says, "Okay, master."

So, without entering the cavern, we turn around and go back through the tunnel. I stop in the rat king's room to pick up the dead giant rats.

Ruby says, "What are those for?

"For dinner. I'm sick of fish."

Ruby says "Can you eat rat?"

"Sure you can, it's not as bad as it looks. You'll see."

I head back to camp with Ruby, who is still unconvinced, following me. Once back at camp, I quickly skin and butcher all the rats and start cooking the meat with some mushrooms. Once it's finished cooking, I ask Ruby to try a bite.

"Well, what's it like?"

Ruby says, "Chewy, but you're right, it's not bad."

"Would you like some more?"

Ruby says "Sure."

So Ruby and I share the food and enjoy each other's company as we eat. After we finish eating, I pull out the purifying stone and do an experiment: I stick my arm in the river and then touch the stone after I pull it out. As I expected, it dries my arm instantly, which means I can go swimming and be dry as soon as I get out.

-Hey Ruby, before you go to rest I'm going for a swim.

Ruby says, "Okay, I have enough energy to warm you up" and smiles.

I take off my armor and use the purifying stone on each piece before carefully stacking them. Feeling Ruby's eyes on me makes me feel self-conscious as I remove the rest of my clothes and dive straight into the river. I freeze for a few seconds as the cold hits me and then I start swimming against the current trying to stay in the same spot.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, the swimming skill has advanced to level 3!

? Swimming

? Level 3

- Strength +3 Endurance +3 Cold resistance +3 Hold your breath.

- You can paddle and not drown.

This time it's not as bad as it is now. I loved swimming in my old life, I'm glad I can do it here too. I keep swimming underwater for quite a while before surfacing to let Ruby know I haven't drowned. I swim for two hours straight before I start to feel exhausted.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, the swimming skill has advanced to level 4!

? Swimming

? Level 4

- Strength +4 Endurance +4 Cold resistance +4 Hold your breath.

- You can swim pretty well.

When I emerge exhausted and freezing, I immediately touch the purification stone to dry off and quickly put on my clothes before heading to sit by the fire. Ruby sits right next to me and starts radiating heat until I stop shivering.

Ruby says, "Was it worth it?"

"Yes, I went up two levels in swimming."

Ruby says, "That's good. If you don't need anything else, I'm going to rest now."

"No, I'm fine. Enjoy your rest."

Ruby changes to spirit form and gets into the amulet to rest. I sit for a while enjoying the warmth of the fire and then grab the Armatite bar and channel all my mana into it. Then I climb into my hammock and sleep for four hours, when I wake up I meditate for six hours and then channel half of my mana into the bar.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations! The Channeling skill has progressed to level 3!

? Channeling

? Level 3

- Intelligence +3 Mana +30

- You have experience in channeling mana.

I then set about catching, cooking and eating breakfast, then used the purifying stone on myself and my clothes before putting on my armor and weapons. Once I was ready to go, I clean up camp, jump the river and head to the new cavern.

I wait until I'm in the tunnel just before the cavern before summoning Ruby from the amulet. Ruby takes human form and looks around, then checks her gear and nods to me. We enter the cavern together, but freeze after a few steps because the plants near us are suddenly blooming and glowing slightly. They are also emitting a beautiful scent, but nothing dangerous happens and after a minute we relax.

"What's wrong with these flowers?"

Ruby says "They're beautiful! I think they might be reacting to our mana."

"Plants reacting to mana? Is that common?"

Ruby says "Not that I know of, but can't you feel how much mana is in the air here? This cavern is very rich in mana."

"What could cause that?"

Ruby says, "It could be a number of things, both natural and unnatural."

"Okay, keep your guard up, anything could be hiding in here."

We cautiously make our way into the cavern, due to the pillars and vegetation our line of sight is not very wide so we keep close to each other. As we go deeper into the cavern every plant we pass blooms, there are flowers of all kinds of colors and sizes, it is really beautiful, but we are alert to danger and can't enjoy it now.

Soon we hear the sound of water, and as we go deeper into the cavern, it becomes a roar. Soon we come to a clearing in the foliage where the land splits, to the left it goes down and to the right it goes up. Hoping to get a better view, we take the right path and climb towards the sound of the roaring water.

The first thing we see when we reach some rocks is a small lake or very large pond that stretches in front of us for over ninety meters. It is fed by a wide, slow-flowing river coming out of the cavern wall to the right and, as far as we can see, there is a waterfall somewhere along the left side of the lake.

I approach the water's edge, the water is fairly still and I can see my reflection in it. I lean over to get a better look at myself and look at myself. I realize that this is the first time I have seen what I look like since I came into this world.

My contemplation is interrupted by a bad feeling, reacting instantly I lunge backwards, only to see huge jaws sprout from the lake and slam shut where my head was a second ago.

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, the Danger Sense skill has advanced to level 3!

? Danger Sense.

? Level 3

- Wisdom +3

- A feeling that warns you of great danger.

Ruby lets out a small cry of surprise as I back up a bit more before standing up. When I see the alligator come out of the water behind me, I don't even stop to think, I turn and run to the nearest pillar and climb straight up it using my claws. I stop when I'm twenty feet up and turn around to look down, only to see the gator at the base of the pillar.