Transmigrate to another world

Chapter 42: The Tree [ 1 ]

I approach the wall and try to slip behind the waterfall. I make it, but end up soaking wet from the water. It's not as cold as I expected, but being soaked is not much fun. Unfortunately, I left the purification stone back at camp, so I guess I just have to suffer.

I have to crouch almost twice as low to get into the cave opening. The crystal I saw from outside is the ceiling of the small cave, it emits a soft blue glow that illuminates the cave. The crystal looks different from the ones on the ceiling of the cave, besides the color, the structure also looks different. I reach up and touch it and it feels smooth like glass and is slightly warm to the touch.

I stay hunched over and follow the small tunnel for about 20 feet before it opens up enough for me to stand up. It makes me a little nervous knowing that I'm now under the lake, but curiosity gets the better of me and I keep following the tunnel to see where it leads.

I can't help but think that if Ruby wasn't resting, I'd probably beat myself up over this. For some reason, thinking about that makes me smile. I'm distracted from those thoughts when I see a bright spot on the wall. A closer look reveals that it's more armatite ore. Oh, I wish I hadn't found this. The idea of mining down here isn't very exciting, but now that I've found it, I want it.

Later, I'll have to go back with my pickaxe, for now I must finish exploring. So I follow the tunnel that twists and turns, but generally heads east, further down the lake, up ahead I can see the glow getting brighter. I reach the end of the tunnel and it opens into a large chamber.

The first thing I notice is the ceiling, it's a blue glass dome and beyond that I can see fish, so that's the bottom of the lake.

Then I see a pillar supporting the dome, except it looks more like a tree than a pillar. The trunk looks like gray stone, but there are brown branches coming out of it, there are blue, yellow and red leaves on the branches. On a couple of branches there seems to be light green fruit, like pears.

I take a couple of steps forward attracted to the tree, I want to take a closer look, but then something moves. What I had thought was a large rock next to the base of the tree stands up and turns towards me, it is big and long, it has four legs and a tail. When it looks at me, I can see why I overlooked it, it's on its back.

He is covered with overlapping plates that look like gray stone.

I notice that his eyes glow, and when I make the mistake of looking into his eyes, there is a flash, and suddenly the world goes black. I'm still awake, I can feel my body, but I can't see anything, I'm blind!

I try to rub my eyes and blink rapidly, but it makes no difference, I see nothing. I feel myself starting to panic, so I force myself to take a deep breath and calm down. I listen, I can hear the creature moving towards me, running away seems like a good idea, but knowing I'm lucky, I'll hit a rock I can't see and wake up while I'm being devoured.

So I pull out the axe and get to my feet, then concentrate on my hearing. I remember that I'm on a downward slope, but I don't remember if there was anything nearby that I could trip over, so I need to stay fairly still. As I listen, I can hear water dripping faintly somewhere in the room, but I ignore it, concentrate fully on the noise of the creature approaching.

It approaches slowly, I can hear every step it takes, it is only a few feet away. Its armor looks tough, I can't see to aim for a weak spot, my only option will be strength, so I raise the axe over my shoulder and prepare for an overhead strike. As I listen for his next step, I tense my muscles and put all my strength into my arms.

When he takes the next step closer, I grunt and swing the axe with all my might, I feel the axe bite into something and quickly pull it back and slide it back carefully.

"Hard hit!"

I raise the axe and swing it into attack position as I back up a couple of feet. I then stand still and listen for the creature. I hear several quick footsteps and then feel a burning pain in my calf.

- You've suffered a bite attack! 57 HP damage!

??-DING-??.

- You've been poisoned!

HP: 890/947

The pain from the bite is intense, but now I know where its head is. So I picture the creature and guess where its neck should be and throw another blow with all my might. I can hear the wind whistling around the axe as it comes down and then I feel the blade bite into something softer before it goes through and hits the stone floor.

"CRACK"

"CRACK"

??-DING-??.

- Congratulations, you have acquired the combat skill Blind Fighting!

? Blind Fighting

? Level 1

- Wisdom +2 Awareness +1

- You're not helpless when you're blind.

I stagger backwards and fall backwards, my left leg doesn't respond well and there is extra weight on it. As I carefully crouch down, I feel the creature's severed head still trapped in my calf. I open my jaws and throw the head away from me, but I feel dizzy, I can feel that something is not right.

'Ruby!'

Ruby thinks, "I'm here, but I'm still pretty weak, what do you need?"

'I'm blind and poisoned! I need your help!'

Ruby thinks "WHAT?!?!!"

Next thing I know, I feel Ruby's hand on my cheek. Suddenly, I feel less scared now that I'm not alone. Oddly, her hand feels a little cold as she caresses my face.

Ruby says "What is that thing, where are we?"

"I'm not sure what it was, I guess I'd call it a basilisk. We're in a cave under the lake. I need you to guide me out and back to camp, if you can."

Ruby says, "Okay, I see a way out, can you stand up?"

Before I even try I set aside the giant axe, then I remove the shield from my back and lay it on the ground, I also remove my katanas and war hammer. I then remove as much armor as I can, no need to carry all the extra weight when I'm not sure I can hold myself up. I then try to stand up slowly, my left leg doesn't want to hold any weight so I end up balancing on my right.

"Standing, walking, I doubt it. Dancing is not an option, so don't ask now."

Ruby says, "Was that a joke, did you make a joke? Oh, oh, this must be bad."

I try to limp toward the exit, but Ruby quickly stops me because I'm going the wrong way. She walks over to me and gets under my left arm to try to help hold me up, then guides me toward the exit and into the tunnel. Despite all the pain, all I can think about is how good it feels to have her pressed against my side.

The next thing I remember, I'm crawling through the last section of the tunnel towards the waterfall. I remember thinking about how good the cold spray from the waterfall felt on my face and then nothing. That's the last thing I remember.