BXBX NOVEL Chapter 108 - Cave Exploration
Under the cloudless blue sky, I flew up to the top of the Avast Mountains to complete my first quest. The process itself wasn't very hard. In order to avoid attracting attention, I paired the Level One Sky Element spell 'Flight' with the Level One Shadow Element spell, 'Invisibility'. While this level of Invisibility wasn't completely flawless, it rendered the user unseeable with the naked eye. That didn't mean I was completely off the radar, though - through a simple Level One Psychic Element spell, Detect Presence, my little gimmick would be seen through.
Luckily, I didn't feel anyone use this spell on me on my way up, and arrived at my destination cave without any problems.
"Looks like this is it..." I muttered to myself, glancing back and forth between the cave before me and the smartphone in my hand. No matter how you looked at it, this cave was the location of this resource excavation quest.
Alright...let's head inside.
*****
It was dim within the cave and it only grew darker as I ventured further in, but that was to be expected. There were no artificial forms of lighting in here, so the only thing that can provide visibility was the sun. Due to the angle at which the sun is at currently relative to the position of the cave's entrance, I was soon shrouded in complete darkness.
That wasn't a problem for me, though. I simply cast the Level One Light Magic, Illumination, and continued forward. Of course, since no one else was in the area, I didn't bother chanting.
Hm...this should be the right spot, but I haven't seen a single trace of gold, or any other mineral, for that matter. Was it still deeper in?
Suddenly, my senses picked up on a fairly powerful presence within the vicinity. My eyes narrowed and I stopped walking, listening intensely for any sign of an attack. After a full minute of nothing, I resumed walking, but far slower than before. As I headed deeper into the cave, the presence grew more stronger and stronger. This didn't help ease my strained nerves. However, just then, I spotted a shiny object in the distance...actually, allow me to rephrase - several shiny objects.
I headed closer cautiously, and discovered that they were, in fact, what I came here to look for - gold pieces. However, there was always a chance they would be fake. Luckily, I brought along a ceramic plate for this situation. I had purchased it on the way here. I also bought a pickaxe, since I knew it was going to come in handy, right about now. As for the money...the Guild apparently had a little system so that new Hunters could receive a small sum of money on their first quest, to purchase equipment and stuff. It wasn't a lot, but it was more than enough in my case.
Thank god this was set in place, too...or else I don't know what I would've done.
The gold chunks were engraved into the stone, so I had to use the pickaxe to break them out. I tried to do it as quietly as possible, but to no avail. I could only hope that powerful presence doesn't come for me. I was sweating profusely, and wanted to get out of here as quick as I could. After mining out all the gold pieces in this area, I looked around to make sure I had gathered all of them.
According to the Hunters' Handbook I received from the veiled receptionist, for resource excavation quests, you had to collect at least ten separate pieces of that specific resource. For minerals, it was 10 hand-sized chunks, while for liquids, it was 10 250 mL bottles worth of it. Of course, for minerals, there was no way to be exact, but it was just a rough estimate. If the guild deemed the resources you collected not enough, you wouldn't be paid.
I counted the number of gold chunks I had mined out so far. 1..2...3..okay, 11 in total. Each was about the size of my hand as well, so that means I had completed the quest. I even had one extra, just to be safe. I then tested each piece of gold on the ceramic plate, and confirmed that the gold was genuine. After that, I placed everything into my Space Locket. Well, it was technically Yu Ao's Space Locket, but...when I tried to return it after the whole Ghosteye incident, he refused and just let me have it. In the end, we settled on me keeping the Space Locket, but he kept all of its contents, since that stuff all belonged in the Yu family's precious treasury.
Space Lockets came in many different forms, but this one was just a nice and simple pouch. Song Qian Long's was a ring, and there were also other forms out there, such as a necklace (pendant) or even a whole backpack. I didn't see the point in having such a exteriorly big one though, since Space Lockets all had endless space inside of them anyway, and it would shrink objects to fit within its 'mouth'. The shrinking process was a bit weird and hard to explain, but basically, the moment the object you're holding touches the mouth of the - in this case - pouch, it gets shrinked to a size where it can be sucked in to the pouch with no problems. Anyway, in my opinion, the smaller the Space Locket was, the better.
In any case, after packing everything back into the Space Locket, I prepared to leave-
ROOOAAAAAR!
A beastly howl that shook the very earth erupted from deeper within the cave, and I fell to the ground on one knee from the pressure.
"Hah...hah..." I panted, shaking uncontrollably from the pressure.
A loud rumble began occuring, and it felt as if a earthquake was present. But unlike an unpatterned natural disaster, this shaking was like the sound of someone's - no, something's footsteps, and had a solid rhythm. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Each step, was like an explosion to my ears.
I knew I needed to get away. I knew, and yet...! I couldn't move at all under this immense pressure. Goddamn it...so that powerful presence I felt awoke after all...just my luck. I said luck, but my luck was quickly running out. The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, as I remained frozen in place, unable to budge an inch.
As the mysterious creature finally came into view, an unspeakable terror overtook me. What I was looking at right now...it was a majestic being, one that forced anyone and anything gazing upon it to kneel in servitude. If I had to describe its physical appearance, it would be similar to my Twin Dragons, except it was just one dragon.
Yes, I said dragon.
Without a doubt, the beast staring at me right now was a genuine dragon. No other creature could emit such a powerful aura. Just earlier, I had already picked up on its presence, but I couldn't feel it very clearly since it was quite faint. But even so, I knew it was powerful. Something powerful enough to destroy the entire city of Shenzhen. And now, I was met face to face with that very same 'something' - a dragon, in the flesh.
However, even for a dragon, this particular one was different. Magic Beast books I've read have depicted many different species of dragons, but not a single one was like this. The one before me right now had midnight black scales, accompanied by a pair of piercing red eyes. It was the very embodiment of my Twin Dragons spell (divided by 2, since it's just one dragon). This mythical beast, capable of annihilating the entire city, then spoke.
"Human. How are you able to resist me?"
The dragon had a female voice, but by no means was it gentle or calming. Each word was loud enough to threaten to shatter my eardrums, and shook my very body. However, this wasn't enough to make me give in. Even under this immense pressure, I was able to hold my own, more or less. I couldn't move at all, but I remained one one knee instead of both like it had clearly expected.
"Kuku...I don't kneel to heaven...I don't kneel to the ground...who are you to demand I kneel?!" I yelled, mustering enough strength to glare at the dragon right in the eye.
"...There is something abnormal about you, human. I sense a mysterious energy within you."
That must be the power of Chaos...so even dragons, creatures of legends, don't know about it, huh?
"Hah...hah...Ngh!" suddenly, the pressure increased once more, and my spine felt like it was going to break. But even so...I cannot kneel. I remained on one knee, punching my fist into the ground to help support my body. After a while, the extreme pressure receded, and I found myself able to move again. I stood up carefully, and glared at the dragon.
"What do you want, dragon?"
"...You were able to withstand 50% of my power. I have deemed you worthy to talk to me."
"I was already talking to you before..." I muttered quietly.
"Human, what is that power within you?"
"...Why should I tell you?"
"...I feel a connection between the two of us. It is hard to explain, but I feel we are of the same nature."
Same nature...don't tell me, the red and black colors aren't a coincidence...?
"Hm...Let me guess, you are...different from other dragons, aren't you? A dragon shouldn't be hanging around these parts. The only explanation is...you came here to hide. Hide, from...other dragons." I decided to become the one asking questions to position myself at an advantage.
"...That is correct. Human, how do you know this?"
"Heh. You could say...I'm the same as you. Discriminated against by others of the same race, betrayed by his own fiancee, exiled out of his family...hah. The list goes on."
"So I was correct, after all."
"Well...I'm not completely sure yet," I replied hesitantly. "Wait for me, dragon. I will be back in a couple of hours, with an accomplice that may be able to provide the answers to your questions."
The 'accomplice' I had in mind, was none other than Mei Gui, of course. By doing so, I would have to reveal my Hunter identity to her since I literally had no excuse to be on the Avast Mountains whatsoever, but...this was something far too large to ignore. I would have to do it. Just as I spun on my heel and prepared to leave, however...
"Wait. What is your name, human?"
"My name, huh...you can call me Kai Xuan."
"Kai Xuan...very well. Since you have given me your name, I shall give you mine. You would do well to address me as...Obsidia."
"Obsidia, huh...got it."
After this final exchange, I left the cave. I completed my first quest at the Hunters' Guild successfully, but...I really didn't expect to meet a real, genuine dragon here. I doubted if anyone else took the quest, the dragon would've came out, since it was clear she was just interested in the Chaos within me. And it seemed that she, too, had a wisp of Chaos somewhere within her.
I had mixed feelings about this, really. To be honest, I was truly quite frightened during my exchange with the dragon, but at the same time, I felt a little excited as well. And regarding that 'connection' she said she felt with me...I could feel it as well. It wasn't something that could be described in words, but more just like an inner link...
Well, this 'first quest' was certainly quite the experience. Never had I ever imagined I would come face to face with a dragon...though frankly, I didn't really wanted to meet one that much either. I had no desire to be crushed under a 5 million ton claw or scorched to death by a 5 million degrees raw fire. Luckily, neither of those things happened to me today.
Mei Gui...sorry, but I'm going to have to trouble you again...heh.