Mike's Hunger (III)

Mike was the first to arrive early. He made himself comfortable by sitting next to a tree with all his gear out in front of him. Meticulously, Mike cleaned each and everyone, taking away the gunk and blood that was apparently hidden in the crevice of his armor. He does this every few days as the amount of hunting and the stench of his body odor on his armor could get overwhelming. Even sometimes, a disinfectant spray wasn't strong enough to kill the stench as he had to manually go in with some cleaning supplies to kill the horrible smell away.

Luckily, some of the players thought up of a spell that would kill the odor and give it a fresh smell for at least a day, but after that….he shivered at the thought of the foul smell that he remembered.

"Sanitize," Mike spoke, a glow of magic wrapped around his armor in a soft light. The glow disappeared, but even still, he could see the energy around the armor very faintly.

Mike repeated it with the others, followed by a quick splash of water and wind magic. Then he scrubbed and wiped it down, giving it that shiny luster that he so loved. If only he could keep it like this forever, which he silently swore to himself that he would find such a spell.

Done, he donned his armor as the rest of the group arrived.

"Oh god, we are up too early," Stacy replied, yawning loudly. "Can't we just stay in?"

"No," Kim replied, he stopped and noticed that Mike was there. "Hey, Mike. Up early as usual."

Mike nodded, "Yea, just needed to clean up some mess on my armor."

"You like to keep it squeaky clean, don't you." Stacy yawned once again, covering her mouth as she stretched. "You're like the perfect target when we go hunting. All the animals see you off in the distance and run away so quickly it's too funny."

"I like it." Mike ignored Stacy's comment. "Keeping clean is important, especially how some of you guys smell…" He looked directly at Joe, who looked away as if he was caught red-handed. "You won't get any partners being dirty."

"It's outside. Who cares?" Joe replied he wasn't too happy being chastised early in the morning.

"Not like we will see some hot babes I like any time soon."

Just as Joe finished speaking, Snow arrived in her black spandex like armor that fit perfectly well to the contour of her body.

Mike couldn't look away. He gulped as remembered her usually sexy armor that was a lot more high tech than the armor that the Players wore. In action, he had seen her helmet, tail, and claws come out, giving her a ferocious look when fighting. It was entirely different for the look that she had now, which was a lot calmer than her fighting form.

"Good morning, Snow," Mike spoke out to tear his gaze and the others from their momentary stupor. "Glad to see you here early."

"Good morning." Snow replied, "Is everyone here?"

"No. Dairen hasn't arr-" Mike stopped, realizing that he was wrong. He looked up, which caused everyone else to follow.

Dairen was sitting above the tree on a branch looking down, swinging his leg leisurely.

"When did you get here?"

"A few minutes earlier than you." Dairen bluntly replied he kicked off his feet, jumping down onto the ground. "I expected you knew I was here, but it doesn't seem so."

He was impressed with Dairen's skill.

"Well, it seems that everyone is here. Let's go." Snow led the way; the other leisurely followed behind.

The journey wasn't far. Sunlight was still peeking out, telling everyone that it was still morning. There wasn't much chatter as everyone was still a bit tired and groggy. Even Mike couldn't help but give out a few yawns as he cleared or chased away the random small monsters that they didn't have to fight.

They arrived in front of a large cave. Mike had to wonder how a dungeon could have a cave of its own, mostly because he had thought that all dungeons were cave-like in general.

"We're here." Mike motioned Snow as he stood in place to show off, which Snow didn't even pay attention to his gesture and just walked past him.

What welcomed them was a large gaping hole the size of one man that could enter. If one did not pay attention, it was bound to be missed. Many plants and large fern-like bushes covered a good third of the entrance that kept it well hidden. There was a gust of stale wind that pushed out from the cave entrance, leaving Mike a bit uncomfortable from the smell. Even the others weren't too thrilled by its weird smell.

"How far do we need to go to find the Blue Flame Flower?" Snow asked she was already heading in without them.

Mike had to catch up as he babbled, "It should be two floors down. There isn't many levels down, which is great." Even though he enjoyed monster-slaying, he enjoyed being in the limelight of other Players.

"Well, then this will be quick." Snow was satisfied with the answer, she started to pick up pace. "Any monsters?"

"Not really, except the bats that hang upside down from the ceiling, they aren't too temperamental, but there have been cases of other higher-level monsters staying here for the night for shelter."

Upon entering, just like Mike said, bats were hanging upside down, squeaking and flapping in the dark. Large piles of guano were littered underneath, bringing out a delicate smell that made it difficult to breathe. Mike's nose crinkled up, bringing up his hand.

"We need to go behind all this," Mike waved his hand around towards bat poop, " there is a hallway."

"I didn't expect to be Guano here," Snow's eyes seemed to sparkle even though she wasn't a fan of the smell. "This is definitely a big prize."

"Big Prize?" Joe spoke out, "Bat shit?" He looked at her funny.

"Yes, it's something the Sleepers and the Magical Community seek for fertilizer. Plus, it's one of the best kinds." Snow replied, bringing out her phone to notate. "I'm surprised nobody else thought of this. Anyways, for your service, you guys will have a piece of the pie as we get back. I need to get a written contract in effect, and we are good to go." She said.

If Mike could see dollar signs on Snow's eyes, he would serve as of this moment. Already, his mind was whirling with the thought of income that she was talking about that interested him.

"How much do they normally go for?" Stacy asked, interested.

"A five silver a pound." Snow reported with a hint of a slur.

They excitedly thought of the profit they would make.

Eventually, they walked past the thick pile of poo and went deeper into the cave. It was a winding cave with a few split-offs. A very rare few of small plants grew on the cave walls that looked like glowing mushrooms.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the end of the first floor. A misshapen stairs that were like jagged edges reached out under their feet. They had to slowly scale down for fear of probably slipping and hitting their head if they were not careful. The ground was a bit damp, making the descent even slower.

Mike entered first as he was able to hop down without much difficulty compared to Snow. Snow needed a few assistance as Dairen helped her down a few times, giving her his hand to grab on.

He still couldn't get used to the large cave that bloomed out like a large flower. In the center was a large rock underneath the sunlight that peaked out from the sky. Surrounding it were a variety of blue flowers that proliferated into a rarely ending field. It was amazing to see as each of the blue blossoms were like little lamps that flickered like flames.

Hundreds of fireflies blinked in and out, giving the area a very magical feel. On the wall were hundreds of plants that reminded him of grapes and long trumpet kind of flowers, dipping down and up into a J shape. Vivid colors of green melting into blue leaves strung up on a vine as large bulbous like flowers covered the ceiling.

Mike could hear the soft sound of the wind blowing throw, creating a sweet flute-like music. He looked around to find the source. A large column with boring holes was littered around the cave. A silver of a thought crossed his mind, wondering how such holes were created, but the sudden peaceful thought was rudely interrupted by Stacy.

"If it wasn't the bat shit smell in the back, this place would have been the best tourist attraction," Stacy replied, awed. "I swear just coming here is like a piece of heaven left behind by untouched human hands."

"Don't worry, this place will be kept protected. The Blue Flame flowers only bloom once a year." Snow spoke with reassurance, "The bat guano helps fertilize the soils here, which the Blue Flame flowers need much of. Plus, the air around here is heavy with magic." She walked forward towards the center.

If Snow was the deep appreciation that walked into heaven's garden, the flowers were the flames that seemed to flicker with her every step. It was strange, almost mind-numbingly exciting as the fire seemed to give her an even more dangerous angelic vibe.

"What is she doing?" Stacy leaned over, whispering towards Mike. "Is she sucking up the energy from the flower?"

"I think so?" Mike was lost, but then a sharp memory zapped into his mind, reminding him of the time of the Mana Lake.

"Oh shit. Get Snow out of there!" Mike snapped, running towards her in the hopes of pulling her out.

A fiery wall of blue flames shot in front of him, stopping him.

"Oh, no." Mike knew they were screwed.