The Amethyst Caverns 2

The gaping black hole in the earth in front of Aura and Lydian exerted an invisible pressure on them, as if there was some frightening existence within. Lydian shivered, no longer so eager to rush in.

"Are you sure we need to go in? It seems dangerous."

"The pressure you're feeling is because of the high density of mana inside. It does mean that the monsters inside are more plentiful and stronger, but we're prepared. As long as we don't act carelessly we'll be safe." Even as he said that, he summoned Puppet to stand in front of him and focused his eyes. "Stay close to me and don't run off."

Aura stepped into the dark tunnel and turned on his flashlight. Lydian followed after him. The dim light light up the earthen walls surrounding them. Glistening stones were sparsely scattered around on the ground, flashing as the beam of light passed over them. They could see nothing else, the tunnel swallowed up all the light that tried to make its way deeper in. The two slowly walked further, looking around as best they could.

Lydian made a slight jump as they heard a skittering sound. A large boulder buried deep in the wall shifted, and the dirt and rocks underneath rolled down. Aura threw an insight at the rock.

[Crawling Boulder - Wild]

Type: Earth

Level: 3

Health: 48/48 (Healthy)

Constitution: 13

Strength: 6

Agility: 1

Defense: 10

Mana: 13/13

[Skills]

Stone Claws - Crawling Boulder stabs at the target

Earthen Recovery - Crawling Boulder buries itself in the ground and enters a resting state, rapidly recovering health and mana

The boulder opened its glowing red eyes, glaring at the small creatures who disturbed its slumber.

"Puppet, use Puppet Strings!" After seeing the Crawling Boulder was only level 3, Aura decided to attack it. Transparent lines came out of Puppet's body and sank into the massive target. The Boulder didn't think the puny creature could hurt it, but when it felt an excruciating pain in its soul it roared in pain and madly stabbed at the green leaf.

"Puppet, dodge to the right!" The gap between the agility of the two parties was too large and the Leafy Marionette easily evaded the Crawling Boulder's claws. The boulder had a massive health pool, but when faced with the slightly faster Puppet who's attacks ignored defense, it could only serve as a punching bag. After a few more dodges and the continuous damage dealt from the Puppet Strings, the Crawling Boulder unwillingly crumbled to the ground into a lifeless pile of rocks. Puppet ran over and absorbed its core.

[Leafy Marionette gained 8 exp]

"This time we were lucky. It might have been a tough fight if it was another level 3 monster." The team rested for a bit to let Puppet's mana recover, then they continued moving onward. They saw a few more sleeping boulders, but since they didn't take the initiative to attack, Aura walked past them. The cavern continued extending downward and widening. Eventually they saw a glimmer of light.

"Let's approach it carefully," Aura said. They moved towards the light. He peered over a rocky ledge and in front of him was a shocking sight. There was a large room filled with giant fluorescent crystals. They were in various shades of red and purple, and cast their glows all over the chamber. In the middle, curled up on the biggest pile of crystals, was a massive lizard with a jewel encrusted back. Aura carefully inspected the lizard.

[Amethyst Monitor - Wild]

Type: Earth

Level: 3

Health: 29/29 (Healthy)

Constitution: 8

Strength: 6

Agility: 5

Defense: 7

Mana: 26/26

[Skills]

Polish - Amethyst Monitor polishes its gems, increasing its attack's strength and penetrative ability

Gem Shrapnel - Amethyst Monitor sprays sharp gems at the target, with a great chance of causing bleeding

Aura took a deep breath. Thankfully this Amethyst Monitor was only level 3. Since it lived in such a good environment for its growth, given enough time, it could surely reach much higher levels. If it was just a level higher, Aura and Lydian would have had to make a detour. Amethyst Monitors were one of the most hated monsters in the caverns in his previous life. It was a well rounded monster with no clear weaknesses. It even carried a ranged skill, which was rare in low level monsters. The bleeding effect was especially dangerous for unprepared adventurers. Even with Aura's rich experience, this fight would be tough.

Aura started by telling Lydian to stay behind the ridge and be ready to retreat. He then had Puppet use its Leafy Costume skill and slowly walk to Puppet String's maximum range. While the monitor had a ranged attack, it was also skilled in melee combat with its sharp claws and tail. Puppet, with its nonexistent melee abilities, would stand no chance in a fight up close. Aura's plan was to stay at long range and constantly harass the Amethyst Monitor with Puppet Strings, making sure to prevent it from using its Polish skill.

The sleeping lizard sensed the Leafy Marionette approaching it. It raised its head and prepared to chase the intruder out of its territory with a barrage of gems when the intruder entangled it with strange strands that caused it great pain. The monitor called out and ran at Puppet.

"Retreat!" ordered Aura. Puppet ran away from the lizard, and strangely it didn't seem capable of running at full speed. The slight controlling effect of Puppet Strings that couldn't be exerted on the large body of Crawling Boulders worked wonders on the Amethyst Monitor, allowing the slower Puppet to not be overtaken by the monitor. Seeing that it couldn't outrun its prey, the Amethyst Monitor urged its mana and used Gem Shrapnel. Bright purple projectiles shot from its back.

"Use Puppet Strings again and refresh the effect." Aura's contracted monster did so, attaching more transparent threads to the monitor and replacing the previous worn out ones. The gems shot out by the monitor also impacted against Puppet, and the leaf armor it was wearing quickly became tattered. The two sides repeated this until both were tired and in poor condition. However, Puppet had a larger mana pool and if this continued, it would be sure to win. Noticing this, the Amethyst Monitor stopped attacking and the gems on its back began to glow brightly.

"This is the key moment, we can't let it use Polish!" Aura yelled. He immediately used a soul technique, Boost, on Puppet's Puppet Strings. This technique, as its name suggests, boosts the power of a monsters skill for a short duration at the cost of a large amount of mana from the trainer. It was one of the most commonly used soul techniques. A large amount of mana flowed into Puppet, and the strings connected to the Amethyst Monitor became visibly thicker. The monitor felt an incredibly piercing pain in its head and temporarily lost focus. The gems on its back dimmed, and Polish was cancelled. With that skill gone, Puppet was able to finish off the giant lizard.