Chapter 31 - Finally Out

Shi took some time to formulate a plan in her mind, but no more than a few seconds passed in real-time. The moles were getting nervous from her lack of action— she could tell because some of the younger ones started to get rowdy.

This played well into her plan of killing the leader first and getting the others to leave— at least this way she was sure that they wouldn't stay behind.

'Serr, I'm not sure how this link works but if you can hear my order I want you to stay underground for the time being. Wait for my signal before jumping out and attacking the mole I'm closest to.'

Shi thought in her mind trying to send her command through the link between her and the serpent.

Once she finished giving the command, she finally charged at the moles— not before causing a distraction though— by throwing a large rock to the side to draw their attention.

They had terrible eyesight— so Shi just hoped it worked.

It did work— somewhat— since the attention of four of them got drawn to the sound while the others remained in their position.

'This mustn't be the first time they have done this.' Shi thought as she saw this.

She didn't let this chance go to waste though; leaping forward she stomp into the closest mole that was looking away— killing it in the process.

She didn't stop there.

She dived forward towards the biggest mole— which she assumed was the leader because of earlier— slamming her entire body into the creature and stumbling away from the group along with it.

The creature didn't like this it seems, because after its initial panic it started to bite into her flesh with large front teeth.

The creature was used to biting through stone— so it came as no surprise to Shi that it was able to easily rip through her flesh and even break her shoulder bone.

"Argh!" Shi yelped in a muffled voice— trying to avoid letting the painful sound leak out her mouth because it would draw the attention of the other moles too quickly.

'Now!' She commanded to the serpent in her mind, and thankfully it seemed to have worked.

The serpent launched out of the ground from under her and bit into the body of the mole that was still biting into her arms.

Its teeth were also made for digging through stone— so it was able to easily bite through the wrinkly body of the creature.

The creature yelled out in pain from the bite— blood and sand leaking out of the creature's body.

Shi used this chance to squeeze her arms together to crush the creature with her enhanced strength. The creature fought and thrashed around in an attempt to get out, but it was losing blood too fast for it to hold on long.

Eventually, Shi crushed the creature— the insides of the creature plastering her outsides. It was messy— sand, blood, and gore— all covering her clothing.

Some of it even got into her mouth— which she shortly spat out.

When the leader died the other creatures didn't realize it right away— but once they got back in position to attack her in expectation of a command from their leader— they finally noticed it was dead.

Panic struck the group like a bolt of lightning.

The smaller ones were the first to run away— digging into the ground and fleeing from the area. The bigger ones didn't run away, but they weren't sure what to do.

Some looked hesitant— like they wanted to follow after the other— while others seemed more aggravated— angry that their leader had died.

Shi quickly moved backward once her attack succeeded— taking the chance to regroup with the serpent at the pathway they came from.

'Should I just run?' She thought to herself.

Now that Serr was no longer surrounded they both could flee from the area and try to get away from the moles.

'No, I doubt that would work if they decide to follow us— they can just dig through the walls and find us anyways— it would be pointless.'

She shook the thought out of her head and focused on the remaining three moles.

One looked like it was very close to leaving, so she was sure with just one little push it would just flee— all she had to do was give it that push.

Stomping her foot into the ground, she cracked it upon impact— creating a low rumble as well as dust to rise into the air, "Come bastards!" She said loudly in an attempt to be threatening.

It seemed to be the little push the mole needed because it quickly fled from the place— digging a hole into the ground and following after the others that fled.

'And then there were two.' She thought to herself as her eyes focused on the two remaining ones.

They looked the most pissed off from the death of their leader— which meant this was going to be a fight to the death.

And Shi didn't plan to die here.

The creatures observed Shi while Shi also observed them— this wasn't going to be like the situation with the serpent though, where they both just waited for the other to act— Shi was faster and they couldn't see well; she had the advantage.

She dashed to the side to avoid their line of fire so that she wouldn't be attacked by the annoying mud spit attack again— sprinting forward right away in order to get an attack in before they could change position.

While she was able to get close enough and get an attack in— she wasn't able to dodge the incoming attack from one of the moles and ended up getting hit.

That was a price she was willing to pay though since she was able to kill one of the two moles in that attack— stomping on its head and crushing it in the process.

The mud that hit her— while not painful— did leave a mark on her body and some of the dust got into her eyes which caused her to retreat.

'One more to go— but damn is the mud annoying. It keeps getting in my eyes.' Shi thought to herself as she used her hands to try and wipe the sand out of her eyes.

She wasn't worried about the mole attacking her while she was doing this because the serpent was by her side looking out for her. If the mole decided to move— it would be attacked by Serr.

"Serr, kill it!" She commanded.

She decided to give Serr a test to see just how strong he currently was. Sure she fought him while he was alive, and it was a difficult fight— but now that he was dead, she needed to see just how good it was.

Serr did as she commanded and slithered towards the mole. Shi watched after her eyes were cleaned of the sand— watching as the serpent carefully slithered around its prey.

Serr was used to hunting these creatures it seemed— he didn't rush in right away and instead looked for the right chance.

Shi stood back and watched the serpent as he struck his body forward— attempting to bite the mole creature from the back.

It wasn't hard since the serpent was faster than the mole while also having better eyesight than it— so the strike landed right where it planned.

The mole got bite on its stomach and squealed in pain, however, the injury wasn't deep enough to kill it right away— giving it a chance to pull away from the attack and flee back.

Shi decided not to follow after it since it would be pointless instead she decided to take a rest for now in order to build up back the lost energy, and once that was done to finally get out of this place.

Minutes passed by quickly, with her leaning against a wall resting— until she finally decided it was time to head back on her way.

She returned to the original fork in the road— or rather the threeway in the tunnel— and decided it was finally time to go down the middle pathway, which she had been waiting to do.

It was a very long pathway that would have been quite dark if not for her night vision. Thankfully it wasn't narrow— otherwise, it would have been very uncomfortable to go down.

Shi walked for minutes— how much exactly she wasn't sure, but somewhere along those minutes of walking she came to a realization.

'The ground is slanted!' She thought to herself in excitement.

The ground being slanted could only mean a few things— and in this situation, the most likely one would be that she is going upwards.

This meant she was going to get out of this damp place much sooner than she thought she would have.

This thought made her so excited her legs sped up without her even noticing it— her pace to get to the top quickened.

"Light!"

Her eyes widened from the surprise as the light was leaking into the cave from an opening above— narrowing shortly after due to the sudden change in the lighting of the place.

She didn't let that stop her though— with her pace basically running at this point until she was out of the cave she traveled.

Bursting through the opening of the cave like she was just born— she bath in the sunlight she found so annoying before.

Enjoying the feeling of the wind against her body as she did so.

"Finally. Now I can finally find my way."

She said in a happy yet tired tone— that whole little adventure underground had been quite the trip.

From her new ability being gained to the underground world she found, even her first monster was from down there.

She definitely wouldn't forget about this place— in fact, she would most likely return to it in the future when she was sure she was strong enough to explore it without worry.

For now, however, she had other plans to do.