Chapter 13: Deafening Silence
{Passageway 5}
CRUNCH.
CRUNCHH.
The moist sound of crunching and the sweet aroma of spicy cinnamon filled the cave.
Standing in a shallow, ankle-length lake of red liquid stood a boy stepping about, stomping the "furry fruit" that bobbed about.
A proud smile drew upon his lips as he continued splashing around, yet his mind wandered as he carelessly continued his onslaught and the dinging notifications rung in his head.
[Experience Gained, Killed Realm 1, Low Proficiency Creature.]
[Bloodline Detected!]
[Fuse Bloodline?]
Oz thought back to the battle he had witnessed, that man similar to the one back at the Dung Den.
Garbed in a black cloak, the color of his skin, his scarred body.
'He came all this way for me; why?...', Oz pondered yet continued stomping down without pause.
[Experience Gained, Killed Realm 1, Low Proficiency Creature.]
Oz stroked his chin as he glanced towards the remaining swarm of prey, 'There must be more.'
Having lived in the Dung Den for a couple of days, Oz was well aware of the elite task force that resided there, or rather as Oz liked to call them, the pervert's lackeys.
A deep frown plopped on Oz's face, and sinister hate oozed out of his body before he slowly exhaled and calmed himself down.
He glanced around him, the lake had gotten a tad higher since his onslaught, and the many snoring red balls were now reduced to silent mushy, deformed globs.
Yet, something caught the boy's attention.
Nearly the entire lake was filled to the brim with red fruit, many now just mush, yet, near where the three big rats had been resting before was a small area with none whatsoever.
Oz raised his eyebrows curiously and waddled through the water, approaching the area near the very center of this mysterious lake.
The boy's mouth hung in awe upon discovering what resided there.
If the "red fruits" in this lake were cantaloupes, then these five fruits were gigantic watermelons, twice as big as the average male head.
They looked to be around 5ft (1.5m) domes of furry flesh.
He had seen the ferocity and trouble that 3 of these monstrosities can give to a trained warrior, yet while these weren't as big, to already be so large while in what seemed like the fetus phase, was truly alarming.
Oz nervously gulped, 'Fuk me, these things were here the whole time?' he couldn't even imagine the monstrosities that would have occurred if these had woken up.
Come to think of it…
He gazed around, in the very center of a lake, filled to the brim with these creatures, with around half still being alive, though snoozing, oblivious to the demise of their brethren.
Cold sweat dripped down his forward, and a nervous smirk spread across his face, 'I'm playin a dangerous game, but it's play or die.'
As he stepped forward to the first of the five gigantic fruits that lay clumped together in the middle.
OOOMPH!
Oz forcefully exhaled upon trying to pick up the snoozing creature.
This thing… was heavy.
It's like the weight of that towering 9ft (2.7m) tall rat from the 1st cave, yet more compact.
Oz stopped his attempts at moving the creature and glanced down.
'It's heavier than I thought; no way Ima be able to pick all of 'em up…' he gazed down at all the rats, his bloody hand stroking his bare chin as he evaluated the situation.
"I'll do that then", as a sly grin crept up on his face.
OOOOMPH! He heaved the 1st of the gigantic fruits upwards, holding it between his hands and his wobbly knees.
"Uughhh!", he strained himself before, "Yahhh!" chucking the big red ball of the fur upwards into the air.
Oz bent over onto his elbow and knees, splashing himself as his arms groaned in pain, yet he kept his eyes on the cannonball-like projectile soaring high into the air and now starting to fall back down.
WRIRRRR!
The roaring winds of the speeding object were more than enough warning for Oz to turn tails and get the hell out of there, as the destruction may be far more than just the five rats that are caught in the destruction.
WRIRRRRR!
Oz quickly splashed through the now calf-high waters, taking big leaps outwards as he heard his timed attack continue to count down.
WRIRRRRR!
Finally, once Oz was just out of the water, he turned his head, catching just the moment that furry ball had kissed the water.
SPLASHH!!!
A gigantic tidal wave of red liquid splurged forth, sending Oz flying through the air and painting the dim red walls in a splash of even darker red liquid.
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[Ding… ding… ding…]
[Experience Gained, Experience Gained, Experience Gained]
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{Moments Later...}
"Ughh…"
Oz came to after what felt like seconds or perhaps minutes.
He quickly whipped his head around for any danger, noticing the soaked walls before turning his head to the now barren lake.
There was only a fingernail's length of water left, yet very suspiciously, one ball remained in the middle of the lake.
This ball was very, very different from the rest.
It was much smaller and had a deeper, darker red color to it.
Compared to other balls of red fur that seemed to grow in this size, this one was… incredibly small.
About the size of an apple.
Yet, something about it made shivers run down Oz's back.
The primal instinct to run was blaring through his head, even more so than from 3 rats that had fought against the shadowy figure.
Squee.
A high-pitched call echoed out through the room, and Oz felt his heart drop as the ball slowly unraveled.
Its infernal red eyes that seemed to heat up the entire room pierced straight through to Oz.
He couldn't move, 'What's it gonna do?..'
It lowered its head gently.
Oz was confused by this action, 'Is it… sleepi-'
SQUEEEEEEEE-!!
A piercing screech far louder than what he heard from outside of the cave rang out, sending him sprawling backward and causing blood to gush out of his ears.
-EEEEEEEE-!!
The tiny rat's screech continued.
Oz was pressed against the wall from the force of it as his consciousness began to fracture, his head tilting downwards, and the pounding pressure on his brain gave him a nauseating feeling.
E.
Then it stopped.
It stood there, a hateful gaze still shining on its face.
Oz stood up, his ears leaking blood and his eyes stained with a hue of crimson, "I'm fuked up, but I'm alive", snorted Oz as he inspected himself.
"Same thing can't be said for you in a few minutes, you lil' shit", as he cracked his knuckles before sprinting forth, "Yaghh!"
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{Moments Before... 2nd Passageway}
A black wall of shadows, flowing within itself, like a lava lamp without consciousness was bending and curving until, it began to convulsing and sputtering before spitting out the body of a full-grown man.
"Ughh", out came a lanky man, his green eyes quickly glancing up to survey the room he was in, and he had to cover his eyes just for them to adjust.
Compared to the dull, dim glow of the cave walls before, this room was brightly illuminated with a fiery glow to it.
The heat was already causing the lanky man to sweat.
AAAAAAAAGH!!
The shrieks rang through the passageway, this time much louder and probably much closer.
He swiftly got up, securing himself and checking his surroundings.
'How long was I in there?', he pondered as he turned and looked at the still-flowing passageway he just came out of.
He continued forward cautiously.
The passageway walls were incredibly vast, being both 50ft (15m) high and wide, with a strong red glow coming from the cave that nearly blinded him.
Upon closer inspection, the source of the glow was multiple red stones imprinted throughout the walls.
The man's jaw nearly dropped at the sight, as drool nearly formed in his mouth before he caught himself and regained his composure.
Yet still greedily gawked at the stones on the wall and plucked one off, 'So many.'
He held the translucent red stone that sparkled like a star with an opulent red light, dyeing his dark black robes in rays of red.
He stored multiple of these on himself before continuing forward, still cautious of the dangers and potential fortunes he may find.
Finally, upon walking for several more minutes and crouching each time the excruciatingly loud screeches set off, he eventually reached an entrance to an even larger room.
The area soared up to hundreds of feet high, with even larger miraculous stones plastered all over, with a scorching heat that sweltered from it.
AAAAAAAGHH!
The loud screeches snapped the lanky man out of his stupor as his attention was drawn back to the room where a swarm of gigantic rats were sprawled about, laying on their back, panting in exhaustion as if half-unconscious.
The room was large yet further up ahead there was a path that curved far down, getting even darker as it strayed from the light of the bright stones.
However, to get down there, the lanky figure would need to get past these obstacles.
These rats were massive in size, easily being over 20ft (6m) long and 14ft (4.3m) tall.
The lanky man gulped as he crept past the creatures who didn't even seem to notice his presence.
As he walked past, he noticed an orange goop leaking out from under them.
'What?...'
Unsure of what he just saw, he continued past all the dozing beasts and down into the deep path.
The declining slope looked barely big enough to fit these creatures, yet as the man's sharp green eye's barely brightened the walkway ahead footsteps boomed off ahead.
BUM…
BUM…
The man's eyes widened in fear as he quickly hugged his back to the wall for dear life and shut his eyes in fear of them standing out in this dreary cave.
BUM…
BUM…
Barely bristling past him was another large rat.
The man slowly opened his eyes to see the creature sloppily trudging up the long walkway, with that same orange goop dripping out of its nether region as it progressed up the slope.
Finally, once sure the beast was gone, he unflattened himself from the wall and carefully progressed downwards, walking further and further down the ever-darkening path.
The shrieks grew louder, and among them, another sound became more apparent.
CLAPCLAPCLAP…
'Is this?..'
Upon coming down fully to the end of the slope, he looked up ahead to see a dimly lit hole that a creature of those sizes would have to squeeze through.
Though, of course, it was a comfortable fit for the man as he barely even had to crouch through.
The entryway pathway led downwards in a spiral circling the room 3 times before finally coming to a small circular pit at the bottom.
Upon looking down at the pit below, the lanky man's eye nearly bulged through his socket at what he saw.
A gruesome sight to behold.
A red rat the size of a small dog was plowing one of the hulking titans from behind.
Squeals of pleasure rang through the tiny holed cavern as the tiny creature that could fit on the lanky man's shoulder pounded away from behind at its larger counterpart with fierce ferociousness.
Sprawled around this scene were a dozen other rats who were unconscious or, from what it looked… pretending to be.
The small pit was already filled to max capacity, even with the unconscious rats lounging upon one another.
However, as the load moans and clapping of cheeks rung about, an even harsher sound pierced through the air.
SCREEEEEE!
The lanky man nearly tumbled over as blood gushed out of his ears and the creatures down below pricked to life before speeding up the pathway.
The man hurriedly ran to the corner of the room to avoid being seen.
As the huge rats all sped up the pathway and out through the tiny entrance, the tiny rat stopped, looking back, its fiery gaze piercing from under the veil of the shadows and locking eyes with the man.
The man didn't dare to move as he stood there still, cold sweat dripping down his Adam's apple, a look of contempt on shown of the creature's face, not bothering to worry with such a pathetic specimen as it turned back and continued running ahead with its pack.
Once the creatures were gone, the lanky man collapsed to his knees, haggard breaths coming in as such pressure was terrifying yet… familiar.
"Can it be… that's his?.." the lanky man spoke to himself in a daze before snapping himself out and reassessing the situation.
He had a gut feeling that the newb was somehow involved in all of this, "Boy… what have you done?.."
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