The Bizarre Monster

10 minutes into the unexplored region and the group had yet to reach a dead end. This was strange especially since this part of tunnel number 5 was popularly known as the unexplored region. Although this would normally be odd, Asher had access to the previous investigative reports of the tunnel from the last group that went in. As these documents had nothing to do with embezzlement or the accounting for the excavations done in the Vermont mine, it was easy for him to get this from Randel. In fact, he had all the documents related to the history and exploration progress of the entire tunnels all in his head. For an average twelve-year-old, it would be difficult to memorize them, but Asher was not an average kid.

From the information reported about tunnel number 5, part of the unexplored region wasn't really unexplored, but an area that the miners were forced to vacate after the entire eerie incident that had taken place starting a couple of months ago. It was this area that the team were still within.

"Past the next 50 metres ahead of us, and we would be stepping into the real unexplored area." The guide said.

"The tunnels there were naturally made, and only the investigation team had gone in there before."

Although he didn't explicitly say it out loud, Asher, Luther and Aaron understood what the guide was trying to say; past the 50-metre mark ahead, they would be stepping into unknown territory, the same area where two guards lost their lives.

As they kept walking, Luther constantly had his brows knitted and occasionally glanced towards both sides. Aaron had his arms folded, and while it looked like he was relaxed, in truth, he kept his hands close to his sword's hilt which was just a bit above his waistline. His posture made it such that he could easily react to any situation and pull his sword out just in time to make an attack.

"Over there." The guide suddenly pointed ahead.

Thanks to the lighting provided by Aaron and the guide, the group was able to see just what the guide was pointing at.

About 7 metres away, there was a signboard that had 'Danger' engraved on it and by the side of the blood were a few splashes of blood. A blood-stained signboard in a dark underground tunnel further amplified the spookiness of the terrain.

"Young lord."

Luther couldn't help but want to persuade Asher. Not out of fear for himself, but for Asher, who was the last and only son of the duke he swore to protect.

"I have a reason for coming here, and I also have my father's permission. If I hear one more word about this, I would treat this as a case of insubordination and deal with you according to the family's laws." Asher coldly replied.

Asher had decided to become strict with him as his gut feeling told him that Luther might end up making a decision that would herald their retreat such as forcefully dragging him away. By threatening Luther with the family laws, Asher could at least force him to hesitate with those thoughts.

As expected, after being told that he could be punished on account of insubordination using the family's laws, Luther gave up.

Whoosh.

Not even ten seconds passed, and a low-pitched sound entered their ears. The sound was almost negligible to the point that only three out of the four heard it. Aaron and Luther could be explained as they were both at least third-stage Guardian mages. As for Asher, he had temporarily boosted his senses using a special spell as well as setting up a psychic radar that could pick up any movements. Put in different wording, while the other two had heard the sound, Asher had spotted movement.

"Aaron."

"Okay."

The two only spoke a word each but their hands and legs had already moved into action. Aaron had already pulled out his blade and was now within 2 feet of Asher. As for Luther, he punched towards a certain spot as a blue-coloured arc shot from his fist.

Bang.

The attack struck the wall sending down rocks crashing to the floor, but nothing else was hit by the attack.

"11 o'clock." Asher suddenly said.

Despite being confused, Luther instinctively reacted and attacked the spot Asher mentioned.

"Kree!"

An eerie high-pitched shrill broke the tranquillity in the tunnel as all four pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the sound. The blue light from the spell Luther used had yet to completely disperse. It illuminated the object that was hit by the attack.

"What the hell is that!?"

A strange black creature was exposed for all to see. With needle-like fingers, two pairs of dark grey eyes and razor-sharp teeth that were exposed as it shrilled, it looked like a demon straight out of hell. It had no facial features other than the ones mentioned, and this included a nose, eye or even hair. It was exaggeratedly creepy at first sight.

The monster immediately realized that it was exposed and ran into the cover of darkness just as the embers of the spell finally dispersed completely.

"What the hell was that?" The guide couldn't help but ask again.

Even the basic training from the Arnhaunt family could only make one's body strong, but their mind depended on themselves. The guide was just like that and had easily begun to crumble after seeing the creature's appearance.

"It's not dead yet." Asher spoke up.

"Luther, to the left. Aaron, to the right. Once I give the command, react appropriately."

Although they wanted to ask questions, now wasn't the time for that, so the duo simply nodded in response.

Asher, on the other hand, frowned as he felt a headache brewing. Even with his extensive knowledge from his past life, he could not readily recall what kind of creature that was.

This wasn't to say that Yi Feng had not encountered one or something similar, but that it wasn't easy to remember. Think of Asher (Yi Feng)'s soul as a 500-terabyte external hard drive and Asher's body as a laptop with an internal storage of 500 gigabytes[1]. Asher could readily access the memories in his body, but it would take some effort to do the same for his soul. This was because the brain of a twelve-year-old had its limits. If he forcefully tried to move the memories from his soul into his body, it might result in an unwanted situation. For this reason, Asher only did so one at a time and only chose the relevant memories for the moment. Recalling memories about a creature similar to what he just saw would take some time and not something he could do abruptly.

Aaron, 3 o'clock."

Aaron slashed his sword in the direction, sending a yellow beam at the area.

Boom.

"Kree!"

The attack hit the target just like before. Nonetheless, it still stood up and went back into hiding once more, but compared to before, it seemed to have recovered at a much faster rate.

"Use your spells next time." Asher said.

The mana cultivation system enabled one to use their energy in two ways, the simplest form or through a spell. Usually, mages used mana in its simplest form by either coating their fist or weapons with mana and attacking, or shooting the energy out through their weapons or fist. For Human stage mages, they didn't possess enough mana to be able to use spells as they were draining on one's mana, and their unfamiliarity with spells together with low mana output made it difficult for them to be able to cast a spell as quickly as attacking with one's mana in the simplest form. Hence, the reason why more than 98% of Human stage mages fought with mana using the simplest methods. As for the Guardian stage mages, this method consumed the least stamina and was both the easiest and fastest for mages to use. Unless they fought with someone of similar or greater strength, Guardian mages below the fourth rank very rarely fought with spells.

However, seeing as how the creature was able to tank their hits, Asher decided that they up their attack power instead.

'The secret of this mine should be closely related to it. We have to take it down.' Asher narrowed his eyes.