Chapter 30 Big Looney

Rona and I slid down the long dark hole. It was long and curvy. It felt like we were on a roller coaster ride, except this felt like eternity.

"Wahahahahaha," Rona laughed, echoed throughout the hole. Whereas I fainted as soon as I entered the hole. "..." My eyes were rolled back. I felt like my soul was slowly sipping away from my body. When we were almost at the end of the hole, a bright light pierced into our eyes.

Swoosh!

"Ugh..." The light was so painful, so I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew, my body was lifted off the ground, and I slammed straight into a wall.

Slam!

My whole body, including my head, was stuck to the wall. "Argh!" I screamed, but my voice was muffled. I tried to wiggle my body out, but I gave up halfway. 'This isn't going to work. There's no room to move at all.'

Crack.

A stone fell off next to my shoulder. 'Oh? I can move my shoulder.' I struggled as I tried to set my arms free. As soon as my arms were free, I pushed my body out of the wall.

Crack.

Bang.

I fell to the ground. I screamed. "My butt!" I massage my injured butt. "Oui...I hate gravity." I slowly got up and massaged my entire body.

Plop.

Something fell on my head. I touched my head, and it felt wet. "Water?" I looked up and saw stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. I looked around the cave and was bewildered by the breathtaking landscape and how humongous the cave was. The stalactites and stalagmites were ginormous and beautifully formed as if it was trying to welcome us.

Step.

Rona stood in front of the dented wall.

"Hahahaha. Was Lil trying to make a snow angel? This is a wall, not snow, you silly." Rona giggled.

"Oh... Erm...Ya...Silly me." I walked toward Rona and checked Rona's body for any injury. "You seem fine, Rona."

"Rona stopped before flying to the wall like in those cartoons."

I looked at the dent I made. "No wonder it looks so familiar. It's like those cartoon shows."

Rona nodded.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

Rumble...

I looked up at the ceiling. "Eh? Oh man... I don't want to be crushed." Some stalactites started cracking and smashing to the ground. The stalactites above us cracked and were falling toward us. "Rona, dodge!" I pushed Rona to the side and dodged.

Crash!

The stalactites were crushed into pieces. I stared at the crush stalactites. My heart was beating non-stop. I felt my heart could jump out any second. 'Oui... That could have been us.' I gulped, trying to remain calm.

The shaking stopped.

Rona ran deeper into the cave. "LM! Rona's here!"

I turned toward Rona and said. "Rona, wait! Wait for me, please!" I quickly followed Rona into the cave.

As I ran deeper into the cave, the atmosphere felt different. The cave became hotter and more humid as I travelled deeper.

"Huff. Huff." The heat in the cave was making me dizzy, and the humidity was making my chest uncomfortable.

Ping.

[Congratulation. You have gained a new skill, Heat Resistance.]

Suddenly, I felt a cool breeze wrapped around my body. My dizziness and congestion in my chest subsided. My mind became clearer as I could see things much clearer than before. To my surprise, I saw a lump of crystals on the ground. I approached it and held it in my palm. "It's heavy and cool. I thought crystals have bright colour, but this seems kinda dull?" I opened my group chat, but there was a notification.

[You cannot sent message due to your current location.]

"Oui... What a hassle. I guess I'll just put it into my inventory and ask Isaac when I see him." I placed the crystal in my inventory and continued further in.

[Congratulation, skill went up! Heat Resistance LV 1 -> 2]

[Heat Resistance level up!]

"...These notifications are getting annoying."

Drip.

"I heard something." I rushed further in and saw huge gigantic crystals all clustered together. "Wow! There's so many here!" I exclaimed. "If I only have some mining tools...Ugh... But the most important thing right now is to group up with Rona." I stretched over and saw a connection to the other side. 'Don't tell me I have to cross all these crystals to get to where Rona is. What if I fall?' I shook my head. "No negative thoughts." I sighed.

I took my first step on one of the giant crystals. I tried to stomp on it to make sure it was stable. "Whew, that was scary." I looked below and saw those spikey crystals waiting for me. "Oish... One misstep and it's bye-bye forever." After that, I cautiously step over all those crystals and reach to the other side.

"I did it! I really did it!" My heart was pounding the whole way through.

[ Congratulations! Heat Resistance reached MAX level.]

"MAX?! Seriously? Phew, thank goodness I got this skill. " I quickly rushed deeper into the cave. While travelling deeper, the surroundings became cooler. My hands were chilly and were harder to bend. "What's wrong with this cave? One side hot and the other side cold."

[Congratulation. You have gained a new skill, Cold Resistance.]

My whole body warmed up. I tried bending my fingers. "Whew! I can bend my fingers comfortably now. I don't know what I'm gonna do if some monsters come popping out." I thought to myself. 'Though, I'll most probably just use my fist and smashed them into the wall.' I shrugged and continued forward.

Step.

Crunch.

I heard some noises coming from in front. "It sounds like someone is eating? Don't tell LM is eating Rona?!" Without hesitation, I rushed toward the noise.

Crunch.

"Rona!" I shouted.

I found Rona and LM sitting next to each other, munching on the crystals in the cave. "Yum! Rona never tasted something like this before. Chomp. Chomp. Chomp." I looked at Rona, then looked at LM. I was confused as to why LM wasn't attacking Rona. I shook my head and thought. 'As long Rona is safe.' Then, I quietly walked towards Rona and squatted next to her.

"Rona. That's not edible."

Rona turned toward me with her mouth overstuffed with crystals like a squirrel eating nuts. "Lil. Want some?" She handed some crystals to me. I stared at the crystal. '$$$' I looked at Rona and said. "Sure, why not." I took the crystal and put in my inventory. Rona continued stuffing her mouth with crystals.

"Rona. Stop eating the crystals!"

"Rona likey!"

"You're going to get constipation." I looked at LM, then I looked at the crystal. "It can't be, can it...? Oui..." I rubbed my head in distress. "When I see Isaac, I'm going to beat him up real good."

"Gwargh..." Suddenly, LM stopped eating and let out a weird sound.

"Was that a burp?"

"Rona didn't know worm can burp." Rona chuckled.

LM wiggled around aimlessly and crawled out of the cave.

Rumble.

The entire cave was trembling. The crystals were falling to the ground.

Clang.

The crystal above us fell and stabbed into the ground.

"Half an inch. Half an inch." I was shaking in fear. 'It almost sliced us in half.'

Soon, the tremble stopped.

I calmed myself down and turned to the giant hole LM created. I grabbed Rona and said, "We got to chase after LM! Quick!" Rona got up, and we quickly followed LM.

Step.

Step. We crawled through the hole and finally reached the forest.

"Oh! Fresh air. Finally!" I screamed in relief.

"Rona found tracks." Rona pointed at the tracks left by LM.

I looked at the track but couldn't see LM anywhere. "How can that uselessly huge and heavy worm travel so fast." I grumbled, and we chased after LM.

[Isaac's side]

Rustle.

Isaac arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. Isaac looked everywhere, but the entrance couldn't be found. Isaac looked at the map to confirm the location. Isaac groaned. "This is definitely the spot. So LM's mouth was the entrance. Gross." Isaac walked to the middle of the empty plane.

Whoosh.

The wind blew, and Isaac frowned. "I know you're here."

"Hahahaha." A sinister laugh filled the air. Mr. James appeared with Looney riding on his shoulder. "Hello, my little bunny. Where's the rest, hmm? Eaten?"

Isaac glared at Mr. James and draw his katana. "In your dream, you lunatic. Now hand over that worm."

"Oh? Do you want Looney? Well, sure." Mr. James grinned.

"Then -" Isaac reached out his hand.

"Only if you beat Looney." Looney jumped down from Mr. James and grew into a few stories tall. "Have fun." Mr. James disappeared, leaving Isaac and Looney alone.

"Ugh... I think Llyne's bad luck is growing on me..."

"Guwoohhhhh!!!!!!" Looney screamed in anger and swung its tail to the ground.

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