Chapter 834 Chapter 833: Terracotta Grottos (1)
The main entrance to the Grottos in this portion of the mountains was a verdant cavern that beckoned you in with such a natural beauty, its luscious, leafy edge giving it a softer appearance despite it being the entrance into a Dungeon.
Flowers blossomed on the shrubs and vines, filling the air with a sweet scent whilst adding to the vibrant cavern, and the inside was illuminated by the sun and large glowing petals attached to thick stems that blossomed off of the rocky walls.
"Oh. Glow Flis! Ah, such beautiful flowers... Bright. Vibrant! Pretty~!"
Ammit stepped forwards and looked around, the Cimeriesa Demoness admiring the greenery of the Grotto's opening for a few moments before adding "A shame they lose that luster when plucked. Dull."
She peered back at us and tilted her head, asking "Are we entering, or talking still? Time is passing. Wasted."
Satanya snorted as she shook her head, the Beliali Demoness gesturing to Jahi and saying "She's the leader here, so ask her! Are we heading in, or are we dallying around for a bit longer?"
That made most of us raise a brow at the woman's shamelessness as she began to walk forwards, her leather long coat flapping behind her slightly as she unsheathed her serrated longsword, raising her guard for any potential threats that might lie ahead.
"Well, you heard the dallier! Let's get a move on! We want to check out the main paths as much as we can before the sun sets!"
Snickers could be heard from the group - myself included - as Jahi drew her great sword and rested it on her shoulder, striding past the red skinned Demoness who stopped in her tracks, glaring at the taller, stronger, better looking Demoness... only to glare at me as I walked past her as well, a smug grin on my face as I moved to the front, where I would take point.
Anput stuck her tongue out at the woman as well, while Leone gave her a 'gentle' smile as we all moved up towards the front alongside Jahi, causing the Demons to snicker again as their leader let out a low growl of annoyance.
Stepping into the caverns, I nodded to myself at the sudden, familiar shift in the atmosphere as we made our way into the Dungeon, the pressure in the air changing slightly whilst also getting cooler, as well as 'heavier' with mana.
The sweet scent from before stagnated a tad and mixed with the scent of earth and the musk of monsters, while the Glow Flis and occasional opening in the ceiling kept the area bright enough to see, but still dim enough that you really needed to pay attention.
It was my job as well as Anput's to guide everyone into the Grottos and begin sniffing out the routes that were laden with monsters or resources; the benefits of our Beastkin blood being put to great use, even if it was a tad demeaning to be turned into hounds...
Something Jahi found amusing as she whispered to Leone, who tried to hold back chuckles of her own...
Either way, the greenery of the caverns remained just as abundant as the surface, with vines draping down from the high ceilings and shrubs laden with flowers and other herbs blossoming from the rocky floor.
Moss and lichen stuck to the rocks and boulders that were scattered throughout the tunnels, and the deeper into the mountain we got, the air grew even more cool and humid, the Water Mana found inside the Nature Mana keeping things at a 'neutral' level compared to normal caverns, though that humidity did no favors at all.
Already I could feel my skin growing clammy even beneath my own Water Cloak, with the others wearing slightly irritated expressions as water began to stick to everything, all while the silence around us as we walked deeper into the Grottos began to wear on the mind.
The tunnel that carved deep into the earth from the entrance was steep and slick with moisture, the uneven terrain slowing our pace as we continued on down into the mountains, before eventually Anput and I glanced at one another, the silence finally broken... albeit with an almost undetectable sound.
Glancing at me, my mate raised a brow before looking back towards the tunnel, causing me to nod as I created a Wind Barrier around us, saying "That's running water... far away, but carried by the tunnels. We should be close to the first real Grotto..."
I relayed that back to the others after Anput gave me a nod, straining her hearing and confirming that I had heard correctly.
We continued on down into the depths, our footsteps quiet as we traveled the first tunnel, not stopping for anything at the moment, though we did take note of the basic ores and herbs that lined the walls; things we would harvest on the way out, but not now.
The tunnel began to flatten out, no longer as steep as we saw the walls begin to curve out to join the wide, spherical shape of the first Grotto, its splendor stunning us only for a split second.
A towering ceiling that resided so high above us was peppered with bright crystals and giant buds of Glow Flis, whilst the walls were just as coated in moss as before, but now giant chunks of rock jutted out and glittered in the light, displaying different colors that signified the ores that formed beneath.
Easily around 150 feet in diameter, the Grotto was rather large, and the source of water that Anput and I heard splashed into a pool at the far end of the cavern, around which a myriad of bipedal emerald skinned monsters gathered.
Outcrops littered the walls above, the many tunnels of the Terracotta Grottos branching off of this singular cavern into who knows where, all while monsters of all kinds roamed around, patrolling the area and occasionally pouncing on the weaker ones, killing them and devouring them swiftly.
That pool formed a small lake on the far side, which fell down into a deeper level below, whilst a hill on our left arced around the circumference of this cavern, leading into the many tunnels and giving the monsters the ability to traverse freely.
Every second we stood at our own tunnel, unmoving and silent, was another moment that we took to drink it all in, searching for the largest threats and evaluating the area, even as the Grotto continued to attempt to lull us into a false sense of security as the grasses and waterfalls painted a serene picture.
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