Chapter 865 Chapter 864: Scouting
"About damn time! Gods above, what were you lot doing in there for so long?!"
Satanya glared at Leone and I as we exited the tent, and I couldn't help but smugly grin at the red skinned Demoness, making her growl softly as she turned away, not wanting to see my arrogant expression any longer, which made the other Demons chuckle quietly as they continued to relax around the camp.
She made her way back towards the model, cursing to herself as she stamped her feet and got her anger out that way, while Leone and I shared a slight smile before heading off to do our own things; Leone made her way towards Ammit, who was sitting beside the cauldron swaying side to side, while I made my way over to the kitchen, Leraie and Lucy joining me as I began to prepare breakfast.
When Jahi came out of the tent a minute later, Satanya clicked her tongue and glared at the taller Asmodia Demoness, eliciting a confused raise of the brow from Jahi as she approached the woman near the model, only for her to sigh and roll her eyes as Satanya began to berate her for her actions, only to have the Beliali Demoness snort and shake her head at whatever Jahi said to her.
After breakfast was finished and eaten, Satanya grabbed everyone's attention and laid out our plan for today, telling us that we were going to be picking a new branch of the grottos to delve into and begin searching for the next big haul, be it mid grade materials or a high level monster; both of those were things we were desperately searching for anyways, and that was what we had decided to focus on.
So, we geared up and set off for the next primary grotto that we had found - which was the one that we had hunted the Wurm in and that I had found a very willing test subject in - and picked one of the many branching paths at random, breaking our large group down into four smaller groups to make exploring easier.
Ammit, Lucy, Leraie and I - alongside a spattering of other Demons - were in a group together, and we decided that if we wanted to find something, we should head not only deeper into the Dungeon, but also deeper into the earth, so we chose to head down, to the bottom of the grotto we were in; it was a logical conclusion that we were hoping would pay off.
Since today's first goal was to just scout, we were all given an hour time limit to explore before returning to base, and we specifically were told that if we weren't back in an hour and a half, everyone would begin searching the location we were scouting for us instead, so we were on a strict time limit.
I was at the front of our party, my ears and nose able to pick up any sounds or scents well before the Demons could, so I was the one who was going to be doing most of the scouting as we descended down the waterfall and approached the lake that pooled at the bottom of this grotto.
Around us, monsters roamed and dove into the water, where fish and other monsters swam around freely, exploring the vast lakebed and eating what they could, only to be eaten themselves when the various avians, canines and felines leapt into the crystal clear lake.
In the center of the lake was an island, and I stopped for a moment as I studied it, before turning my gaze from the island and instead focusing on the giant archway that rested on the other side of the lake, which was diverting some of the water from the lake into a river that traveled down into the earth.
There were two other exits for us to take, and I pursed my lips as I looked between them all, only to shrug as Ammit pointed at the giant archway, deciding for us; in her words "It's far too large to be nothing. Must lead somewhere. Anywhere. Deeper."
With the rocky overhang of the main plateau sprawling above us, and a deep lake stretching out in front of us, there were only a few places to go, and we walked along the shoreline towards that specific exit, passing one of the others that looked promising as well.
A breeze brushed our skin when we passed that first exit, and the damp, musty smell of old wood tickled my nose, alongside the ever present, clinging scent of rock and dirt; as for sounds, I barely managed to pick up the roaring of something inside its depths, alongside the trickling of water, which came from the droplets splashing down from the roof.
I took note of that but continued towards the exit that Ammit wanted to check out, my ears continuing to pick up the splashes of monsters leaping into the water and the various growls and snarls of them fighting and hunting, alongside the sound of the water lapping at the shoreline or slamming against the rocks that jutted out of the lakes depths, the small waves caused from the waterfall continuing to create a cacophony of noise that threatened to distract me.
Reaching the large archway that seemed broken into the wall of the plateau, we paused and took a moment to gaze into its depths, the exit branching into two paths almost instantly, with one heading down into the earth and the other spiraling up into the plateau, though as we looked up, we saw the spiral end.
"If something is up there, it's asleep. As for below... well, the river is masking most of the noise from below, so I am not really sure..."
The others nodded, and we appraised the ten foot wide path that descended gradually into the earth, the Glow Flis illuminating the pathway and making the water sparkle as it rushed down the middle of the pathway, perhaps having been one of the causes for creating this pathway..?
"Well... let's get going then, I guess. We're on a time constraint, and I'd like to get back soon... well, only because Begum Anput is making me a new blade, but..."
I raised a brow and glanced at Lucy, who just smiled back at me as she added "And I'd appreciate if it could be enchanted as well, Miss Katherine~?"
Letting out a sigh, I just took a step forwards and began to head down into the earth, wondering what we would find next; another gorgeous pocket of nature hidden away from the world, or perhaps a plain, boring cavern of rock and nothing else?
Perhaps a giant lake of glittering blue, filled with all sorts of fish and monsters?
Either way, we were likely in for a treat no matter what if our surface level experience with this Dungeon was anything to go by...
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