What was once a great structure, was now unrecognizable, time wiped out all the elements that made it identifiable. The incredible little cavern whose flora emitted aquamarine light naturally pierced the white barrier. The children did not wake up from their trance until they were inside.
“Wow!” Everyone made sounds of admiration when they saw the fantastic exhibition of luminescent flora and crystals.
" It is beautiful, " said Elizabeth, touching one of the plants.
“We are rich!” Shimu shouted grabbing the smallest pieces of glass that were scattered on the ground.
Mushi, Lutza, and Theodor began collecting crystals as if their lives depended on it upon hearing Shimu's words.
Unfortunately, the instantaneous assumption that the little lepiota made was incorrect. Since he assumed that these crystals, having striking and beautiful appearances, were equivalent to the jewels that his older sisters wore.
Luminescent crystals were not entirely without value, their ability to absorb thermal energy and transform it to emit light was quite useful as a technomagical component, but the tiny pieces that the children clutched in their little hands lacked enough mass to have any monetary value.
Without realizing it, the children began to enter the cavern while they collected the small fragments scattered on the floor. Elizabeth admired the luminescent flowers and mushrooms, and the strange crystal formations that surrounded the cavern. Soon she joined her brother and friends in collecting the beautiful stones scattered on the ground.
On the outskirts of the cranial peaks, several meters from where Albella's group had entered, Enok and his followers were preparing to assassinate the ent that had been left behind due to its size. They had to be fast and finish him off with the least amount of noise to keep Albella's group from noticing.
Multrows were a species with little physical strength, the exoskeletons that they naturally had to protect themselves were unique to each individual, so only a few developed bodies capable of close combat. Furthermore, the small amount of energy within their bodies that they could consciously control was not enough to perform more than the most basic and simple spells.
This slimy species of mollusk had earned a place in the world thanks to their intellect. Their bodies unconsciously used the little innate energy collected from their surroundings to stimulate their nervous systems, especially their brains. This natural ability put them on par with metallic creatures like the Aicel in their ability to process information.
Unfortunately, the instinctual drives of the multrow rendered them, in short, lacking in wisdom, the ability to make correct decisions. So despite their great intellect, the species was mostly relegated to the low islands, while the Aicel enjoyed great power in higher ones.
“Aim carefully. I want him immobilized so he can't ask for reinforcements.” Enok ordered while he scrubbed his obese hands sinisterly.
Three of his followers watched the ignorant ent through the sights of their technomagical rifles. They had specially brought these weapons to deal with the annoying talking trees.
Enok smiled with pride as he saw his men armed with advanced technomagical weapons. But he regretted the fact that they were not useful against all kinds of creatures.
In both Tellurus and Almawarth the number of weapons was as varied as the number of creatures that existed. All intelligent beings, beasts and monsters had different weaknesses, so different materials, types of magic, elements or amounts of energy were necessary if someone wanted to end their lives.
The big problem with technomagical firearms was the different types of materials required to pierce some defenses, as some components were so expensive or scarce that producing bullets with them would be a waste. Cold weapons, such as spears, mallets, and swords among others, were more efficient in these cases. Even worse, materials that could be used against more than one type of defense were part of these expensive or few components, so a cold weapon specially forged with these materials was equivalent to a firearm with hundreds of different types of ammunition, for not only were they cheaper, they were also convenient to carry.
This was one of the complicated characteristics that made the art of war a quite complex field with thousands of variables to consider due to the magical and technological nature in which they lived.
“Poof!”
“Poof!”
“Poof!”
Enok's men fired. The unsuspecting Ent received two impacts in the chest and one in the face. The ammunition they used was special for penetrating wooden armor and producing electric shocks on impact.
As soon as the ent was immobilized five multrows jumped on him to end his life before the stun effect ended. They stabbed and cut him with swords forged from the exoskeletons of their ancestors, a tradition they have had since ancient times of using the remains of the dead to create elements necessary for daily life. In the case of families of warriors, the remains were used to forge weapons.
The ent did not suffer, the projectiles took him by surprise and his life ended before he could realize what had happened.
“Take away those roots! We have wasted enough time waiting here.” Enok ordered, wiping the slime that had drooled when he saw how his men finished the ent.
The multrows cut the roots that the ent had used to cover the fissure in the ground and as soon as they cleared the place they entered the cavern following in the footsteps of Albella and her team.
In the depth of the earth several meters away, Albella's group advanced with caution. The cavern was losing the amount of luminescent vegetation they found upon entering, making the place darker and forcing them to turn on their headlamps.
“This is quite strange; despite the abundant vegetation I do not see traces of animals,” said the ubax with lotus characteristics.
“Is it because we are underground?” Asked one of the lepiots that walked protecting one of the sides of Albella.
“Impossible, the cavern had an opening outdoors, it is not strange that all kinds of animals and insects enter to lay their nests and burrows in a place like this” the Ubax refuted.
Albella took out a knife that was on her waist and cut one of the branches of one of the plants that still illuminated the area where they were. The branch fell to the ground and from the place where Albella cut began to emerge sap in a fluorescent green color.
One of the Ubax, with snapdragon characteristics, reached out one of his hands to touch the sap.
“Hold it!” Shouted the Ubax with lotus characteristics. He was the superior of the other two ubax that accompanied the expedition.
At that moment the liquid that emanated from the plant began to corrode the soil releasing a gas of the same fluorescent green color.
“Everyone back down!” Albella ordered alarmed, lowering the visor of her helmet.
“Lower your visors, don't breathe that gas!” cried the ubax of lotus characteristics after Albella.
The other members of the group acted without questioning anything, they took several steps back and lowered the visors of their helmets.
“Sanc flowers,” said the surprised ubax that almost touched the spilled sap.
The mysterious plant capable of producing acid was among Lhimkio's most dangerous creatures. Not only were they violent predators whose prey could be both organic and mineral, they were of the few planetoid monsters with a basic intellect.
“This explains why there are no insects, animals or traces of them in the cavern. The damned monsters erase any trace of their victims to attract more prey,” said the lotus ubax.
They all drew their magic acacia swords. Although the best weapon for combat was the spear, mobility was an important factor in the confinement of the cave.
These magical weapons made of magic acacia were almost as strong as mithril and although they were priced somewhat higher, their magical and natural characteristics made them the material of choice for the weapons of the elite warriors of Vorpiax.
Its natural characteristics allowed it to form a moldable retractable weapon, which gave it two shapes. The first was a cylinder about the same size as the clenched fist of an adult human; and the second was the shape of a forged tool. The retractable mechanism was controlled by energy stimuli emitted by the weapon holder. For this reason, the groups of Albella and Darthañan comfortably loaded different types of weapons on the belts of their armor.
The Magic feature of this wood was its compatibility with the elements so that, if the user was compatible with any element, they could imbue their weapon with its properties.
After drawing their swords, by infusing the element that they best handled and with which they were most compatible, the cavern lit up. Albella, the lotus ubax, and two other lepiots covered their swords with fire. The remaining two ubax and a lepiot imbued their weapons with the element of the wind. While the swords of the last two lepiots attracted small fragments of rocks and crystals, covering themselves in a resistant layer magnetized by the properties that the elements of the earth gave to the swords.
“Do not let your guard down, the sanc flowers hunt in groups, it would not surprise me if they were stalking us since we arrived to this area of the cavern.”
With their bodies strained and their senses alert to the slightest movement, the members of Albella's group continued their advance, descending the now confirmed dangerous path.
