Softserve

This Chapter took longer to release than I hoped but I really did not like writing it for the most part. I had to step away from it for a few days and got addicted to a new game on my phone called "Dungen Maker". It is a game where you play as a demon lord and setup your dungeon capture your foes and corrupt them to your side. Maybe I should write a story about a Demon lord that corrupts enemies into allies after this story is over. Fun stuff, but it takes hours just to play in normal mode which is needed to unlock all the different demon lords. This chapter is shorter than I usually write and mostly exposition, but I hope you enjoy it!

14 – Scouting Mission.

The Limestone caverns of the Tana Rainforest, A long stretch of underground caverns dug out by hydra following underground water sources that flow from the Tanara mountain ranges to the north. The Caverns themselves are more of revenues split into the earth across the forest as if they were tree branches with a canopy of mountains if viewing the forest from above. The Caverns themselves are always damp and drip moisture from the nearby underground rivers following jagged ravines with a colorful multitude of limestone stalactites. The multiple layers of solid ground create several foothold floors with an opening on each floor to the caverns below. Usually in these caverns you may find several nests of hydra spaced out in their own unique territories as they soak up the moisture from the underground rivers through the cavern walls. 

Eve came upon less forest and more scorched trees and ground the closer she got to the caves. A night and a whole day had passed as Eve sprinted to the caverns taking care of at least 18 different patrols of imps.  Ever since Eve had broken through to her spiritual cavern from her vessel her body felt several times stronger, faster and her senses sharpened even higher without using her aura. Eve was also noticeably tougher, where imp's fireballs used to cut her skin, they now impacted harmlessly off her body. Eve found that when she used her aura that it was several times purer and stronger but would drain several times faster she would need to rely on her stronger body now instead of her aura for the most part. When Eve ran into imp patrols she handled them without her aura instead of choosing to conserve it for the night.

As night fell Eve approached the limestone caverns as she watched the imps swarm out of the crevices. There was no order or patrols, it was more like watching a swarm bees around a hive as they crawled all over the scattered carcasses of dead hydra. There were however several humanoid figures with wings and horns which reminded Eve of demons that would whip the Imps into order getting several of the imps to chip away at stones and carry them to a makeshift walls they are currently constructing. It seemed that these 'demons' were setting up camp for the indefinite future.

With the sun having set, Eve decided that it would be better to scout instead of simply rushing in, using her own night vision to her advantage. Eve focused her attention inward and found that she could cloak herself in her aura that would make herself harder to see. using it in this method used very little to no aura at all and she figured that she could keep her stealth for the whole night and not even use 10% of her aura.

As Eve scouted the ravine she noticed a group of humans watching as well. Eve slowly decided to approach and hopefully not startle them too much without giving away either of their positions. When Eve was around 30 feet away she whistled like a bird a few times to draw their attention then waved to the group after they had noticed her. One of the scouts spotted her and waved her over.

Scout: "You were there at the camp the other day chasing off the hydra... what are you doing out here?"

Eve: "I couldn't leave this threat alone to just cause more harm. I came back out to scout around and hopefully find a way to resolve this problem. It's odd to find scouts out here though... when I brought these creatures up at the gate I got the feeling that the guards didn't care much about what I had to say."

Scout: "The name is Tyrian, We were asked to scout after the hydra attack, we are currently looking into this strange activity in the limestone caverns."

Eve: "It's Eve! nice to meet you."

Tyrian: "Well miss Eve... Your obviously the best fighter here. Could I ask you to help us out? We have been scouting the Caves and the area across from us is the least guarded point. I would like to find out why. We may find something here we can use to our advantage. But stick to safety if you can, try not to engage. If you are spotted immediately run back to this camp and inform us so that we are not overrun by a swarm of these things."

Eve: "hmm... I suppose that's fine! If you have not given them a name, how about calling them Imps, it would make it easier for me to remember them. I'll have a look and see if I can return with anything."

Tyrian: "Alright, Good luck Eve."

(Eve: "Ah, it seems I fell back into my old habit of business mode speech, I sounded awfully boring back there but then again... so did Tyrian. Maybe he is like me in a way? I'll see if I can carefully bring the topic up with him sometime later, I may find out something interesting if I do!")

Having finished her conversation with Tyrian, Eve headed out towards the riverine to the caverns.

Softserve

This conversation with Tyrian was mostly why I had to drop out a few days... well until I realised it was just Eve chatting in her business mode speech.