Year 5310. 6th day of July. Phobos Mountain. 4:30 PM.
The sky-rise mountain silently loomed in the distance. A dark, brooding presence of sky punching majesty can be seen and emblazon the mountain’s reflection onto moonshine turquoise-gem, clear lakes where it wound its merry way through the forest. The mountain named after the Latin word Phobos* is the personification of fear felt by the humans that live near the mountain. No humans have set foot in Phobos mountain due to the gruesome tales that surround it.
In the outer part of the mountain, an underground ruin emerged due to the massive storm that blew homes and rocks apart, accompanied by the lightning that flashes like the cold, gold prongs of the Apocalypse, which a villager accidentally discovered. The appearance of the underground ruin has started a rumor that circulated in the region of Westra. The underground ruin is allegedly a place connected to the past - the past wherein the entirety of human-made artefacts that extend and amplify the grasp of the world exists.
At the entryway of the underground ruin, ten vassals of the Count of Brundeile, under the guise of investigating, slowly but steadily entered the ruin. Upon entering, the air became arctic cold and lashed at them without mercy, making them shudder.
It was still half after five o’clock in the afternoon, but the inside was like the darkest night with no light to see. One magician used the curse of light to brighten the place, but the wraith-like light arrowed as eerily as a scene from an old fable.
The sight of the weather-worn stone pillars surrounded by dead clumps of grass, cracked tiles and walls, and pitted steps entered their eyes, and one can see staircases with dusty and cobwebbed corridors. Unruffled by wind or rain, it was still vault-still and restful.
“I still can’t get used to the feeling of entering a ruin. It’s too creepy,” said Robert, who used the curse of light magic.
Joe licked his lips. “Well, I, too, can relate with you.”
“Can’t say we all are experts in this,” Leo lightly laughed.
“Stop with the chit-chat,” Morgan continued his lecture. “We don't know what's in here and what danger awaits us, so y’all better be prepared.”
“I’m different. Unlike you all, I’m cautious. Too cautious, I say,” says Heather.
Carl rolled his eyes at the thought of Heather being the Doomsayer he is. “You’re just too scared. I really can’t understand why you became one of the vassals of Lord Klein.”
Heather lashed at Carl. “You don’t know anything! I’m just too competent. That’s why the Lord assigned me as his vassal,” he said unabashedly.
“Oh, please, enough with your bragging,” exclaimed Perry.
“I am — ” Heather snapped his mouth shut.
As soon as everyone stopped walking and looked ahead, fountains of magma-red blood sprayed into the air. Shell-shocked and terrified from what they have seen, they stood motionless, their gaze eventually toing and froing from left and right where you can see trails of blood.
But as trained soldiers of the territory of Count Brundeile, they immediately snapped back and prepared for battle.
In front of them is a monster that has leonine eyes. They were gleaming with cunning. The pair of gleaming eyes were staring at them with cold eyes. The monster has ears that can compare to a tankard handle and a vulturous nose. Grimy hair plastered the caveman’s fierce face. The monster, called Caveman, gave them a scornful look as they looked at it with wary eyes. The Caveman’s shoulders flexed once before it charged towards the vassals.
The Caveman swung his crude spear towards them and nearly hit Perry. As Perry ducked, he could feel the spear’s passage whisking his hair. The Cavemen are part of the demons, their adversaries. They hated the humans who survived the great calamity. They preferred to stab humans through their hearts and then rip them apart using bare hands, and they like to gorge on human flesh.
Robert tried his best to use magic at the rear but could not incorporate most of his magic due to the caveman’s intelligence. The Caveman was using his comrades as a shield whenever he wanted to use his magic. The Caveman was too fast for its size and also deadly. It was unlike any other Cavemen.
Morgan, as the tank, has the most durable body and defense. With his toughness, he tried to shield most of the attack. He whacked the pommel of his sword to the granite jaw of the caveman, but it did not affect him. Morgan protected one of the two archers about to be stabbed, but one of the three magicians was grabbed and bitten in his neck.
The bitten magician was used as a shield by the Caveman when another magician who had the curse of ice shot a rain of ice spikes. Bolt, angered by what the Caveman did, rushed forward with a frontal strike with his sword, but the Caveman's spear blocked his sword. As the Caveman stopped his sword, he grabbed Bolt, and his head was smashed onto the wall two times with full strength, and considering he was just a human, he unfortunately died.
No one expected the strength of the caveman to surpass the normal caveman they have fought before. They were bone-tired and battle drunk, but they still managed to kill the caveman at the cost of three people dead. The remaining seven have either a bitten shoulder, a torn arm, or a stabbed stomach.
After a full hour of rest with the healer, Kant somewhat healed everyone. Morgan, Robert, Carl, Perry, Joe, Kant, and Larry smoothly proceeded to look for the place where you can find the relics. They encountered no monsters other than the Caveman.
It seems like the Caveman came from the Phobos mountain and has encountered the entrance to the underground ruin by chance. But the reason why it was different from those normal Cavemen is still a mystery.
Finally, a room was seen, which can be considered an important place in all of the underground ruin, and was the only remaining room that was intact with no fatal damage to its structure. They can see a reinforced door, but keeping in mind that who made the door constructed it more than a thousand years, which made it rusted, was easily punched by Morgan.
Entering the room, they found bookshelves attached to the wall full of books that they have never seen before. In the centre of the room, a coffin was lying on the ground. The coffin, made of mahogany wood and crafted expertly, was created to comfort the dead. Due to the coming of years, its sophisticated black surface was full of clouds of dust.
Surprised by the coffin, Robert exclaimed. “The heck. What’s with this coffin?”
“Looks sophisticated, eh?” Kant asked.
Morgan approached the coffin. “Seems like this is the most expensive thing in here.”
“Nevermind the coffin; all the books here seem to be too valuable. And because of the years’ passing, it should crumble, but strangely, it can still hold on for a while longer. Transporting this will be too hard, but we can use magic,” exclaimed Larry.
“Well, we should start the job,” says Morgan.
*Phobos - (Ancient Greek: Φόβος, pronounced [pʰóbos], Ancient Greek: "fear") is the personification of fear and panic in Greek mythology.
