Gabriel slid down the tunnel entrance, at the start his face showed a happy little smile, it however begun to quickly turn into a frown the more speed he picked up.

 

“Oh shittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!” Gabriel yelled.

 

After another minute passed, Gabriel shot out the tunnel like a rocket. With a ‘splash’, Gabriel landed in a small lake, his open mouth from yelling quickly filled with water. Gabriel swum to the surface and gripped the rocky edge. Heaving himself up, Gabriel rolled onto his back and took in large breaths of air.

 

The cave he had fallen into gave off a green glow of light all around. Glowing moss clung to the walls, looking like a set of fairy lights. Gabriel got to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. He unsheathed his khopesh and kept one hand free in case of emergencies.

 

Gabriel made his way past where he entered and towards the opposite side of the cave, taking careful steps to avoid the multiple pools of water on the ground. The sound of a ‘crunch’ gave him pause, Gabriel looked down to his foot and saw a set of chewed up bones. His gaze travelled along the ground, following a stream of discarded bones that led to an opening on the other side of the cave.

 

Gabriel followed the bones, he tried his best to step as light as possible upon the carpet of white, every time his foot landed just a little to hard, the sound of someone eating a packet of crisps echoed through the cave. The bone highway ended in an opening large enough for an elephant to walk through. The tunnel was split down the middle, with one part being a raised rocky floor, accompanied by a flowing river. Gabriel followed the tunnel, careful to keep a good distance from the raging river.

 

The green glow from the moss on the ceiling reflected off the water, causing little spots of green to flicker and shine. It gave Gabriel the feeling he was walking through an alien night club. One splotch of green on the water looked darker than the rest and gave Gabriel pause when he saw it. As he peered closer, Gabriel could make out the glint of something shiny, before the ‘something shiny’ pierced the surface of the river and hurtled towards him.

 

A three-pronged spear tip came shooting towards Gabriel’s face, with a neck jerk accompanied by the sound of metal on metal as the spear scraped along his helmet, Gabriel just managed to miss getting a trident in the eye. Gabriel took two steps back and readied himself. With a geyser of water, an oddly scaled creature that stood on two legs and had a thick reptilian tail, jumped out of the water.

 

The creature stood at its full height, easily matching Gabriel’s. A body rippling with muscle faced him, equipped with not a shred of clothes and only a bronze trident as a weapon. It let out a ‘hiss’ from its snout at Gabriel, followed by the rhythmic thumps as its tail slammed into the ground. The thumping travelled down the tunnel and echoed off the walls. The sound was eventually joined by other resounding thumps from further down, some sounding heavier, others lighter. The sound increased until it drowned out any other noise, like a symphony of drum beats or a bad night club mix.

 

“Shut that sh*t off! I hate Dubstep!” Gabriel yelled, before leaping towards the reptilian creature. Gabriel used [Inspect] only a moment before he leapt.

 

[Lizardmen Guard - LVL 12 (Hostile)]

HP – 5000/5000

RP – 500/500

Additional information: Lizardmen can be found in many of the waterways across Valhalla. They range from tribal villages in underground riverways, to small kingdoms deep beneath large bodies of water. They are carnivorous by nature and treat anything not of their kind as food.

 

Gabriel swung his khopesh at the Lizardmen, who deftly dodged the attack by using its tail like a Kangaroo. Leaning back, it put the full weight of its body onto the tail, then like a spring, it catapulted itself at Gabriel. The trident leading the charge. Gabriel waited until the last possible second before side stepping and doing a 360 spin, his elbow connected with the back of the Lizardmen’s head. The force from its charge combined with Gabriels elbow, propelled the Lizardmen straight into the wall. The elongated crocodile type snout, scrunched up like a paper pump, after making contact with the hard cave surface.

 

[ -110]

[Lizardmen Guard has been stunned for 3 seconds]

 

Gabriel followed up with several [Heavy Chops] with his khopesh at the Lizardmen’s neck. It took a couple of extra swings to decapitate the Lizardmen then it usually would, for a LVL 12 creature, attributed mainly to the tough green scales covering its body.

 

[You have slayed - [Lizardmen Guard LVL 12] - EXP 2500]

 

Gabriel didn’t bother to loot the Lizardmen yet, as the sound of drumming echoing through the cave started to get closer A group of eight Lizardmen, all identical to the one Gabriel slayed, were marching towards him. Their tails smacked the ground at every step they took. Gabriel repositioned himself to face the incoming Lizardmen. Although the enemies weren't high-level or in too great of numbers, the tight confines of the cave could make it a hard battle.

 

A portal appeared next to Gabriel’s feet, as he used [Summon Medjay]. The Egyptian warrior with his Khopesh and Scorpion painted Great Shield stood in front of Gabriel. As the spell [Summon Medjay] used 50 mana to cast, it left Gabriel with only 100 MP left.

 

“Should be enough. [Medjay], you take front and focus on defence until I join you.” Gabriel commanded.

 

The [Medjay] didn’t answer, he gave a brief nod and strode forwards with shield raised. Gabriel didn’t move forward yet and instead used [Summon Javelin]. With accurate and well-placed throws, helped in turn by the skill from his helmet [Eagle-Eye], four Javelins in a row flew out and slammed into the weak points of four out of the eight Lizardmen. Where the scales from the chest and neck meet, a slight gap of bare skin can be seen. Each Javelin pierced right through, giving Gabriel very satisfying damage notifications.

 

[-2000 - [Bleeding] Status inflicted - stack 1/5]

[-2000 - [Bleeding] Status inflicted - stack 1/5]

[-2000 - [Bleeding] Status inflicted - stack 1/5]

[-2000 - [Bleeding] Status inflicted - stack 1/5]

 

A stream of green, clear blood shot out of the Lizardmen’s wounds. When the summoned Javelins disappeared, the bleeding only intensified. Gabriel joined the [Medjay] and slayed the already injured Lizardmen first. With only four left, Gabriel and the [Medjay] made quick work of three. Gabriel used the [Medjay] as a shield, dodging behind him and springing back out to issue lightning quick strikes. The [Medjay] took a trident in the face and was sent back into the void after the third was defeated, leaving Gabriel face to face with the last Lizardmen.

 

Gabriel checked his Rage bar and gave a large grin to the Lizardmen. Thinking it was being taunted, the Lizardmen slapped its meaty tail harder against the ground and hissed. Before the Lizardmen could make a move though, a large slightly see through, Scorpions tail rose from behind Gabriel. The stinger at the end of the tail gleamed dangerously in the green light, as it shot forwards at the Lizardmen. Faster than one could blink, the tail’s stinger pierced straight through the tough scales and impaled the creature into the wall behind him. The Lizardmen let out hisses of pain, as it's forked tongue drooped out the side of its mouth before the Scorpions tail dematerialized and left a gaping hole in the now very dead Lizardmen.

 

[You have slayed [Lizardmen Guard] x 8 – EXP 20,000]

 

Gabriel gathered the loot from the 9 bodies of the [Lizardmen Guards]. He received only a few Gold coins and some pieces of [Scaled Leather].

 

“Well its to be expected, I don’t have Mouse’s lucky hands. I have also been lucky enough in drops, considering my pitiful Luck stat.” Gabriel muttered after looking over the loot.

 

There was one [Uncommon] item among the scraps of Leather and coins that Gabriel guessed will most likely come in handy very soon.

 

[Breath of the Ocean (Potion) (Uncommon)]

• Allows user to breathe underwater for 120 seconds

 

Gabriel continued along the tunnel that mirrored the rivers path. With the cave now devoid of the sounds of drumming, the river roared on its own, like an old man trying to gather a large breath. Keeping careful watch on the water for anymore Lizardmen, Gabriel walked for 15 minutes, the time only broken up by the ambush from two [Lizardmen Guards], Gabriel finally made it to a large underwater lake. There were multiple riverways surrounding the sides of the lake, leading to and exiting the giant body of water. Gabriel guessed he was directly under Eagle Peak Mountain now.

 

The sounds of multiple streams of water rushing in and out echoed across the cave like multiple jet engines starting up at once. Gabriel approached the lakes edge, there were large bronze pipes leading from the lake and rising up to enter the sides of the mountain, disappearing past the rock in multiple directions. The pipes looked wide enough for a man to travel through them without being stuck. The water of the lake was so clear it appeared to Gabriel like glass, the green lights from the moss gave the whole body of water a stained-glass look.

 

Gabriel could see down to the bottom of the lake, after close observation, he saw where the pipes from above all descended towards. What appeared to be a large metal machine was laying at the bottom, it was attempting to suck in the water, giving off small rumbles every few seconds that sent ripples through the water. The machine was the size of a car, with one end looking like a vacuum cleaner. Gabriel couldn't make out exactly what was obstructing the waters entry into the machine, it looked like the [Lizardmen] had shoved a collection of bones and drift wood into the opening.

 

Next to the machine was a set of crudely made huts affixed to the lake floor, a jumble of bones and glowing moss for rope was all that held them together. Gabriel could see multiple [Lizardmen Guards] next to their huts, chewing on sea creatures and land animals that must have been washed into the lake from one of the branching riverways.

 

Knowing he would be at a sever disadvantage fighting the Lizardmen in the water and his projectile-based weapons wouldn’t be able to pierce the water deep enough to do damage. Gabriel needed a way to bring them to the surface, looking around for anything he could use and coming up short, Gabriel frowned.

 

“Ehhhhhhhh!!!” A loud piercing squeal of a boar coming out of one of the branching rivers, brought a shine to appear in Gabriel’s eye.

 

Gabriel pulled out one of his throwing axes and threw it at the boar, piercing through one of its meaty thighs. Gabriel used [Recall] to pull the boar out of the river before it went into the lake, he walked over to the still squealing pig and dragged it by its back legs to the lake’s edge.

 

“Sorry about this Babe.” Gabriel apologized to the Boar, before dumping half its body in the water face first.

 

The pig thrashed wildly in the water and screeched garbled squeals. The Lizardmen noticed the new entry into their home and saw the juicy pig near the surface before it disappeared from their view. With a screech of their own, the [Lizardmen Guards] used their powerful tails to torpedo themselves towards the last know location of their next meal.

 

Gabriel slit the boars throat, killing it instantly and threw it behind him.

 

“I am sure the Villagers would appreciate some boar meat.” Gabriel said to himself.

 

He readied his khopesh and activated [Heat of the Desert] setting the blade alight. The sound of six identical splashes were accompanied by the rocketing Lizardmen, landing in a half circle in front of Gabriel. One last splash, that shot a wave of water in the air, brought forth a much bigger Lizardmen. This one held a double headed silver coloured Trident. The new Lizardmen stood at the back of the group, it was much larger than the others by a couple of feet, with red draconic looking scales.

 

[Lizardmen Chiefess – LVL 15 - (Boss)]

HP – 10,000/10,000

RP – 1000/1000

Additional Information: The Chiefess, along with the limited mana-based users in Lizardmen society, are all Females and rule the Lizardmen with an iron fist. They are extremely aggressive and uncaring to their male folk, willing to sacrifice them at the drop of a hat.

 

Gabriel grinned almost manically, at the sight of the boss. He was expecting a good fight from her. With eyes sparkling, Gabriel was about to make the first move, when a world-wide notification stopped him in his tracks. His smiling face began to darken after hearing the announcement and he charged at the Lizardmen anew, wrapped in barely controlled fury. With the glowing green lights coming of the moss, accompanied by the flickering flames from his blade, caused a camouflage effect to appear over his scrunched up face, Gabriel began to look like the true dragon in the cave.