{Passageway 4...}
Such a beautiful symphony.
DRIP
DRIP
As Oz sped through the cave, that alluring sound became more apparent, yet alongside that was the putrid mixture of burning flesh and rotten eggs assaulting his nostrils.
The pursuers that relentlessly chased had left him feeling at wit's end, yet at long last, he saw it.
The pathway opened up to reveal a room with glistening walls coated in a white semi-translucent liquid, much different from the past 2 he had been in.
Instead of the previous caves' warm, dim red walls, the present cavern was covered by cold, ominous surfaces that continued to drip with a mysterious viscous liquid.
The room was around 100ft(30.5m) in diameter, yet it was at the end of the room that shocked him.
There it was up ahead...
Near the end of the circular room was a round pool; dripping from the ceiling above was a mysterious substance plopping against the surface.
DRIP
DRIP
Oz's eyes widened, 'The hell is that stuff?'
Above the pool and around the cavern ceiling, he could see speckles of "red fruits" clashing with and penetrating one another.
SKREEE
The piercing screeches from the army of rats behind shook the boy from his train of thought.
Nonetheless, he continued running, nearly slipping against the slick cavern floor as he did so.
He saw pools of blood and black rags near the center of the room as he ran nearby.
They were still fresh.
He forced a gulp down his throat and peeked over his shoulder to see the group of rats now in front with the lanky figure trailing behind, 'Wuh?!'
Oz was in shock; he cast a glance down at his still-burning hand and cursed to himself, 'That fukin rat from before...'
He sighed and focused his attention back up ahead, peering at the pond as he closed in on it and murmured to himself, 'I hope my hunch is right.'
He calmed his breathing and shot his gaze at the glimmering ceiling above, its glow subdued due to the lack of light in the environment.
Oz forcefully inhaled through his nostrils before shouting out at the top of his lungs, "Haghhhh!!!"
With that yell, he leaped forward, throwing a double hammer strike at the ground, cracking the floor in the process.
He quickly looked back to see his pursuers still fast approaching, 'Fuk, fuk, fuk!' he hastily scooped up large chunks of rocks and continued sprinting forward.
The beasts behind simply screeched at this, taking the yell as a provocation and a challenge to their might; however, the cloaked man was warier.
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{Moments Before... In Pursuit of the Boy}
The lanky figure had not gotten his reputation as "Mini-Boss" for no reason.
In a place like the Dung Den, where everyone was out for their own survival, there were always those to covet that which they did not possess.
Yet, through all that, he was still alive.
With all that time, things are learned, and one's senses become sharper and more sensitive to suspicious behaviors.
As the boy had exited the passageway, soon followed by the man and the swarm of rats closely tailing behind.
The lanky man moved to the right, with enough space for the swarm to pass him by just as he thought they would, zooming on forward past him as if he were nothing more than a pebble on the ground.
The Mini-boss creased his eyes at this sight, 'What'd the boy do to make em so mad?'
Now swapped in place with the hundreds of rats in front of him, he loosely trailed behind, waiting to pick up whatever scraps would be left of the unfortunate lad.
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{Back to the Present... and the Pursuee of the Chase}
'Will this be enough?' Oz thought to himself as he hurried forward with the stones in hand; a small crater was left where he had plucked them from.
There were no if's or but's; it HAD to work; otherwise... a cold shiver tingled down his spine.
Yet, as the pond drew closer, the boy threw all his hesitation away and yelled out with all his mind, "Yaghhhh!!!" as he leaped into the air, chucking the stones at the ceiling above the pond.
BANG
BANG
BANG
The assaulting stones vibrated the room, knocking some of the "red fruits" off the ceiling, but the roof that began to collapse from underneath itself was even more apparent.
The room rumbled, and the roof overhead the pool began to crumble.
The giant rats skittishly slowed down, all knocking into one another except for the small rat at the lead that continued running forward.
The lanky figure behind grit his teeth in frustration as he leaped over the army of rats following behind the leader.
A nervous smile spread across Oz's face as he soared through the air, gracefully falling towards the pond before turning and throwing 2 more rocks at the ceiling above and then giving obscene gestures out with his hands as he gracefully descended into the depths.
SPLASH!
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{In Front of the Pond...}
The ceiling tumbled down, burrowing into the pond below and slamming on top of the floor, cutting the boy off from his pursuers.
The small rat's paws scratched against the slippery floor, trying its best to slow down in time as the ceiling collapsed in front of it.
BOOOOM!
Water and dust splashed into the air, leaving the room a foggy mess.
Once the mist dispersed, 2 figures stood across each other.
One was a rat with fiery ember eyes, and across from it, a man cloaked in black robes who gazed back with his piercing green stare.
There was a dangerous aura in the room as now, with both their targets gone, the mutual collaboration was destroyed with it.
The man sighed as a blast of gust filled the cave, "Guess the newb could be counted dead."
A streak of green light flashed from his body, blinding the small rat in front and the swarm behind him, "Mind as well finish up here."
WHOOOSH!
He disappeared from sight, ready to obliterate his prey and return home.
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{Meanwhile Underwater...}
BLUB
BLUB
BLUB
In a dark abyss, a young boy was drifting through the waveless liquid.
A surge of sourness overtook his tastebuds, and his eyes stung; he couldn't tell which direction was what.
Was he going up, down, left, right, forwards, or backward?
His body felt like a puppet on strings as it was pushed and pulled around by the whims of the void.
A fiery pain assaulted his lungs as the little air he had saved began to diminish.
The murky liquid stung his eyes, barely allowing him to see as he clutched his throat, screaming out in agony, resulting in air bubbles floating outwards.
The dark liquid began to take on a cooling touch, wrapping him in its icy shawl and presenting him with a water burial.
As he began to lose consciousness, he thought to himself, 'Guess I lost my bet...' and so he drifted, aimlessly pulled along, never to be remembered, too irrelevant to even stain the sheet of time...
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{Meanwhile at the wreckage of Passageway 4...}
Huff huff...
Haggard breaths sounded out in a still room, with the silence sometimes broken by the sound of liquid falling.
DRIP
DRIP
The room smelled of blood, and large pools of it nearly came up to the ankles of the lone figure who stood at the center of the room.
The cloaked figure's green eyes surveyed the corpses that surrounded him.
The red rats were ripped to shreds, with some even split cleanly into 2 or more pieces.
They were deader than death itself.
Finally, the Mini-boss looked towards the end of the room near the pool, "Wooh... ya know ya pretty tough for a rascal. I see why he chose your kind."
Beaming a hateful gaze back at him was the small rat, a fiery aura encompassing it; however, one that was soft and feeble as a matchstick.
It was on its stomach, too weak to even stand.
The man walked over and crouched down, forming an "O" shape with his mouth underneath his garments, and then blew out the creature's flame, staining some of its fur with his smelly saliva that seeped through his clothing.
A blistering rage was bursting from within its body, shaking in one last attempt to avenge its fallen brethren.
"Shhh, don't worry lil guy, ya put up a good one. I'll make it painless."
SWHOOSH
Keeping to his promise, the rat's expression didn't even change before its head detached from its body, cleanly sliding off like high-quality meat.
The man stood back to his feet, sighing as he leisurely strolled back to the exit.
As he left, he glanced around at the chaos around him, with many rats squashed underneath the rubble, "Sheesh, looks like the newb gotta good number of em with that last attack of his."
The man rubbed the back of his head while sighing, "Made that fight easier, at least. Gonna be bad I couldn't even get a corpse back, though..."
A cold shiver ran down the man's back, "Hahh, welp, I've lived this long, just gotta tell em' what really happened, and I should be fine. My men though..."
The lanky man walked through the passageway once more, a somber tone in the air.
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Finally, once out and back in the main area with the 6 gates, a chilling freeze struck him in place as if bamboo was shot through him.
'Danger!' blared in his mind.
"Yaghh!" he forcefully encompassed himself in the green aura, leaped forward with his back towards the exit, and prepared for battle.
A dangerous aura was coming from the 3rd Passageway, with the 1st still blocked off by a mysterious red aura.
The lanky man squinted his eyes, waiting for the impending danger to step out from the passageway's shadows.
Once he saw what, or rather who came out, his eyes widened in shock, "Y-you're alive?"
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{At the Pond Outside the Cave...}
As the crimson-red sky swirled ominously.
Down below was a simple pond sitting quietly in front of a cave.
However, something within this pond was beginning to churn.
BLUB...
BLUB...
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