There's Space Behind the Pillar (1)
Fortunately, our encounter did not escalate into a brutal clash with the guardian.
Just as different minerals possessed distinct traits, guardians appeared to have their own unique temperaments. While the Orichalcum Guardian had reacted violently to the presence of mana, this earth guardian showed virtually no hostility at all. It simply surged up from the ground, stared blankly at us for a moment, and then turned away to wander off elsewhere.
"Whew..."
I let out a long sigh of relief as I watched the earth golem lumber into the distance. In truth, purely in terms of raw combat power, our side held the overwhelming advantage. Ludwig was a veteran powerhouse, and I had already taken down a guardian myself before. Even so, there was no point in wearing ourselves out for nothing, especially when a fight risked agitating whatever else lurked nearby. Besides, considering the creature had quietly walked away even after we provoked it first, it seemed rather gentle-natured.
"...Let's keep moving."
"Mm."
With the situation resolved, we resumed our journey. This whole incident had taught me a valuable lesson: never go carelessly poking around at shiny objects, especially when they're buried deep beneath the dirt.
I harvested herbs along the path as we made our way toward the Orichalcum Cave. A few beasts showed themselves during our trek, but the moment they laid eyes on us, they turned tail and bolted. With Ludwig, Ggobongi, and me walking together, our group had sheer numbers on our side—and as the old saying goes, there's no beating a crowd. When nearly every member in the squad was formidable in their own right, no sane predator would dream of approaching.
"Kyuuu! Kyu! Kyu!"
"Ppiiiik!"
"Aigoo, you two, cut it out."
Well, with the exception of our two weakest links, of course. I barely managed to break up a scuffle between Wonmo and Tyrano, who were squabbling tooth and claw over a rabbit they had just managed to snatch. It looked like they had pounced on a fleeing hare together, but bickering like this was going nowhere.
"Keep fighting, and neither of you gets treats today. Understand?"
"Kyuuu..."
"Ppiing..."
After forcing a truce between the little troublemakers, we pressed on toward the cave. Perhaps thanks to the bug repellent I had applied, or maybe because winter was fast approaching, we weren't harassed by swarms of insects along the trail.
Come to think of it... isn't this the Black Chicken's Territory?
I cast a wary glance at our surroundings. If my memory served me right, this stretch of the woods belonged to monstrous black fowl that rivaled Largo in height. I vividly remembered the chaotic chain of events when Wonmo had wandered into their clutches during his bizarre little solo adventure.
I don't see any fresh tracks. Did something happen to them?
Or perhaps they were bunkering down to prepare for the oncoming winter. If that were the case, there was no need to go out of our way to seek them out—or so I thought.
—Cock-a-doodle-doooo!!!
Right on cue, a piercing crow reverberated through the canopy, warning all intruders to back off. They had an uncanny knack for detecting trespassers the moment anyone stepped foot onto their turf.
"Kyuuu!"
At the sound of the screech, Wonmo bolted toward me in a blind panic, latching onto my leg with all four paws. He was clearly still traumatized by his past ordeal. To be fair, being cornered by a mob of giant chicks that towered over you would terrify anyone. If a flock of gargantuan chickens surrounded me, I'd probably wet myself too.
"It's all right, it's okay. There's nobody around."
"Kyuuu... kyuuu..."
"#$%^#?"
Watching Wonmo sniffling in terror, Ludwig tilted his head in confusion. Seeing the cub's violent reaction to a rooster's crow, he must have realized something had happened to the little guy here.
"Yeah," I explained. "Wonmo took a pretty bad beating from some chicks around here before."
"Ch... icks?"
"Baby chickens. The ones that go cheep, cheep."
When I mimicked the chirping sound with hand gestures, Ludwig seemed to piece it together and nodded gravely. I gently patted the trembling owlbear's back as we walked. Tyrano watched the two of us with an inscrutable tilt of its head, but I paid the hatchling no mind.
"We're here."
"Hm."
Before long, we arrived at the entrance of the Orichalcum Cave. Ludwig carefully scrutinized the entrance, which appeared entirely unremarkable from the outside. While he inspected the rock face, I reached into my pack and pulled out the Light Crystal Ball I had received from KingLeor. My eyes might shine in the dark, but nothing beat a proper magical illumination sphere for underground exploration. Besides, there was no guarantee my night vision would activate every single time I entered a dim cavern. What if my eyes only glowed at night, rather than simply in dark places? It was an experiment worth testing.
Tap!
With a couple of brisk taps against the glass, a brilliant radiance burst forth, and the crystal sphere drifted gently up into the air. A faint murmur of admiration escaped Ludwig behind me. According to KingLeor, these enchanted orbs were quite costly.
"All right, let's head in."
"Mm."
"We're leaving Largo out here, right?"
Due to its sheer stature, Largo had to stay outside. One might worry that the giraffe would get spooked and run away, but Ludwig seemed utterly confident in his mount's discipline. Even so, just to be safe, I made a mental note to fashion a proper tether later. The dwarf could probably forge a sturdy hitch for us.
With our preparations complete, I stepped into the subterranean depths with the glowing orb hovering overhead.
Fwaaash!
"Kyuuu! Kyu!"
"Ppiii!"
The instant my boots crossed the threshold into the pitch-black cavern, twin beams of light flared from my eyes, tracking perfectly with my line of sight. It was a bizarre phenomenon, to say the least. The only real consolation was that it didn't strain my vision or cause any pain. Had it hurt, I would have desperately clawed through trial and error to learn how to shut it off.
There might be cave-dwelling creatures sensitive to light, so I'd better stay alert.
Caves were dark by nature, which meant most native fauna either suffered from poor eyesight or had lost their vision entirely to evolutionary atrophy. Then again, this was a fantasy world; some beasts might have evolved supernatural sight instead. Still, their sensitivity to sudden glare wouldn't change.
"We go down this way."
The guide rope I had anchored during my previous visit remained intact. The descent wasn't a sheer cliff, offering plenty of natural footholds along the slope, but I had rigged the line just in case. One slip on these jagged rocks could lead to catastrophic injury.
"Kyu, kyu."
"Ppi, ppi."
Wonmo and Tyrano, taking full advantage of their nimble little frames, hopped merrily down the ledges. Meanwhile, Ludwig, Ggobongi, and I gripped the rope with both hands, picking our footing with deliberate care.
"Hup."
Stepping foot back inside the Orichalcum Cave after so long, I found it as gloomy and cavernous as ever. We had slain the guardian earlier, but to avoid stirring up any latent constructs, I resolved to keep my mana usage to an absolute minimum.
"#%#..."
"Every surface in here is solid orichalcum," I told Ludwig, who was visiting the cavern for the first time. "Take a look."
I gave him a rough breakdown: the entire cave walls were coated in the metal, and he was welcome to harvest as much as he wanted. However, he needed to exercise extreme caution with his mana, lest some unknown terror come clawing out of the dark.
Crunch! Munch! Crunch! Chomp!
"Kyuuu..."
Much like how it had gorged on mithril before, Tyrano immediately began gnawing on chunks of purple ore. Wonmo watched the baby dragon with sheer bewilderment, unable to fathom how anyone could find rocks appetizing. From Tyrano's perspective, this cave was basically an endless buffet of delicious snacks.
I don't see anything glowing down here yet.
Orichalcum was notoriously sensitive to mana, but held little inherent energy of its own. It seemed only dense concentrations of magical power manifested as golden flecks in my vision.
Let's do a quick sweep and head back out—wait, what's that?
Gleam! Sparkle!
Just as I finished verifying the perimeter and prepared to leave, a brilliant shimmer caught my eye behind an enormous orichalcum pillar. The radiance was staggering—far larger than the core we had dug up earlier. For a signature to shine this intensely despite being smothered by mana-absorbent orichalcum, whatever sat behind that column had to harbor an immense reservoir of magic.
Hiss... should I just ignore it?
Curiosity killed the cat. Weighing the risks, marching over there felt like an invitation to disaster. We had barely avoided a brawl with a guardian earlier. Yet, the dazzling glow behind that pillar proved impossible to shake from my mind.
It was best to pool our opinions. I called out to Ludwig, who was examining a chunk of ore in his palm.
"Old man, take a look over there for a second."
"Hm?"
"There's something hidden back there. Should we check it out?"
Our communication remained somewhat clumsy, but between gestures and context, we understood each other well enough. When I pointed toward the dark corner, Ludwig shifted his gaze in that direction. Recognizing that something unusual lay beyond, he fell into brief contemplation. I planned to decide our next move based entirely on his counsel.
"@#."
Presently, Ludwig gave a firm nod, his tone suggesting we should investigate. When I asked if it might be too dangerous, he responded with halting clarity.
"Knowing. Not knowing. Difference. Big."
"..."
There was a massive difference between confronting a known danger and being blindsided by the unknown. That seemed to be the gist of his thought, and it made tactical sense. What truly caught me off guard, however, was how rapidly his Korean had improved in such a short span of time. Were the people and creatures in this world naturally gifted at picking up languages? When I asked him, Ludwig simply shrugged, looking just as bewildered as I was.
Could this be an effect of the Forest of the Four Seasons?
Since the forest's ambient energy struggled to mutate his conditioned physical vessel, was it boosting his intellect instead? It was merely a passing hypothesis, but hardly baseless. After all, I was actively evolving into some kind of mutant monster myself. I'd have to keep a close eye on any further changes. Shaking the thought aside, I readied my gear and took the lead.
There really is space behind this pillar...
A hidden alcove opened up right behind it. Because of the angle and the dense shadow cast by the rock formation, I had never noticed it before. The entire cavern was littered with precious orichalcum, so I had never felt compelled to comb every nook and cranny. The dazzling sheen of the purple ore had captivated my attention back then, leaving blind spots in my search.
Better keep the little ones back just in case.
Gripping my sword and shield, I led the vanguard with Ludwig stepping into position right behind me. Ggobongi could guard Wonmo and Tyrano from the rear. That was our safest formation.
Creeping around the massive pillar, I peered cautiously into the darkness. The hidden hollow was surprisingly vast, revealing a chamber I never would have suspected existed. And resting dead center in that empty expanse...
"...A chest?"
"..."
A single, ornate chest sat completely isolated on the stone floor. What I had perceived through my eyes was this very box; it radiated a golden luster so intense it made my eyes sting. What in the world was a treasure chest doing down here?
Just as the question crossed my mind, Ludwig's voice cut through the stillness, tight and grim.
"Mimic."
"Excuse me?"
"Mimic."
A chill crept down my neck. Ludwig had identified the thing without hesitation. A mimic—a monster that disguised itself as a treasure chest to lure unwary adventurers into its jaws. Now that he pointed it out, finding a pristine chest sitting in the depths of an abandoned orichalcum cavern was suspicious beyond belief.
"What should we do?"
"Hmph..."
Ludwig stroked his chin in thought. Normally, the smartest move would be to turn around and leave it alone. But this was a mimic. Slaying one almost guaranteed a haul of high-value relics. There was no telling what might be locked inside—it could be piles of gold and jewels, or it could be a miraculous elixir. Heaps of bullion didn't mean much to a survivalist like me, but a spiritual elixir was an entirely different story.
And judging by that absurd golden glow, it's definitely not ordinary.
Given the magical radiance spilling from the box, an elixir or a sacred artifact seemed far more likely than mere gold coins. Ludwig seemed to arrive at the same conclusion, giving a heavy, decisive nod. It was time for an extermination. Seeking his tactical experience, I asked, "Do you know how to hunt one of these?"
Ludwig nodded, using succinct words and hand gestures to explain their biology. By nature, a mimic moved at an agonizingly sluggish pace. At its core, the monster was little more than an overgrown lump of flesh squeezed inside a container, making its locomotion pathetic. In return, however, its tongue was lightning-fast and incredibly dexterous, often whipping out to snatch away an adventurer's weapon before they could react.
Because of this, ranged combat was mandatory. And as luck would have it, I possessed a mid-to-long-range attack using aura.
"So you're saying I should pelt it from a distance with aura?"
"Correct."
"Hang back for a second."
Now that we had a strategy, all that remained was execution. I signaled Ludwig and the pets to step back, then focused on circulating the mana through my pathways.
Vwoooom!
A blinding pillar of energy surged from the tip of my blade. Perhaps thanks to absorbing the Pumpkin Jack's inner core, the luminous club looked even more colossal than before. When on earth am I going to learn a proper Aura Blade instead of this glowing battering ram?
Swallowing my lament, I stepped forward and treated my aura like a fencing foil, lightly prodding the chest to provoke it. To dispatch a mimic cleanly, it was far more effective to stir the fleshy interior rather than smashing the durable outer casing to pieces.
Poke. Tap, tap.
"Grrrrrr..."
A menacing growl rumbled from the seam of the lid after a few taps. It was definitely a mimic. Time to poke the hornet's nest a little harder. I thrust the aura tip right into the lid's crevice. Unable to endure the harassment any longer, the monstrosity finally snapped.
Schwipp! Crack!
First, a pair of long, sinewy arms burst out from beneath the slightly parted lid. Then—
Squelch! Thud!
From the bottom of the wooden chest, two thick, hyper-muscular legs sprouted and slammed into the stone floor. Its proportions were horrifyingly reminiscent of the Mushroom Man we had encountered weeks ago. Before my brain could even process the absurdity of a treasure chest with bodybuilder limbs, a massive, dripping tongue whipped out into the open, framed by rows of serrated, needle-like fangs lining the box's rim.
"KRAAAAAAAAH!"
"..."
The roar blasted a shower of foul, corrosive saliva across the alcove. The others were safely positioned behind me, meaning I took the entire spray of vile drool right to the face.
"...Old man."
"..."
"Do mimics normally have legs?"
Before Ludwig could formulate an answer, the creature bellowed again.
"KRAAAAUGH!"
Dropping onto all fours, the muscular mimic bounded forward like a rabid predator. Contrary to every claim about them being agonizingly slow, this four-legged nightmare sprinted toward us with the terrifying speed of a cheetah.
"Aaaaagh!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Kyuaaaak!"
"Ppiiiiiiik!"
Forget the strategy—run!
While the expedition party was running for their lives inside the Orichalcum Cave...
"Cheep! Cheep!"
"Cheep! Cheep!"
"Cheeeep! Cheep!"
"..."
Outside the cavern entrance, Largo found himself completely surrounded by an army of giant chicks.