The Cavern of the Blood Dwellers
A distant cry echoed through the tunnels. It was the desperate, piercing screech of a cockatrice. But the sound didn’t draw any closer. After thrashing around in a frenzy for a while, the creature gradually moved away, its cries fading into the distance.
Roa’s eyes flashed with a momentary golden glow.
Future Sight
“It worked,” she said softly.
The plan to scare the cockatrice using a mirror had been a success.
The cockatrice had been returning from its casual stroll near the dungeon entrance when it spotted something far down the tunnel. It was another cockatrice—one that looked exactly like itself. It immediately recognized this sudden intruder as a rival. And this rival was even larger than it was.
The cockatrice screamed and threatened the newcomer for a long time. But when the “rival” mirrored its every threatening gesture with perfect precision, the creature grew terrified and retreated. Most animals react similarly when shown a mirror. Though a monster, the cockatrice had the brain of a chicken. We’d bought ourselves some time.
We continued our descent and eventually reached the very bottom of the dungeon. Dungeon Seeker Bori, who had been glancing left and right, crossed his arms and spoke.
“There’s no path forward from here.”
“Look, footprints,” Roa said, her sharp eyes catching the marks on the ground.
When Bori shone his Seer Lantern on them, the footprints became clearly visible.
“These are…”
“They lead downward.”
We followed the trail. Soon we discovered a wide hole leading into an open vertical space below. For a moment, we stood speechless, staring into the cavern.
An underground cave system. Sometimes, while digging tunnels for mining, you accidentally connect with naturally formed caves. The results are rarely good. The monsters living in those caves usually crawl upward and turn the area into a dungeon—like this abandoned dwarf mine we’d entered.
Vertical clusters of fungi stretched from ceiling to floor. Broad platforms sprouted from them, looking almost like ladders. This place was practically a closed ecosystem. Fungi thrived here, glowing mushrooms bloomed, insects and worms crawled about, and various animals made their homes.
“Over there,” Roa said, spotting something with her keen eyes.
“There are footprints.”
Clear tracks were imprinted on the soft fungal mycelium. They looked fresh. There was only one person who could have passed through here.
“Arin…” Maya murmured, her voice barely audible.
“My brother’s footprints are here too,” Bori said with a grin after spotting the dwarf tracks.
That settled it. Arin and Doran were still alive. At the very least, we wouldn’t be collecting corpses.
The party’s mood instantly brightened. Knowing we were getting closer to our goal gave everyone a surge of energy.
“Let’s head down.”
We formed a line and descended into the cave. Untouched by human hands, it was dark and eerie. Without the occasional glowing fungal clusters floating like lanterns, we wouldn’t have dared explore it.
“This is perfect…” Maya muttered in a dreamy voice. “It’s an ideal place to obtain the Essence of the Earth.”
An underground space cut off from the surface for a long time. Just as the cockatrice had gained its petrification ability, beings close to the earth tend to take on its properties.
“It must be a stroke of luck for the dwarves. If they can just clear out the monsters, all the minerals buried in these caves would belong to them.”
Maya’s reasoning made sense. Without monsters, every resource in this vast cavern would become part of the mine. It was a golden opportunity to harvest rare ores.
Of course, that was only possible after driving the monsters out.
“Hold up,” I said, stopping the party.
Bori’s Seer Lantern glowed blue. Roa held her breath and whispered.
“Something’s moving. Quite a lot of them.”
We lowered our stance and advanced quietly. As we neared the valley, we spotted a group of creatures. Or rather, I wasn’t sure if they could even be called creatures.
“Kiaaaaaao!”
Hunched, pale-skinned cavemen were brandishing crude stone tools and letting out battle cries. The blood dwellers wore crudely made masks on their faces—if you could even call hardened, dried animal corpses masks.
“They look like caveman hunters,” I observed.
The blood dwellers, wrapped in rags, were locked in a fierce struggle against a giant spider. The spider, covered in thick white fur, swung its front legs threateningly at the cavemen.
“Kyaaaaaooo!”
They should have been scared enough to run, but instead the cavemen roared and surrounded the spider. Ignorance is courage, they say. I felt a primitive bravery I’d never sense from civilized people.
The giant spider launched itself at supernatural speed, pouncing on one of the cavemen. Like a wolf biting into a sheep’s neck, it leaped through the air and sank its fangs into the caveman’s throat.
Crunch!
Well. Courage is courage, but it doesn’t stop teeth.
What stops a spider’s fangs is expensive plate armor. And very expensive armor at that.
“Krruuugh…”
Taking advantage of their comrade’s death, the cavemen swung their clubs. It was a precious attack window bought with a life.
One man burst out from among the cavemen. With astonishing leaping power, he soared through the air and landed on the spider’s back. The enraged spider thrashed wildly. Several cavemen were slashed by its sharp claws and collapsed, bleeding. But the masked man clung on, digging his hands into the spider’s white fur like hooks.
The masked man crawled desperately until he reached the spider’s neck. He pulled out a crude blade that looked like the pinnacle of primitive technology. For any insect, the neck is a vital point where all nerves converge.
With a roar, the masked man struck the spider’s neck.
Thud!
The giant spider convulsed and died on the spot.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
The cavemen surrounded the dead spider’s corpse and cheered. Bori, who had been watching from hiding, spoke in a low voice.
“There are still enemies left.”
Even though the giant spider had fallen, the light from his Seer Lantern hadn’t faded. The party members exchanged glances. The only visible enemies were the cavemen. Did we have to kill them?
That was when Bori looked up at the ceiling.
“Not below… above…”
The sound of cavemen footsteps echoed.
“Shit, it’s those bastards.”
I signaled the party, and everyone drew their weapons. It was the same group that had rolled boulders at us and caused a ruckus when we first entered the dungeon! They were returning home and had run into our party.
“Wait! Everyone calm down.”
“Calm down?”
“The cavemen aren’t our enemies. We can communicate with them.”
“…Have you forgotten who buried your brother?”
“Let me talk to them. Fighting would only hurt both sides.”
I had no idea what was going on. Bori stepped forward bravely to the front of the party. Moments later, the caveman squad appeared. The moment they spotted Bori, they shouted and drew their weapons.
I knew it.
The instant I pulled the saw-toothed blade from my back sheath—
“Auwaaklaklook!”
…Bori let out some astonishing sounds with perfect pronunciation.
Here, the only person who could communicate with the cavemen was Bori.
“Wauklaklool?”
“Wararallu!”
“…”
Shit. What the hell are they saying?
Bori calmly continued his conversation with the cavemen. Seeing him like this, I had to admit that Dungeon Seekers were truly impressive. Even though it had been a misunderstanding, suggesting reconciliation with people who had attacked us first was something a fake explorer like me could never learn even if I died and came back to life.
“Good news. They’re willing to talk.”
“What are they saying?”
“They apologize for attacking us. They had offerings placed at an altar honoring their ancestral gods, but humans from the surface stole them, so they got angry.”
“So it was those raiders’ doing.”
“One hundred percent. I told them to search the raiders’ corpses.”
Once communication was established, the exchange flowed freely. Bori asked the cavemen to help search for the missing people. With their numbers, they should be able to find the two without much difficulty.
But Bori’s expression darkened as he spoke with them.
“What’s wrong? Is something not working out?”
“Well… they say we have to hide because the cockatrice is roaming around. It seems the cavemen are also suffering because of that monster.”
“Makes sense. For them, turning to stone would be game over.”
Unlike our party with its alchemists, the moment the cavemen were hit with the petrification curse, they’d be finished. From what I gathered, the cavemen called the cockatrice the “Demon of the Earth” and feared it immensely.
“They say they’ll guide us to their village first, so we should follow…”
“Let’s go. We’ll have to stay underground anyway if we want to find Arin and Doran.”
The caveman squad exchanged a few words with the hunters who had been fighting the giant spider. Bori faithfully translated from the side.
“They say the tribe’s greatest warrior has left to hunt the cockatrice…”
“Who’s hunting who, exactly?”
“You never know. They might actually succeed.”
I just hoped he wouldn’t end up as a statue.
After joining with the hunters, the number of cavemen exceeded twenty. With so many bodies around, even the darkness didn’t feel as frightening. The party members, their morale inexplicably boosted, walked with more vigor than before.
After walking for some time, Roa suddenly stopped.
“An explosion…”
“Huh?”
“I heard an explosion. It sounded like a potion detonating.”
Both Maya and Bori widened their eyes at the same time. In a dungeon, there was only one class that could create the sound of an exploding potion.
An alchemist.
“It’s Arin!”
We sprinted toward the source of the sound. The cavemen looked confused for a moment, then began running after us in a rush.
Our separated party members weren’t far away.
Arin and Doran had been following the cavemen without any idea what was happening. When they reached a suitable clearing, the cavemen spoke to Doran.
“Give us your blessing.”
“My… blessing?”
“We face a great battle ahead. We need the protection of the Queen of Fire.”
Doran glanced back at Arin. The innocent red-haired girl was sitting on a rock, swinging her legs, completely unaware of anything. Arin had no idea what the Queen of Fire was. She didn’t know what the sun god Quas was either.
In the ancient myths of the Crafolt Kingdom, there appears a queen appointed by the sun god Quas as ruler of the surface. In the myths, she is called the “Queen of Fire.” Simply put, she was both the supreme leader and the religious head.
‘The myths of the Crafolt Kingdom have remained in the lives of these cavemen. Just who are these people…?’
The cavemen gathered the remains of giant mushrooms and built an altar of fire. Then they gestured to Arin.
“Huh? Me?”
“The cavemen want the blessing of fire. It seems all you need to do is light the fire for them.”
“It’s not difficult, but…”
Arin took out the flame powder she had prepared in advance and sprinkled it on the altar. With a slight infusion of mana, flames roared up from the altar.
“Ooooooh!”
The cavemen all knelt at once and shouted. To them, Arin’s alchemy must have looked like divine power. In reality, it was the result of stubbornly carrying around luggage despite getting scolded by Hajun.
“So when are we going back?”
“I’m not sure. These are outstanding warriors. They wouldn’t be wandering around without reason…”
“We’ve done everything they asked. Tell them to show us the way out now.”
Doran scratched his head and approached the caveman warrior. Except for the one who seemed to be the leader, the other warriors were circling the altar and dancing. They kept bringing more firewood from somewhere to feed the flames. The fire grew to an enormous size.
“We should probably head back soon…”
The caveman warrior shook his head. Doran swallowed dryly. A bad feeling crept over him.
‘Don’t tell me…’
“We will slay the Demon of the Earth. The Demon of the Earth is the messenger of the Earth God. But we have the messenger of the Sun God with us.”
“W-wait a minute. We don’t know how to fight! We’re just scholars!”
Doran spoke urgently, but the caveman warrior calmly pointed at the flames.
“Someone who can create flames like that claims they cannot fight?”
“That’s… to make that fire, you need something called a Wildfire Potion…”
While they were talking, the underground monsters began appearing, drawn by the light. To the creatures of the depths, light was always mesmerizing. Giant spiders, earthworms, and bug-type monsters of unknown origin.
Arin jumped in surprise and ran to Doran.
“What is this? What’s going to happen to us?”
If it had been Hajun, he would have said, ‘What do you mean what’s going to happen? We’re screwed.’ But the kind-hearted Dungeon Seeker Doran tried his best to calm Arin down.
“Please calm down. Those cavemen are…”
“They lit a fire and now monsters are coming! Shouldn’t we put it out?”
Black shadows loomed. The monsters were gathering.
And at that very moment—
Kwooooooooh!
A sound that shook the entire cave. A horrifying cry like the roar of a demon from hell rang out. Arin and Doran froze in place.
The caveman warriors shouted with all their strength.
“Auuuuuu!”
The monsters that had gathered toward the light slowly backed away. No one would dare block the master of the dungeon. Cutting through the darkness, the owner of the Sokoban abandoned mine appeared.
The cockatrice had arrived.