"At times like this, I wish she hadn't called the spell mediocre…" Ryan muttered, sidling sideways between the bear's body and the cave wall to reach the tunnel network.
Its body expanded and contracted with his heavy breathing, making Ryan's face turn pale, while the slave beside him trembled so much he looked like he might faint at any moment. It was like swimming in the open sea surrounded by sharks, certainly not a pleasant experience for any sensible person.
Slowly, he made it to the other side and quickly scanned the surroundings. "Well… there's certainly plenty of rock." The slave caught up to him and immediately dropped to his knees, covered in cold sweat.
"I never want to do that again…" he said, drawing a laugh from Ryan. "Never again…"
"Be grateful he's asleep and move fast, because he's going to wake up." He pressed deeper into the cave. "Oh, and you'll have to pass through there again on the way back. So get ready." The slave cursed under his breath.
Moving deeper into the cave.
Ryan soon frowned, none of this felt natural. The farther he walked, the wider the tunnels became, and the hotter it grew. Before long, the walls began to display a variety of gleaming minerals. More than that, he soon noticed diamonds and sapphires, as well as clusters of metal and copper everywhere.
Precious stones and metals were as common as grass here.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered in disbelief. "How can there be diamonds here? Didn't those only form deep underground? And weren't they extremely rare?" He crouched down with a curious expression, finding loose diamonds scattered across the ground, like apples falling from a fruit-laden tree. His face frowned and suddenly lit up, as he swallowed hard before reaching out to grab one of them, but then he looked ahead.
A stone lizard strolled calmly in front of him, opened its mouth, and swallowed the diamond. Then it walked away, carefree. Ignoring Ryan's terrified face before him.
"You damn beast!" Ryan grabbed it by the neck. "Spit that out! That's mine!" He struggled with the creature for a few moments when suddenly its eyes began to glow intensely and then bursted into radiance, burning Ryan's eyes.
He dropped the animal and fell onto his back. It immediately ran off, panicked yet oddly cheerful, mocking Ryan with an almost human smile... until a blade came down and sliced its neck.
"Are you alright?" the slave asked, but Ryan only waved him off, stifling groans of pain as he leaned over on the ground. When he opened his eyes again, they were so red they resembled the rubies around them, drawing a muffled chuckle from the slave.
"It was on the list." The slave handed him the lizard, trying not to laugh.
"Good thing it was," Ryan nodded and then laughed sadistically, and soon they continued forward.
Ryan kept observing the environment as he walked through the caves, mapping it out using a notebook and pencil he had found in the apothecary's bag. His mind was already forming new plans. After all, once he dealt with this unexpected situation, his pursuers would return as the main threat, and this would likely be his best escape route.
An unknown path through the mountains was certainly ideal.
The animals also caught his attention due to their alien appearance and their relationship with minerals. Many of them fed on these materials, while others used them to form armor or traps. The entire ecosystem depended on them in some way.
Lost in thought, Ryan nearly lost his hand to a spider lurking in the tunnels. It made him stop instantly, frowning. The spider hadn't attacked or even threatened him, he hadn't even known it was there until that moment.
Even so, he had almost lost a limb.
How?
It had crafted a unique trap with its threads, each strand made of diamonds. They were extremely thin, nearly invisible, and incredibly sharp. The only reason he stopped just a step before the trap was the faint traces of blood around it, left by previous victims.
He snorted and dealt with the spider, circling around its trap.
Soon after, he went after some of the many mutant insects in the area. Their shells were made of whatever metal they found around, granting them near-absolute defense if composed of titanium.
Still, that defense wasn't what caught his attention…
Ryan clenched his teeth after finding a corridor filled with them. Coordinating with the slave, he tried to assault them. The result was terrible. The damned metal crabs could heat metal inside their bodies and then spit it out with explosive force, like bullets of magma.
They had to dodge hundreds of these shots to slowly approach, and whenever they got too close, the creatures would hide inside their metallic shells, forming an impenetrable defense. Earning a frustrated kick and a barrage of curses from Ryan.
To be fair, the slave also cursed quite a bit after a few attempts. Making Ryan question whether he was a bad influence... the conclusion he reached was not very pleasant.
Eventually, Ryan targeted those with gold shells, a weaker material, or ones that were rusted, and slowly deformed the metal until cracks appeared, sealing the creatures' fate.
With a relieved sigh, they resumed their search.
After hours of walking through the tunnels, believing they had seen everything the place had to offer, and having already gathered most of the materials, something unusual caught their attention.
No, to say that it caught their attention is an understatement.
Ryan narrowed his eyes, and the slave began to tremble uncontrollably, both stopping abruptly.
Their minds were filled with countless thoughts. Ryan armed himself, fearing a calamity. And the slave gave thanks for the blessing before them.
The anomaly took over their minds.
"A gate?" Ryan murmured. Accustomed to seeing only stones, metals, and jewels.
"Th-that… that can't be!" the slave nearly shouted. His reaction was completely abnormal. "I can't believe there's one of these here!" He ran ahead of Ryan and stopped in front of the massive gate.
A grand, ornate gate was guarded by two statues draped in heavy cloaks, their faces hidden in deep shadow. They held stone tablets with unknown inscriptions, leaning over them as if they were immensely precious. The entire scene felt mysterious and sacred, especially when one noticed the intricate details of each statue, worthy of a master sculptor.
"Hahaha, that's it!" the slave began to laugh in sheer amazement, overwhelmed with inexplicable euphoria. "You don't know what this is?" he asked, but Ryan didn't know how to respond. The slave didn't wait for an answer and continued.
"Many ancient and powerful masters have no one to pass their legacy to, so they create places like this to select a worthy heir. If you enter and pass the trials, you gain unimaginable wealth, influence, and power!" He turned back to the gate. "Passing one of these trials is the dream of everyone."
Sensing their presence, a change occurred.
Suddenly, the statues began to glow. The shadows concealing their faces faded as radiant light shone from their eyes. Ryan watched in shock as the tunnel trembled, debris falling all around, and the statues straightened their posture.
Standing tall and looking deep into their eyes, they opened their mouths and spoke in a deep, resonant voice. "I see that at last my will is to be fulfilled... I have long awaited you, Lost Son of Summer. Or should I call you Bastard of Winter? Or perhaps, the Rightful Son of Twilight?" The statues laughed with amusement, making Ryan shudder. "At last, the future draws near and the final destiny unfolds. But one thing still remains…" The statues looked at Ryan.
"Bring the last participant. Only when there are three shall my challenge begin."