YM778.TV Chapter 33 - The Tunnel
With that being said we all decided to hasten the tunneling and after a large enough hole was made I called it good for now and had the others hurry and crowd into the hole while the snake created a wall behind us. After a few minutes we here a loud bang and muffled voices. I have Howy go up and try to get a better sense of what was being said because I knew it was the big guy from before and a few other goons. But I wanted more info to decide whether we should hurry and dig as fast as possible with no regards to safety or we have time to take it slow.
"There is a tough sounding voice saying how pissed he is that the dragon killed his friend, he also is going to torture you and then skin you to make a cloak in his honor. The other 3 voices are either agreeing or offering words of encouragement. I\'m gonna guess these guys are just lackeys and the big ones the boss. It looks like they have no idea about us digging a new tunnel, they just thought that the wall was made to give us more time to run away down a random tunnel."
With that I have Kitsoma give us some light after finding out she can also use fire magic. "Great work Howy, now listen everyone we have some leeway time wise so lets use this to quickly but quietly keep digging, I want 2 teams of the earth users that way you guys can take shifts. Now my I know I didn\'t have time to say this before but my name is Vexsus yes I am a variant dragon but by no means does that automatically make me powerful. I was born a runt, I have earned what little power I have, all I ask is that we remain as quiet and calm as possible until we reach outside."
At this time the mole came up to me. "Nice to meet ya just call me Digger, but hey besides that listen, when I was scouting around I sensed a huge opening near us that could be a good resting spot it felt like it opened up but if we dig towards it we could potentially have an unknown cave that exits out somewhere away from the humans."
"Vexsus I don\'t think that is such a good idea." I turned to look at Kitsoma. "And why would that be? If its as Digger says than we could save valuable manpower and instead take our time with a base of operations to search from." She nodded but still kept a firm look in her eyes. "That may be but we are so close to an underground slavers auction site don\'t you think that the slavers would have already known about this. Humans may be horrible creatures but they are incredibly intelligent aswell, They would have already scouted out the earth around the site to avoid potential dangers."
That did make sense to me thinking that if I was a leader of an illegal trade I would want as little interference as possible. I smiled after giving it some thought. "You are right that is why we will dig into the cave." I said with a confident smile. I heard audible gasps and a few quieted voices asking why and others saying that it was suicide while others yet were questioning if I was in my right mind.
The harpy spoke up after this. "quiet down you idiots and let him finish, He is more cunning than suicidal moron." I thanked her with a quick nod before speaking again. "Listen we know they are looking for us solely because we are a big lump of money to them, they would go out of their way to capture us again aslong as they could still make money off of our suffering. We just need to lead them on a wild goose chase which the cave would be perfect for and we can even leave the entrance we dig open to think that we abandoned the new tunnel altogether while in reality we just sealed it up again like we did at the start."
After a while of processing what I was telling them I started to hear a chuckle from my right. It was the Armadillo Demihuman Sondar. "hahaha for a second I thought you were crazy but after hearing the rest of the plan I think we should do it. It would be a good chance for some of us to decide whether to stick around or take their chances in escaping through the cave. I have noticed a few of you in the crowd that are starting to get a negative outlook on Vexsus even after he got rid of your collars and came up with this whole plan, That\'s why I\'ve decided to help him by weeding out the bad apples so to speak."
Taking a look around the group I could see a few faces that indeed started staring at me and were sending off some negative vibes. I didn\'t care why they were like that but what Sondar said was a great idea, I didn\'t need people who would be a potential traitor down the road. I needed companions, followers, who would listen to me and help me grow stronger. That was the end goal and I found a few candidates right here.
"Ok lets do it then earth users if you please lets hurry up and get to the cave. Digger please guide them quickly so we can discard these bad apples as Sondar has called them as soon as possible." The group starts to get a little agitated but I quickly speak up again. "Ok as of now I can sense some hostility but let me just say this if you feel slighted in any way then please just hold off till we get to the cave from what Digger said its a fairly large cave so if any of you want to your more than welcome to try and kill me there or you can take the easy way and leave the group from there I will not however allow you to continue in my escape plan from then on. Miss Kitsoma and Mr. Sondar I will rely on you to help me keep an eye on some of the more unruly elements until then."
The two of them nod and after another hour of tension filled tunneling we finally exit into the cave which after a short look around was actually bigger than what Digger said. It was a cave that was used as a storage for the humans but it appeared to be abandoned. "See I told you Vexsus, this cave is already well know by the humans."
"Yes, I know, and I trusted your word but I don\'t plan on going any further than this room. If you can find some flammable materials and set up some torches I have a feeling that I am about to be busy." I say the last part as I spot a group of 5 demihumans start approaching me from the back of the group. A stout looking orc approached me and even seemed to tower over me when he got closer.
"Ok we are here so lets fight. I don\'t think your strong enough to lead anybody, like you said you were a runt. I think I am the best choice for leading us to safety."
"Fair enough but first what\'s your name." I ask not really caring but only stalling for time to analyze his body better.
"My name isn\'t important to a dead beast such as yourself." He snorts as he replies. I only shake my head and start to walk towards one side of the room before turning around and nodding towards him to do the same to the other side.
"Ok group this is the rules. I will fight you one on one should anybody intervene the match will be forfeit and so will the lives of the perpetrators. Got it? Thats the only rule so after Kitsoma says go we will fight." I say towards the crowd and with Kitsoma in the center between us she looks at us both before shooting me a worried look. I shake my head towards the side giving her the signal to move back.
"FIGHT!"
The orc rushes at me with a plank of wood he found laying on the ground. \'What a sneaky bastard he found a weapon haha good.\' I smile seeing this and after he reaches about halfway I shoot a small stream of concentrated smoke into his face.
\'Cough\' \'Cough\' "You cheating bastard face me with honor." \'Cough\' \'Cough\'
I start to circle the idiot orc. "You moron you said you wanted to kill me, what makes you think I will face you head on. I know orcs are known for their strength so I\'m going to do my best to stay far away from arms reach. Dumbass" I shout as I send 2 Shadow strikes from behind hitting his broad back with one and the back of his left knee with the other making him kneel.
He growls with anger and I see a faint reddish glow cover his otherwise brownish skin and he rockets off the ground in my direction. I was shocked at the speed and was unable to dodge in time as his huge body slams into mine and sends me flying to crash into the wall. The wall behind me was slightly cracked at the impact and I choked up blood but quickly got up and ran towards the still blinded orc. Not wanting to fool around anymore I activated my buff skill and using Mana Manipulation I covered myself in a large layer of mana before slamming into the orc.
[User has created skill: Mana body slam]
[User has gained 2 Intelligence points from creating new skill by using a maxed out skill related to Mana]
Pushing the new pop-ups to the side I follow the now flying body and as it impacts the wall with a greater impact than when it happened to me. I use Lightning Muscles and concentrate the power in my arms and then I use Shadow Strike again but this time when I slash the electricity wrapped around my claws and upon impact with the orc it shot out and into the orcs body sending it into mass convulsions as it was being electrocuted.
[User has created skill: Lightning Slash]
Foam had started to come from its mouth as steam was slowly escaping from its ears as its insides were being cooked. I had essentially created a makeshift orc microwave, and let me tell you my mouth was watering as it had been a good minute since I ate.
[User has entered a state of hunger. Suggested action: Eat]
\'No Shit System, never would have guessed that eating would solve this problem. what\'s next maybe sleeping would cure how tired I get at night?\'
[User is recommended to refrain from using sarcasm towards System]
???? \'The hell is the system sentient?\' Before I delve down that rabbit hole the smell of freshly cooked orc wraps my mind up and before I knew it I was digging in and started devouring the corpse right in front of the others without a care in the world.
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[Smoke Stream] 3 -> 4
[Shadow Strike] 6 -> 8
[Electric scales of Vitality] 4 -> 5
[Mana Body Slam] lvl 0 0/10 - Using Mana manipulation to cover the body, The User then charges and slams into opponent.
Intelligence 1 -> 3
[Lightning Muscles] 1 -> 2
[Lightning Slash] lvl 0 0/10 - By coating claws in electricity the user can slash forward and electrocute enemies causing paralysis.