"What is it?"
"It's a Slaw."
"Alright." Yuuki hesitated slightly. "What's a Slaw?"
Rino hesitated slightly. "I…don't actually know. I know it's a Slaw, though."
The pair stare at the offending obstruction to their path. It looked like a…it was kinda like…it had a…
…it was a Slaw.
Yuuki frowned. "Is…is it alive?"
Rino bent down and picked up a small rock. She proceeded to chuck the rock at one of the Slaw's faces. The rock simply bounced off the Slaw and clattered to the ground.
"I…don't think so?"
The Slaw in front of them made a squelching noise.
"Maybe."
The pair stood in silence for a while.
"So…" Yuuki huffed. "How do we get past it? It's blocking the path we need to follow."
Rino wracked her brain for a solution.
"There are creatures in here known as Tranquil Erda." She said. "They're very mysterious creatures, much smarter than the Erdas on the surface. They even wear clothes and carry lanterns, which are even said to move on their own."
"I'm sensing a 'but'."
"But…" She continued. "…they carry around a fuel for their lanterns: Tranquil Solvent. It can be used to dissolve the Slaw."
Yuuki sighed. Everywhere he went it was always "collect this", "kill that", and "I'm hungry, buy me a dozen eggs". Everywhere he went.
"Alright, where can I find one of these Tranquil Erdas?" He asked.
Rino pointed deeper into the cave. "I believe they make their homes among the stone pillars, where the energy of the lake above is the most concentrated."
Yuuki heaved another sigh.
"Alright." He said. "I'll track down and get some of this solvent. You stay here. In fact…"
Yuuki pulled out his bag and fished out something: a small, palm-sized object dotted with a button here and a small dial there. In the center was a small screen.
"This is an emergency beacon. I thought I wouldn't need one since I have my phone, but it's useful now." He handed the device to Rino. "Try to contact the others. I'm not expecting much because of the cave's magic, but with Xenon working on it even a weak signal could be tracked down."
Rino nodded slowly.
"I'll come back here in a little bit. If I'm not back in an hour…" He hesitated. "…hopefully I'll be back in an hour."
It was a solid ten minutes before Yuuki managed to locate the Tranquil Erda in their…nest.
Just like the Happy Erdas the party had encountered on the surface, the Tranquil Erdas seemed to simply stand in a large, unmoving group. Yuuki wasn't quite sure what they were doing; sleeping while standing didn't seem to make much sense, if they even needed sleep to begin with.
The gathering of Erdas was quite visible as it radiated a soft, green glow thanks to the collection of lanterns that sat on the ground next to the Erdas. They were all identical: round, wicker-like cages surrounding an unseen light source. Rino had said the lanterns moved on their own, and that kind of magic wasn't uncommon in Maple World, but it usually implied some sort of possession by a spirit, which bothered Yuuki a bit. He was never good at dealing with ghosts.
Yuuki hid stealthily- or as stealthily as you can get when you're more of a slice-and-dice kind of fighter wearing decently heavy armor- behind one of the stone pillars, and pulled out his phone.
He swore under his breath when Xenon's app finally spat out an 80. Back in the Extinction Zone he had Liuva to help defeat the monsters until they got lucky enough to find another one of those little magic stone-dealies, but it was still tough work. After some fighting and gathering the two had managed to get themselves up to a solid 60, despite the fact that neither of them actually knew what the hell those little rock-things were or why they boosted their power in nice round increments of 10 like they did.
He watched from behind the pillar as one of the Erdas picked up its lantern and wandered away from the group. That was a stroke of luck; he didn't want to think of having to deal with multiple opponents under these conditions. He quietly sprinted in pursuit, running alone the rogue Erda's path and approaching it ever so slightly.
Yuuki made a misstep onto a nearby glowing mushroom, which sunk into the ground with a wet sound. The warrior whipped himself behind a pillar and held his breath. The Tranquil Erda turned, slowly, towards the sound. Seeing nothing, it turned back and continued meandering along to wherever it was going.
'How does Rondo do this all the time?' Yuuki thought to himself. 'I should get him to teach me that Dark Sight thing when I get back…'
Yuuki continued creeping behind his target. Taking a deep breath and wishing to himself that he had been an archer instead, Yuuki concentrated his power into his palm, held it out, and cast the new spell he had created.
Erda Nova.
A bright blue ball of light shot out of his open palm. The Tranquil Erda turned itself around just as the spell hit its mark. The creature was frozen in time where it stood.
Yuuki didn't spare a second; he leapt out from his hiding place and refocused his energy into the tip of his blade, which formed into a glowing red orb. He swung the blade over his head and onto the Erda. The orb erupted into a column of red energy.
The Erda began to shake and move around, causing Yuuki to curse; the spell was wearing off faster than he anticipated. He quickly swung his blade in a powerful, diagonal strike made to puncture enemy defenses.
As his blade connected, the Erda broke free of the spell and let loose a squeal. It swung its lantern at the warrior, to which Yuuki was able to narrowly dodge. The Erda swung the lantern in the opposite direction. Yuuki quickly parried the stick- which was surprisingly strong for such a thin-looking twig- and grit his teeth.
His blade became surrounded with a black smoke and, loosening his grip slightly, he swung the blade down. The sword cut through the Erda with some difficulty, and smoke began to flow from where the blade had connected. A move designed to blind opponents when in a tight situation- Panic.
Yuuki immediately stepped back and let loose a Shout. The Erda stumbled backwards slightly; blind, confused, injured. Yuuki pointed his blade at the offending creature and charged. His blade stabbed cleanly, and the Erda screeched one last cry of pain.
Yuuki pulled his sword out as the Tranquil Erda vanished into blue sand. The rags the creature had been wearing and the green-glowing lantern it had been carrying fell unceremoniously to the floor.
Yuuki let out a large sigh and hunched down to catch his breath. He couldn't quit now, he needed that solvent to get out of the cave.
And so, feeling somewhat undignified, partially rude, and somewhat disgusted, Yuuki began digging through the Erda's clothes. In a stroke of luck, he managed to find not just a small, crudely-made container filled with a green liquid which Yuuki assumed was the solvent, but also another one of those shiny power-up rocks in one of the folds of the clothes.
But something felt…wrong. Yuuki's eye's narrow, and he gripped the hilt of his blade tight. He heard a clanking noise, and quickly summersaulted forward before twisting around to face his opponent…the lantern.
The lantern had begun to float eerily in the air and pulse rhythmically. Before Yuuki could do anything, the lantern pulsed brighter than before and shot out a blob of green energy directly towards the warrior who had attacked its master. Yuuki tried to roll out of way, but the attack clipped him on the back of his shoulder. Yuuki hissed in pain.
With one hand covering his fresh wound, he used his free hand to swing his blade around. The slice connected, and despite the Erda having been powerful, the lantern itself crunched on contact. The lantern flashed green, and then died completely, leaving behind an empty husk which quickly began dissolving into white sand.
Yuuki grunted and inspected the damage. The attack had ruptured part of his armor and there was a nasty gash on his left shoulder, but it wasn't life threatening. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a red potion and yanked the cork out with his teeth. Spitting the cork to the side, he took a long swig from the bottle.
Only to cry out in pain and almost choke on the liquid. His gash burned the second the potion touched his lips. He spat out the potion and let out a stream of curses to get over the pain.
"Potion locking". Magic imbued in an attack to prevent easy healing. Annoying, but not impossible to deal with.
Wincing, Yuuki quickly cast Hero's Will to dispel the effects of the curse. Feeling satisfied after being surrounded by the yellow glow of the spell, he took another swig of the potion.
He still gagged, but it was because of the taste this time, not the pain. He watched as the gash began to heal itself rapidly, leaving no trace of the wound at all.
Deciding to rest for a bit, Yuuki curiously held the bottle of solvent up to his nose and took a sniff.
"All that for this." He said, immediately regretting his decision. "Ugh, I want a nap."
Yuuki found Rino exactly where he left her; standing in front of the Slaw. He smiled at her and shook the bottle of solvent proudly. Rino grinned and nodded.
Yuuki popped the bottle open and stood in front of the Slaw. He cautiously tipped a few drops onto the creature.
Yuuki froze. It was quiet, almost unnoticeable, but he heard a voice. It wasn't a human voice, and it was very brief, but it sounded like someone crying out "no!"
And it sounded like it came from the Slaw.
Yuuki hesitated. He looked back at Rino, who urged him on. Yuuki glanced at the Slaw itself. The expressions on the creature hadn't changed at all.
Yuuki shut his eyes, and proceeded to dump the contents of the bottle onto the Slaw.
Peeking through one half-open eye, Yuuki watched as the creature shriveled up like a slug under salt. As the Slaw disappeared, it made a sound, like a cross between sand falling over a cliff and a voice wailing for help.
"Nice work!" Rino cheered. "Let's get out of here."
The girl walked past the warrior, through the cave path that led to the exit. Yuuki frowned, but followed shortly after.
After a brief walk, the cave branched into two different paths. Yuuki could hear the roar of the waterfall, which must have meant they were close to the end of the lake.
Rino paused for a moment and scanned the two paths in front of them. Her eyes drifted towards the path on the left, and she pointed towards it.
"There." She said. "The exit is right up ahead."
Yuuki grinned. He had a cool adventure, even if the cave was a bit dangerous. He had to show the others some time.
Yuuki marched towards the new path.
"Stop!"
Yuuki froze.
Yuuki turned.
Standing behind the two of them, sporting a series of cuts and bruises and nursing a wounded arm, was Kao.