Hot Spring Paradise Part 4
A few minutes prior to these catastrophic, and rather risqué events, a certain explorer made a momentous discovery. The mysterious vanishing clothing, and embarrassing aftermath could all be traced back to one man's actions…
Hit grumbled to himself as he marched down a dark canyon, his keen eyesight analysing every nook and cranny for ambushing monsters and hidden traps. The water that flowed around his legs, and trickled down from columnar waterfalls, now possessed a crystal blue hue. 'The river grows deeper in this direction… am I nearing the source?'.
Hit tutted yet again at his cumbersome trunks, which he had to readjust every so often. 'That bastard… This must be his way of thanking me for interfering in his leering.'
Crimson eyes shone in the darkness as Hit delved deeper and deeper into unknown territory, until he reached a crossroads. Sensing nothing from either direction, Hit took out a 100 Valis coin and flicked it into the air. 'Heads for left, tails for right'.
As the spinning disc fell back down, Hit dexterously caught it and opened his palm.
"Tails. Right then." Coin flipping was not too exciting of an endeavour for Hit, since the man could perceive the movement of objects at the sub yoctosecond resolution and could easily catch a coin in a manner that ensured either outcome. Therefore, he instead allowed a set number of seconds to pass before catching the metallic object.
As Hit trudged down the right path, part of him was grateful that he was now wearing nothing but trunks, since his long trench coat would have become soaked in these shallow streams. 'I miss flying… Although, the limitation can be exciting…'
The warrior narrowed his eyes as he approached a dark cavern, completely devoid of any illumination; even his incredible eyesight could not deduce its contents from this far away. Seeing that there was no other choice, Hit simply tensed himself for battle and marched right through the jagged earthen maw, and into the pitch-black chamber.
*Thrum*
*Shing*
Hit instantly skipped time as a series of whirring sounds began to emanate from above him; looking up, Hit could see that various pinpricks of azure light now twinkled on the cavern's ceiling. 'Motion sensors? I cannot see any signs of infrared emitters, so likely not… What am I thinking? This backward planet would have no such devices… The mechanism must be magical.' Hit cursed his human vision, unable to perceive the breadth of the electromagnetic spectrum he could in his past life, and flicked his pupils around the room he now found himself in. Forests of upright crystals lined its borders, and a dark appendage of some sort descended from the ceiling, ending in an inert bulbous object. Oddly, there were no other discernible structures within this confined space.
Time skip reached its limit and deactivated, allowing Hit to relax in the quiet ambience and the lights to continue illuminating. 'Interesting; my time skip feels more prolonged now, by around half a second... Something to consider later. Anyway, there must be something here… Why else would those lights activate? Hm. Or are they simply bioluminescent and responding to a stimulus?' Hit put his theory to the test and leapt upwards, plucking one of the twinkling gems from its 'constellation'. As he set foot back on earth, with a loud splash, he analysed his newest trophy. 'A magic stone, attached to a number of other components… Looks like I was right: they are not natural formations.'
Hit gazed up again. 'But why were they placed here exactly…?' His searching eyes could see nothing, other than slight sparks of energy emitted from the damaged light source. 'This whole region was hidden behind a wall… one with no visible entryway. Hm…' Hit drew his arm back and tossed the stolen magic stone upwards, causing it to thud against the ceiling with a reverberating clang.
*Gong* *Gong*
"Hollow." Hit smirked as his acute hearing detected yet another well-hidden treasure. The bulldozer also knew exactly what to do next: he bent down, muscular legs bulging, and rocketed upwards, holding his sarms crossed above him.
***BOOM***
The human battering ram crashed through the rocky ceiling and rolled to a stop on stable footing. Hit brushed pebbles and dust away as he yet again found himself in complete darkness.
*Thrum*
*Strum*
*Whirr*
Hit blinked as reddish magic stone lamps shone into existence all around him, illuminating an immense earthen room, filled to the brim with interesting sights. Vials of colourful liquids and samples bubbled atop wooden shelving units; books and scribbled notes were left on several dark desks; and fog hummed around immense glass canisters of orange or red liquid. The ceiling protrusion seemed to extend even further, to a region above this new space. 'A workshop? Interesting…'
Hit walked all around the room, taking his time to explore every facet of the dungeon 'laboratory'. The samples and vials were quickly passed over; however, scattered books and notes were incredibly intriguing, even if their topics were not immediately useful. 'Fabric construction, materials science, human anatomy: epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis…' Hit blinked as he swept through the rather advanced books, finishing with the largest tome that he could find. 'This is incredibly advanced chemistry for this world. What were they concocting here?'
The explorer marched to one of the columnar containers and tapped a finger against the glass. Orange liquid swirled and bubbled around within, giving away no clues as to its properties or origin. Hit huffed and stuffed his hand away. 'I'm no closer to understanding what any of this is… Were they creating skin cream? Why here in the dungeon…? How does the Hot spring tie in to all this? I'm still certain this entire region is man-made…'
Hit was about to abandon the discovery, adding it to the pile of disappointments he had been forced to accept today, when he noticed a blinking red light in a faraway corner. He walked towards the luminosity, hoping that it could satiate his curiosity, and was led to a slightly ajar door. Hit pushed against the barrier, and was met with a barren room, apart from a simple desk and a pile of white objects. Metal flooring made no noise as Hit strode atop it and halted at the metallic desk, upon which rested a bloodied book and red pulsing button. Hit bent down to the pile of pale objects and could now tell that they were human remains: the skull was fractured, and most of the other bones were split or completely pulverised. 'A violent demise…'
He rose back up, eager to read the corpse's potential final words; however, the detective was again met with disappointment, as the piece of literature was far lighter than one would expect. The bulky book was missing all but the final page: the rest had been violently torn out. Hit sighed and scanned his crimson gaze across the damaged sheet…
Day 2081:
I h-e finally done it! 5 l…g years and the dream of all men shall s-n become a reality! Just one press of this button and a du-eon paradise will sprout here for all e-nity! Our salvation draws near, brothers! We'll finally get some well-deserved 'relief' from the dullness of th- d—ge-n!
Every-ng is set for the big day! The girls should all walk right in here, like the -s that they are, and then the - stage will be unleashed! They have abs-tely no idea what I've been doing all these years, the f-ls! Call me a dis-g -ert , eh!? We'll see about that!
I cannot wait to see their ju-cy -r-ts, and Silphia's soft -! Oh, and don't get me started on Jes-ca's thick -hs! Their forbidden fruits shall bloom beneath the earth! And then, during the second stage, the -sh te-cles will -e -m up and squeeze their s- -s. My tamer cla-ses will definit-y -me in handy!
Thank you, oh merciful god, for gra…ng me Mystery! It was all for this day, I just know it!
Head Researcher
-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-….-…..-…-….-
Hit reflected on the aged note and attempted to decipher its meaning. 'The dream of all men? Humans sometimes refer to themselves as 'mankind' and 'men' as a group, do they not? Such confusing creatures… 'Forbidden fruits…? Since fruits can grow down here, does that mean the project was for that purpose? Is that their origin: seeds forced to bloom in these barren lands? Were these researchers creating a paradise for mankind, by terraforming this region? Is that how floor 18 was created…? It fits the artificial theme… Perhaps they were creating 'safe zone seeds' to destroy the dungeon in their own way. Stages could refer to terraforming steps: soil creation, organic matter dispersal, water and air purification… Maybe this liquid is a fertiliser of some kind… And tamer? Were they trying to control the monsters? Could that be why no monsters spawn here? So many unknowns.'
Hit looked down from his ponderings and frowned at the pile of bones, belonging to an unnamed head researcher. 'Poor bastard… Were Silphia and Jesca fellow scientists producing fruits? Perhaps Evilus or monsters got to them first. There's no way to tell now…' He then turned towards the desk and extended a hand forwards, over the blinked red button. 'I will finish your life's work'. Hit pressed it down.
*BEEP*
*SHOOM*
*WHOOP* *WHOOP* *WHOOP*
Sirens flared as the room quaked, trembling as ancient magic items whirred to life, and desperately fought to carry out their purpose.
"Uh-oh…" Hit's stomach sank in dread, and he ran back into the main hall, just in time to witness every glass container dispense of its orange fluid, sending it god-knows-where. Stranger still, the tubes' contents were then replaced by enormous anglerfish of all things, which plopped down unceremoniously from above. The purple monsters thrashed around, eyes blazing red, as they beat their glowing antenna against their glassy prisons. Seeing that there was no escape, the fish dove downwards and chewed through the ground, tunnelling into the safe haven below.
"DAMN THIS FILTHY PLANET!" Hit's palms bled as he gripped them in confused fury. He grinded his teeth, yet reluctantly allowed his burning rage to subside and coldly assessed the situation. 'This is my fault. I'd better save the others, or else I'll be the biggest hypocrite in the multiverse. Whoever that researcher was, I'll see you in Hell.'
The enraged teen ran back the way he came, stopping short of his entry point, and jumped into the air. "HRAAAAA!"
**BOOM**
With a roar, Hit punched downwards, causing the entire ceiling to collapse down in a deafening explosion of boulders and magic stone splinters. Once on the ground, he could now see that the starry room was filled with overgrown anglerfish, which were either buried under boulders or beginning to chase after a fleeing Bell Cranel.
Bell's eyes widened at the deafening boom behind him, and he turned around to identify the cause. "M-Mr Hit!?"
Hit quickly entered a Time-skip sprint and halted in front of the fishy foes; he turned around to Bell, now seeing that the boy was carrying Hestia in a bridal pose. "GO!"
Bell nodded in gratitude and sprinted away, fully trusting in his mentor to protect them all once again.
Hit cracked his knuckles and walked towards his enemies, prominent glower on display; the monsters froze in place, feeling dread for the first time since their fiery births. Purple antennae swayed back and forth in anxious longing to dine on human flesh.
"I have not been this disappointed in all my 1299 years of existence. You feeble creatures will have to make up for it."
"PFFFFTTTT!"
*Crash*
At the tallest peak of Orario, a previously refined and collected woman spluttered on the ground, wine glass splintered at her side. Priceless red wine sprayed across the marble floor, ejected from her body during a moment of astonishment. Goddess Freya shook slightly as she processed the undeniable truth.
*Cough* *Cough* "o-one thousand two hundred and ninety-nine years old!? H-how is such a thing possible!?"
"My lady, do you require assistance?" A towering warrior stepped towards the sprawled woman, emotionless mask breaking slightly out of worry for his precious goddess.
"N-No Ottar, thank you." Freya patted herself down and reseated herself upon her golden throne. "It looks like you are overflowing with secrets, my dear Hit. What are you…are you even mortal? I cannot wait to savour you…" Silver eyes shone as they reflected Hit's running form, purple locks aflutter. Freya licked her lips as she homed in on the pink heart on the boy's trunks. 'Please, please, please fall down…'
Hit ignored the slimy feeling that crawled over him and sprinted at the anglerfish. A particular eager monster shot out of the water, arcing towards him, its tailfin beating through the air.
*Shing*
Hit skipped time; pale crystalline fragments shattered across the horizon as he entered this elusive plane. He momentarily cringed at the crystal-clear view of the creature's glistening row of razor-sharp teeth and rewarded the beast's tenacity by launching a straight jab at its right gill.
*BAM*
Purple trunks flared as Hit jumped into the air and spun over to the beast's opposite side, launching another strike.
*BAM*
Finally, Hit skidded back and rocketed to the fish's front, fist outstretched.
**BAM**
Three purple arcs cut across the air as Hit finalised his speedy combination attack. The flashy man materialised ahead of the twitching fish; hands stuffed in his coat pockets. "My time skip is unbeatable."
**BOOM**
Black smog exploded across the plane, bathing the aquatic monsters in the ashes of their brother. Tens of glowing eyes met Hit's crimson orbs as the killing machines stared each other down. Hit quickly entered his boxer's stance, ready to charge ahead; however, the monsters were not quite as mindless as he previously thought. Unexpectedly, the shoal of fish huddled together, flinging their antenna forwards in consortium.
Abruptly, blinding light blazed from glowing appendages as a solar flare of energy bathed Hit's body. "Ghk!?" The surprised man grunted and slammed his pained eyes shut. 'Bioluminescence!?'
Two attacking units disengaged from the debilitating shoal of fish and swam towards Hit. The leader glided through the river, its spiny dorsal fin cutting through the waves; and unhinged its jaw, intent on biting into Hit's abdomen. The monster's six eyes shone in glee as it felt the soft deliciousness of living flesh.
*Shing*
Subliminal Time Skip activated and Hit quickly grasped the injurious agents that assaulted him. As soon as the skill deactivated, he pulled his arms in opposite directions with as much force as he could.
*SHRIIIII!*
*RIP*
The fish screamed as it was violently torn apart, deprived of its final meal. Red ichor flooded in all directions as Hit cast the bleeding carcasses asunder.
*Slosh*
Unfortunately, Hit's trials were not over, as his acute hearing detected the imminent approach of the other hungry adversary. The warrior dextrously summersaulted over the unseen 'torpedo, reaching downwards as he sailed through the air. Feeling a dangling object, Hit clamped his palm closed and dragged the creature along with him.
He struggled to maintain his footing and hauled the weighty catch towards him, out of the murky depths, causing the fish to roar as it sailed through the air: the worst possible environment for an aquatic foe. The enemy was about to strike Hit's body, nullifying any advantage the adventurer had, when Hit met the fish's path with a powerful clobber.
*BAM*
*SHRII!*
The fish screamed as it was propelled backwards again, yet it could not escape Hit's powerful grasp. Sinews and muscles tore and stretched as the fibrous antenna resisted the immense strain placed upon it. Hit pulled his arm back again and met his opponent's incoming rotund body with another blow.
*BAM*
*RIIIII!*
Hit repeated this tactic, using the anglerfish as a punching bag, and casually strolled towards the wall of blinding rays. He finalised his newest game by launching a forceful forwards jab, this time letting go of the fish's antenna.
*BOOM*
The thoroughly pummelled monster zipped through the air like a rocket and was sent crashing into the shoal of glowing anglerfish. The painful impact sent the ordered collective careening in all directions, causing their glowing antennae to rotate and whir right with them. Hit did not rest on his laurels and danced around the floor, which became a disco as the dazzling bioluminescent lights darted in every direction. These maddening conditions were no hindrance to Hit, who stoically carried out his task. Dozens of spinning fish quickly became red paste and black smog as their relatively soft bodies were pulverised under Hit's S rank strength.
All too soon, the shoal was eliminated in its entirety.
"Mission Complete." Hit slashed his dagger-like palms downwards, riding them of blood and guts, and became a sporadically disappearing blur as he sought out his next targets. This cavern, once the doorway into a mad scientist's lair, was now a cratered wasteland, covered in the slimy remains of its guards.
