Chapter 142: Cave
"Cchit, cchit."
Rea’s squeaks rang out. The squirrel appeared from a tree and landed lightly on Gara’s shoulder, chittering excitedly.
Gara listened closely, his brow furrowing.
Something like a Saltstone Crystal inside a cave? Could it really be another form of Saltstone or maybe an entirely different kind of crystal? Either way, it’s bound to be valuable.
Not long after, they reached a point where the river split in two: one branch continued straight ahead, wide and strong, while the other was smaller, veering off toward the east.
Perched on Gara’s shoulder, Rea squeaked again.
A cave at the end of that narrow stream... with that crystal inside?
Gara quickly suggested, "How about we split the team? One group takes the wider stream, the other the narrower one. Since we’re close to the water, there shouldn’t be too many wild beasts."
No one objected.
Mohan felt he had to find the source of the contamination today. The guards and, surprisingly, Gara had been extremely helpful. This exploration had never been this smooth, but there was no guarantee that they would help again later.
Mohan, Kian, and four guards took the wider stream, while Gara, Madha, Fian, and Emir followed the narrower one.
The teams were uneven in number at Gara’s request. Emir, confident in his strength, agreed to cover Gara alone. Honestly, Gara didn’t want to hold back his abilities just because someone might be watching.
The two teams split up. The path along the smaller stream was rougher, tangled with roots and uneven ground, but they pressed on steadily.
At the end of the stream, a cave appeared. Its entrance stood about 180 cm tall—Gara could walk in without ducking—and wide enough for three adults to stand shoulder to shoulder.
Before entering, they formed up: Emir at the front, Gara in the middle, and Fian and Madha covering the rear.
The moment they stepped inside, Rea squeaked sharply.
Gara froze. "Oh no!"
"What is it?" the others asked, their eyes on him.
"Rea says... there is a beast inside the cave he’s never seen on the mountain. It looks like a cow, but far more terrifying," Gara explained, relaying the squirrel’s description.
"Are they minotaur’s bulls?" Madha guessed.
"Minotaur?" Emir frowned. He had never heard of that aggressive race coming near Falopo Town, much less bringing their bulls. "If they are, they’re extremely dangerous. We need to be careful."
They cautiously advanced. The stench of carrion hit them immediately.
Deeper inside, light dwindled. Emir snapped his fingers, summoning small flames at his fingertips that cast a warm glow along the walls.
The cave extended further than expected. They remained silent, alert with every step. The only sounds were their footsteps and the river flowing beneath them.
Amid the water, countless wild beast carcasses floated. They suspected this could be the source of the river’s contamination.
Oddly, no bats or other creatures were present, just corpses. Perhaps they had died from the tainted water or at the hands of the bull-like creatures Rea had warned about.
Suddenly, Fian tugged on Gara’s sleeve, halting both Gara and Madha in their tracks.
Before Gara could ask what was wrong, rapid footsteps echoed from ahead.
Emir noticed too late. He drew his machete, but it was meaningless against the enormous bull, its massive horns gleaming in the flickering firelight.
With the cave too narrow and Gara directly behind him, Emir had no room to dodge. The bull’s horns slammed into his abdomen with brutal force.
He was thrown backward, colliding into Gara, who then slammed into Madha and Fian. The impact lessened slightly for Emir’s back, but his stomach... he couldn’t tell, maybe bleeding, maybe bruised.
One thing was certain. It hurt like hell.
Instantly, the cave went completely dark, the flames gone.
Crash!
A loud thud echoed through the cavern, and Gara’s heart leapt. Panic set in immediately.
At the same time, a low squeak sounded. It was Rea, signaling that Fian had struck the bull with his glacial spike.
Elves had sharp hearing; Fian relied on it to pinpoint the bull’s position. Rea’s keen ears did the same, alerting him that Fian’s attack had landed.
"Rea, guide me. I’ll strike the bull," Gara commanded, ignoring the small lantern he had prepared in his cloth bag. Rea chirped enthusiastically, ready to lead.
In the darkness, Gara and Fian attacked simultaneously. The bull panicked, unsure where to strike. It had first gone after the sudden red flash and now found itself constantly under assault.
Gara couldn’t help but marvel at its hide. Even giant snakes had been scratched by his water slashes, yet the bull’s skin barely showed a mark.
Strike the vital points.
Gara aimed for the neck. This time, he didn’t attack once, he unleashed five water slashes at once. With Fian’s glacial spike holding the bull steady and Rea’s precise guidance, all five slashes pierced the creature’s neck.
Slowly, the bull stopped struggling, finally collapsing entirely.
This was Gara’s hardest fight yet. This was no ordinary bull.
He quickly lit the small lantern to survey the aftermath. The wounds on the bull were brutal, and Gara turned his face away.
Shifting focus, he rushed to Emir, who was pale and bleeding from his stomach. With Madha’s help removing Emir’s gambeson and shirt, Gara immediately cleaned the wound with his water.
Next, he applied anesthetic to dull Emir’s pain. The drug made Emir drift into sleep while Gara carefully applied his medicinal herb paste.
Trained from countless patients in the clinic, Gara worked efficiently and precisely.
After wrapping the wound with cloth, Madha leaned Emir against the cave wall.
"We need to move further in. Rea, keep watch here," Gara ordered. Rea wanted to protest, but a sharp glance from Gara silenced her. The mischievous squirrel knew exactly when Gara wasn’t open to compromise, and she stayed put.
Gara, Madha, and Fian pressed deeper into the cave. This time, Madha, with his Flesh Shield Talent, took the front.
Gara stayed in the middle, and Fian brought up the rear. Fian’s glacial spikes could also serve defensively from a distance, so his position in the back didn’t interfere with his abilities.
All three remained hyper-alert.
Their steps froze as they saw crystals embedded in the cave walls.
Madha murmured, "These... are enhanced crystal deposits."
...