Chương 36: Hope (1)

As Rowan walked through the tunnels, growing so close to the broodmother's chamber that he could hear the waterfall in the distance, he thought about [Chain Manipulation]. In particular, the attack he'd pulled off against the last bloodspawn he'd fought. It'd sheared off and crushed its head in a single blow, not even slowing down. And it wouldn't have been possible back when he'd had [Bind].

He thought he might've been able to manage something close to it, but it would've taken all of his concentration and probably not have been that effective anyway. He couldn't test it, of course, since he didn't have [Bind] anymore. But as he continued to use his new skill, Rowan gained something of an innate understanding of how it worked. And though he wasn't sure exactly why, he was certain he wouldn't have been able to do things like the attack with his old skill; it just wasn't meant for it.

After seeing how effective the chain-flail had been, dozens of ideas ran through his head. But in the end, most of them seemed like they would either be less effective or just impossible to create with chains. Of course, though, he had mana. He already made darts and daggers of it, so why couldn't he expand his horizons a bit? Perhaps a hammer or sword? Maybe even an axe? The possibilities were endless. His thoughts were cut short as the tunnel he was in opened up, looking down at the broodmother and her spawn.

Despite it being mostly healed, his stomach was still in pain, so Rowan decided to take a short break, sitting down and observing the dozens of bloodspawn below him. While some of them came and went, moving with purpose, most just milled about. But, as he stood up and prepared to leave, something caught his eye. Squinting, he sat back down, trying to get a good look at what he was seeing. A group of four bloodspawn had just entered, and they were carrying… something.

With the sporadic lighting from the holes in the ceiling, Rowan just couldn't quite make it out, but despite his curiosity, he remained patient. They were moving towards him, after all. Speaking of the light shining down from above, it was dimmer this time, almost as if, far above, it was an overcast day. Shaking his head, he refocused. The creatures made their way through the domelike chamber, weaving through the countless other bloodspawn that were just standing around.

Then they stopped before the broodmother and dropped whatever they were carrying. Immediately, they turned and left, heading into a different tunnel than they'd entered from. With nothing obstructing his view of what they'd been carrying, Rowan instantly knew what it was: a deer. Well, it resembled one, at least. It was far too big to actually be a deer from back on Earth and had two sets of oversized antlers. But aside from the obvious differences, everything else was the same.

A second later, more movement caught his eye as another group of bloodspawn entered the chamber. This time, there were seven of them, and their cargo was so large that Rowan could instantly tell what it was: a bear. An unnaturally large bear, yes, but a bear nonetheless. Just like the deer, the carcass was dropped off before the massive being that was the broodmother. This time, he wasn't surprised when another group exited the tunnel, this one carrying another deer.

One group after another, they entered, dropped off their prey, and left. Most of the carcasses were those of unnaturally large animals, but every once in a while, a group would enter from a different tunnel with something else. Something very familiar to him: ants. Despite being so huge for their counterparts back on earth, they were still small, at least compared to the other beasts being brought in.

All it took to carry a soldier ant was a single bloodspawn, and some of the larger ones were dragging two corpses behind them. Even though most of the groups brought in the strange, mutated mammals, there were far more ants than anything else. And soon, the broodmother began to feast. The long, tentacle-like appendages that usually ran across the ground and consumed moss had moved to the bodies, plunging into them and sucking them dry. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It was unnerving to watch, but he forced himself to endure it, at least for a bit; he wanted to know as much about the massive beast as he could, lest he had to fight it in the future. After a full minute had passed of the broodmother feasting without another group entering, he stopped paying so much attention. He hadn't learned much from watching the huge bloodspawn, and he saw no point in watching for any longer. Still, Rowan felt hope and excitement building within him.

If the bloodspawn were bringing back deer and bears, that could only mean one thing: the surface was near. Throughout his time in the caves, Rowan hadn't thought much about escaping and getting back to the surface. He hadn't let himself. He'd had no idea where he was or what he was doing. Thinking about it would've only made his mood worse and demotivated him, but now that he had a solid lead on how to get to the surface, thinking about it did quite the opposite.

Practically buzzing with excitement, he knew exactly what his next move was going to be. Still, he had to prepare properly and try to get a better feel of where exactly the way to the surface was. But then, in the corner of his eye, he saw something. Glancing over, he found himself watching another group of bloodspawn entering from the same tunnel that all of the animals from the surface had come from. The group was surprisingly small, with only three humanoids carrying the—Rowan froze, his pulse quickening.

He blinked, hoping and praying that he'd seen it wrong, but he hadn't. The bloodspawn were carrying a human body. Eyes wide with alarm, he continued watching, trying to make out the details of the corpse. The body belonged to a long-haired, dark-skinned man wearing a torn hoodie and some kind of makeshift leather pants. At his waist was a crude leather sheath, though the sword it was meant to hold was nowhere to be seen.

As for exactly how he'd died, Rowan wasn't sure, but there were dozens of slashes and small holes in the man's clothes that were evidently the work of bloodspawn. He didn't recognize the body as one of the people who'd appeared on the cliff with him so long ago. Admittedly, though, his memory wasn't that good, especially since he'd only seen them once. To his relief, no more bodies came out in the following seconds.

Then, as the bloodspawn placed the body down before the broodmother, Rowan turned away; he had no desire to watch a human be devoured. — Rowan marched through the tunnels, trying to get to where he thought the entrance to the surface might be. Due to the winding nature of the tunnels and stone walls, it was hard to navigate, but he managed. The most difficult part was finding a route that avoided the broodmother's chamber and the dozens or maybe even hundreds of bloodspawn that lurked around it.

Once he got to his destination, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Since he didn't know exactly how to get to the surface, Rowan thought he would probably try to follow any groups of bloodspawn he saw around there in hopes that they would lead him to his destination. He knew it wasn't the best of plans, but he'd been trapped down here for so long that the thought of going to the surface, no matter how unfamiliar it might be, was too enticing to resist.

As he continued moving, he readied himself, hearing movement up ahead. Chains ground to life around him as two blades of mana formed in the air. A few moments later, the source of the noise appeared. Just as he'd expected, it was bloodspawn. But he hadn't expected there to be so many. Cursing his luck, Rowan faced the five beasts. There were three of the regular humanoids and two hounds. Of the trio of larger beasts, two of them were level 6, while the other was at level 7.

As for the hounds, both were level 3, which seemed to be the average level for their kind. After a second, the group charged at him, screeching all the while. Taking advantage of the few seconds he had before the beasts would be upon him, Rowan launched his mana constructs forward. They cleaved through the air, flying towards the level 7 creature. The moment it saw them coming, the bloodspawn raised its claws to block.

Smiling, Rowan curved the blades around the creature's claws, stabbing them into its exposed chest. As it stumbled backward, he whipped his chains forward, slamming the nearest enemies against the stone walls. While the bloodspawn were still recovering from his assault, he did the same thing he'd done against his last opponent, balling up the end of one of his chains.

Annoyingly, the tunnel he was in was smaller than the previous one, meaning he had to shorten the overall length of the flail and, in turn, the power behind it. Still, the weapon more than proved its worth as it slammed into a charging hound, smashing it against the wall. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] The next moment, the remaining bloodspawn were upon him. The three humanoids charged him from the front as the hound tried to flank him. It wasn't enough.

Rowan ducked under a sweeping blow and swung his mace upward. Despite its state, it was more than enough to stun its target, if only for a moment. But a moment was all he needed. Rowan slammed his knee into the bloodspawn's stomach, bending it over. But he wasn't done. At the same time, he did something he'd been intending to try for a while. A burst of the condensed mana that'd been cycling around his body throughout the entire fight exploded from his knee, striking the creature point-blank in the torso.

At the same time as the beast was sent flying back, crashing into a nearby wall, Rowan was forced backwards by the force of the mana, too, albeit with nowhere near as much force. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 6] Reading the notification, Rowan let out a little laugh. It was strange to admit, but he was enjoying himself. Taking a breath, he looked at the last three bloodspawn. He was going to get to the surface, and if anything stood in his way…

Rowan smiled and shot forward, swinging his flail at the final hound.