Chương 46: Solo Mission - Robert (3)

"Woah." I couldn't help but marvel at the wondrous sights I was seeing along the way, such as the tall cliffs that towered above me and the vines that fell from the cliff edges like human hair. As if the cliffs were suffering from chicken pox, they had little spots dotted all over them, symbolising the entrance to the elusive caves.

"I can't believe I'm here." The landscape was synonymous with the one back on Planet Earth. The grass I was walking on was a lush green colour, the stream that flowed carried fresh water that glimmered in the sunshine, and the vines falling freely from the cliffs and fluttering in the wind were green, just like those in a dense jungle. And the best thing about this place was that the number of people wandering around had significantly decreased; I could only see one or two people walking to and from the caves.

"Am I still on Planet Earth?" No. I was not on Planet Earth. I was on a planet I was about to claim, which I was going to name Planet 505.

"Cave 33, cave 33, where is cave 33?" I looked at the cliff to the left of me, then turned my head to look at the cliff to the right of me. They all had numbers printed on the stone adjacent to the cave entrance; the odd numbers were on my right and the even numbers were on my left.

"I should be looking on the right." And so I looked. When I left the town, the first number I saw on the right was seventeen. That meant I still had a long way to go before reaching the number thirty-three. Still, I wasn't complaining, because that meant I had more time to admire the allure of the landscape around me, which was akin to an undiscovered part of Planet Earth. Twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-five… I lumbered on, pleading that I wasn't going to use up all of my stamina just to get to the cave.

Twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty-one… Finally. Cave number 33, in all of its glory, was soon right in front of me, staring at me dead in the eye.

"Wow." All I could say was this one word. Because cave number 33 was in itself a true sight to behold. All of the caves around me had fairly small entrances, but they were still enough to fit a human of average height. This one, on the other hand, had an entrance at least ten times larger than the other caves. An imposing, grandiose aura emanated from the entrance, beckoning for visitors to enter. No, it tried its utmost hardest to force visitors to enter, regardless of what card they had been given.

On the top left of the cave, two digits were painted on the perennial rocks: the number 33.

"This is it," I said, spilling my thoughts aloud.

"This is cave number 33." If the other caves were regular animals in a zoo, then cave number 33 was a woolly mammoth that didn't belong. If the other caves were regular buildings in a city, then cave number 33 was the Eiffel tower or the Shard. That was how magnificent this cave was compared to the others around it. I had never seen such a sight before in my life.

I had never been to any national parks or areas of outstanding national beauty before, and what I was seeing in front of me could not compare in the slightest to what I saw on Planet 501. I wasn't just seeing a lone cave in front of me, this was a whole city of caves right in front of my eyes. I exhaled deeply.

"Time to enter and hopefully not meet my demise." The cave's entrance was several feet above ground, but thankfully, there were stairs leading to the entrance. Out of all the planets I have selected, the one you're going to has the most failed expeditions, but don't let that weigh you down.

"This must be why," I thought.

"This cave must be the reason why so many Hoppers have failed to complete their missions." They had surrendered; they had given in to the monstrous aura this cave possessed. They had given in to a cave that had been vilified by the whole community of Hoppers living on this planet, and they had died by the hands of a gruesome, mysterious villain. A cave befitting the title of 'villain'. It looked like I was going to be this villain's next victim. Clank, clank, clank.

Even the eerie creaking sound of the stairs was enough to make my heart skip a beat and my stomach churn. It made me want to go home. It made me want to surrender despite not even entering the cave yet. My feelings of despair and cowardice were too strong and too hard to suppress. I didn't know what I was going to find in this cave. What kind of mana beasts was I going to find? Basic ones? Advanced ones? Or even legendary ones?

Regardless, I had to defeat whatever came my way with my feeble body and the meagre stats that I possessed.

"I have to kill the beasts in this cave. If the boss is in here, I'll defeat it regardless of its level. I don't care anymore. Even if I'm only at the basic level, this is something I have to do." I had to make Cayman proud. I had to show my favourite protagonist ever why I'm the real deal. And it was going to start here. Immediately after I entered the cave, there was a stark contrast in the brightness of my surroundings. Outside, with the sun providing natural light to the planet, there was an abundance of light.

However, inside the cave, in the absence of light, all that remained was darkness. A deep, dark abyss was waiting to engulf me whole. At least I didn't have a fear of the dark. As soon as I entered, a system window popped up, ensuring that I didn't have to reach into my inventory and grab a torch. You have a new mission! Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts"Finally," I whispered. I opened my system window, which took me to the mission details.

[Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Description: defeat all the mana beasts living on this planet to claim the planet. Time limit: none Reward: this planet will be awarded to those who defeat the beasts. Failure: death If I could remember clearly, this mission was identical to the one I received back on Planet 501, apart from the fact that the missions seemed to be specific to anyone in cave 33. But that didn't mean the beasts I would be defeating in this cave would be identical to those back on Planet 501.

I would most likely be facing higher-level beasts.

"Only one way to find out." A system window popped up. [Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Grizzly black bear (0/75) 2) Crimson fox (0/50) 3)??? (?? /??)"Mystery beast," I whispered.

"That can only mean one thing: boss beast." At that point, I was certain that the boss beast was lurking around somewhere inside this cave. With the system window still open, I sauntered into the mysterious void that was cave 33. Clack, clack, clack. Turning my system window from left to right, I examined the cave's walls to check for protruding rocks that could potentially be a threat, but I couldn't find any. I looked down to see if there were any sudden dips or bumps, but I couldn't find any.

On the surface, cave 33 just looked like an ordinary large cave. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. However, I knew straight away from everything being said about this cave that it was anything but ordinary. It was time to continue forward. Clack, clack, clack. Drip, drip, drip. As I walked, lone drops of water fell onto the ground, the noise reverberating around the cave, contributing to the overly eerie atmosphere surrounding me.

It was sufficient to make me feel chills throughout my body. Clack, clack, clack. Drip, drip, drip. Still, there were no mana beasts. I had to go even deeper. At this point, when I turned my head to look behind me, the daylight outside was becoming just a dot in my vision which shrunk with every step I took. Clack, clack, clack.

"If there are no mana beasts in here, then is there even anything to be scared of?" Surely there had to be beasts in here. Even the mission window told me that there were beasts specifically in this cave that I had to defeat. But where were they? I was going to get the answer to that question very shortly, because soon, in the distance, I saw signs of wild mana beasts. Where were the beasts? The simple answer was that they were deep inside the cave. How long has it been since I entered the cave? Five minutes?

Ten minutes? I had completely lost track of time. It wasn't easy trying to tell the time in the dark. But finally, I had stumbled upon a multitude of red dots in front of me which just continued to multiply. One moment, there were around ten red dots, and then the next, there were more than twenty.

"Finally," I said to myself.

"I can finally hunt some prey." Clack, clack, clack. That was not the unmistakable sound of my footsteps. No, that was the noise of the footsteps belonging to my adversary.

"The hunt can finally begin," I said fervently. I glanced at the name tags of the beasts. [Grizzly black bear (basic)]"Perfect. They should be a piece of cake to defeat." I brandished my sword and readied myself for the battle ahead. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Whoosh! Stab! Stab! Stab!

"Roar!" In just a matter of seconds, three bears near the back of the group had fallen, convulsing and writhing in pain. They had not seen the attack coming; they surely did not expect a lowly boy to teleport and stab them in the back. They surely didn't expect a boy like me to display monstrous killing intent. I wiped the tar-like beast blood from my face.

I had defeated just three of the seventy-five bears I was supposed to defeat, but if I could defeat all of them just like this, then it should take less than half an hour. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! What followed was a series of elegant sword moves, moves that I didn't think I could display whilst wielding an advanced-level sword. However, once I started, there was no sign of me stopping.

The bears were stabbed in a range of different body parts, such as the torso, the back and the legs. I was even able to decapitate one of them using my free-flowing moves. Blood began to fill the floor of the cave, creating a thin layer of tar on the uneven stone floor. The liquid trickled to every part of the cave possible; some of the blood was somehow splattered on the walls, which I didn't expect. Huff, huff, huff. I had the worst stamina out of all the Night Hoppers, and it was already starting to show.

I hadn't even defeated ten mana beasts at the basic level yet, but fatigue was already catching up to me.

"Shit, this is really too much for my body," I wheezed.

"Once I get those mana crystals, the first thing I'm upgrading is stamina." [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] With the shield active, I could finally rest without distractions. Clang! Clang! Clang! I knew this was going to happen. As soon as I engaged my skill, the bears collectively turned around and began banging on the dome with all their might, creating an awful, raucous noise.

However, since they were only at the basic level, it was nearly impossible for them to break through the dome. The only way they could fully break through the dome is if I run out of mana. And that was never going to happen. I had packed spare mana crystals in my inventory. I had recognised my flaw, my overdependence on mana, and every time I go on missions I remind myself to bring spare mana crystals in case I run out. I pulled out a basic mana crystal from my inventory and swallowed it. Gulp.

"That will keep me going for a while," I said whilst exploiting the fact that I had first-class seats to watch the futile spectacle of bears trying to break through unbreakable glass. Clang! Clang! Clang!

"That was a good break." [You have disengaged basic skill 'Reading Bubble'.]"Roar!" Clang! As soon as the shield disappeared, the bears came hurtling towards me. The one closest to me was mere inches away from me when I reflexively raised my sword to block its lethal bite. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"That was too close. It could've been the end of me if I wasn't careful." I had finally healed, however, and felt more than ready to end the lives of those pesky mana beasts. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] I could finally admire the usefulness of this teleportation skill. Slash! Slash! Slash!

"Roar!" The teleportation skill seemed to enhance both my agility and my speed; I could easily move from one place to another with it and it was a useful tool for ambushing the bears. On this stage, in the middle of cave 33 without anyone watching, I could showcase the brilliance of a feeble, timid person's abilities. Slash! Slash! Slash! How many beasts had I already defeated? Around fifteen? Maybe twenty? I had lost count. Think about all the mana crystals I was going to gain from defeating these beasts.

I could earn a ton of money.

"Roar!" [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! The head of the nearest bear was detached from its body. The move that delivered the blow was as elegant and as effortless as slicing through tofu. Slash! Slash! Slash! I was in full control of the fight. I wasn't allowing any of the bears to attack me back. That was the beauty of fighting lower-level beasts; it was always a one-sided battle. The adversaries had no opportunity to fight back or create a counter-attack.

"This is glorious," I muttered.

"This is a weak man's dream." Thud. The head of the bear I had just severed fell on the floor and rolled towards my feet. I looked around, perplexed. Was that really all of the beasts that had charged towards me?

"That was it? Are there seriously no more left?" I scratched my head. There were no more red dots in the vicinity, nor were there any more footsteps gradually getting louder. I thought there had been more beasts behind the one I had just beheaded.

"Oh well. Let's collect the rewards for all of my hard work." Kneeling down beside the nearest beast corpse, I thrust my sword into it, creating a fresh new stab wound. Blood erupted out of the wound like a small volcano, staining my face, my t-shirt and my shoes, but that was to be expected. Stab!

"Where are they, where are they, where are they?" There was nothing glistening from inside the beast's body. That meant I had to stick my hands inside the corpse to take out the crystals. I had done this before back on Planet 501, but that seemed like a whole eternity ago. This was a repulsive job, but it had to be done for the sake of my earnings.

"Gross!" I turned my head to the side and began feeling the inside of the beast's corpse. Once I felt something hard, and not something squishy like an internal organ, I hastily pulled it out, revealing crystals that glimmered in the dark. There were five of them. Five pristine, glowing basic mana crystals were nestled in my hands. Instantly, to replenish my mana, I swallowed three of the five crystals. I stuffed the other two into one of my pockets. Then I stood up, intending to repeat the process.

I walked over to the nearest fallen beast, and with my sword, I efficiently began to tear the beast's flesh apart. Tear! Slash! However, something was up with this beast. It seemed… different.

"Huh?" The first thing I found that was suspicious was the colour of the blood. I was expecting the beast to drop viscous, cold, tar-like blood that was akin to oil. However, the blood in my hands was runny, warm and crimson in colour.

"What?" Unconsciously, my face contorted in a horrific way when I saw the blood. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. This wasn't blood belonging to a mana beast. No, this blood looked like it belonged to one of my own.

"H-H-Human?" I flinched and stood up, almost tripping and landing on the prickly floor. I didn't want to believe it. I reached into my pocket, grabbed one of the mana crystals and shone it at what I had just stabbed my sword into. And sure enough, it was a human corpse. Not the dead body of a mana beast, but the body of a human. The corpse's eyes were wide open, but the mouth was sealed shut. As I moved the crystal towards the torso, I could make out a deep gash on the side of the neck.

Somebody must have attacked the person and stabbed them in the neck, leaving them to wither and rot in this cave. Then I pointed the crystal at the torso, where my sword had pierced into the skin. Pure red blood flowed out of the stab wound I had inflicted. It was a grotesque sight, enough to make an ordinary person faint.

"I did this," I whispered to myself.

"I thought a human corpse was the corpse of a mana beast." I scratched the back of my head.

"I fought near that thing?" I was astounded. Bewildered. Perturbed. Something was definitely wrong; there was something very fishy about this cave. This cave contained human corpses, something that I had never seen in caves on other planets. Something dubious was going on. And that was the first visible sign of trouble inside this cave.