Chương 40: Deeper Probe

Mark walked back into the cave just behind Cora. The feeling happened again: the change in control. No new messages though. They all lit the torches again and went slowly forward. They looked at the spot where they had killed the root crawler. Nothing was left except the footprints on the ground from the previous fight. Cora paused briefly, listening to the sounds of the cave. There were the dripping sounds of water and the dragging sound of what must be another root-type monster.

The cave went forward about 20 feet, with the only change being that the walls narrowed to a width that 2 people could walk side by side. After another 20 feet the tunnel turned gradually to the left. When they passed the point in the turn where they could no longer see the first room, they came into another similar-sized cavern that came into view. It widened out to a chamber about twice the size of the last one. In this cavern they could see another creature at the far end.

It had not yet seen them and, as such, had not headed towards them. They spread out and prepared for the fight. This was another root crawler, level 3, like they killed earlier, and this time they knew exactly what to do. Cora moved forward, and just before she got to it, the root crawler turned around. This battle went quicker than the earlier one, as Cora knew what to do and the other 3 knew their part too. When it died, they all reached down and looted it. Mark got the same XP and loot as before.

Now that there were no more things in this room to fight, they all spread out to look for anything else that might be in the area of any use. Bramble was the first to find something. He was over on the side of the cave, pawing at the ground. Ava ran over to see what it was. On the side of the cave was a small bunch of mushrooms. Mark walked over to see what they found.

"Oh, interesting mushrooms. Those might be of some use. I don't know much about them, but maybe Dale would know how to tell if they are safe or not." After that, nothing else of any value was found. On the right side of the cavern they found another tunnel that was not obviously visible when they first entered the chamber. After they were satisfied that nothing else was in this room, they headed down the new path they found. The path wandered left and right without making any sharp turns.

They were almost to what looked like another chamber when they heard the sound of more water. They moved slowly into the chamber and could hear water that was dripping down the wall on the left side. Moving farther into the room, they saw a rootling and then another shape shifted behind it. A root crawler. Stepping back and having a quick conversation, they decided that Mark and Ava would take one and that Cora would take the other with Bramble's help.

Ava pointed toward the second creature, her focus shifting hard in that direction. Bramble reacted instantly, breaking off toward it. This fight was harder than the last. Because they only had 2 on each one; they struggled more. Cora's fell first, as she was a pretty quick fighter and turned to help Mark and Ava finish theirs off. Ava then said.

"Yes! I just leveled." She had finally hit level 4, which she had been hoping she could get.

"I got a new skill; it will help with working with Bramble so cool." With that, she went over and started to pet Bramble. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Mark and Cora talked about the fight. Mark explained how he messed up letting it get too close. He showed her his arm where it had latched on and tore his skin. They talked about their axes and how they were not as sharp as they could be and it would be wise to make newer ones.

Maybe bigger in size to make it easier to chop up the plants. Mark said.

"I think we should explore this room and then head back to camp. Cora and I talked about how we should make some better, stronger Axes. I also got a wound on my arm, and I need to clean it up." Ava and bramble headed over to where they could see water dripping down the wall. Bramble got excited and went over to the wall and started licking it. At first Ava thought he was just thirsty, but through the bond, she got the impression that something of value was there. She walked over to check it out.

On the rock there was white crusty material that looked to be some kind of buildup. She motioned Mark over to look.

"Oh, Ava, that looks useful." He pulled out his knife and, using it, scraped some of the material away. Looking at it, he guessed that it might be a salt or other mineral buildup. Putting a tiny piece on his tongue, he tasted it. He wasn't sure but guessed that it might be salt. Pulling a small clay bowl out of his inventory, he scraped some more into it.

"We can take this back to Dale and see if it's something of value for cooking." They continued to look over the room. Near the water Mark found some moss. He gathered it up; they could figure out if it was of value later. Cora found some more mushrooms. These were different from what they had found before, and she added them to her inventory. Mark finally went over to the 2 bodies and collected them. He was the last to do so, and they dissolved after giving him some loot.

He ended up with some tangle root, trace mineral fragment, and a damp core fragment. They finally met in the middle after finding nothing else. Mark then said.

"Okay, let's head back out. Keep your eyes open and make sure there is not anything else hiding around a corner, and look for any other materials we might be able to use. The way back was slow, but nothing else was found. They continued outside and stopped just outside the cave. Mark again felt the strange feeling of going from the no-control area to one where he had some control in the direction of camp. Before he could say anything more, Cora turned to Mark.

"I am going to stop at the rock pit on my way back to camp and gather you some better rock so we can get those axes made." Without another word, she headed off in that direction. Mark and Ava talked briefly about her new skill and her level up. She was excited to leave. With this level the lower trap area was now going to be trivial and mostly no experience. On their way back to camp, Mark gathered fibers and wood that would be good for making their improved axes. When they walked into camp, Dale said.

"How did it go? Find anything useful?" Mark replied.

"Oh, I think you will like some of what we found." Pulling out the container with moss, the white crystals, mushrooms, and the other items he found, he placed them on the crafting table. Dale looked over each item slowly. He started mumbling to himself without it being something he could understand. Then he got to the bowl with the crystals and said.

"Yes, that's salt." He picked up a small piece and put it in his mouth.

"Oh, that changes things." Mark just smiled. Things were looking up. When Cora eventually showed up, the two of them started working on the new Axes.