VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 4

VOLUME 15: CHAPTER 4

Lark and his group stayed at the nearest camp. The proximity allowed Lark to manipulate the adamantite cubes effectively and quickly respond should an emergency arise that his disciples could not handle.

Through the adamantite cubes, Lark watched as his two youngest disciples froze before the tunnel. Afraid of alerting the monsters inside to their presence, they hardly spoke to each other. Although Lark could see only their backs, he was certain that the two were close to tears at that moment.

Lark had already expected this to happen.

Unlike Anandra, who had experience fighting the basilisk and the monsters of Gahelpa Forest, his two youngest disciples lacked any real battle experience.

Well, they had fought against the criminal syndicate under Count Sith before, but battling monsters was an entirely different experience compared to fighting humans.

“Crown Prince Hafnir, Your Highness,” said Lark.

“Yes?”

“How long have you been here at the Gorge?”

Was the human king trying to make small talk? 

Or did he have other intentions for asking this question? 

Seeing no harm in answering, Crown Prince Hafnir replied honestly, 

“If we exclude the time we delved into this place during the Trial, I’ve been here for more than three months, Your Majesty.”

“And the dwarven soldiers?”

“Our warriors had it worse. Most of the dwarves you’ll encounter in this gorge haven’t seen sunlight for more than half a year now.”

For the unfortunate ones, this place had become their burial ground—a fact that Crown Prince Hafnir chose not to mention aloud.

Lark nodded in understanding.

“That long, huh? Your Highness, may I gather the dwarves in this garrison?”

“Gather the dwarves?”

“Yes. I’ve thought of a way to relieve some of their boredom.”

“Hmm…”

It was an odd request. The dwarven crown prince glanced at Vulcan first, and after noticing that the leader of the Ancient Fire Dragons didn’t object, he reluctantly nodded.

“Go ahead, King Lark.”

“Thank you.”

Lark left the tent and quickly scanned the garrison in which they were stationed. As one of the major defensive points of the gorge—though not their headquarters—a significant number of dwarves had been assigned to defend this location.

Most of the dwarven guards stood rigidly in their respective positions, both thrilled and terrified that the Dragons and the princes had gathered here on their own volition.

Although the two dwarves guarding the tent’s entrance remained as unmoving as statues, their nervousness was palpable. They likely felt sick to their stomachs, overwhelmed by the burden of guarding the tent of such esteemed individuals.

“The two of you,” said Lark.

The eyes of the dwarves widened. Out of sheer nervousness, it took them a few seconds to respond, “Y-Yes!”

Even though Lark was a human, the dwarves dared not show any disrespect—fully aware that it was the Dragons who had brought him to this place.

“Are we that scary? Be at ease. It’s not as if we’re mindless brutes who kill people on a whim.”

“T-That’s not…”

Lark chuckled and added, “Haha. It’s a joke. Though I have to agree that it came out a bit distasteful. Hmm… maybe I should have worded it better? I’ll be more careful next time.”

“…H-Haha.”

The two dwarves laughed nervously. Seeing this, Lark realized that his simple attempt to ease their anxiety had failed. Perhaps it was a difference in culture and perspective.

He decided to speak more directly to them instead.

“Say… let me ask you,” said Lark. “Don’t you feel that this place is too gloomy? It wouldn’t be surprising to feel down and depressed when you stay in this godforsaken place for so long—half a year without seeing the outside world. I think it’s even natural to go a bit crazy at some point.”

Gloomy? 

A godforsaken place?

For a moment, the two dwarven guards wondered if the human king was trying to provoke them into uttering rebellious remarks. They believed that only fools would fall for such provocations.

“Not at all!”

“Absolutely not! We enjoy what we do!”

Lark laughed. “Of course, of course. I can see you take pride in your work. I’m just wondering if the dwarves stationed in this garrison might be interested in some… entertainment.”

The two guards exchanged glances.

One of them asked cautiously, “Entertainment?”

“Yes. One of my disciples dreams of spreading his name far and wide. It’s his ambition to earn a moniker here in the Dwarven Kingdom.”

The two guards couldn’t quite follow what the human king was saying, so they simply remained silent and let him continue.

“As his master, I figured I should at least help him achieve that. So, how about this? Why don’t we watch together as my disciples venture deep into the tunnels of the Gorge?”

Lark cast a simple illusion spell into the air, projecting the images he was seeing through the adamantite cubes. He then expanded the illusion further, turning it into a massive screen three times larger than the main tent.

The nearby dwarves looked up, their eyes fixed on the screen, curious about the two humans whose legs visibly trembled. No matter the angle, there was nothing heroic about them.

“Please call all of the nearby dwarves here,” said Lark. “Except those assigned to guard the entrances, of course.”

Lark smiled broadly as he looked at his disciples on the screen. “Today will be the debut of Quickcast George.”

Unbeknownst to the brothers, their master had gathered numerous spectators to witness their battle against the monsters.

Less than half an hour later, more than a thousand dwarves had assembled nearby, their eyes glued to the massive screen. Although they remained silent—afraid of infuriating the Dragons and the princes—the dwarves looked visibly excited. In this terrifying, sunlight-deprived place, this novel form of entertainment was enough to bring the location back to life.

***

“Ah… shit… shit… shit!”

“Stop cursing! Lower your voice at least! What if you attract those monsters here!”

The brothers bickered right at the entrance. It had been over an hour since they had stood there, unable to gather enough courage to delve inside. After not encountering any monsters during that time, they finally mustered the courage to speak to each other.

“B-Brother, I think I just pissed my pants…”

Austen grimaced in disgust. “This brat! Where did all that bravado go, huh?”

“It’s not like you’re any better! I can see your legs wobbling right now!”

“This and that are different! Look, be glad that it’s only the two of us here! Imagine if a lot of people saw you in that state! Instead of Quickcast George, you’d be called Pisspants George!”

“Then you’d be called Sir Wobbleknees!”

“Better than George Leaks-a-Lot!”

“Prick!”

“Immature brat!”

“Hah! What did you say?! If we — hiiik! Did you hear that?”

From within the tunnel, they heard a ferocious growl. George shuddered and quickly hid behind his older brother. The two froze. Although the sound seemed distant, that growl definitely came from a monster—and what kind, they had yet to find out.

“Stop hiding behind me!” whispered Austen. “I’m not your shield!”

“I d-don’t care,” spat George. “T-That thing. You h-heard it, right?”

Austen gulped nervously. Thankfully, they didn’t hear any footsteps coming their way.

George continued, “A-Are we really going to do this? We have the adamantite cubes to help us in case of an emergency… b-but what if there are traps? The m-monster we’re going to hunt is very intelligent, right? What if it sets up an ambush? W-What if we get surrounded by numerous monsters with no way out? What if the t-tunnels collapse? What if we get poisoned? What if we get trapped inside without any provisions? We’ll starve to death, surrounded by darkness, awaiting our deaths!”

The kid spouted numerous ominous scenarios one after another. Even Austen, who was relatively calmer compared to his little brother, began to feel even more terror upon hearing them.

“Stop jinxing everything!” said Austen. “What happened to Quickcast George?”

“Who cares about that! This isn’t something we can handle at our level in the first place! L-Let’s just go back!”

It was a tempting suggestion. For several seconds, Austen even considered it. Even if their master got angry at them, at least they’d be safe. No matter how they looked at it, this mission was too dangerous—a level of difficulty that better suited Anandra or Chryselle.

While the two contemplated returning, a voice came through the adamantite cubes.

“George, Austen.”

It was the voice of their master, Lark Marcus.

“M-Master!”

“Don’t even think about returning without stepping inside that tunnel,” Lark warned. “I already told you that I won’t let the two of you die. Although the adamantite cubes won’t help you kill the monsters, they will move in the event of an emergency you can’t handle. I assure you— I won’t let any of you die.”

“…B-But Master—”

“—If you can’t even do this much, I don’t see any point in continuing our master-disciple relationship,” Lark said sternly. “You’ve been training under me for years, and this is the first time I’m asking you to do something dangerous. If you can’t even muster the courage to step inside that tunnel, what’s the point of calling me your Master?”

Something shifted in them upon hearing those words. The thought of losing their master was far more terrifying than entering the tunnel. As harsh as his words were, they shattered some of the fear in their hearts. They were still afraid, yes, but they felt they should at least try.

Though their legs still trembled, resolve slowly lit in their eyes. Wordlessly, the brothers reached an agreement: they would enter the tunnel, fight those damn monsters, and survive.

A full minute of silent contemplation passed. Then George took a deep breath and exhaled.

“We’ll do it.”

“Please leave it to us,” said Austen. “That boss monster, whatever it’s called—we’ll do our best to hunt it.”

“Good decision,” said Lark. “Ah, I forgot to mention—I’ve invited the dwarves in the garrison to watch your battles.”

“Pardon?” said George.

“Watch our battles?” echoed Austen.

For a moment, the two brothers became hopeful. 

Were the dwarven warriors nearby? 

Maybe they would rush over the moment things became too dangerous? 

As though he could read their minds, Lark said, “We’re all at the nearby garrison.”

“…But how—”

“—I’m projecting the images seen by the adamantite cubes into the air. Over a thousand dwarves are watching the two of you right now,” said Lark. “You want to earn a moniker, right? To achieve that, you need people to witness your skills firsthand.”

George turned pallid. He looked down at his pants, still wet from piss.

“…M-Master?”

“Hm?”

“S-Since when have they been watching?”

“Half an hour ago. It took some time to gather everyone in the camp, you see.”

George nearly fainted when he heard this.

***

It took the brothers several more minutes before they finally gathered enough courage to enter the tunnel.
Their master’s warning, coupled with the expectations of those currently watching them, pushed them forward.

“Master…?”

“I’m here.”

Hearing the voice come through the adamantite cube, the brothers heaved a sigh of relief. After confirming that their master was still watching over them, they nodded at each other.

“Use that spell,” said Austen.

“Yeah. Prepare yours too.”

After coming to an agreement, the two began casting their respective spells right at the entrance.
George summoned a ball of fire the size of a head and forcefully compressed it until it shrank to the size of a fist. Once compressed, he injected a bit more mana into it, altering its flow and causing it to spin.

He repeated the process five times, until five orbs of compressed fire hovered around him, ready to launch at any enemy. This was his current limit—any more, and the orbs would spiral out of control, possibly catching them in the resulting explosion.

“Behold, my Heavenly Fire.”

Of course, George didn’t forget to give his spell a cool name. Although it was merely a low-tier spell compressed to the limit, at least it sounded badass.

This was the spell George had developed after months of sparring with Princess Esmeralda. For some reason, the princess possessed the ability to cut through low-tier magic, forcing George to create a spell that could withstand her strikes if he hoped to fight her on equal footing.

Naturally, out of fear of injuring the princess, George had always infused the bare minimum of mana into his compressed fireballs during their spars. Compared to those, the orbs currently hovering around him held at least ten times more mana.

Maintaining them in this state was mentally taxing—but entering the tunnel unprepared would be worse.

Meanwhile, Austen revealed his own trump card. He preemptively cast four oval shields of wind. Each shield was composed of multiple layered wind spells, allowing them to block even the frontal assault of a white oasis troll a few times before breaking.

Like George’s orbs, the wind shields hovered around Austen, ready to intercept attacks at a moment’s notice.

“I’ll attack, you defend,” said George.

“I know,” Austen replied. “These shields are sturdy. Even if it’s a monster from the Gorge, they won’t be able to destroy them quickly.”

His words were meant to reassure not only his little brother, but also himself.

At this point, out of sheer nervousness, the brothers had already forgotten that over a thousand dwarves were watching them. With single-minded focus, they prioritized survival.

They stared at the tunnel before them.

Its mouth loomed—a jagged grin carved into the earth. For over an hour, they’d stood frozen at this threshold.

It was time to conquer their fears.

It was time to show their Master what they were made of.

“Let’s go.”

Their spells at the ready, the two stepped into the tunnel.

Not even fifteen minutes had passed when they encountered their first monster.

And to their utter horror, it was an abyss lurker.

***

Inside the garrison, the dwarves shuddered as the image of an abyss lurker was projected onto the screen.

All of the dwarves present were veterans who had encountered an abyss lurker a couple of times before.

Those monsters were harbingers of carnage.

Wherever they went, chaos, blood, and slaughter followed.

Creatures capable of tearing through plate armor as though it were made of parchment, they truly deserved the title of apex predators.
The dwarves needed the aid of power suits or high-ranking knights just to take down a single one of those beasts.

And now, those greenhorns had encountered one right at the tunnel’s doorstep.

The dwarves began murmuring among themselves.

“An abyss lurker…”

“They’re fucked.”

“Those kids are dead, alright.”

“Shh… they’re the human king’s disciples. What if he hears you?”

While the dwarves whispered to one another, Vulcan stared intently at the projected image on the screen. From the corner of his eye, he watched King Lark’s reaction. Surprisingly, Lark showed no apprehension, even when the abyss lurker appeared.

“Strange,” muttered Vulcan. “The creature shouldn’t be capable of controlling the abyss lurkers. Why did one suddenly appear?”

It was the same question running through the minds of the others. Chryselle, in particular, looked anxiously at the screen.

Although she believed their Master wouldn’t let the kids die, she couldn’t help but worry.

***

The monster before George and Austen looked exactly as the dwarves had described.

Four meters tall, its body filled nearly the entire tunnel. Its serpentine tail spanned seven meters, ending in an axe-like protrusion. Its long arms reached past its ankles, and dozens of eyes dotted the upper part of its grotesque face.

An abyss lurker.

The undisputed strongest monster of the Bottomless Gorge.

Not only were abyss lurkers intelligent and powerful, they often moved in groups.

Even Crown Prince Hafnir’s army had nearly been annihilated after falling into one of their traps.

And now, one stood before them, its many eyes glowing in the darkness of the tunnel.

“Is it alone?” Austen asked.

“Hopefully.”

George infused more mana into his orbs. The moment that creature lunged, he wouldn’t hesitate to bombard it with spells.

“Kihihihihigrrr...”

A shrill laugh echoed.

George and Austen’s hair bristled.

The sound was chilling—like a child’s giggle mixed with a monster’s growl.

The creature’s tail lifted, its tip pointing at them. It opened its mouth, revealing serrated teeth dripping with saliva.

The brothers nervously gulped.

The abyss lurker’s muscles twitched. Before it could pounce, Austen shouted, “NOW!”

Without hesitation, George’s compressed fire orbs flew forward. The monster twisted its body. Two orbs missed, striking the tunnel walls and triggering loud explosions, while the remaining three hit the abyss lurker’s head, chest, and leg.

It howled in pain, stumbling backward from the impact—but it recovered almost instantly and charged at them in a rage.

Austen’s shields snapped into place just in time, blocking its claws and tail.

“SHIT!”

To his horror, three out of the four shields shattered instantly.

Well, they should have expected that—even powersuits couldn’t withstand the lurker’s strongest attacks.

“OUT OF THE WAY!”

At George’s shout, Austen leapt and rolled aside. A torrent of fire burst from George’s hands, engulfing the abyss lurker.

The tunnel lit up in blinding light, shadows danced across the walls, and scorching heat filled the air.

When the flames faded, the abyss lurker still stood—scorched, injured… furious.

“GRUAAAHHHHHSHISHISHISHI!” it roared.

The brothers flinched and backed away.

“Damn it! It’s angry!”

“Who wouldn’t be, though?”

“Now’s not the time for jokes! I’ll cover you—start prepping your spells again!”

“Alright!”

Austen hastily cast several defensive wind spells to hold the monster back. Fortunately, the tunnel worked to their advantage.

If this had been an open space, the lurker could’ve attacked from above, below, or behind. No matter how many shields Austen conjured, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

But in the tight confines of the tunnel, he could focus all his defenses in one direction.

Of course, the hastily-formed shields broke with every strike. Austen just kept recasting them—over and over—until George finished preparing.

“What’s taking you so long?!” Austen snapped.

“You think this is easy? Just hold on a bit longer!” George yelled back.

Several tense seconds passed. George was finally ready. Five compressed fire orbs hovered around him—the same spell as before.

“Hold him for me!”

“Alright!”

Austen poured a large amount of mana into a cylindrical cage made of wind magic. The abyss lurker thrashed inside, breaking free on the third strike—but it was enough.

The orbs hit. All five slammed into its chest in quick succession.

The abyss lurker howled in agony.

By the fourth strike, its roar weakened into a whimper.

The fifth orb tore a hole straight through its chest.

It slumped to the ground without a death cry. Its charred, battered body lay still.

The brothers panted heavily.

They stared at the corpse, on guard.

“Is… is it dead?” George asked.

Normally, Austen would scold him for saying something so ominous. But this time, he was too exhausted to even mutter, Don’t jinx it, brat.

He walked over and gave the abyss lurker’s head a light kick.

The two exchanged a look. Then, as if they’d agreed beforehand, both collapsed onto their butts at the same time.

“Haaah… damn fuck, that was scary,” George said.

“Mind your words,” Austen muttered. “Haah… but yeah. Fucking terrifying.”

“We almost died. Hey… are you really gonna sit that close to its corpse? What if it’s not dead?”

Austen stared at the body for several seconds. Then, slowly scooted back a few meters.

“Happy?”

“Yeah.”

“Just shut up for a moment. I’m so tired I might pass out.”

“You think it’s only you?”

“Did I say it’s only me?”

Silence fell.

Then George spoke. “Hey.”

“What?”

“That monster… is it really an abyss lurker?”

Austen understood the question. It still felt surreal.

Based on what they’d heard, a single abyss lurker could slaughter a hundred ordinary dwarven warriors. The idea that the two of them had taken it down on their own was hard to believe.

Sure, the tunnels helped. In an open space, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

Still—a win was a win.

And they’d done it without their Master’s help.

“Yeah. It’s an abyss lurker, alright.”

George grinned.

“I’m so awesome,” he said, the grin stretching ear to ear. “Hahahahaha! What abyss lurker! In front of Quickcast George, it’s just an oversized mutt!”

Austen shook his head, smiling.

“Maybe we can head back to the garrison now? Hunting one of these things isn’t exactly easy,” Austen said.

“Yeah! Let’s bring the corpse and show Master!” George exclaimed.

As they imagined the praise awaiting them, a voice came from the adamantite cube.

Lark’s calm tone shattered their good mood.

“What are you two talking about?” he said. “You’re still right at the tunnel’s entrance.”

Their faces drained of color.

“M-Master?”

“Y-You’re not thinking of… h-haha… y-you’re kidding, right?”

The cube’s runes glowed.

“This is just the start. Didn’t I tell you? Your goal is to hunt the creature controlling the Gorge’s monsters. You will not return until you’ve accomplished that, my beloved disciples.”

For the first time in their lives, Austen and George thought their Master had become a demon.

And for the first time, they wanted to go back and train under Anandra instead.

At least with him, they didn’t have to fight monsters from the Gorge.