Kapitel 30: The belly of the beast part 2
The inside was shaped like a rotten wood fabric - all wrinkly and wet. It smelled like rotten wood too which made Asato want to close his nose. Rather than a cave, it looked more like a swamp that had originated inside.
Already he could feel the blood rushing toward his head while he hung on for dear life to see inside the hole.
“See anything yet? Can I have my turn now?” Sumeru’s voice was relaxed but Asato could feel the impatience inside it. Someone was cranky which was saying a lot about that person’s mental health.
“Not yet. Wait for your turn out there” Asato knew his words were not polite. There was a certain age gap between him and Sumeru and he knew if his master knew he was behaving like this toward someone of such significance, he would have not been happy.
But he was not here right now, so it did not matter to Asato at all what he thought.
“Then hurry up” her tone was flat but it was right. Asato really needed to hurry up if he wanted to keep this up.
His eyes moved back toward the opening right in front of his eyes. The area was still swampy, a mix of toxic shades of blue and grey. The trees had leaves but none looked healthy to his eyes.
Many of the trees looked as if they might fall over at any moment and snap in two, or even melt their skin away.
It was not a pretty picture by any means but more than that, it was disturbing to look at. It felt far too gruesome to be present inside a dungeon so close to civilisation.
“It’s a toxic dump” Asato finally concluded for he did not know what else to say about that place at all. All he knew was that it was disturbing to look at.
“Really? Let me have a look too” Sumeru pushed at him which nearly made Asato lose his balance. The hole had sloping sides which made people much more aware of the drawbacks of being that close to the edge.
“Careful” Asato’s voice had a snap which made him surprised at himself too. He was not one to lose his cool, but he had been losing his cool a lot lately.
Something about the recent fires and now these dissimilarities made his mind stand on edge all the time. It made fear creep up on his spine.
He did not like this feeling at all.
“Wow, you were not kidding. It really does look like a toxic dump. That’s fascinating” Her tone contained wonder which made Asato worried about her mental health.
No sane and normal human being should be that excited to have a look at a toxic dump which could potentially kill them.
But Sumeru was not normal was she? She was not even human, just like him. They had no official name for their species, but this trait felt personal to her rather than a specific species.
Her body leaned even more in the hole and at a point, it almost looked like she would slip and fall down before she righted herself and her mask came back on her face.
“It’s something I’ll explore later. For now, why don’t we find that grass you were looking for? It is bound to be somewhere around here” her voice still carried over her wonder from the past sentences.
There was something about it that made Asato uncomfortable in her presence.
“Are you done then? I’ll let out my helper to show us the way” Asato had the paper in his hand and he let the power flow inside it.
The paper took the shape of a frog, a healthy and busty frog with a glossy shine to its body. With a croak, the body of the frog shook and twisted in Asato’s grip.
And then it freed itself which was credited to its slimy body which made holding it rather difficult. The frog took a few leaps in a random direction before it froze and with a loud croak, it started its mad dashing toward a particular direction.
“Is that your helper? It’s rather dashing” Sumeru’s words were a mock to the frog created but Asato felt nothing at that. It was a conscious choice on his part and it was practical.
The frog was small and decently fast - a rather good combination which saved on time and magic altogether. Her words did not matter to him at all for his master had approved his choice.
“It’s a decent helper and a rather easy to use one too. But you’ll need to keep up if you can” although Asato had said it in a rather neutral tone, he could see it coming across as offensive.
He internally flinched at his choice of words before he forced himself to relax as he took in Sumeru’s reaction.
Which there was none of. Her face was as passive as it had been before but something in her aura said that she will remember this. Their partnership was a tentative thread which was getting stretched the more they were together.
On paper they should have been easy friends. They were both outcasts, one of the only people that belonged to their species and likely had similar experiences. And yet it felt like a time bomb waiting to be ignited.
They were rubbing each other wrong in all the wrong ways imaginable.
“I’m decently fast, you know. The frog will not be able to get out of my sight” Sumeru said with a light cheer but her steps betrayed her fury at his supposed jab. Her feet were swift as she made her way after the frog.
Asato could do nothing but follow her. The atmosphere was already ruined and it would only worsen should he say anything more. All he could hope for was to have her forget this ever happened in the first place.
The frog was decently fast, but since both Asato and Sumeru were trained for physical combat they had enough muscle strength and stamina to keep up.
But it was a long chase which was a worrying sight. Ester grass was not a super rare item inside the dungeon. As such, it should be relatively middle of the place and yet they had travelled for more than enough space to have found it by now.
“It’s weird. We’ve travelled far enough” Asato stopped as he observed his surroundings. The rock there was thin which meant that they were near the surface.
“We’re near another entrance of the dungeon. I can feel the magic outside but you are right” Asato was impressed at Sumeru’s range of magic sense. But it was worrying too.
“We went through the whole length without anything to show. It shouldn’t happen” Asato was getting worried now. What he had stated was even common knowledge but it was true too.
“Should we go back inside?” Sumeru asked, her voice containing her question but Asato frowned. The frog was still hopping toward the outside without stopping.
“I don’t know. Maybe we should” calling the frog back, Asato decided to try calling it again. The frog came back alive in his hands and hopped toward the way which was pointing inside.
“Let’s go” Sumeru was right on his heels, her speed matching his own. It was all quiet, just two people moving about. The only sound around was of the frog croaking and their feet making contact with the ground.
And then there was a sudden sound in the air.
“It’s here” Sumeru cried out as she jumped back. Something crashed into the floor of the cave which caused the surrounding to shake. Asato’s moments followed the shaking ground right as it moved about.
It was not good, the shaking was increasing and before Asato knew it, he felt his body sink toward the broken earth below his feet.
His body was free falling and he knew this was bad. His body would not come out unscratched. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could spot scales.
Scaled which made up a whole body of lean muscle and various shades of green and blue. It was reptilian and enchanting.
And perhaps also deadly.
The body of the snake loomed over the broken earth he was falling down over and all he could feel was the all-consuming horror of falling.
His body met something and the pain exploded on his back. Still, he had enough awareness to lift his head and position his hands behind his head to cushion it. Something broke through the surface of his hands.
It was agony, his body in pain and yet he could feel as if he could move. His body was still falling and his brain was not thinking.
He was going into shock and he was going into shock faster than he could recover.
Then Asato felt his lungs burn.
(If you like this, then you will like me other work titled 'Leave the monster alone' even more since it's better in my opinion. I'll be happy if you read that and gave me feedback)
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein