章 12: Lan Zhe. The once great Underground Town!

After a long while of travelling through the thick forest which branched widely through the Continent [Ignis], the gang finally reached their destination.

They had to camp for a night, and most definitely had to convince Black wind to stop chewing random bushes many times along the way, but with a little hustle they made it here.

The great underground town of Lan Zhe, or at least that's what Mogranius called it along the way.

It's entrance wasn't eye catching at all, it just looked like an entrance to a normal cave. The entrance was just ten foot wide and six foot tall.

Even BlackWind was able to touch the top of the cave with his head, which he enjoyed rather a lot since it felt like a soothing massage. Tiny rocks causing a bump in the way made it feel even better.

Looking at what was in front of him, Eric wasn't so amused. He wasn't sure what to expect but he didn't expect the cave to feel so, Blank! "This is the great town of Lan Zhe? Seems quite ordinary to me."

So hearing what Eric had to say, the old man got rather triggered but understood what the youngling meant. This place is indeed blank but Mogranius got confused about what more Eric expected?

Giving Eric a glare, Mogranius spoke. "This cave is over 6,000 years old! It's a miracle that this is still standing."

Remembering that Eric is still a kid who doesn't quite understand the importance of relics, Mogranius calmed down quickly.

Eric asked, stating a half fact as well. "But where are the houses? You said this is a town."

"It was a town, but if there actually were any houses outside of the cave, time would long ago erase those tracks." Mogranius explained, giving everyone a vibe that he could be talking fiction here.

Unwilling to debate about this any further, Mogranius decided to enter the cave.

He went in first, and the gang followed after him in a single filed line for the sake of letting the most knowledgeable take the first steps.

Although the entrance small, the gang became bewildered once noticing that this cave is big enough for everyone to live in for a while without invading each other's personal space.

The Cave is 8-10 meters wide, sort of has a round shape and seems dry enough to sleep over even without a sleeping bag although no one intends to sleep over dirt!

Apart from the cave being big enough, there also is one short tunnel on the bottom right of the cave across the other side, leading to a dead end.

That tunnel was barely 3 meters long but one can probably find more warmth there.

September started a few days ago, soon the weather will become too cold to handle, warmth is one thing they need, but it will likely not be a big problem with 2 Fire Controllers in their arsenal.

Trying his best to show gratitude after looking around for a bit, him being a man of knowledge able to appreciate such a relic of a cave, Stefan decided to break the silence by saying. "It's not a Vacation home, but at least this place is well hidden."

Recalling the dry dead branches he saw near the cave a little while ago, Woldemir pitched. "It's a cave, but it doesn't mean we have to live rough. We need to start a campfire and get some food too."

Thinking about what they went through last night, Eric added. "Making a few beds out of branches and leaves isn't a bad idea either. Unless any of you prefer the cold dirty ground."

It took them about 2 hours to prepare everything so this cave feels more like a home. Making the campfire was the easiest part while making the beds was the hardest considering they don't have an axe or any metal tool to aid in their progress.

Not to mention, all the bugs they had to shake off from the bigger leaves. There were a lot of them and a few still remain on the branch and leaves beds although the team doesn't know about it.

With all that work done, compared with all the travelling they went through early in the morning. They crashed asleep right after finishing and napped for a couple of hours.

They thought that they are alone here, and this cave sure portrays that feeling but Eric still managed to hear strange voices although asleep.

Mogranius did mention something about this place being more spiritual, let's hope he was being as less literal as possible about that.

That strange sound, It actually started whispering a few times but stopped after.

You would think it's the wind, but the wind can't form a sentence.

The voice came back 15 minutes after! Stronger, louder, something that would push an aware and awake person through a slight trauma.

That voice moved from his ears to his dreams. Every dream started off randomly, and ended up with a black and golden cloud repeating foreign words.

He didn't understand a thing but it sure gave him discomfort. He was sweating as if all the Black Wolves of Ignis were chasing.

"Graza Ho Dofet."

Those three words were repeated in Eric's dream so much that he woke up with those words completely memorized and soaked in his own sweat.

That voice shunned away once Eric woke up. He saw Mogranius meditating, feeling the semi-gentle rays of the midday sun on his face and clothes, breathing air in and letting it out.

Standing up on his feet, grabbing his shirt and shaking some sweat off from himself, and approaching the old man after to explain. "There was this voice in my dream, Repeating these same three words over and over. What do you think this means?"

Mogranius while still remaining on his meditation pose replies with a delicate tone. "I expected for something like that to happen, especially here. You are the new Electus and we are here in an ancient place that belonged to Lava Controllers. Maybe some ghost just taunted you."

Shaken a little bit thanks to this paranormal topic, Eric couldn't say a word. The last thing he wants right now is to deal with potentially dangerous ghosts.

A possible ghost did torture Eric mentally for an hour or so, how dangerous could one Ghost be physically?

Noticing discomfort on the young man, Mogranius said. "Why don't you come meditate with me kid?"

Without hesitation, Eric sat down and started mimicking Mogranius. He seated himself in the same position Mogranius did, but what now?

A bit confused, after about 15 seconds Eric asked. "It's not working. What am I supposed to expect or do?"

Mogranius replied with a rough voice. "Meditate."

Sounds of birds rushingly flying off of branches were heard from the outside after, his meditation has been interrupted enough for a minute don't you think?

But yet Eric wasn't scared like the birds are, he asked another question with a slightly high tone. "I am, but I'm only breathing. I breathe all the time! What's the point?"

"The point is to focus on your breathing, let go of everything else. Let go of your thoughts. Like the dirt here who is dedicated to be firm and one with the cave, your dedication should be to stop thinking and start listening." Beautiful saying, but what will a kid understand from it?

Pulling enough strings although unintentional, Eric once again asked. "Alright. But what should I listen to?"

"The Cave!!" Black Wind stood up in panic, glared from left to right quickly to scan the territory for danger.

But he saw nothing, he blew air out of his nose, assumed it was nothing and fell back asleep. Not knowing that Mogranius is the one that spooked him.

Seeing no particular value in this meditation thing, still confused on its fundamentals as well, he gave it an hour or so with no good result until he said. "This isn't for me."