172 [Bonus chapter] Underground Heart
Cough! Lydia coughed blood, glaring down as the veins pulled her body toward the abyss. ^I don’t have much time before the potion’s effect end.^
ZAN! She swung her sword at the veins, leaving a crescent moon of holy magic. Thud! As she got free, she stepped on the vein and lept at the walls.
Jumping from one wall to another as she fell, Lydia slashed the veins left and right. She freed Jack first. “Jack! We need something to land on!”
“I know! Damn, last time I fell in a hole I almost lost my shoulder!” Jack growled, shifting his body to fall head first. He pulled an iron rod from his pocket, “Two gold coins going down the trash!” He threw the rod down.
BAM! The rod exploded, sending two sharp harpoons from each direction. It formed what looked like a massive hammock net. BAM! BAM! Everyone landed on the net. “I see the bottom, but it’s filled with stalagmite,” Aella shouted before glaring up, the veins rushed after them.
“There isn’t much of them. I bet Arad is rampaging down there.” Mira noted that there were much fewer veins rushing at them than the one that tied Arad. The tree focused on him more.
“I will clear the stalagmite. Follow me!” Jack pulled some explosives and threw them down. They cleared a patch of the stalagmite as they exploded.
Jack jumped down and swiped the jagged stones with his legs, “Jump down!”
Aella lifted Mira and jumped down while Lydia jumped last.
“From here!” Jack had already found a small hole in the wall as he called everyone to follow him.
As everyone entered the hole. Jack exploded the entrance and blocked the veins from following them.
“You trapped us!” Mira cried.
“The veins can’t dig through stones. This place doesn’t have dirt, we’re safe for the time being.” Jack replied. He has been watching the veins all the time.
Blug! Lydia puked blood as the potion effect ended, she fell to her knees panting.
“Lydia!” Jack rushed at her.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” She smiled [Healing]
Jack watched Lydia’s body gets covered with a faint golden mist as she healed herself. “I’m fine, don’t worry.” She sat down.
“I can hear rumbling deep underground. Arad is still fighting.” Aella put her ears on the ground, listening.
Lydia stared at Mira, waving her hand, “Come here for a moment.”
Mira approached Lydia, “What is it?”
“When I was cutting those veins, they felt strange.” Lydia panted, glaring at her sword, “Tell me! What is the elder tree?”
“All I know is that it’s a magic-infused tree.”
Lydia shook her head, “The texture, it didn’t feel crunchy as wood. I felt a thud like cutting tough flesh. Is it a fungal wood?”
Mira blinked, “No, but the roots of the elder tree are usually covered by fungal growth.”
“I know it.” Lydia panted, “This thing isn’t a tree, it’s a fungal parasite.” Lydia lifted her blade. “I bet it has a core somewhere around here, the tree up is a decoy.”
“Fungus? Are you saying that a fungus consumes a tree and turns it into an elder wood?” Mira gasped.
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to know.” Lydia panted, “What I know is that those veins are fungus, which means I only need to smite the core to kill this thing.” She glared at Aella.
“Arad has been talking about a heart underground. Can you locate it?”
Aella stared at her, “Are you saying that it’s this thing’s core?”
“This fungus seems to be a parasite. The heart must belong to something else. I guess the fairy that Arad saw.” She looked at them, “The fungus must be controlling her as it did to the fairy corpses.”
Aella started listening, “I can’t hear it. Arad’s rampage is muffling all the sounds.”
Lydia stood, “We need to move. The more time we waste, the more likely he’s to fall.”
“Can you move?” Jack helped her stand as she stumbled. “I’m going to be sore as hell after this,” she giggled.
***
BAM! Arad shifted to his humanoid body. He leaped from one stone to the other as he dodged the countless veins and stones thrown at him.
Thud! The veins caught a large stalagmite, throwing it at Arad.
CLAP! Arad closed his hands. [Gravity magic: To the left wall] The stalagmite flew to the side. [Gravity magic: To the left again] With those two casts, he redirected it back.
CRACK! When the stalagmite hit the wall, it opened a new path for Arad to take. The veins kept thrusting and trying to catch him but they failed. He moved too fast and teleported when cornered.
~Trap…here~
The fairy voice rang in Arad’s head. It sounded strange, crackling as if she can’t breathe.
CREEK! Stones moved at the wall, revealing a small hole. ^Is she saying the way ahead is a trap and that I need to go through here?^
[What are you talking about?]
^The fairy, I can hear her voice, but it seemed strange^
[We don’t know what to trust. It’s your decision.]𝑜𝑣𝘭.𝘯𝑡
Arad nodded, “Let’s give the fairy a chance.” Arad rushed at the new path and kept rushing forward.
After a few moments, ^The heart, it’s getting closer^
[The fairy is leading us to it. It could be the elder tree’s core.]
~Up…~
Arad stopped, a high cliff faced him. ^No time to climb or space for my wings.^
Arad closed his eyes, focusing on his feet. BAM! The fire burned beneath them like a jet. BAM! He got propelled up in an explosive burst.
~Break…wall~
Arad found a strange dark and red wall ahead of him. [Iron ore, the fairy can’t manipulate it.]
Arad took a deep breath, clenching his fist. BAM! With a single punch, he shattered the wall. ~Gahhhhh~ He heard the fairy growling.
^Are you okay?^
~Right…~
The fairy didn’t seem interested in talking, only giving Arad instructions on where to go.
Arad kept rushing forward. Following her instruction for a while until he finally reached a large.
BA-dump! ba-dump! BA-dump! ba-dump! BA-dump! ba-dump! BA-dump! ba-dump!
At the ceiling existed a large spherical core connected to the earth with roots, beating like a heart. A disgusting white mass latched to its side. Arad’s eyes told him, the heart and the mass had different magic.
[That thing looks like a massive ooze core.]