She clenched her teeth. No, she should not be content with being rescued. She needed to be the one who helped Freon instead! Whish! Another icicle sliced apart the entire cocoon, setting her free. Nassandra looked around, now that her vision was clear. Crystals were embedded in the rock wall, giving off a milky white glow. Silk swirled around the center of the cave like a bird nest. This was where the creature slept. Aside from that, there were ten cocoons near her. Some were shorter, some were taller. Others were slim, others were fatter. Two of them were sliced open straight down the middle, leaving behind an empty cocoon. Nassandra gulped. That could have been her fate just now. Since she was trapped in a cocoon, did that mean that there were people in the eight other cocoons? She hesitated to save them. Did she have enough time before that creature came back? If she wasted this opportunity, there would be no going back.
"Sorry, I can't," Nassandra bit her lip.
She could barely save herself. How could she think about other people? It might be selfish, but she wanted to live! But when she took a step forward, her foot soon moved back. Her face was wreathed in conflict and pain. Although she knew it was wrong, that it was illogical, her emotions betrayed her body and heart. Even if she made it out alive, she would not be happy with herself. Sighing, the decision was clear then, as foolish as it was. The girl rushed to the eight cocoons and created another icicle blade. Time was of the essence now. The first three were cut open and out poured a foul-smelling goopy liquid and a scattering of bones. The liquid drenched her boots. Nassandra puked violently. It was easy to guess what this liquid once was. She tried her best not to think about it and worked to open the other cocoons. Two more had liquid in them, four had decaying corpses, but the last two had living people!
A young boy fell out of one. He was frail and skinny, probably six or seven years old. The other was an older woman with streaks of grey hair. She looked thin and malnourished too. They looked related, maybe mother and son, or grandmother and grandson. Either way, they were quite fortunate. They must have been caught recently. Otherwise, any longer and the creature would have eaten them. Nassandra quickly woke them up, while staring nervously at the entrance. Hurry! They needed to hurry! The two opened their eyes and panicked upon seeing Nassandra. However, they excitedly realized they were rescued! Their joy was over the moon!
"Who are you?" the boy asked.
"We can talk later. Can you two run?"
"Why? Isn't that creature dead?" the woman tensed.
"It's not dead, but don't worry. Help is coming. We need to get out of here before the monster finds us."
The two paled. The boy replied, "I can run, but… my grandmother…" He looked at her slightly deformed leg.
"It's just a limp. You don't need to worry about me," she snapped back.
"But…"
"Enough. We should hurry."
Nassandra inhaled and nodded. "Alright. Follow my lead and please keep quiet."
She led them to the entrance of the cave and peeked around the corner, except it was too dark to see anything. Nassandra's face was ugly. This was an issue. Originally, she had supplies from the village, but they were nowhere to be found now. They must have been left outside. Although she could use magic to create a light, it would steadily drain on her Core. It would be disastrous to run out of Magic Energy. As for lighting a fire and using a torch, they would need to carry plenty of fuel with them. They needed to move fast, so that was not ideal. Her thoughts turned fast to find a solution.
After a moment, she asked the other two to help gather the glowing rocks illuminating the cave. Dim as they were, they were enough to guide the way. Nassandra joined them in gathering some. She carefully picked one up and felt startled inside. There was actually an unusually vast amount of World Energy stored within it! This was strange, because World Energy should be consistent across nature. Air had a certain quantity of World Energy, which was less than water and much less than earth. Forty years ago, Second Sage Alana theorized that this was related to the density of the objects. Air was the lightest, so it had the smallest 'capacity' for World Energy. Earth was the densest, so it had the largest capacity. The same logic applied to food. A big meal would be more filling than a small one.
Whenever Arcanists like Nassandra absorbed the ambient World Energy to replenish their Cores, they would typically use the World Energy from the atmosphere. This would create the rainbow-colored threads commonly seen. It was not that they chose not to absorb energy from the sea or the land, but they were unable to. The higher energy density created more resistance. It was currently beyond Nassandra's ability to pull from other sources.
Back to the glowing rocks, it should have a high density of World Energy, since it was denser than water or air, but it was far greater than normal rocks. Were they special in some way? Nassandra recalled Elizabeth talking about the different classifications of materials called 'Grades'. For example, nearly everything in nature was of the Mortal Grade. They were the most ordinary and most common, fit for Rank 1 Mortals. Nassandra's clothes and wand were classified as Mortal Grade. Above that, there were Noble Grade treasures. They were far rarer, requiring unique circumstances to create, and they had unique properties, fit for a Rank 2 Lord. For example, there was the Nebulous Star Root, which was the objective of their trip. Nassandra looked at the rock seriously. Could it be a Noble Grade treasure? If so, then she struck a gold mine! There might be more than thirty glowing rocks in this cave alone! She would have made a massive contribution! Of course, the condition was that she survived first.
"Look what I found," the boy said with a grin. He returned with a small pile of weapons. Since the monster did not eat metal, they collected here. Many were dull or rusted, showing how old they were. Few were truly usable.
"Do you know how to use them?" Nassandra looked at him curiously.
"How hard can it be? It's better than nothing," he replied and grabbed a dagger for himself.
She sighed. "You're not wrong. I hope we don't get the chance." She picked out a short sword too and tied it to her belt. "Where's your grandmother?"
"I'm here." The elderly woman limped over with a few large glowing rocks. She had a tense expression. "We should leave quickly. I found some insect eggs and babies around the corner. They haven't noticed us yet, but if they start crying…" The rest was left unsaid.
"Okay, we have everything we need. Let's go!" Nassandra decided.
Leading the way, they left the large cavern behind and walked into the dark tunnel. Although they had the help of those glowing rocks, the rocks offered very limited light. Nassandra could barely see her feet, much less see the walls or what was in front of her. She kept one hand on the wall and used it to guide her forward. Her heart was pounding. Shadows constantly danced around her, always at the corners of her eyes, making everything appear menacing. It made her jittery and on edge. She found it hard to concentrate and keep moving; however, the knowledge that her brother was here somewhere, fighting to rescue her, gave her the courage to continue. She kept quiet, wary that any echo may attract the creature back. The boy and grandmother understood this as well, so they said nothing. There was only the sound of shuffling feet, dripping water, and creeping breeze. It was eerily silent, which made it more nerve-racking. They walked and walked for what seemed like ages, even though only a minute passed in reality.