–Where did you get that from?! – Max asked, wide-eyed, staring at the torch.
Max was shocked (disappointed and slightly scared), Mav was relieved that they could move forward, and Connor wondered after recovering from the initial shock.
'Where did Cali get the torch fuel from?' Connor thought after calming down a bit.
It should be noted that, unlike movies where people are shown simply taking pieces of cloth and lighting them with fire, torches generally need fuel to burn properly. The way they do it in movies, with cloth simply burning, ends up with the cloth disappearing quickly, in addition to the risk of smoke.
Therefore, to make a torch out of nothing, the use of a viable fuel is essential, usually oil.
'But we definitely didn't bring oil, just some food and a few recovery items.' Connor thought dismissively.
–Haaaa.... well... I kind of found some good fuel.... – Cali said defensively, her voice getting lower with each word.
–Huh?? How could you have simply found it? There's nothing here but rocks, maybe some roots and moisture. – Max said at the same time.
–Yeah, I just... found it around here... – Cali said again, her voice even lower, avoiding eye contact and trying her best to NOT look at Anna.
Max and Mav didn't notice this strangeness, but Connor's sharp hunter's eyes picked up on the subtle glances Cali was trying to avoid giving Anna, and failing.
–ANYWAY, LET'S GO! – Cali said, practically dashing into the tunnel and again avoiding eye contact. Anna followed soon after, but avoided looking at her friend, or even at the torch, and strangely kept fidgeting with her legs with a slightly uncomfortable expression as she walked.
Max and Mav exchanged glances and agreed they hadn't understood. Connor, for his part, couldn't help but look at them with an expression that said: "You two have a mother at home!!! Seriously, you didn't understand???"
Connor was basically raised by Diem for as long as he could remember, but he did have a father and a mother who, even though they didn't spend much time together, were important. However, if he had to choose who the most important female figure was to him, it would be Kamila (the "receptionist" of the dungeon), a kind of semi-maternal figure (perhaps an older sister?).
And through these two, he ended up learning about a certain period when women needed some... specific ingredients found in the forest to alleviate a constant discomfort that usually came during the full moon.
Showing his maturity, he simply chose to ignore the possible origin of the torch's fuel and didn't ask any of the girls anything when he started searching for the only reliable source of light, which was dwindling with each passing moment.
'...I just hope Anna either has reserves or didn't even have to use this one.'
He really hoped that the subtle fidgeting she was doing was out of embarrassment, not discomfort.
Max and Mav exchanged glances again, shrugged, and simply followed their friends.
A few moments after they left, the only "natural" light source in the antechamber was sealed off as if someone had flipped a switch, and so finally the exploration of the second floor of Kaio's dungeon began.
""""""""""""""""
Connor POV
About two minutes must have passed since we started advancing through the tunnel. Nothing had appeared yet, but none of us could relax. The girls were slightly more tense, but I wasn't going to worry about it since I knew the reason.
Max and Mav just continued as always, barely noticing this discomfort, and I was doing what I always did: amplifying my instincts, especially my hearing, to see if there was any hidden danger.
Luckily or unluckily, the path was quite wide with a relatively high ceiling, 9 meters wide and just over 3 meters high. Even Anna's spear could be used without much trouble, provided we managed to keep some space between us. Probably with some of us behind the enemy (if one appeared), but in general it was a... good(?) environment for fighting, although it would certainly be better with some kind of lighting.
So far, besides our footsteps, breaths, and the faint crackling of the torch, the only other sound I could distinguish was an occasional dripping in the distance inside the cave. Such silence made me apprehensive; it may only have been minutes since we started walking, but the exhaustion of walking in an enclosed space without light is even greater than I expected.
Max tried to start a conversation, but Cali was giving him the cold shoulder and seemed too embarrassed to respond, so he just kept talking quietly to his brother (mostly complaining about not understanding why the two of them were ignoring him). I couldn't understand why Anna was so ashamed about her... cycle.
But Kamila had told me that many women prefer to deal with this alone or with as few people as possible. So her having to use one or two "towels" makes sense, but it didn't make a difference to me, though I knew it was better not to bring it up.
*Fru-fru, Basa-Basa*
*Shhh–Shhh*
*Kiiii–kiiii*
Suddenly I started hearing some high-pitched sounds coming from the ceiling a little further ahead. I signaled for a stop, indicating we were about to battle the goblins, and everyone stopped almost simultaneously. Sharpening my senses to the maximum, I managed to distinguish some of the outlines ahead.
There were at least 5 winged creatures with faces that vaguely resembled the wolves the goblins rode, but with larger ears and a much stranger snout. They were dark, and therefore it was very difficult to distinguish their features, but I'm sure I saw slightly red eyes shining in the dark, and those eyes were looking directly at us.
""""""""""""""""
Kaio's POV
Of course I was going to put bats in a cave, that was the most obvious thing among the basics. The difference is that they aren't even spawners; they were all bought directly, and there are only 2 "colonies" of them in the tunnels. I even wanted to put more, but the idea is to create a haunted swamp, not a network of dark and claustrophobic tunnels.
I'll probably do that later, just not now.
One unique feature they have is that their nests are closer to the entrance and not at the back of the cave, for obvious reasons.
I didn't have much choice in this case; the cave is only 550 meters long (with some curves). I had to place one nest right at the cave's exit and another more in the middle. Besides that, I also randomly created some giant centipedes in memory of one of the first creatures I consumed before coming to this world—only about four that wander around the cave.
Oh! I almost forgot, these are the bats' stats.
[Name: none
Species: vampire bat
Level: 12
HP: 25/25
MP: 35/35
Damage: 5-10
Defense: 12
Wisdom: 10
Skills: bite, disease (3 MP, 20% chance to infect the enemy), bloodsucker (5 MP, 40% chance to absorb 10-20% of the enemy's total life to recover), fast flight (3 MP), sonic attack (10 MP, 30% chance to stun the enemy)
Loot: 50–150 exp (100/80%)
Bat wing (90%)
Bat fang (70%)
Bat guano (50%)
Bat eye (45%)
10 gold coins (30%)
Leech dagger (3%)]
Yes, it's a bat 2 levels above Connor and still weaker, so yes, it will give good experience for almost no work. Almostnone.
They are still quite fast (don't use Connor as a basis for comparison, his speed and reaction time are simply abnormal) so my challengers would have some problems. But as you can see, their damage is ridiculous, ridiculous in the 'hahaha' sense, not in the 'oh look' sense.
They are specifically the type to dodge and attack, not direct confrontation like their "relatives," the jungle wolves (although I can consider all monsters as relatives since technically they only spawn from me, right?).
Anyway, unless someone is actively trying to kill themselves in some very strange way, it's almost impossible to be killed by a swarm of bats, almost.
Their sonic attack is quite problematic, their bloodsucking is problematic, and their disease is quite annoying but can be cured with some mirror mushrooms in the cave, swamp, and some of the more humid places in the city. Problematic, but not fatal.
I'll talk about the centipedes when someone ends up bumping into one.