The water caves were a massive, three-story complex. The first floor was the largest, dominated by a huge, drinkable lake that served as the primary water source for the city of Therya. Conveniently, it was only a five minute walk from the main cavern where the city was located.
The first floor of the water cave stretched out before them like an underground cathedral. The ceiling, high above, dripped faintly, its jagged stone glittering with moisture. Stalactites hung over a vast, glassy lake that claimed nearly half the cavern's space. The water was unnervingly clear, a soft blue that seemed to glow faintly. Every ripple caught the light like liquid crystal, and the air carried the clean scent of fresh rain. It was so pure that Darian almost forgot why they were here.
Around the lake's edges, slick stone pathways wove between rock outcroppings, some barely wide enough for one person to pass. The ground was uneven, scattered with damp moss and thin patches of glowing fungi clinging to the walls. Far across the lake, narrow tunnels branched deeper into the cavern, their dark mouths yawning like silent threats.
Darian, Liro, and Vane huddled together, trying to devise a plan to clear the floor and reach the levels below to check for more Krukins.
"We have to use our powers together if we want to win," Vane said, thinking aloud.
Liro and Darian exchanged a glance, both thinking how obvious the statement was.
"We have to lure them into those small tunnels," Liro said, pointing to the tunnels in his 3D projection. "These tunnels are close to the lake... and Krukins can't swim."
"I can create an ice path to get them in there," Darian offered, mentally calculating how much power he would need to freeze the water. "But once they're inside, what do we do?"
"We can make the stone fall," Vane said, pointing at a tunnel in the actual cave. "It doesn't look very strong." He wasn't using the 3D projection, and the Krukins almost saw him. Darian quickly pulled him back at the last moment.
"Yes, that could work... but please, Vane, you have to be more careful!" Liro's voice rose slightly.
"Guys, please calm down," Darian said, trying to de-escalate the tension. "They're going to hear us."
"Ugh, yeah, yeah..." Vane said, clearly annoyed.
"I'll turn into an eagle so I can go into the tunnel, and they'll follow me," Vane said, confident in his plan.
"And Darian will use some ice to destroy the entrance," Liro continued, zooming in on his projection. "But there's another entrance to the tunnel."
"That means you have to be faster than the Krukins," Darian said, checking the simulation. "Can you do it, Vane?"
"It won't be a problem, I'm extremely fast!" Vane replied, sure of his abilities.
"Then for the enemies that remain, we'll simply kill them," Darian said, putting his fists together.
The plan was set in motion. Vane immediately turned into an eagle and let out a loud cry, grabbing the Krukins' attention. They began to follow him, and the plan was working. The Krukdill and Krukspy started to run toward him.
"Come on, Snowy... it's our time!" Darian said, pointing his right arm at Snowy. It fused with him once more.
"Radial Freeze!" Darian shouted, casting the spell without having to get close to the lake. An ice path formed on the water as the Krukins chased Vane.
Vane was fast enough to enter the tunnel before them. Once every Krukin was inside, Darian used ice to make the rocks fall and close the first entrance. The remaining Krukins in the cave were distracted by an illusion of fire that Liro was creating, which they were too scared to approach.
Meanwhile, Vane was trying to escape the Krukins in the tunnel. Some were slow, but others were surprisingly fast, and one of the Krukdill started running on the tunnel's ceiling, gaining on Vane. He tried to speed up, but it was useless. The Krukdill fell right on top of him. Luckily, Vane wasn't hit by its horn. He fell, but the moment he touched the ground, he turned into a polar bear.
The space was just enough. Vane threw the Krukdill onto the other Krukins to slow them down. It worked! He turned back into an eagle and flew out of the tunnel. Seeing this, Darian immediately created another ice shard to destroy the other entrance, sealing them inside.
"Now we have to deal with the others!" Vane said while flying. Liro removed the illusion, and Vane immediately turned into a buffalo, charging into the remaining Krukins. Darian created an ice shard and began picking them off one by one.
They were slowly getting killed when they heard a drilling sound. "Shit, the Krukdill in the tunnel!" Darian cursed, seeing that they had created a hole in the wall and were getting closer. He cast a volley of ice shards, killing some, but the others kept coming.
After Vane had killed the last of the outside Krukins, he charged at the ones from the tunnel. Sadly, some Krukdills were charging as well, and the impact was brutal. Several Krukdill began piercing Vane's body, but he was extremely resistant.
"GUYS!" Vane yelled for help as the drills pierced faster.
Liro immediately created an illusion of a falling rock, hoping the Krukdill would be scared. It worked on some of them, who jumped back. Darian quickly hit them on their underbellies, killing them fast.
"WAIT, I HAVE A PLAN!" Darian yelled, casting an ice shard right behind Vane. Vane understood. There was only one Krukdill left pressing against his body. He saw the shard behind him and turned his body into an eagle. He was able to fly away, and the Krukdill tried to stop but it was useless. Darian had created an ice path under the Krukdill's feet. It slipped, lost control, and its body was crushed against the spike.
Vane immediately returned to his human form. His body was bleeding, his vision blurry, and his head was hurting a lot. He had used too much soul.
Liro knew how the soul worked with the use of magic, and he started to explain it to Darian that didn't know it yet.
If a human used too much magic, their soul would start to break. At first, their eyes would turn black, their vision would blur, and different parts of their body would start to bleed. Next, the human would have trouble recognizing emotions and their short-term memory would suffer. After that, they would start to become transparent as their soul slowly faded. They would lose their empathy and people would start to notice them less. No one knows what happens in the final stage, as no human has ever tried to surpass it. They only know that to stop the second-to-last stage, you need to rest for three minutes.
"Vane, you have to rest!" Liro said, his voice loud and worried as he approached Vane.
"Yes, yes... don't scream, I can hear you," Vane replied. Darian began to treat his wounds. After a few moments, Vane got back up.
"We have to keep going," Vane said, his whole body aching.
"Vane, please be careful..." Darian said, worried, putting Vane's arm over his shoulder to help him walk.
They all walked to the second floor. It was entirely made of water, and the only enemies were Kruktopus, who were all underwater. Darian created an ice path, deciding they would return for the Kruktopus later. Now they had to focus on the last floor.
Once they got to the final floor, they saw a single monster. It looked like a Bladekruk, but different. The only similar thing was its height; it looked a hundred times worse.
Its body was a tangle of dead and regenerated flesh, as if stitched together from multiple corpses and left to rot. Its skin was gray, crusted, loose, and stretched in places to the point of cracking, revealing black, pulsating tissue. Bone fragments emerged like sharp blades, while shreds of flesh dangled from its elongated arms, which were disproportionate to the rest of its body. It had the same shape as a human, but it was worse, as if its whole body had been put together and modeled by someone blind. It had long arms and weird hands, with two extremely sharp nails instead of fingers.
The room was the smallest of the three floors, and like the others, the ground was free of holes. This room had a circular shape, and in front of the door, on the opposite wall, the monster was sitting on some sort of throne. It stood up, took three steps, and immediately stopped. It moved its hands forward, its two long nails pointing at the three adventurers.
"I was waiting for you... foolish humans..." the creature spoke, its voice deep and terrifying. Everyone shook in fear.
Darian's eyes trembled. Liro tried to hide behind Vane, who was also trembling but had a smirk on his face. Everyone had a different reaction, but they all shared one thought: no one had ever seen a Krukin speak before!