The trip through the cave had been hollowing to say the least. Tailow had slayed most of the monsters that they came across, which mostly looked reptilian in nature, though he had also had his own fair share of monster slaying.
Tailow also gave him a few lessons on how to wield a dagger so that he could better defend himself in the cave, and they had indeed come in handy. In fact, he was in the middle of one such lesson.
Hal found himself being pushed back by Tailow's sword swing, and though he knew the guy wasn't out for blood, he could not stop himself from trembling each time the guy lunged at him.
He blocked and parried using the simple techniques that Tailow had instilled in him earlier, but the difference in their physical capabilities was still apparent, and he soon found himself tumbling off to the ground.
"Those skills can only help you fend off weak monsters. If we are to encounter something beyond a lesser beast, then you are sure to die"
Hal gritted his teeth, his inability to retort to the young sword man's comments starting to get on his nerves, though his rage seemed to vanish the instant he felt it.
He let out a sigh at his own inadequacy and stared up at the stalactite-filled ceiling. Apart from simple sword skills, he had also learnt about the creatures in this strange fantasy world.
The monsters here went through three stages of evolution, and the stage of evolution a certain creature was at decided how difficult it would be to slay it.
The stages were lesser, dominant and greater beast, with lesser being the weakest and greater being the strongest. According to Tailow, lesser beasts didn't have any weird supernatural abilities and were dumb to boot, which made them easier to slay.
But the creatures above that level were monstrous entities hiding sinister abilities and intelligence that could rival a human; so far, they had only met lesser beasts, but the threat of encountering a creature a stage higher sent shivers down his spine.
"Hey, get up, we are not done yet, I'm not going to let your weak ass slow me down, so come fight me, dammit".
Hal felt a simple rage be surprised deep into his soul as he lunged forward to face the swordsman, only to get beaten down time and time again.
After the training session, Hal sat down to think a little, and life was not being fair to him. Not only had he lost his identity to an unknown entity, but now he was also trapped in a world filled with monsters.
'If I'm going to survive this, I will need power, but as of now, that is something I lack'
The two of them soon continued their cave trekking journey as they searched for a way out of the weird, glowing cave. Tailow mostly led the way with an old map he had extracted from his bag.
But the young swordsman didn't really strike confidence in Hal's heart, but for now, he had no other choice than to trust him. The duo continued through the cave uninterrupted until a shriek resounded from the path ahead.
The chaos erupted as several small lizard-like abominations the size of a big suitcase burst forth from the path ahead. They raced towards them at a startling speed with no intention of stopping.
Tailow drew his blade, and Hal pulled his dagger from its tiny sheath as they met the stampede of abominations. Tailow's moves were flawless as he cleaved through the stampede with one strike for each abomination that met his blade.
But, Hal, he couldn't count himself that lucky. The first abomination collided with his dagger at full force, pushing Hal back a few steps. He regained his footing and pushed back the abomination before striking down at it with full force.
His dagger dug into the creature's scales, causing it to convulse and tumble onto the glowing floor of the cave.
Hal couldn't stop at the sight of blood in his hands. He had to fight or risk dying in this weird cave.
He bolted forward and struck out first at the next abomination. The creature dodged and slammed its tail into his side, causing him to wince from pain.
He forced himself back on his feet before sticking his dagger into the top of the creature's open mouth.
He tossed the abomination aside and wrestled a few more abominations before the stampede finally blew by. Hal was sweating bullets, and his throat stung from all the running around.
He looked to Tailow, who had a lot more dead abominations lying at his feet than Hal, but the most concerning thing was the worried look on his face "Hey Tailow, why the worried face? We won".
Tailow slowly shook his head "Those things were not running to us, but a way from something else" Hal moved closer to Tailow, seeking protection from the young swordsman, but as soon as he reached him, he was pushed away.
Only for the ground he was standing on to give way as something unseen crushed into the ground, he fell back and rolled on the floor, losing touch with his senses for just a brief moment.
Hal struggled to stand and saw a being slowly materialise in front of his eyes. The being had a long, serpentine body with dark brown scales that helped it cling to the crystal walls of the cave.
The creature had snake like eyes and fangs to match as the great serpent finally revealed itself to them, its eyes seemed to investigate them for a bit before the serpent jumped into action,
Its serpentine body disappeared as it lunged forward, giving Hal only a few moments to jump aside before the ground beneath him gave way; he took off running as he felt the ground vibrate below him.
The ground vibrated more violently the closer the creature got, but Hal's eyes quickly glimpsed something in the distance. Tailow came running as he rushed by Hal and struck out at the serpent.
Only for his blade to bounce off the snake's scales and send Tailow reeling back, Hal acted fast and grabbed him by the collar of his armour, pulling out of the way of the disoriented serpent.
"I think that strike might have disoriented it, so I don't think it saw you" Hal turned back to Tailow, who wore a disappointed look on his face.
"Just like the lesser drake, I couldn't break through its scales" by lesser drake Tailow must have meant the lizard-like creature he saw him run away from when they first met.
They had gotten away from that one, but this thing seemed to be a dominant beast since it could disappear or hide its presence; either way, things were not looking good for them.
Hal felt the walls and ground vibrate as a thought crept into his mind. He turned to Tailow, whose disappointment seemed apparent.
"I think I have a way we can beat that thing if you are willing to listen", Tailow spared him a glance as if doubting his ability to help them out of the situation.
He let out a simple sigh and fully turned to face Hal before asking, "That thing is going to track us down anyway, so what do you have in mind?"
A smile appeared on Hal's face as he turned to the wall and said, "Touch the wall and tell me if you feel anything"
Tailow seemed hesitant, but he touched the wall nonetheless as a look of realisation appeared on his face "I can feel vibrations, they're subtle but there"
"Yup, vibrations travel quite easily in these crystals. It was the reason why the cave easily caved in last time, and it will help us know where the snake is"
Hal spoke with confidence as Tailow listened attentively, a question leaving his lips soon after, "Okay, but we still can't cut through its scales"
Hal nodded as he answered the question.
"Yeah, I have actually been facing that issue myself. I can cut through these creatures' scales as easily as you, so I aim for the weak points. It's the same thing we are going to do now, we are going to target the weak point, which easily leads to"
Tailow developed a smile that faded soon after "It's mouth, but that means we are going to need bait"
"I'll play the part, trust me, I'll be able to know when that thing is close enough and give you the signal", Tailow thought about it for a while before answering, "Yeah, let's do it"
And so Hal stood acting as a bait to the looming creature. He was glad Tailow didn't need much convincing, but the fact that he let a guy with little to no training act as bait was a little concerning.
He felt the vibrations growing more violent as the serpent grew closer. He stopped his legs from shaking and closed his eyes to get a good feeling for the vibrations. He didn't have to wait long, as the vibrations finally felt violent enough.
But as soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a large fang looming over his head, just one moment away from striking him. It was the right moment to pull out his own dagger and side-stepped the abomination.
He positioned himself so that his dagger struck the soft tissue holding the snake's jaw. Tailow followed and positioned himself on the opposite side as the two let the serpent's momentum do the rest.
Hal felt himself slip, but held strong until the snake stopped moving, and when it did, they had cut the great beast all the way to the middle.