[Cass]
The cavern closed in around him like a lung full of spores. Every breath scratched. Every shadow leaned forward. Cass tightened his grip on the spear and forced himself to focus on the thing ahead.
The Spore Guardian.
It didn't move at first. Fungus swayed across its body as though stirred by some current he couldn't feel. Its eyes glowed faint blue, unblinking, watching. Waiting. The silence pressed so hard against Cass's ears that he could hear his own pulse.
The lantern sputtered in his hand. The Guardian stepped forward. Each motion was slow, deliberate, but with a weight that promised ruin. Spores drifted loose with every footfall, swirling into the stale air until the cavern glowed like a drowned cathedral.
[System]: Hazard Tier: Elite Encounter – Spore Guardian
[Status Effect Risk: Infection Exposure – High]
[Tip: Fire suppresses spores temporarily]
Cass swung the lantern hard, arcs of firelight chasing the spores back, but only for moments. Already the haze thickened. He coughed into his cloth mask, chest burning.
He lunged first. The spear's chitin tip struck, tearing through fungus, but sank into nothing solid. The Guardian didn't flinch. One massive arm swept across the cavern, a strike so heavy the stone floor cracked. Cass threw himself aside. Dust rained.
Too slow to dodge forever. He needed rhythm.
Another swing. He stepped in close, jamming the spear into the joint of its shoulder. The Guardian gave a sound like stone grinding against stone. Not pain. Recognition.
Spores burst, searing his lungs even through the mask.
[System]: Condition – Spore Burn. Stamina Drain Active.
His vision swam. He staggered, nearly losing his footing. Not now. Not here.
He dropped the lantern at the Guardian's feet. Fire licked across the spores, driving the haze back in a hiss of smoke. The Guardian faltered, one step short, blue glow flickering.
Cass yanked a vial from his belt — Eshna's tincture. He hurled it. Glass shattered against the Guardian's chest, liquid burning like acid across its fungal hide. Smoke roiled.
The roar that followed shook the cavern. The Guardian slammed both fists into the ground. Cracks spiderwebbed outward. Water surged from the pools, carrying clouds of spores. Cass slipped, boots losing grip on slime-slick stone. His lungs screamed for air that wasn't poison.
"Move!" he snarled to himself, forcing his legs to obey.
He drove the spear upward, straight into one of those glowing eyes. For one frozen moment, the world stopped.
Then the Guardian collapsed. Its massive body struck the ground with a quake, bursting spores in a last choking haze before fading into stillness.
Cass dropped to one knee, gasping. He pulled his mask away to vomit bile, then yanked it back on as the last clouds settled.
[System]: Elite Monster Defeated – Spore Guardian
Drops:Guardian Core (Rare), Fungal Carapace (Uncommon), Sporeshard Fragment (Rare)
Achievement:First Elite Kill (Hidden)
The Core pulsed where it had fallen, a crystal alive with faint blue light. Beautiful. Terrifying. Cass stared at it, then forced his shaking hand forward. The System whispered again.
[System]: Guardian Core recognized. Blueprint integration available.
[Warning]: Carrying this item increases spore attraction.
He cursed under his breath. A curse dressed as a gift. Like everything else down here.
Still, he tucked the Core into his satchel, then gathered brittle carapace shards and the shard fragment. His spear was cracked. His lungs burned. His arms trembled. But he was alive.
He looked up at the cracks in the cavern roof, faint light trickling through. Another Dawn Hole. If widened, it could bring sunlight into Rootwater itself. A weapon. A dream. Not yet.
He limped away, lantern light shaking against stone.
[Forum – Global Noise]
[MetaWatcher]: "Reports of an Elite kill underground. Guardian Core? Source unverified."
[GuildBroker]: "Sporeshard prices already spiking. Auction flood incoming."
[Skeptik]: "Another Ghost Lord meme. No solo clears an Elite this early."
[Nocti]: "If true, Rootwater is worse than we thought. Dangerous."
[BloodPrinceTV]: "Stream tomorrow. I'll prove Ghost Lord's fake. 10k subs bet."
[IronFist88]: "Laugh now. When spores choke your farms, don't cry."
[Cass]
By the time he stumbled back into the hamlet, every Warble was waiting.
The blue Core pulsed in his satchel. Its light spilled across the cavern, turning faces pale. Children hid. Guards whispered. Even Torv stepped back, stubbornness shaken into awe.
Eshna rushed forward. Her hands trembled as she reached for the Core. "What… what did you bring back?"
Cass pressed it into her palms. "Proof. If it can spread, it can break. Learn from it."
Her face glowed blue in the Core's light. Awe. Terror. Both at once. "This might save us. Or doom us."
"Then make it save us," Cass rasped.
[System]:Quest Progression – Rootwater's Depths advanced.
Reward:Blueprint Fragment – Spore Ward (Rare)
Unlocked:New building option – Spore Ward (reduces Infection spread in settlements).
That night, Cass lay awake staring at the cavern ceiling. His lungs still burned. His hands shook with exhaustion.
He thought of the Guardian's roar, of spores curling into every breath, of the infection spreading above.
He thought of his mother, frail but alive, waiting for a spring that might never come.
And he whispered into the silence, "I'll blind every monster this shard throws at us. Even if I go blind myself."
The shrine's faint light pulsed. Not in answer. Only steady.