She opened her backpack, took the plastic bag that had the meat from earlier, and added it to the backpack.
"Four kilograms and five hundred grams… or three kilograms and six hundred grams. It seems that this bag has the ability to lower the weight of whatever is put inside by twenty percent. But still, this is so heavy…"
"I'll carry it. It's no problem for me."
Henrique volunteered to carry the bag, and Marina handed it to her, then she took the last thing she found in the chest.
"Now, these coins… They look like normal coins to me. Like the old five-cent copper coins we used to have. It's been some time since I last bought something using five-cent coins."
"Can I look at them?"
"Of course."
Marina handed them to Carlos, who then took a close look at them.
"Indeed, they look like those five-cent coins, but bigger. But the design… it isn't one I recognize. Usually we have something written on them stating the country that issued them and the date of coinage. But there's nothing, just this deer and these stars…"
The coin indeed had a relief of a deer on one side and a pattern of stars on the other side.
"And these stars are not any constellation that I could recognize, either."
There were five coins. In the end, each took one of them and put it in their backpack.
"The last item is this piece of a circle. To me, it looks like a piece of a toddler's toy. But it's metallic instead of plastic."
The piece was weirdly heavy for its size and had the color of polished steel, only with a faint hue of blue.
"No, Marina. I'm sure this should be a puzzle piece. We'll need it to solve something that will open a door or a treasure. We should just keep it."
"Okay, Ravi. If this is really something made with the purpose of being game-like, then your reasoning makes sense. Never throw away a quest item."
Marina looked at Ravi, then sighed and put the last piece in her backpack.
"Okay, we killed who we needed to kill and plundered what we needed to plunder. What about we eat something, drink some water, have some rest, and then hit the road again?"
"Ravi, you sound like a hooligan."
"But… am I wrong?"
"No. You're not."
Henrique and Ravi's banter always made those around them smile. Well, not always, but most of the time.
:::
Heloisa took charge of the food. She collected everything that could be eaten without cooking, pondered how long they would last, and then gave one ration to each and took one for herself.
"Without cooking, we have food for two days. Which means that we need to get out of this cavern if we hope to survive more than that."
"Huh? Why not just grill that meat we got from the rats?"
"Ravi, dear, sometimes I wonder how you managed to pass on the entry exams for the Federal University. Have you forgotten how fire works?"
Henrique nagged on Ravi's comment, making the little punk stop and think for a bit.
"Well, it uses combustible… okay, we don't have that for the moment."
"And…?"
"And it… Oh! I see! Oxygen!"
After that little banter, it was the turn for Marina to intervene.
"Exactly. Unless we find a place with actual ventilation, we shouldn't ever light a fire, unless we want to die by asphyxia. Didn't you notice? The air here is completely still. There's not even a hint of breeze."
They were all sitting in a circle near the former rat nest. Earlier, while Heloisa was checking the food storages, Marina put some blankets on the ground for everyone to sit more comfortably.
"We should ration the water as well. I don't trust the water on that pond is fit for consumption. So, drink little by little."
"But Helo, after all I ran I'm all sweaty. If I don't drink enough water, I'll be dehydrated."
"It's your fault for not managing to hit them and having to run all over the place."
"Hey, Henrique! Not fair!"
"Henrique, can you please stop with the nagging? It's starting to irritate me as well. We must avoid this kind of behavior when our life is on the line."
This was one of the moments when their banter would become a bit too much for the others. Heloisa's reasoning did go through, and Henrique apologized and turned his attention to the machete in his hand.
"This thing is all bloody. I need to clean it properly. Otherwise, it might get rusty."
"Oh, for that you can use the water on that pond and then wipe it with a towel. I have a sharpening stone if you need it as well."
"Thank you, Marina, always dependable with gear. By the way, how is your injury?"
"It's okay. After Helo spread the gel on, it stopped hurting. I'm afraid that it will hurt again when I go to sleep. But, for now, it's alright."
Marina was drawing the new section of the map as they talked, and Carlos was also scribbling some notes as well.
"What are you writing down, Carlos?"
"Oh, it's a journal of our adventure. I have an old mechanical clock, so we can keep track of the time even in this place without a sky. I'm gathering all we've learned so far as well."
"Good thinking. As expected of our DM."
The five of them kept chatting and doing their things for some time, recovering their stamina and lifting their spirits. One hour later, they resumed their march, going back to the starting area.
:::
"Okay… it doesn't seem that anything has happened here while we were away. And it looks like we explored all there was to explore in the southern passage. So we should head to the northeastern passage. But it forks. Which way should we go? Left or right?"
"You're the scout, Marina. Just pick one."
"Hehe. You're right, Helo. I'm the scout. Wait for me near the entrance. I'll peek at both sides and return."
Marina walked down one of the corridors, then went back and entered the other. After some time, she was back again.
"Okay, we go to the right side."
"Right."
Marina goes in front, like before. After walking on the winding corridor, she arrives at the entrance to the next cave. Listening in, there are no sounds coming from the cave, so she peeks to take a look.
And what she sees takes her breath.
The cave is a bit smaller than the first one, and, while the ground is the same, this time there are some plants growing in patches, with a couple of weirdly colored flowers.
But the most dazzling of all are the luminescent purple butterflies wandering around the cave, leaving trails of bright dust in their wake.
Not seeing any impending danger, Marina calls for the others.
"Look at this…"
They all arrive at the entrance and release baffled expressions one after the other.
"What the hell?"
"So pretty…"
"Whoa…"
"So cute…"
They quickly enter the room and walk towards the butterflies. The little things don't flee nor change their course with the presence of the humans, as if they don't feel threatened at all.
"I want one."
Ravi reaches his hand to pick one, but the butterfly disappears right before the hand closes on it and reappears one meter forward.
"Did it… teleport?"
"No wonder they don't feel threatened at all… If anything happens, they can just teleport away. Such an OP ability."
Carlos came to the side of Ravi and was examining the behavior of the butterflies. He was suspicious of the friendliness of butterflies at first, but the teleport seemed to have solved his doubts.
"This dust they leave behind is so beautiful… it looks like faerie dust."
Instead of trying to grab the butterflies directly, Marina was fascinated with the dust left behind, trying to catch some with her hand.
"Aw… it dissipates too quickly…"