The cave was cold. And it felt both full and empty. Every step echoed, making Riley shiver slightly. The painful silence only added to the fear he held, like every little noise he made would bring out some sort of creature that could kill him with a single swipe.
Julien was fairing better, albeit only slightly. His aspect was being interrupted by something.
Nightvision.
Sounds great, but it was limited to only the night and the darkness it created. Not the confines of the strange cave.
The lantern's light only created a small dome of light around them, roughly five metres in diameter.
'This is risky, having the light is like a beacon.'
His stepped briskly, Julien followed suit.
Their steps turned from hard echoes into mushy footsteps. As if walking through a muddy swamp.
Red. The ground was covered in soil mixed with blood. And red blood was the last colour he wanted to see in a place like this.
Riley inhaled sharply. The air bit into his lungs as he pushed out more essence into the lamp, illuminating a larger portion of the cavern.
There they saw them. Sleeping along the edge of a stoney pedestal. Tens, if not a hundred tiny pups sleeping soundly. They shone under the light, the slick fluid clung to their fur.
'Could that wolf have been their mother?'
That would explain a lot. At least, that is what Riley believed.
Riley struck true and killed the first of the pups.
[You have slain a Dormant Beast, Hound of the Progenitor.]
A vicious curl decorated his face. His blade swung endlessly, slaying the sleeping beasts before they couldn't even put up a fight.
A pang of guilt stung his heart, but the insatiable greed he held in this moment was far too much to be controlled.
Their soul shards would serve well for his teammates. They were not of much use to him since he was already Awakened, but for his sleeper friends? A gold mine.
Riley jumped onto the pedestal. Thousands of shining soul shards captured his eyes, a special type of joy had exploded in his brain.
And the best part was that they were all of a higher rank, therefore having a use for his own core.
Immediately he started absorbing the essence into his core. There were thousands of them. Julien joined in too.
"I must've used an entire life worth of luck for this!"
Julien laughed as he continued absorbing them hastily.
Riley was growing drowsy with every soul shard. He had read about the body needing to adjust when consuming high quantities of soul essence. But this was greater than expected.
He sat down for a few minutes, allowing his body to acclimate.
There was already a noticeable difference in his body. He felt stronger. And much faster, his durability infinitely better. Even the wound on his calf had healed slightly more.
'I should do this more often.'
He joked to himself before turning back into absorbing soul shards.
This was a grand opportunity, not even Sunny had been this lucky. Though to call Sunny lucky was already a stretch.
One was fated for success while the other would go about finding scraps outside of Weaver's great tapestry.
But that was fine by Riley. If he had to bring down the great demon hated by all, he would have to live outside of his expectations. And garner the help of Ariel.
There were many things he would do in the future, if he managed to escape this hellish land. Getting a job. That was important, but the correct one that would allow him to grow both fast and in secret.
His face scrunched as he remembered his previous employment. Terrible boss and poor coworker interactions. Utterly abhorrent.
'But at least I won't have to meet them again. That is an upside…I hope.'
Julien sat on the other side of the pile, chipping away at the mountain of glowing gemstones. His core was filling faster than he could've ever imagined. And it was all thanks to Riley.
He had fully expected to be back stabbed, afterall, he was a parasite that just joined their group. And after trying to kill Richard at that!
There was no need to worry about Riley though, he had more or less figured out that his aspect wasn't combat oriented. What was strange though was that he couldn't remember how the two of them met.
Darkness stirred lightly, shimmering lights glowed from outside as a pack of Thunder Cougars threatened the domain of the Progenitor.
In a flash of fury, they all perished as the massive wolf vanquished them in an instant. And its return signified its healing.
'Already back…and we haven't left yet. Crap…'
Riley slowly tiptoed around the large pile toward the back. But not once did he stop consuming the lustrous stones. His core was craving them.
Giant steps shook the cave as the wolf wandered inside. Its nose twitched as it sniffed the air. It could smell blood. The blood of its young.
AWOOOOOOOO
She wailed, tears as large as Riley's head drooped low from her eyes and splashed onto the ground. Every frantic jump broke off stalactites from the ceiling, dropping down near Riley and Julien who were barely managing to survive their onslaught.
'I feel terrible. Maybe it would've been better to leave them be.'
But the time for regretting such things was over. Now it was his survival or owning up to his actions. And Riley was not ready to die.
At last, after what seemed to be half an hour of consuming soul shards his core was fully saturated. The drowsiness was in full effect.
A cold jolt piercing his thigh. Then it boiled.
"Wha-"
A hand flew over his mouth. His eyes widened as he looked back at Julien who had plunged his dagger deep into Riley's thigh.
"I really appreciate your help. Really. You were stupid enough to bring a killer along with you, and then turn your back on him! You truly deserve this."
Riley's blood boiled.
'I am going to kill you…'