45

The first thing I learned was that whatever had cleaned the cave terror bodies were insects and their ability to defend against twenty rats with no bodies of their own made them the current top of the food chain. Secondly, the current top of the food chain was a poisonous insectoid or arachnid and that meant my own poisons would have a reduced affect.

Minimal wounds meant minimal struggle, the insects probably had a paralyzing agent of their own which would help them deal with the paralyzing agents in my poison.

Plus, magic carapaces were every bit as strong as magic scales, they were essentially the same base material. My collapsible crossbow was a small game weapon with big game attributes, it might not have the power to breach a carapace with regular bolts. The explosive arrows also might not be strong enough considering what type of bodies they might have.

Despite the fact that they presumably had scythes like a mantis to fight with, I my best chances were to fight them with some sword magic instead of my crossbow. At the top of the food chain, they are probably the most numerous right now anyway. Sword magic would be my best bet for dealing with numbers, regardless.

The rest of the journey to the waiting golem was pretty uneventful with little more than a few patches of dead beasts. Twice more I came across scenes of untouched bodies not far off from those that had been picked clean. Usually it was rodent bodies who were poisoned and it was other creatures that were eaten, namely the giant bat creatures that would have been more suitable for the name 'cave terrors' than the serpents.

They were bipedal rats with wings who could launch sonar attacks from close distance and would prove painful even for me to fight because of it. However, there were once again no signs of bodies left behind by the top of the food chain. With how clean the foods were picked in most cases I honestly suspected that they were cannibals.

Once we sent the light golem ahead of us into the descending tunnel, I take from my purse a small quartz stone that I charge with light element to simply glow. This brightly glowing whitish quartz could burn for twenty-four hours with only one percent of my overall mana and was left at the opening of the descending tunnel. Then I simply generated a kinetic barrier under my feet and crouched to steadily slide down the thirty-degree angle.

The steady speed of about ten miles per hour was enough to leave the dozen-plus serpents behind once the entrance got crowded. I did not mind at all because the light golem would have already blinded and chased everything back and I could play point.

The chances of there actually being anything in the immediate vicinity of the entrance was slim. Despite the numerous and dominant insects there was still resistances from other animals. From the condition of the corpses and the gap between the serpents at the entrance, this hunting ground was already contested, conquered, and plundered of resources.

They would finally be focusing on each other deeper in. Especially if an opponent is rodents. Somewhere deep and dark and close quarters.

The insects could probably fit more in the same space as rodents, but they'd plug and wear the numbers out with sheer mass. Since they can't eat what they poison, suicide caving was the most viable tactic for retreating deeper into home tunnels. If anything was in the first chamber two more gently sloping tunnels into the mountain, it would have been insects.

I was good at dealing with numbers for the most part, especially blinded, but insects had better secondary senses and nobody was even there.

The first chamber in the 'second level' could have been just a much broader and taller tunnel if not for the rubbled ceiling and floor. Further along the sides there still existed stalagmites and stalactites cluttered with the remains of the neighbors, but the middle had been more or less cleared from small channels into large paths from front to back. The area had a dry and rotten iron smell and the illuminated ground was covered in old blood and bits of gore.

Among the rubble along the sides were numerous unrecognizable remains of both skeletons and dry rotted parts.

Beyond the paths was what looked like a wall but ended up being a much shorter cavern. This one was mostly clear of any rubble but the ceiling was less than half the height of the current one. It was also in the next cavern that my light golem had stopped.

A quick charge of mana to my eyes allowed me to enhance my vision so that I could see deeper into the next cavern and pick up light signatures.

One the far side were several openings leading both up and down and retreating into them were many large and small signatures alike. They had all run off from the massive light and energy signature of the light golem. I simply continued forward at a more casual five miles per hour so the serpents could catch up.

With so many options to choose from, the golem had fortunately chosen the maintain its current position. However, I was now forced to make a serious decision. I had already been traveling for several hours and now I had several tunnels to choose from.

I could literally end up going anywhere and have all of that mess behind me to come back to.

My best bet was to simply leave the lead golem there and send the serpents' golem forward through the middle tunnel. First, though, I sent my mana and some of my awareness out into the tunnel for a few hundred feet. Through that wisp of my consciousness, I could feel the vibrations of sounds and pick up vague masses of life signatures.

Now, though, the large and small bodies were fighting each other to push forward through the tunnels. I immediately ran forward after confirming the potential insect presence and left the golem to wait a few seconds before leading the serpents.

These tunnels were only large enough for two or three serpents to pass through at a time. I just wanted to get my hands on an insect specimen before their bodies disappeared. Only fifty or so yards up and away was the perfect one.

The closest bodies in the tunnel were three long insectoids pushing forward into a pocket of a fading dozen larger rodents that were surrounded on the opposite side by many more numbers. If I could time it right I could snatch those three from the rodents and use the serpents for herd everything forward. This would give me a few seconds to take care of my catches.

The light golem entered the tunnel almost as soon as I reached the battered insect, simply brushing them aside with a sweep of my arm and a burst of kinetic energy. In that brief second, I confirmed their scything forelimbs even though theirs were worn and even broken in a couple cases. Then I performed the same sweep on the rodents.

Taking out a large bag from my purse, I once again sweep the rodents with the equivalent of my Strength at the expense of three percent of my mana. I could probably find a more efficient method, but I was pressed for time as the light of the golem steadily approached. So, I simply swept the insects back the way I came and then assaulted the giant rats once again.

From there, I retreated toward the light with a quick lunge. A full ten percent of my energy was used dragging the dazed and shiny insects into the bag with telekinesis. After that, I carried the 'expanded' sack back toward the light golem and serpents.

Once I was behind friendly line, I shook one of the insects out of the sack for examination. The creature had a lower body about two-and-a-half feet in length like a medium sized dog and stood on six spindly two-foot-long legs. Their upper bodies were about two feet in height with disproportionately long and slender forelimbs.

Now, though, this guy's shiny silvery gray carapace and limbs were cracked and oozing different fluids

After a brief check of this one and the others with magic, I quickly identified one female and two males before beheading the male I had been examining. Then I introduced them to a second bag before putting both bags away in my purse. Finished with examining the insects, I whistle sharply to call back the serpents as well as the light golem.

The cave terrors did not listen as well as the golems did but once the golem started floating backwards they turned around and followed suit quickly.

Once the serpents were mostly behind me except for the largest in the crew, I sent the golem back out and simply waited for it to terrorize the creatures ahead. Even as they fought tooth and nail with one another, the subterranean critters pushed deeper into the tunnel with a renewed urgency. Such an intense and bright combination of light an energy was probably something they only experienced from the big bug.

I let the serpents set the pace for our slow advance after the golem reached the point where I caught the insects. Under the protections of so many bulky scaled bodies I took the chance to divide my attention while walking and project my awareness deeper into the tunnel. Aside from rodent and insect conflict there were no other signs of life for several hundred feet into the tunnel.

After only a couple of minutes of walking, though, my probe found the next cavern where the rats and bugs were spilling out into a small round cavern. This cavern turned out to be a small dead end but the presence of natural and ambient magics here were twice as dense as the other tunnels I had passed through.

There was probably a mineral deposit of some sort in the thirty-yard circumference cavern.

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