C52- Inside the Nest (2)

After a while, the group decided they had rested enough and started exploring the cave again. They walked through the stone corridor and started descending again.

"It's getting hotter here..."

"Right... That's normal for a bug nest."

After descending for a while, the temperature was getting uncomfortably high. Corvin created a small wind around them as a solution.

"Well...It's not fun making these winds, but I guess it is also too hot."

The floor leveled again and led them to a corridor much longer than the one before, with two rooms at the sides, and another descent at the end of the corridor.

"Let's check these rooms as well.", said Corvin.

They entered the room on the left. When they entered, the earthy smell of mushrooms entered their nose. The room was filled with mushrooms of various types, most of them edible ones.

As the group started to explore the room, Noah walked towards a group of yellow coloured mushrooms with a wide and thick cap, big enough for humans to sleep on it's soft surface. 

"Huh? Corvin, look at this."

"What?"

"There were people here."

"Huh!?"

Corvin ran towards Noah, and looked at what he found. There were crumbles of food on the mushroom's cap. There were also footprints on the edges.

"Eww!"

Clair shouted from the other side of the room. She was next to another big mushroom that was more thick than it was wide, with a dark grey coloured cap.

"What happened?"

She quickly got away from the mushroom while pinching her nose.

"I-I think I found someone's toilet..."

"Pfft."

"Hey."

Corvin almost failed holding his laughter in, but thanks to the blood curdling glare he was faced with, he stopped himself with his instincts. He glanced at Noah for support, but because of the drug he took, he wasn't holding any laughter, so Noah just returned an empty look back.

"So, we can say for sure that there were humans in this pla-"

"AAH!"

Thud!

Everyone turned towards Amy, who suddenly fell down.

"Amy! Are you okay?"

She got up and shook of the dust that sticked to her clothes as she talked.

"I-I was trying to get a sample of that one up there... But I slipped."

"Sigh~, I can get it for you."

Corvin walked towards Amy and asked which mushroom to pick. He jumped with his magic, and grabbed the mushroom. He gave it to Amy and asked.

"Are you done with gathering samples? We should check the other room."

"Thank you. We can leave now."

"Right. Then let's look at the other room."

The group got out of the mushroom room and walked towards the other room that was closer to the end of the corridor. When they entered the room, they were welcomed by the strong smell of iron and rotten meat. The floor was covered in blood at the most part, and there were many bones lying around. At the opposite side of the room was a big boulder that looked out of place, and at another corner were two butcher knives stuck to a wooden table.

"Ugh... What happened here. How many people died?"

"I don't think that's it... Look at these bones. These aren't human bones. They are animal bones..."

"Animal? Why would monsters attack animals?"

"Right... They wouldn't. But if humans were living in this place, they may be using this place as a butchery, maybe..."

"Hmm... Then, are we close to the humans?"

"...Probably not. A dying animal makes a lot of noise. So this place is probably far away from where they are... We need to go deeper."

"Ugh... Why are we doing this again? Can't we just leave..."

"Come on Clair, don't say that. I know you aren't a person who would leave a bunch of people to die at the hands of a monster."

"Shut up Corvin."

"Yes, yes. Let's leave then."

"Wait."

Noah stopped Corvin.

"What happened?"

"We should rest here for a bit. We can tell this room isn't used by the monsters, and the blood smell is cloaking ours. You must be tired, no?"

"Oh, nice idea. Then, you stay on g-"

"No need to stay on guard. Just wait for a second."

Noah walked towards a puddle of blood that hadn't yet solidified and cut a small piece of his hair with a knife.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Touching the blood with my hand is dangerous and disgusting, so I will use my hair as a brush."

"Brush? What are you going to do? Magic?"

"Yes.", said Noah as he tied a lock of his hair to a small bone and dipped the makeshif brush inside the blood.

"People used to use animal blood as paint. So it should work."

Noah walked got next to the entrance of the room, and started to draw various patterns around it. His brush started to glow white as he drew an arch around the hole of the entrance, and connected the two ends of it with a semicircle on the ground.

He drew a rock and a horse tied to the rock inside the semicircle. After signing on the chest of the horse, he injected mana into his signature.

The horse on the ground started to move towards the left. As the horse moved, suddenly a giant boulder appeared on the side of the rock on the ground. The boulder moved left and covered the entrance hole. Underneath the horse, lines which looked like grass started to grow, and the horse started eating the grass.

"That's better.", said Noah after stepping back from the entrance.

"Is that a real boulder?"

"No, it's an illusion. It will disappear if a force strong enough pushes on it. Or when the mana depletes, then the grass won't grow, and the horse will carry the boulder back. We should be safe for about eight hours that we can sleep. If nothing disturbs the magic, that is."

"Then let's sleep. I am really tired as well."

Rumble Rumble

"!"

"Shh!"

Suddenly, loud noises came from the other side of the illusion at the entrance. Everyone stood still with cold sweat. After the noises got away, Corvin spoke.

"Those bugs are going out I think... We can't wait until the Emperor sends help here while the army is in the north... We need to solve this by ourselves, and we need to be fast at that."

"Sigh~, Why do we have to be the ones who are doing this?", said Clair.

"Well, someone has to do it... Let's just sleep now. Oh, right, Noah."

"Hm?"

"Can't you draw something to wake us up six hours later?"

"Right, good idea."

Noah quickly drew a small clock tower next to Corvin's tent.

"Don't fall into a deep sleep, it will not make much noise to not attract monsters."

Corvin nodded and closed his tent. Everyone went to sleep for the first time inside the nest.