Chapter 3 : Unseen Threats
"Hey, kid! What're you spacing out for? Wet your pants?" Mr. Lambda's voice shattered Ryland's reverie, pulling him back to reality.
"Boss, how old do you think I am?" Ryland retorted, brushing dust off his clothes.
"Enough with the excuses. Get back to work," ordered Mr. Lambda, tossing Ryland's makeshift bedding onto the ground.
Ryland shot Mr. Lambda a mischievous grin as he watched him settle onto the cloth. "What are you doing? Can't you find somewhere else to nap?"
"I'm just ensuring my laziest worker actually does his job," replied Mr. Lambda, scratching his hip.
"Ugh, this old man! I'll never get any sleep now," muttered Ryland to himself as he grabbed his rusty pickaxe and resumed chipping at the cave wall.
"Focus on your work. We need to meet our quota this week to cover for last week's shortfall. If everyone slacks off like you, we'll lose our contract and be out of a job by next week," admonished Mr. Lambda, his voice muffled by his helmet.
"Nag, nag, nag," Ryland grumbled under his breath.
After fifty minutes of monotonous chipping, Ryland's pickaxe struck something unexpected. Pausing, he examined the foreign object protruding from the wall.
"What the heck is this? It doesn't look like mercurial," Ryland thought to himself, reaching out to touch the metallic surface.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Ryland's spine. It felt as though someone—or something—was watching him. This sensation was all too familiar, but this time, it was different, more intense, like needles pricking at his skin.
"What in the world...?" Ryland muttered, scanning his surroundings for any signs of danger.
The only other presence in the cave was Mr. Lambda, still asleep on the ground. Then, a rustling sound emanated from behind Ryland, but it quickly ceased.
Straining his senses, Ryland attempted to pinpoint the source of the disturbance, but all he could hear were echoes of chipping and Lambda's snores.
"This old man! He's disturbing me even in his sleep," Ryland grumbled, approaching Mr. Lambda cautiously.
Suddenly, Mr. Lambda's snores ceased, and he raised a hand, signaling Ryland to freeze.
Perplexed, Ryland complied, his hand instinctively tightening around his empty pickaxe handle.
With slow, deliberate movements, Mr. Lambda reached for his giant pickaxe while still in a reclined position. Ryland tensed, bracing himself for whatever was about to unfold.
As Mr. Lambda lifted the pickaxe, preparing to strike, a small explosion erupted from the ground, propelling him toward Ryland at an alarming speed.
"Duck!" Mr. Lambda shouted.
Reacting swiftly, Ryland rolled to the side as dust filled the air, obscuring his vision. When the dust settled, he found himself face-to-face with Mr. Lambda, who had impaled a hideous creature with his pickaxe.
"What in the world is that?" Ryland exclaimed, inching closer to get a better look.
"This is a Dracula Bat, a rare monster from the Exora Continent's caves," explained Mr. Lambda, wiping blood from his pickaxe.
"A monster, here? That's unheard of! The only creatures we encounter are Tundra Moles and worms," Ryland remarked, bewildered.
"This one must have ventured here for a reason," Mr. Lambda said grimly, removing his pickaxe from the creature's neck.
Suddenly, shrieks echoed throughout the cave, signaling the arrival of more Dracula Bats.
"I count six of them," Ryland reported, his heart racing.
"Two more behind that rock," he added, pointing to a large boulder.
Mr. Lambda nodded approvingly. "Impressive. I take it that's your Danger Sense at work?"
Ryland nodded, his mind racing with possibilities. "What do we do now, Boss? You handled that one effortlessly, but against six..."
Mr. Lambda smirked confidently. "These bats are Tier 4 Monsters. I'm more than capable of handling them. But they're a different breed. We'll need to tread carefully."
As they prepared to face the onslaught of creatures, Ryland couldn't shake the feeling that their encounter was just the beginning of something far more dangerous.