Under The Church

"Hmm. . . There really isn't a thing here."

Gear scratched his head, "Like I said, I think it's just an old broken church."

Jarvis dug through the dirt that was layered on the floor, "No one mentioned anything about it?"

"I asked but they're weren't sure, this place is out farther than they normally travel anyway."

Whitelash's tail flicked with annoyance, "The foul mana is in greater quantities here. Something lingers, this place is far from empty."

"Guarton's search is slow and it'll take a few days before he can investigate here. Is there any place where it's more dense?"

Whitelash twitched his nose, "No, the entire place reeks of it."

"Then our only choice is to dig. . ."

Gear made a face, "That's gonna take a while."

"Quite the contrary.", Jarvis corrected while pulling out his book.

Colors flew off a page and morphed into a giant mantis covered in a heavy stone armor. Jarvis pointed downwards and it seemed to understand immediately. Raising its arms it began to dig at an alarming rate.

Watching this with a complex expression Gear warily asked, "Do you have something for every situation?"

"Of course not. Such a thing isn't possible."

"Is that so. . ."

"Let's stop lingering, we might find something at the bottom of this."

Jarvis then descended the steep hole and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Gear quickly followed, the path hardly giving him a foothold. Waving his arms for balance he slid the majority of the way down. As the dirt slid underneath his feet he couldn't help but frown. It was only a few seconds yet this tunnel was already incredibly deep?

He shouted down the dark tunnel, "Are you sure there's something down here? It's already this deep!"

There was no response. Gear grew concerned as he attempted to increase his pace. His footing fell loose as the step tunnel rapidly evened out. Tripping over a loose rock he fell forward and into a room. Wincing he picked himself up and looked about. There wasn't anything to see for a good three seconds before a bright light flashed and temporarily blinded him.

Jarvis apologized, "I didn't think it was going to be that bright, sorry."

"Ugh what even was that?"

"A scroll with a light spell. I was gifted a few for a reason like this."

"Are you sure you don't have something for any situation?"

"It's like carrying a flashlight! This is a small preparation."

"Anyway what is this place?"

"After Mantid broke through the wall he's just been standing about. Something seems unnerving."

"Unnerving-?"

Gear snapped his head to the side. The wall seemed to morph and turn to a putty. Gear warily pulled his sword out when a system notification stunned him still.

<Warning! Player has approached a high Leveled creature!>

<It is recommended to flee!>

<<Failed Chimera: A-4 (LVL: ???)>>

"An A. . . class?"

The wall formed into a creature and blitzed forward, a fist like shape forming and heading towards Gear. Jarvis' eyes widened and he could only barely turn his head to keep up with the creature. Time seemed to slow as Gear came to the realization that he won't be able to face this Chimera. The strongest he's ever come across was C class Chimera, and he didn't stand a chance against that one!

Whoom-!

A flash of white fur slammed into the Chimera. It growled, "Foul heretic!"

Gear snapped back to his senses, he couldn't believe something was capable of even matching that speed! Turning to witness the fight he saw Whitelash thrashing about in a contest of strength.

Jarvis took a few leaps back to prevent getting in the way, "Whitelash are you capable of handling this?"

"As if I'll let such a heretic get the best of me!"

The A class Chimera shifted its form, turning into a puddle of a stone-like substance. It slipped through the limbs of Whitelash and clung to the ceiling. It morphed into a massive spike and launched itself forward. Dodging the attack Whitelash managed to get away with only a scratch. Swinging his paw he slammed it into the Chimera, but it showed little effectiveness.

"It's mostly stone! Mantid is acting strange because he wants to eat the stone to improve his armor, but since it's a heretic beast he knows he can't do that.", Jarvis informed.

"Crushing stone is not a problem!", roared Whitelash.

Leaping towards the Chimera he slammed against it. Muscles rippling he tore away at the stone with his claws, but its effectiveness proved to be little. Since the stone moved like a liquid it was far too pliable and smooth to get a good grip on. Additionally it was actively moving against Whitelash's attacks further preventing it from being harmed.

This alone made Gear certain he wasn't able to fight against it. With his sword that struggled to keep its shape against F class Chimeras, there was not a chance of it being able to scratch an A class one. Faced with such trouble Gear was hesitant and unsure of what to do.

How was he supposed to help solve the village's issues if he couldn't handle even a C class?!

The Chimera warped and turned into a sharp blade, as it extended it created a deep gash into Whitelash's side. The tiger failed to falter and instead continued his fight. Jarvis suddenly shouted, "Pin it down Whitelash! Just for a second!"

"If I can't do that I won't call myself a Sage!"

Whitelash flicked his tail and the white fur began to glow faintly. His claws turned neon as he gripped the Chimera. Jarvis pointed upwards, "The enemy of heresy, the sun!"

The roof of the room cracked and fell apart, spilling natural light into the dark room. The Chimera shivered violently and ripped itself free, stone lingering on Whitelash's claws. It scrambled away at a rapid speed into a crack into the wall and vanished.

Whitelash stopped glowing and flicked his tail in annoyance. Sitting down and clearing the stone from his paws he grumbled, "Small room, if I had more space I could have finished it off."

"What matters it that we survived."

Gear interjected, "I'm not so sure. At least if we died we wouldn't have stumbled across this."

Jarvis frowned and looked over and immediately his heart dropped. A glass-like door was against the farthest wall. Upon looking through it the first thing you would notice is the six statues lined up neatly. Three on each side. What was the most worrisome part of this all was the system notification that appeared upon finding the door.

<Warning! >

<You have found the Prison of Moon!>

<For being the first Players to find Prison of Moon you have been granted a quest!>

<Quest: "Free The Moon!" has been granted!>

[Free the Moon! (Quest)]

Underneath the old church lays a prison that chains the moon. Woeful cries call out for help, but a strong heresy blocks out the sound. Upon witnessing such a horrid thing, will you help?

Objective:

- Release the captured Moon (0/1)

- Defeat the Heretic Guards (0/7)

Difficulty: ???

Time Limit: 72 Hours

Rewards:

- Favorability from the Moon

- ???

- ???

-End-

Gear felt his hand loosen on the grip of his sword, "Each of these. . . each of these statues are A class Chimera!"