Chapter 15- Underground

"AAAAAHHHHH"

*thump*

Tru fell for 3 seconds down the dark tunnel when he hit the ground. He looked around and saw complete darkness surround him. He then used the Black Gauntlet and lit a small flicker flame for light.

What appeared before him was a large dark room littered with holes, some were made into nests. He saw more few more holes along side the caves walls. The grey haired man looked around but no sign of either magical beast.

"Shadoooooooow? Shadoooow where are you?" He yelled loudly as the sound of his voice echoed and bounced off the walls. He waite and heard nothing so he picked a hole and crawled through it.

He traveled for a bit when he came to another large open area. Though this time he wasn't alone, he was greeted by three Rank F Stone Quills.

'Tch I really don't have time for this right now." Tru's mana blazed and illuminated the whole room. He threw a Ifrit's Mine on the side of one of the beast a it blasted forward and crashed into another.

As the other two beast tried to correct their posture tru blasted the last one with a Ifrit's Shot. The red fire consumed it before it could utter a peep. He quickly stabbed the other two beasts in the chest absorbing their Magic Stones and moved to collect the third.

*ding*

"Rank F Magic Stone x3 absorbed"

"+15 Magic level, +30 Magic level for Shadow"

"Current Magic Level 396/100000, 110/15000 for Shadow"

"sssskaaa"

"That must be shadow! I need to hurry"

Tru left the room and entered another tunnel when he emerged and saw Shadow fighting the Alpha Stone Quill. Tru looked in as Shadow was injured but not beaten and same went for the other beast.

Shadow was cloaked in deep red mana that lit up the room and had thin traces of black smokey mana mixed in. Shadow used Elemental breath , the fire quickly heated up the room as it raged towards the beast.

Large plumes of smoke covered the area as the fire continued. The red and black aura around Shadow became to dim a bit. Moments passed when it ceased the stream of fire. Shadow looked tired as its aura was dimming, though confident it finished off the Stone Quill.

The smoke vanished in front of it only to reveal a wall made of Rock Pillars before it. Shadow was surprised its attack had failed even though it was using mana more intensely. It slowly approached when the Stone Quill burst through.

It smashed the wall with its Boulder Tail blasting chunks of rocks at Shadow. Quickly using Stone Roll it came before Shadow and smashed its tail right in its underbelly. The blow made Shadow fly backwards but only for a short distance.

Shadow was then hit with another Rock Pillar from behind and flew forward when its stomach was hit with another blow. This time he flew upwards, tumbling, when a Rock Pilalr erected form the ceiling of the room. It sent Shadow plummeting down when the Geo beast slammed it to the ground making a crater.

Tru winced at the intensity of the blow when Shadow hit the beast with a Shadow Orb sending it flying. Shadow fired another while it was mid-air and it sent the beast into the wall. It lodged it in tunnel, the Stone Quill struggling to free itself when it looked up and saw Shadow approaching with dark mana coating its fangs.

"GREEEEE"

Shadow's fangs sunk deep into its stomach as the beast stiffened unable to move. Shadow then blasted it with another Shadow orb pushing it through the tunnel. It followed behind vanishing in the dust

'Ugh damn Necrocoil sure knows how to make people worry.' Tru hopped out of hiding and entered through the large hole when he saw the Stone Quill frantically use Burrowing and slid underground.

Shadow stayed still when it felt slight motion from underneath it. It moved from its spot as the hidden beast popped out. The Necrocoil then slammed to tail on its head and sent it back in the ground. The beast would repeatedly pop up but each time was sent back underground.

After getting its head smashed repeatedly the badly beaten Quill completely unearthed itself. It hobbled towards another tunnel in attempt to escape when it felt itself being pulled backwards.

Shadow used the lower half of its body to grab the defeated beast and pulled it back toward a itself. The Stone Quill just laid there as Shadow had its way with it. It brought the powerless beast closer when suddenly it flipped and scurried to a nearby corner.

"GRAAAAA GRAAAA GRAAAA"

*ding*

Rallying Call(Active)-Rank C: "Skill Allows user to alert and call for back up at swift speed within a 30 foot radius. Radius size increases with skill rank."

Cooldown: 4 hours

The yell was so loud that Tru had to cover his ears. The pitching screech wxheoed though the hollow room and all through the connecting tunnels. Shadow looked around nervously as it heard claws hitting stone at a rapid pace.

Several Stone Quills including a few Alpha ones burst through the tunnels quickly filling the room up. Immediately they made their way towards Shadow with their auras blazing like an orange sea.

The Necrocoil looked all around and could not see a way out when a medium sized orb of red mana splashed into the ocean of creatures. A second past when it exploded in a deep red flame blasting away some of the creature. Shadow look from the direction it was shot and saw Tru with a large grin on his face

"SKA!"

Shadow was so happy to see him he could smile but first used Elemental Breath so try and clear a path. It worked at first until it was eventually over run but the Stone Quills. Tru clawed and blasted his way through when he saw a deep red light where Shadow was.

Soon after a circular wave of fire exploded and a large majority of the creature back, some unlucky ones were charred to a crisp. Shadow popped out before sliding through and climbing on Tru's shoulders.

*ding*

Flame Wave(Active)-Rank D: "A defensive skill that expels Pyro Magic in a circular wave around the user pushing others away from them. Pushing distance increase with skill rank.

Repel Distance: 13 ft

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Tru read and cleared the message before looking at Shadow. "You need to finish it off before we leave…can't leave a fight undecided." He spoke firmly while pointing at the injured Alpha Stone Quill which was attempting to escape.

Shadow looked at Tru then back at enclosing creatures. Its face looked perplexed as it's master gave out a complicated task. It thought for a moment when it felt Tru's hand rub its head. It looked over and saw he had a slight smile and gentle eyes.

"Hey, I said you have to finish the fight but no where did I say you have to do it alone. I'll be right here with you, ok?" He spoke as his body drew in small amounts of Pyro mana. Shadow felt slightly moved to where if it could blush it would be completely red.

It then stopped admiring its master and decided to pursue its foe. Shadow slipped in and out in between the creatures as Tru rained down endless red fire. Many of the magical beasts fell victim to the crimson flames while some smart others used Burrowing or escaped through the tunnels.

*huff* *huff* *huff*

Tru breathed hard as his magical aura dimmed from using so much mana. He looked as the room was littered with both flames and magical beast corpse. He watched as Shadow caught up to and caught the Alpha Stone Quill.

The magical beast looked on in as the black serpent slithered through the crimson flames slowly towards it. It could feel its heart pounding as it neared close, looking like a demon wading through the fire. Shadow approached and towered over the beast looking much larger and deadly than before.

It bared its white fangs at the beast before collecting in dark colored mana. It then formed a large Shadow Orb and blasted it directly onto the beast. Shadow didn't spare the lifeless husk as it happily made its way back to Tru and took place on his shoulders.

Tru shook his head as he went around the room and collected the magic stones and hides of the various beasts. He finished and put them away in his pouch as hole looked around skeptically as notifications appeared.

*ding*

"Mission complete"

Mission: Growth(1 of 3)

Rank: F

Description: Shadow has felt your awakening due to your bond. Help Shadow train and grow.

Goal: Defeat 20 Rank F Magical Beast(24/20)

Reward: +3000 Magic level(Shadow)

"+3000 Magic level for Shadow"

"Current Magic Level 3110/15000"

"Mission Progress (5/10)"

He then turned and looked at Shadow you returned him a cocked puzzled look. Tru scratched his head in wonder.

"So uh, I don't suppose you know how we can get out of here right?"