Cave

*Ajax POV*

I heard the chime of a bell come from behind me as I left the warm and cozy cafe.

The night streets were quiet now, the street was well lit and posters advertising the opening ceremony were plastered on the walls.

I began to head home; I had wasted half an hour in the cafe with those four listening to idle chatter, and bickering.

I hadn't spoken much, but they were still nice and accommodating, treating me like a friend although I wasn't sure why.

'It was fun.'

I had been pretty afraid of going to the caves tomorrow and I still was, but I had forgotten about it for a moment in the cafe.

I wasn't sure if I would have the opportunity to spend time like that again, but it wasn't bad.

When I came to this world, I only stayed alive for curiosity of magic and the thrill of getting stronger but maybe that wasn't all there had to be.

"Hah."

I let out a bit of a sigh as I realized how pathetic I sounded and shook my head to get rid of the thoughts for the time being.

No matter the reason for me staying alive, I have to get the combat manual tomorrow and I wanted to be in decent shape when I did so.

I hadn't slept for the three days I had spent training, an awakened could go without sleep for some time but it wasn't encouraged.

The effects weren't as bad as they would be normally, but the mana regeneration rate got slower and concentration of mana as well as concentration in general were affected.

I sat on the bench as I waited, practicing my mana manipulation technique, I had tried to keep up the night vision constantly but the best I could do while fighting was 3 hours.

However, as I relaxed, I was able to see the grand academy castle from here, decorated in various colors and large firework launchers mounted on the ceiling.

The show started at 10 AM and would last till 5 PM and in that time frame, the combat manual would be gone, creating one of the deadliest villains in the novel.

'I'm not going to let that happen.'

I thought as I got on to the bus that had arrived.

I wasn't even going to give him a chance, if everything went well, the combat manual would be in my hands before the academy show even started.

'Or I'll be dead.'

*******

I arrived at the station close to the shrieker caves danger zone at around 7 AM, the earliest I could possibly arrive.

I was wearing the training clothes I had bought and carried my two weapons along with a bag that I planned to leave at the gate.

Just like before the station was deserted but unlike the howling cliffs, this would not change no matter what time of day it was.

No hunter was willing to repeatedly throw themselves into a cave of nightmares except the most desperate ones.

As I stepped outside, I noticed that there were no shops in the surrounding area, in fact the only man-made structures were the awakened office and the gate behind which was a giant cave opening that seemed to be impossibly dark.

Instead of the light illuminating some of the entrance and then fading out, it seemed no light was allowed inside the cave.

As I walked towards the gate, I saw two people in a guard's uniform eating breakfast and chatting with each other before they spotted at me and glanced up in confusion.

"Are you lost boy?" The heavy voiced beastkin guard asked.

In response I gave them my mercenary ID to which the guard responded with a sigh.

"I was really hoping you were lost, even though that doesn't make much sense" He spoke with a sad smile.

The other guard was an elf woman who asked with concern.

"Are you sure dear? There are other ways to earn money as a hunter."

I felt bad ignoring their advice, but I simply nodded as the elf went to open the gate.

"The name's Terrance, since you're going in there, I'll give you some advice."

He said as he inhaled sharply.

"If you hear a lot of clicking noises, run. Those are Grave Spiders and we've lost F ranks to them. Also do not use light magic or artifacts, unless it's above F rank it won't do anything except attract monsters."

"Finally, if you see a human like figure, do not and I repeat DO NOT approach it, in fact run away from it, you got that?" He said in a stern voice.

"Yes, thank you."

The gates began to open as the ominous cave entrance came into view and Terrance gave me a black satchel.

"To carry fallen off chunks of mana ore, they'll be the only light source in there so I wouldn't advise you to take them, but they sell for a lot."

I took the satchel, putting it next to my quiver.

"Good luck kid, I'll pray for you." He said solemnly as I walked past him.

As I approached the giant cave entrance, I controlled the dark mana to coat my eyes and clutched my bow tightly in my hands.

Stepping inside to my relief, I was able to see my surroundings clearly as the ever-present darkness of the cave made my vision even clearer than normal.

However, even with my low perception I could tell the dark mana concentration was thick here and only got thicker as I looked further into the cave.

I walked past stalactites and navigated through the cave's rough terrain, occasionally finding chunks of ore that had fallen off that gave off a faint purple glow.

Then I reached a slight drop as the cave's elevation changed, I was about to jump when I heard a distinct sound.

*CLICK*

I took an arrow out from my quiver and nocked it looking around frantically.

*CLICK* *CLICK*

'There'

On a wall behind a rock formation, I saw a large spider, resembling a Black Widow with a purple mark on its abdomen.

It's 8 legs had extremely sharp tips and its numerous eyes and sharp fangs caused me to feel a slight chill.

It hadn't noticed me and crawled towards some ore making clicking noises in the process.

I drew my bowstring and aimed before releasing.

"SKREEEEE"

The spider yelled out in pain as an arrow pierced one of its many eyes and I quickly followed up by putting another in its abdomen ending its life.

I was happy it was dead, but I had wasted two arrows on it in my panic. I had many but I should be conservative.

I was going to retrieve the arrows but then.

*CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK*