ALL NOVEL Chapter 12-Decision
Slowly they entered the cave. It was dark, and most of the party could barely see what was happening. The worst off was Hubert and Alex as they could barely see a few meters in front of them. Then was June, but she was a mage who had learned mana vision so she used that to navigate the dark tunnel, but even without it elves were born with better eyes than humans. And the beastmen of the group could see the best in the dark because they naturally had the best eyesight, and if they were in a particular tribe they might see in the dark as clearly as the day.
So because of Sam's eyesight, she was in front, well at least that was one of the reasons. The reason they didn't use any light sources was because they didn't want to make it easier for an enemy to find them. Of course, if a need arises they will use something to light up their surroundings.
Continuing their path, the party discovered that they won't need to use anything to light up their surroundings, because in this cave the natural flora was glowing with soft light. Although the light, coming from the moss on the walls or the mushrooms that were sprouting here and there, wasn't the strongest it was sufficient for the party to see what was needed.
It wasn't long after the glowing plants that the cave started to widen, making it so that the party could make tighter formations and not one straight line. They were moving at a nice pace, they didn't want to make much noise so they were moving slower than usual, but at the same time they didn't want to make this last longer than unnecessary, so they weren't moving too much slower than their normal gait.
But even then they still made some noise, especially Hubert. The red-haired giant of a man was making some noise from time to time, and most of those times it was his armor as it moved with Hubert's body.
''Look.'' In front of her Sam saw some dead bodies, so she quietly informed her group.
Slowly they made their way to the bodies, while at the same time raising their guard up. It wasn't unusual for some monsters to use people's corpses to trap unsuspecting adventurers. Looking around Sam couldn't find any sight of life and even after using a skill or two, she didn't find anything out of the ordinary. The rest of the party also confirmed it was safe to approach the corpses.
There were two bodies just lying there, one was completely flat on the floor, while the other one was sitting on the floor with its back resting against the wall. Both of them looked like adventurers, they probably were the previous adventures that were sent here.
Sam went closer to inspect the two bodies. Both looked like they were humans, one male, and one female. First Sam looked at the female, she was the one that was lying down on the floor. The body was full of claw and bite marks, and the left arm was gone, something had ripped it off. Looking over the body Sam found a few more things that could indicate what killed the human, but she decided to look at the other body before she made any conclusions.
''Find anything useful?'' While Sam was looking over the male body, her lover's voice came from behind her.
''It looks like they were killed, by some small creatures with claws, and in large quantity, or something with many arms.'' Tracing finger over one of the bite marks, Sam took a better look. ''And these monsters have some sharp teeth, the attack looks like it was made by savages.''
''Goblins?'' That was Alexe's first guess, and it wasn't unusual to have that guess. Small, large in quantities and attack like savages.
''Could be, but it would be a little unusual.'' Sam looked over the body, trying to find if the monster that attacked had any venom. ''Usually, when the goblin group becomes big enough, they naturally produce a leader. Making the whole group smarter, and at that stage, they start to use tools.'' Sma pointed at the sword that was near the corpse. ''And they wouldn't leave this lying around, plus there would be some kind of guards in front of the cave or at least near the entrance, but we didn't encounter any.''
''So that makes me believe that these aren't goblins, or we have encountered one unusual group of them.''
''So any guess what could it be?'' Sam was about to answer Aelxe's question, but she stopped when she found something.
Turning the head of the body, she saw that there was some dry blood near both of the ears, and it looked like the blood originally flowed from the ears down the victim's cheeks. Sam took one of her daggers and gutted the corpse, and then started to look at the organs, even pulling some of them out.
While Sam was doing that Alex just stood there and waited for Sam to finish her thing, without batting an eye. Alex was used to these kinds of things from Sam. Although the catkin can be playful and mischievous, she can also be brutal and cold when the need arises. Sam has done some things that some would consider questionable, but Sam has never crossed the line, so Alex didn't mind it. And the rest of the party similar to Alex himself didn't mind too much.
After gutting one body Sam moved back to the female body, and similar, this one also had the same dried blood flowing from the ears. So Sam guts this body too, going through a similar process, inspecting and removing organs. After getting some information that confirmed some of her thoughts Sam stood up and went to where most of the party was gathered while grabbing Alexe's hand on the way.
When Sam approached, the party looked at her waiting for her to speak. ''I can confirm that they weren't attacked by goblins.''
''Sigh~'' Hearing Sam say that, June let out a sigh of relief. June wasn't particularly scared of them, but the green savages don't have the best reputation for how they treat the women. And June was happier to die than end in their little hands if things go south.
''But it isn't anything pleasant.'' Hearing Sam speak those words the air felt a little heavier. ''Those adventurers were killed by monsters that were similar to goblins in size, and their numbers aren't small either. But the biggest clue I found was that they were attacked probably by some skill that used sound.''
By now the party had grim expressions all around. Sound attacks were many, their effects varied, plus they were annoying, so unless you were resistant to them they never were good news. ''And I have a reason to suspect they were attacked by a group of Drekavaces.'' While saying that Sam showed her party what she found, stuck in one of the body's armor gaps. It was some black fur.
Drekavac, was a little monster, with humanoid features, it had black fur in some places on its body. Similar to goblins they liked to move in groups, but they were mostly known for their screams. Their screams were a sound attack that was capable of disorienting their enemies. But if enough of them coordinate to attack simultaneously the attack can easily destroy the eardrums, and rupture some organs.
''So what do we do now?'' Alex broke the silence, wanting to know what the party was intended to do.
''Well, our options are either to go back and inform the guild about what we found.'' Turning his gaze from Sam to the tunnel that leads further into the cavern, Kayne continued. ''Or we go deeper and try to kill all of them or at least a few of them.''
Fortunately, these monsters didn't breed at the same rate as goblins. Making it so that if the party wanted to remove some risk for the cleaners, they could kill a few groups of these monsters. If these were goblins they would just breed more, making all the killing useless.
''I think we should take our chances and go deeper, even if we only scout and confirm their numbers.'' June was ready to go deeper and get more information about the threat.
''I would prefer to go back and inform the guild.'' On the other hand, Alex was more inclined to retreat and come back with more people. ''But I wouldn't be opposed to exploring a little bit more if we don't wander too far.'' Sam just nodded at what Alex said.
Although Sam didn't really care what they did. She was fine either way, but if her partner has a preference she will support him.
''Hubert?'' Turning his gaze to Hubert, Kayne waited for the red-haired man's choice.
''I agree with June, we should get at least some information about their numbers, even if the bare minimum.''
''Well then, it's decided. We will go deeper with the goal in mind of gathering some information. And if it gets dangerous we retreat immediately.'' Kayne told out loud their decision. ''Any questions or objections?'' Seeing that there was none of those two, the party continued their descent into the deeper end of this cave.
