The Beast of the Depths

The city gates had closed behind me just as easily as they had opened.

"I just hope they open again when I come back..."

I fully intended to return. In fact, something deep inside me told me I had to. But first, I needed to confirm I wasn’t the last living person in this world.

"If I don’t find anyone... should I search the city for a ball to name Wilson and make it my best friend? And never mind people, what if I’m the only living being left in the world? Questions, questions..."

But it didn’t take long for one of those questions to answer itself. As I made my way through the cavern beyond the gates, I heard a faint crunch beneath my feet.

Looking down, under the glow of the luminous crystals, smaller here than before, I spotted a tiny insect crawling among the stones.

The little creature looked at me. I looked back. We stared at each other for a few moments... and then went our separate ways.

"At least there are other living beings... that's a relief," I said with a sigh. "In honor of this discovery, I won’t turn that bug into dinner. Not that I was planning to eat it anyway."

Unlike the colossal cavern where the city had been, this area felt more like a massive tunnel. It also branched off into smaller paths, creating a kind of labyrinth.

"Fortunately, the tunnel the gates opened into is clearly larger than the others, and it keeps sloping upward. But I’ve been walking for quite a while now, and there’s no breeze, nor any other sign that I’m getting closer to the surface... hmm? What’s that sound?"

It wasn’t the faint crunch of tiny legs anymore, but heavy impacts, each one accompanied by a trembling of the ground. Both were getting stronger by the second. Whatever the source was, it was getting closer, and fast.

"Now that I think about it... I still haven’t seen any water in this cave network. What were the other ways caves formed, besides water? Volcanoes? Earthquakes? Giant underground monsters? Can't be giant underground monsters, right? right?!"

Sharp claws emerged from one of the openings a few meters ahead, followed shortly by the head of a giant underground monster.

"..."

The hulking beast, which in my mind looked like a horrifying malformed cross between a mole and a lizard, didn’t seem to notice me at first. Instead, it used its monstrous claws to tear one of the glowing crystals from the rock wall and crushed it in its elongated jaws with a thunderous crunch.

Watching the light vanish as it was consumed felt oddly metaphorical. But I didn’t stick around to reflect on it. While the creature was... enjoying? its meal, I had already hidden behind a rather large rock.

"What is that thing?! I take back what I said earlier, I want to be the only living being left!" From behind the rock, I heard the creature inhale deeply, then start moving toward my hiding spot. It had probably picked up my scent. "Can I escape if I run at full speed...?"

While I was still entertaining the possibility that it might be a friendly creature, one that didn’t eat meat, only... crystals? my instincts suddenly kicked in. With a burst of agility I didn’t even know I had, I leapt several meters away from my hiding spot.

Not even a second later, I heard the crash. The rock I had been hiding behind was shattered in a single swipe of the creature’s claws.

"Definitely not looking for friends..."

Despite having my heart in my throat, I felt oddly clear-headed. Almost nostalgic, even. Was I used to this kind of situation?

"I don’t even want to imagine it..."

In just a few moments, I had already gone through most of my options.

First of all, I had no intention of trying hand-to-hand combat with that thing. If I couldn’t pierce those scales, shining under the crystal light like some kind of perfect armor, then I’d be next to follow my hiding spot... scattered across the floor.

But I wasn’t exactly an expert with a bow either. If I missed, or failed to get through the scales, the result would be the same, me in pieces on the floor. I want to stop imagining it, but the image won’t go away...

"No other choice... it might sound stupid, but there’s no harm in trying."

To be honest, it was something I’d been wanting to test ever since I read a certain inscription on the pedestal of one of the artifacts.

In it, along with the details of the artifact, one of the Twelve Sovereigns mentioned something along the lines of my words being pure magic.

At first, I thought it was a compliment (and an incredibly exaggerated one). But something inside me... maybe my past self, so to speak, kept telling me otherwise. That this strange sensation I’ve felt running through my body since I woke up is, in fact, magic, and that words are a way to channel it.

"Whoa!"

The creature swung another clawed strike at me, and somehow, maybe thanks to the reflexes of my past self, I managed to dodge it with another leap, landing several meters back.

"Can humans normally jump this far?!"

"Whoa there!"

Another swipe came my way.

"I need to hurry, I don’t want to keep betting on luck."

From what I remembered of the inscription’s language, Ascan meant fire. If fire comes from me and is directed toward that creature, could it be considered something like a gift? If I’m not mistaken, the word for gift was Zaras...

I need to combine those two, not literally, but in a way that fuses them into something new. A word that I can infuse with energy... probably something like the feeling I got from the sphere of light.

"Maybe..."

I raised my right hand toward the creature. I felt like raising both would give more power to the spell I was trying to form. But first, I wanted to test its range with just one. Besides, if it consumed too much energy and left me exhausted, that would be a problem...

"Here goes... Ascazas!"

I shouted in a deep voice, trying to guide that strange sensation through my body into that word.

The word itself wasn’t a simple fusion of the previous two. It was something new, a combination designed to make it easier to pour energy into it.

It was almost pure instinct. If I ever had training in the world of magic, at least for now, I can’t untangle it from the mess in my head.

But something tells me it worked... Maybe a little too well...

The image in my mind had been a simple fireball, that’s what I was aiming for... But at that moment, I was doing everything I could not to fall flat on my back.

What had come out of my hand was an explosion of fire that quickly turned into a whirling vortex, filling the entire cavern and scorching everything in its path.

In front of me, I could hear the creature’s agonized screams. It was a horrid beast that had tried to kill me the moment it noticed I existed, and yet, I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for it.

The problem was, I had no idea how to close the valve I had just opened.

If magic was the gunpowder, then the word was the cartridge. You had to use all the powder once the bullet was loaded.

"But... how long is this going to last?!"

Maybe it was because of the enchantments on my clothes that I hadn’t been incinerated—or blown away. Standing there with fire blasting from my hand felt like trying to withstand a storm with a parachute tied to my back.

The whole thing probably lasted just a few seconds, but in my mind, which was running at impossible speed, it felt like an eternity.

But eventually, it ended. The fire died down, revealing scorched stone and what was left of the creature.

I approached the remains and brought my hands together in a gesture of prayer and respect.

"Rest in peace, Mole-Lizard."

It was a horrible beast that wanted to scatter me across the floor, but even so, I would’ve liked to finish it off in a more humane way.

Of course, the moment it attacked me, its fate was sealed. I didn’t regret that one bit.

Could this be pride carried over from my past self?

Sniff, sniff.

"Smells like roasted meat..."

Apparently, the creature was tougher than I thought and hadn’t turned completely to ash.

It was worth taking a look under the charred scales…

"Will the King of the Sapphire Throne forgive me if I use the Moonblade as a knife? I mean... I assume it was forged to cut down enemies. No one ever specified what condition they had to be in."

***

Not far from where the brief battle had taken place, two bright orange sparks began to glow in the darkness. They were, in fact, the eyes of a delicate female figure who had kept them shut out of fear from what she had just witnessed.

After some time, she timidly peeked her head around the edge of the scorched rock and reached up to touch her hair, red as the fire that had just ravaged the place. Just to make sure it was still intact.

"I can’t believe it... the kuranos we’ve been watching for so long was incinerated in just a matter of moments... In mere moments! They’re mythical creatures that hunt dragons inside volcanoes!"

The woman let out a long sigh.

"I managed to hide at the last second. I’m a high spirit of fire, and even I felt like I was about to turn into ashes myself..." She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts before continuing. "No, it was more like... I felt as if the fire was about to make me part of itself if I wasn’t careful."

"There’s no doubt. That’s primordial magic. It’s the same feeling that radiates from the Fountain of Life, the source of most spirits. I have to report this to the elder spirit!"

She turned to leave as quickly as she could, but then heard a strange noise in the distance. Curiosity got the better of her, and she cast one last glance behind her.

"He’s... he’s eating the kuranos!?"