Cave World

We set off to the cannon before noon. There was really no one else around besides one of the Nebulos who stood guard in front of the magnificent piece.

“That shit doesn't look safe, but if it gets us to where we need to go I’m in.” Raze gave the thumbs to the lone female Nebulos. Her form remained static. 

“No comment, huh? Well, let's get it!” Raze dropped the ticket into the open palm of the Nebulos and waltzed into the cave-like entrance like he owned the place. 

“Wait, up!” I stammered as I ran after him. Lyra followed as well, making sure not to get left behind.

The entrance blacked out behind us, shrouding the room in darkness.

"Welcome to The Super Mega Cannon. Where would you like to go today?"

The voice reverberated in our minds like a gambling fish I had met in the past. I used my Skill to gain the vision of the night once more.

I took the initiative after glancing at a specific spot in the miniature map in my scanner that Endina had transferred to us. “Send us to Cave World, in the far east. The one that shares borders with the nation of Sobek, please.”

“Hey! I wanted to say it!" Raze complained. He crossed his arms with displeasure. Was he always this childish?

I could feel the constant movement of my eyebrows. They were probably twitching. “Uh, next time we go….you can.” I tried to sound convincing, but I don’t think it worked.

“Eh, whatever.” Raze grinned and turned away from me. Did he really care?

The voice then returned to us once more. "Location has been pinpointed. Are you ready to launch?" It asked.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Yes.”

Lyra and Raze, and I all gave the voice the same answer. A few heartbeats skipped by until I noticed movement. The platform we stood on was being pushed higher and higher into the zenith of the device.

“It’s not actually gonna launch us into the sky, right? I mean, we will die if that happens, right?” Sweat trickled off my brow as I looked at the other two for a reassuring answer.

“Well….I have only heard of this device… I haven't exactly been on it before.”

“Who the fuck cares. It ain’t enough to kill me, heh.”

Right. I forgot who I was talking to. 

Their responses were not very helpful, but I didn't have much time to think about it.  The darkness that filled the room was quelled by the entrance of the afternoon sun. I looked off the tip of the platform to see tiny specks lurking below us.

“We are kinda high up, you know? N-now that I think about it, even when I fly, I never fly that high. My stomach feels kinda weird…. I might be afraid of h-heights.” I wanted to hurl, but something grabbed my shoulder and pulled me away from the edge.

“Relax, scaredy bat—you'll be fine,” he calmly stated, which made it a lot harder to trust anything he said.

“I agree. There's no way it would still be operational if it wasn't a safe way to travel.”

Lyra’s words were easy to latch onto and I really wanted to believe her theory. “Thanks guys...” Before I could say another word, Raze pushed me into the circular maw that was on the other side of the platform. As I fumbled into it, I noticed that the sky above us was actually shrouded in some sort of glass material, not that it would save me from what happened next.

“Let’s gooooooooooooooooo!” Raze screamed like a giddy child who was on his way to the toy store as he leaped in behind me.

The space was already cramped before. It was like a small circular pod with a glass window on the other side that we could easily view out of.

“Alright.” Lyra stepped in last and calmly shut the door from the inside. All that was left was to wait to launch.

"3"

The announcer was once again speaking into our minds.

“I really hope everything is gonna be ok.”

"2"

“This is gonna be siiiick!” Raze licks his lips with excitement.

"1"

“I believe I am the first Azurespine to ever be shot into the sky. What a tale I will be able to tell.” Lyra smiled a bit as she peered out the window.

"Have a nice trip."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITT!!!!!!!!

My mind was scrambled just like our bodies as we soared through the air at a supersonic speed. I could feel the force of gravity going through my entire body, reaching all the way into my soul. The world outside went from upside down and back to normal every second. It was like being constantly tossed around while inside a whirlpool.

“I think I’m going to puuuuuke!” I shrieked.

“This shit is tame.”

“Just hold it in. We are almost there.” Lyra grabbed onto my hand with her hand.

"You will arrive in 14 minutes and fifty two seconds."

“Oh, come on!!! I’m going to be siiiiiiiiiiiiiick!”

We crash landed into a large rocky crater, all our bodies fully intact. I groaned in pain at what I’m felt in my abdomen. My body practically careened out of the casing to break free. I’m never doing this again. Ever.

I turn my head over to Raze as he exited. He stood up the entire flight and couldn't have appeared happier. His eyes were radiating a profound sort of pleasure. This might have been the happiest mood I had ever seen him in. “Woooooooh! That was great! Can we do it again?”

I hope not. I don’t even wanna fly with my own wings for the foreseeable future. I’m surprised my stomach held out that long....

“It was indeed an exhilarating experience. To be able to be one with the sky… Any beast-kin would relish this experience.” Lyra stretched out her arms and winked at me. Was she being sarcastic? Or was she too dense to sense the irony in her words?

What is she talking about?

My air sickness had made me unresponsive to their whims of pleasure, but I turned my mind back to the matter at hand. “This is it. I don't know how deep that cave goes, but our next fight is certainly below it.”

 “Well, let’s get to it then.” He threw his arms behind his back and broke into stretches.

“That's new.” I commented on his new introduction of cathletics.

“Ah...yeah, it’s been a few days since I actually fought anyone and even longer since I fought something evil or whatever.” He tilted his neck as if to point towards Lyra, but she payed no attention to him as she examined the landscape.

“I wonder what caused a crater of this caliber? There are also no guards at the entrance which seems rather suspicious.”

I agreed. Getting into Imp City was not too difficult because of how small their walls were, but they still had guards stationed at all the important locations . All this rocky cave entrance has was a sour odor and ominous presence oozing out from within.

“Eck. I just picked up the smell of something nasty.” He cracked his knuckles. “I wanna kill it fast.” He dashed towards the entrance with blind fervor.

I reach out to stop him, but he easily slipped through my grasp with his momentum. “Lyra, do something! Stop him before he does something rash and stupid—like usual!”

Lyra nodded. “Leave it to me.” She broke into a stride, chasing right after him. Even with his head start, she almost overtook him in moments.

Wow! She's fast!

Raze reached the entrance of the cave with Lyra breathing down his neck at breakneck speed. Right as Raze reached the entrance, he shouted, “Yes! an easy way to get inside.” Lyra grabbed his shoulder even though he already stopped moving and frowned. We all noticed the problem before it's too late.

“Oh…shit…”

“Well, this is a blunder. How...unfortunate.”

All our attention was focused on the white circle that had appeared at the entrance of the cave, right under the two of them. I had seen this kind of circle in the past. It was the same one we used to teleport to the capital. A blind white light engulfed my vision before returning to normal.

"......"I rubbed the after-effects out of my eyes and blinked a few times. “Raze?!” I shouted. “Lyra?!”

I quickly readjusting to my surroundings, albeit in a more somber mood. I scanned the entire area. The two of them were nowhere to be seen as expected. I even walked over the same area they stood on moments before, but there was no response this time. Just silence.

“Ah, jeez. What am I supposed to do now?” I twirled a finger around one of my pigtails. "This sucks."

As soon as I open my mouth, a purple blur zoomed into the crater, appearing seemingly from thin air.

Oh god! It’s heading right for me.

I ducked as I ran into the cave, turning my head back to see if it followed me inside as I moved. The purple blur was gone, replaced by another white flash of light. The teleportation circle had struck again! I tried to walk back out, but a crimson barrier appeared to impede me. It wouldn't disappear no matter how many [Fireballs] I tossed at it.

“Well...this is not good. I guess I will have to make my way down there on my…gulp..own.”

I sighed as loudly as I could and entered the maw of the Basilisk Queen's layer.

Five minutes went by before I spotted anything alive. Around a sharp piller stood two kobolds and a human in only their underwear. These kobolds had blue skin and dog-like faces. Muscled, humanoid bodies covered with fur, ending with a short tail. Both of them held pickaxes in each of their furry palms. The one thing the three of them all had in common was the crimson star crest seared into their foreheads.

Yup. They are definitely under her control. I think I see how to move from here, but what are they mining?

I peeked over from my hiding place. There was nothing in the wall to mine...or so I thought. One of the kobolds barked something to the feeble man. He nodded as if he understood their language and stood against the cavern wall. The other kobold placed its large hand on top of the man’s crest. The moment it touched him, his body started to glow...and then transform. In mere seconds he became one with the wall and had been reduced to a shiny, rectangular-shaped crystal. The kobold hacked away at the crystal with madness in its small, beady eyes.

Ehhhhhhh?! That's creepy as hell! They are literally mining humans!

The other kobold jumped in as well, slicing the crystal into pieces that it shoved into a small sack at its waist. I took this chance to bolt past them. I used [Envy] to morph my body into that of one of the blue kobolds we faced back near my village and casually walked right past them with as much confidence as I could muster. One of the kobolds looked my way, but I didn’t give him the time of day. I was walking on pins and needles. I trusted the power of [Envy] and my faith proved true. I safely avoided conflict and walked down the spirling path, going deep and deeper into Cave World.

On my way down I spotted other groups of kobolds and humans against the cave walls. Other kobolds were already going to town on the human crystals while others were rolling them on a wheelbarrow to a large bridge that was at the bottom of the winding path I walked on.

This entire place is a facility for mining humans!

I focused my gaze on what was past the large lava bridge. hundreds of small huts spanned across the entire ground level while the lava surrounded it like a moat. I couldn't even see the end of them from up here. The one structure that stood out over the plain mud huts was a large cave, made from the same material that was being mined.

I passed by more kobolds mining on the downwards spiral.

I wonder how many have fallen into those lava pits? And that has got to be the home of the Basilisk Queen.

After another ten minutes, I reached the bottom of the spiral where more kobolds were mining and carrying sacks on their back or moving humans around. I followed one of the wheelbarrow kobolds before breaking off and going into one of the huts. I peered inside, making sure it was indeed vacant and tiptoed in.

“There's not even a bed here, just a mat on the floor,” I said before transforming back. I would hide out here until Raze and Lyra returned. I thought back to that purple blur that was after me.

“I hope the two of them are okay.”