[Luna POV]
Almost a week has passed since we left the crystal city and not much has really happened. We did run into some monsters here and there, but they were dealt with instantly, so they were no real trouble. We were currently walking through a tunnel that was a bit darker than the ones we’ve been through so far.
“Nya. Something is strange nya.” (Mio)
“Yeah. These lamps shouldn’t be this dim, and this tunnel seems less taken care of than normal. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere and enter an old one or something?” (Skadi)
“We shouldn’t have. Luna is many things, but she hasn’t ever led us in the wrong direction before.” (Velvet)
“Um, what was that first part all about? I mean, I completely agree, but still. As for your question, I’m following the map every step. I wouldn’t lead us in the wrong direction without good reason and consulting with the rest of you first.” (Luna)
We stepped into a small cavern as we discussed the surroundings. The entire cavern looked eerie with the dim light of the magic torch-lanterns lengthening the shadows. Holes covered the ground and looking into them was like looking into an abyss of absolute darkness.
“This-” (Soleil)
“Shhh. Hold that thought, Soleil.” (Luna)
While I wasn’t completely sure, I thought I heard something coming from one of the holes. I walked near it, closed my eyes, and focused on my hearing to see if I wasn’t going crazy. While tuning out the sounds of myself and the others breathing and other ambient cave noises until eventually I could make out the faint sound of drumming.
“I hear drums. Drums in the deep.” (Luna)
The drumming got louder and then I felt the ground shaking underneath me. Then came cracking sounds and the ground underneath me and the others started crumbling.
“Is this the part where we choose to run or fall in?” (Ophidia)
“Yep. And I’m partial to falling in so we can see where that drumming is coming from.” (Luna)
“That sounds fun nya.” (Mio)
As I was the one closest to the hole, I was the first one to fall in. I turned to the others and saluted.
“See you guys at the bottom.” (Luna)
I then fell backwards into the darkness. As the dim light receded to a dot above me, I turned around and stared down.
{Luna, while we both know nothing can really hurt you down here, this is still reckless.}
“I know, but I’m starved for entertainment at the moment and the stress is piling up again. I’m hoping that at the end of this plummet will be something that will let me relieve some of this stress.”
{In other words, you just want to kill some stuff.}
“Exactly. I haven’t leveled up since one of those run-ins with a larger sky creature. I’m hoping that whatever is down here will either be strong enough or in enough numbers to give me at least one level.”
{Just set up a domain when you land. I don’t want an entire mountain falling on your head when the inevitable collateral damage gets to a high degree.}
“Got it.”
A few more seconds of falling in the darkness later, I was out of the tunnel and falling from the ceiling of a large cavern. On the ground I could see campfires, stony outcroppings and wooden structures, and, though a bit hard to make out from this distance, creatures moving around. The sounds of drums was louder and a loud sound came from a far wall of the cavern. When I got to a distance where I could make out what the creatures were, I smiled.
“Fufufufu. To think we’d stumble upon an underground orc settlement. I swear, if there is some giant monster made of fire and darkness, I’ll petition to the ruler of this country to rename it Moria.”
Seeing that I was going to land soon, and in the middle of a group of orcs, I covered myself in ice magic and when I hit the ground, I cast the magic, freezing all the orcs around me solid and shattering them.
“Guh. I thought rolling was supposed to make that better.”
Once I got my bearings again, I took out my short-sword and opened several Gates behind me. The orcs that were outside the range of my magic quickly recovered from their shock at my amazing entrance and then started to rush towards me with weapons and fists raised. I answered in kind with my own and my slaughter began. Several minutes and a newly created sea of corpses later, I saw the others fall into the cavern. Ophidia grabbed Skadi and blinked to the floor, Soleil used some wind magic and landed softly, and Mio and Velvet dived into the shadows like they were pools of water before springing out of them like they choreographed it before hand.
“Hahahhahahaha. Join me, my friends, we still have a lot of orcs to kill. And the best thing is, they have some cave trolls!” (Luna)
I turned around again and continued my application of pure violence on the trash mobs all around me.
{Luna, while I understand why you are taking your time like this, you’re also getting so much blood and viscera in your tails and hair. You completely forgot to set us a barrier around yourself to keep it off of you.}
“Meh. That just means that when I eventually go and take a bath, I can let you take one with me. So, while I’m doing this, get ready to spend the night soaking in our hot spring. Ahhhh! I can’t wait to see the sky again, so just hurry up and die orcs!”
I sped up my slaughter by taking advantage of my Authority in the domain and opening up Gates and Illusory Gates and launching barrages of weapons and other magic onto the orcs. I also checked on the others and saw that they were having just as easy a time as I was. Skadi was swinging around her greatsword and cleaving several orcs in two or more pieces every swing while Ophidia was punching and kicking away. Every time her fist or foot made contact, the orc’s head, chest, or stomach would pop like a balloon.
Velvet was swinging her sword around in its extended form while firing off fire and darkness magic. Mio was popping in and out of shadows and stabbing orcs in the neck with daggers made of pure darkness, and Soleil was using her fire and wind magic in the forms of dragon shouts torching and ragdolling orcs like no tomorrow. I then turned around when I heard a loud roar come from a walled off area and a large troll crashed through the wall of logs. It started barreling towards me and I smiled as I spread my ice mist around the area I was in. Since trolls are stupid creatures, it tried punching the mist only for its fist to become frostbitten the instant it touched the mist. It then tried to run away, but my mist was ruthless and all-consuming. It continued to spread as I made my way through the settlement, freezing all that touched it while I finished off any that managed to survive the cold for longer than a few seconds. Several hours of endless violence later, I speared the last orc I could find with a chain through its throat.
“Well. That was some good exercise.” (Luna)
“Yeah nya. I haven’t had a workout like this in a while nya.” (Mio)
“Same. There’s just something about mowing down countless mobs that’s cathartic.” (Skadi)
“I agree. I also enjoyed the way they went pop when I punched them. It made me feel this primal kind of joy that I haven’t felt in a long time. I think the last time I felt like this was when I was still small and had to protect my home from some kind of rat things.” (Ophidia)
“I’m more worried about how such a large gathering of orcs managed to survive here and not be found out by the dwarves. I mean really, if Luna could hear their drums and the ground shook when they did something, then they should have been dealt with by now.” (Velvet)
“Well, maybe it has to do with that city that we could see when we were falling into this cavern. It looked abandoned from what I could tell.” (Soleil)
“Well, we can explore that later, I’m going to take a bath with Tamamo under the moonlight now, so I’ll be back. Feel free to start exploring without me.” (Luna)
I then teleported to the hot spring on the mountain of my pirate island, set up a domain, and dove into Tamamo’s chest as she appeared in the water in front of me.
Chaos Realm:
Order: Payto, get ready, she's about to show up.
Done.
Crisis: ORDER! I HAVE ARRIVED AND I BRING MY CHILD WITH ME!
Order: NOW!
*Snaps fingers*
Crisis: Oh? Why am I tied up now? And when did you start holding my daughter?
Order: You will be let go when you calm down. I get that you're happy, but that is no reason to yell at the top of your lungs. You almost woke Astraea up.
Crisis: Ah. I'm actually sorry about that. If I knew she was asleep, I would have yelled after she woke up.
That's the part where you say you wouldn't yell at all.
Crisis: And you should know me enough by now to know that's not how I work.
That is also true.
Order: Now...Payto, what's happening right now?
...
Crisis: Well, this seems like some fun things are about to happen. Ah, if only I had popcorn right now.
... ... ...*Sigh*What is it with this century and Fated Ones showing up? And why has MY daughter's Fated One already shown up?
Order: ...*Sigh*
Crisis: Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. To think my and Order's daughters would be fated to be together. Talk about luck. I can't wait to tell Mordred. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
[Luna POV]
Almost a week has passed since we left the crystal city and not much has really happened. We did run into some monsters here and there, but they were dealt with instantly, so they were no real trouble. We were currently walking through a tunnel that was a bit darker than the ones we’ve been through so far.
“Nya. Something is strange nya.” (Mio)
“Yeah. These lamps shouldn’t be this dim, and this tunnel seems less taken care of than normal. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere and enter an old one or something?” (Skadi)
“We shouldn’t have. Luna is many things, but she hasn’t ever led us in the wrong direction before.” (Velvet)
“Um, what was that first part all about? I mean, I completely agree, but still. As for your question, I’m following the map every step. I wouldn’t lead us in the wrong direction without good reason and consulting with the rest of you first.” (Luna)
We stepped into a small cavern as we discussed the surroundings. The entire cavern looked eerie with the dim light of the magic torch-lanterns lengthening the shadows. Holes covered the ground and looking into them was like looking into an abyss of absolute darkness.
“This-” (Soleil)
“Shhh. Hold that thought, Soleil.” (Luna)
While I wasn’t completely sure, I thought I heard something coming from one of the holes. I walked near it, closed my eyes, and focused on my hearing to see if I wasn’t going crazy. While tuning out the sounds of myself and the others breathing and other ambient cave noises until eventually I could make out the faint sound of drumming.
“I hear drums. Drums in the deep.” (Luna)
The drumming got louder and then I felt the ground shaking underneath me. Then came cracking sounds and the ground underneath me and the others started crumbling.
“Is this the part where we choose to run or fall in?” (Ophidia)
“Yep. And I’m partial to falling in so we can see where that drumming is coming from.” (Luna)
“That sounds fun nya.” (Mio)
As I was the one closest to the hole, I was the first one to fall in. I turned to the others and saluted.
“See you guys at the bottom.” (Luna)
I then fell backwards into the darkness. As the dim light receded to a dot above me, I turned around and stared down.
{Luna, while we both know nothing can really hurt you down here, this is still reckless.}
“I know, but I’m starved for entertainment at the moment and the stress is piling up again. I’m hoping that at the end of this plummet will be something that will let me relieve some of this stress.”
{In other words, you just want to kill some stuff.}
“Exactly. I haven’t leveled up since one of those run-ins with a larger sky creature. I’m hoping that whatever is down here will either be strong enough or in enough numbers to give me at least one level.”
{Just set up a domain when you land. I don’t want an entire mountain falling on your head when the inevitable collateral damage gets to a high degree.}
“Got it.”
A few more seconds of falling in the darkness later, I was out of the tunnel and falling from the ceiling of a large cavern. On the ground I could see campfires, stony outcroppings and wooden structures, and, though a bit hard to make out from this distance, creatures moving around. The sounds of drums was louder and a loud sound came from a far wall of the cavern. When I got to a distance where I could make out what the creatures were, I smiled.
“Fufufufu. To think we’d stumble upon an underground orc settlement. I swear, if there is some giant monster made of fire and darkness, I’ll petition to the ruler of this country to rename it Moria.”
Seeing that I was going to land soon, and in the middle of a group of orcs, I covered myself in ice magic and when I hit the ground, I cast the magic, freezing all the orcs around me solid and shattering them.
“Guh. I thought rolling was supposed to make that better.”
Once I got my bearings again, I took out my short-sword and opened several Gates behind me. The orcs that were outside the range of my magic quickly recovered from their shock at my amazing entrance and then started to rush towards me with weapons and fists raised. I answered in kind with my own and my slaughter began. Several minutes and a newly created sea of corpses later, I saw the others fall into the cavern. Ophidia grabbed Skadi and blinked to the floor, Soleil used some wind magic and landed softly, and Mio and Velvet dived into the shadows like they were pools of water before springing out of them like they choreographed it before hand.
“Hahahhahahaha. Join me, my friends, we still have a lot of orcs to kill. And the best thing is, they have some cave trolls!” (Luna)
I turned around again and continued my application of pure violence on the trash mobs all around me.
{Luna, while I understand why you are taking your time like this, you’re also getting so much blood and viscera in your tails and hair. You completely forgot to set us a barrier around yourself to keep it off of you.}
“Meh. That just means that when I eventually go and take a bath, I can let you take one with me. So, while I’m doing this, get ready to spend the night soaking in our hot spring. Ahhhh! I can’t wait to see the sky again, so just hurry up and die orcs!”
I sped up my slaughter by taking advantage of my Authority in the domain and opening up Gates and Illusory Gates and launching barrages of weapons and other magic onto the orcs. I also checked on the others and saw that they were having just as easy a time as I was. Skadi was swinging around her greatsword and cleaving several orcs in two or more pieces every swing while Ophidia was punching and kicking away. Every time her fist or foot made contact, the orc’s head, chest, or stomach would pop like a balloon.
Velvet was swinging her sword around in its extended form while firing off fire and darkness magic. Mio was popping in and out of shadows and stabbing orcs in the neck with daggers made of pure darkness, and Soleil was using her fire and wind magic in the forms of dragon shouts torching and ragdolling orcs like no tomorrow. I then turned around when I heard a loud roar come from a walled off area and a large troll crashed through the wall of logs. It started barreling towards me and I smiled as I spread my ice mist around the area I was in. Since trolls are stupid creatures, it tried punching the mist only for its fist to become frostbitten the instant it touched the mist. It then tried to run away, but my mist was ruthless and all-consuming. It continued to spread as I made my way through the settlement, freezing all that touched it while I finished off any that managed to survive the cold for longer than a few seconds. Several hours of endless violence later, I speared the last orc I could find with a chain through its throat.
“Well. That was some good exercise.” (Luna)
“Yeah nya. I haven’t had a workout like this in a while nya.” (Mio)
“Same. There’s just something about mowing down countless mobs that’s cathartic.” (Skadi)
“I agree. I also enjoyed the way they went pop when I punched them. It made me feel this primal kind of joy that I haven’t felt in a long time. I think the last time I felt like this was when I was still small and had to protect my home from some kind of rat things.” (Ophidia)
“I’m more worried about how such a large gathering of orcs managed to survive here and not be found out by the dwarves. I mean really, if Luna could hear their drums and the ground shook when they did something, then they should have been dealt with by now.” (Velvet)
“Well, maybe it has to do with that city that we could see when we were falling into this cavern. It looked abandoned from what I could tell.” (Soleil)
“Well, we can explore that later, I’m going to take a bath with Tamamo under the moonlight now, so I’ll be back. Feel free to start exploring without me.” (Luna)
I then teleported to the hot spring on the mountain of my pirate island, set up a domain, and dove into Tamamo’s chest as she appeared in the water in front of me.
Chaos Realm:
Order: Payto, get ready, she's about to show up.
Done.
Crisis: ORDER! I HAVE ARRIVED AND I BRING MY CHILD WITH ME!
Order: NOW!
*Snaps fingers*
Crisis: Oh? Why am I tied up now? And when did you start holding my daughter?
Order: You will be let go when you calm down. I get that you're happy, but that is no reason to yell at the top of your lungs. You almost woke Astraea up.
Crisis: Ah. I'm actually sorry about that. If I knew she was asleep, I would have yelled after she woke up.
That's the part where you say you wouldn't yell at all.
Crisis: And you should know me enough by now to know that's not how I work.
That is also true.
Order: Now...Payto, what's happening right now?
...
Crisis: Well, this seems like some fun things are about to happen. Ah, if only I had popcorn right now.
... ... ...*Sigh*What is it with this century and Fated Ones showing up? And why has MY daughter's Fated One already shown up?
Order: ...*Sigh*
Crisis: Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. To think my and Order's daughters would be fated to be together. Talk about luck. I can't wait to tell Mordred. Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
