The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.
Chapter 839 Chapter 838: Terracotta Grottos (6)
?Taking the first step into the verdant tunnel that Satanya and Jahi had wanted us to scout out, Leraie and I raised our weapons and began to head deeper into the luscious tunnel, walking silently over the gravel ground that was gnarled with roots and flowers.
Glow Flis were the most abundant by far, and they illuminated the path with their soft, pale light, allowing us to see deeper into the tunnel and take note of the bend that went deeper into the earth.
Leraie focused on the path in front of us whilst I scanned the walls, floor and ceiling for anything of interest, be it ores or herbs; but, the only thing I could see was the dark grey rock that composed most of the grottos, which were then covered in moss and vines that had no significance whatsoever.
By our fiftieth step - which Leraie let me know by softly tapping my shoulder once - we had begun to walk down on the slope that the tunnel had formed, which started gradual before becoming slightly perilous as it got steeper and steeper... only to head straight down for a dozen feet, causing Leraie and I to exchange a glance.
Already, we were using mana infused into the bottom of our boots to hold ourselves in place, forming spikes on the soles that dug into the rock and kept us here, so seeing a straight drop was a bit... annoying, but it was manageable.
So, we nodded and began to descend to the ground, doing so as quietly as we could manage until we were on flat ground once more, causing us to blink in surprise at what we found.
Another cavern - not as large as the grotto?- sprawled out in front of us, filled with stalagmites laden with ores and sometimes glittering with gems, and to our surprise we didn't find any monsters roaming around, though we needed to verify that as quickly as we could.
"Looks like Satanya and Jahi have organized everything nicely. Hopefully we'll find a path that takes us somewhere with a good fight..."
My companion just chuckled as she nodded in agreement, the two of us yearning for a strong opponent for completely different reasons; I wanted to make something bleed and yowl in pain for hours on end, and Leraie wanted a challenge to push her body to the limits.
We were not the same.
Though, I feel like people would make the argument that it was better that way; that most of the people in this group wanted to have a challenge and learn instead of tormenting some unfortunate monster until it dies...
When we returned to the command table, we found that it had been expanded with a far better model that was updated properly, and many Demons were standing around listening to the orders coming from the Beliali woman and the Asmodia Heir.
Settling into the line that was leading to the table, Leraie and I listened in before stepping up to give our own report, earning a nod from the two and moving off to the side to let the next group speak, slowly getting more and more of an idea on what was around just this one grotto.
We knew it was a gigantic array of grottos going into this expedition, but hearing all the various pathways that might lead deeper into the mountains from each group was enough to give us a headache.
Trying to keep that all in mind and organize this host of Demons must have been a significant undertaking, and whilst I didn't really like her as a person, I had to admire the acumen that Satanya was putting on display as she managed to do just that; organize the reports and make more and more changes to that model after each report.
By the time the last group returned with their report, we were staring at a complex model that had so many different branching paths someone could easily mistake it for a piece of art... albeit a confusing one that 'would make you think, therefore it is art' or something like that...