Chapter 28

The next reunion would happen next week. Arthur did not enter the mysterious room to explore. He was afraid it could somehow alert the other members of the order. It was common for people to use magical formations to protect the inside of places against trespassers.

So, the only thing left for him was to find another place to stay. With that in mind, he left the cave. The moon shone in the sky, and the darkness did not mean much for Arthur.

He wanted to find another cave, one without a demonic cult.

“The stars and the moon are so beautiful. I wonder how are Jane and the others doing,” thought Arthur as he jumped from one tree to another. The plan he had in mind was to get a ship and somehow leave the island to look for his friends. But now, there was a demonic cult he had to stop, or else an entire village would be dead.

“What is this place?”

Arthur was deep inside the forest and found an odd lake. What got his attention was the strange particles that shone above the water. There were white, and the moonlight was making them shine. It was beautiful, magical, and unique.

But as Arthur got closer to this lake, a sense of danger rose inside of him. Maybe it was his draconic senses playing a trick on him, or perhaps the lake had something out of the ordinary.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”

Without taking his clothes off, Arthur jumped inside the lake. The water was colder than he expected it to be. He swam, looking for something strange, but everything seemed normal.

“I’m losing my precious time here. At least I got to shower,” thought Arthur.

It was then that he noticed something peculiar. Deep down in the lake, a strange light flickered. Everything else was dark, but in that particular area, there was light.

Arthur went towards it, and he understood from where the light was coming.

“There’s a cave in here. What the hell!”

~~~~

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It was a hidden cave at the bottom of the lake. Arthur had no idea how the cave existed, but it did. He entered on it, and what came next startled him.

A laboratory. Well, it did not have any technology as the world Arthur came from did, but it was a place where a mage did experiences. There were books scattered everywhere and test tubes with unknown liquids.

The place had tables, beds, and study areas. Arthur walked towards one of these tables and grabbed a piece of paper above it.

“Experimentation on Mutated Beasts.”

“After years of research, I’m finally doing it. I managed to mutate beasts using the blood of other beasts. My first subject is a rat. I’ve injected it with Sky Snake blood mixed with other secret ingredients, and the rat now has parts of the Sky Snake beasts after one week.”

“Huh? What the hell is this? Is this Dr. Frankstein?”

There were more papers with similar statements as this one. It was all messy, and it was clear the mage who worked inside that cave was long gone.

Arthur kept exploring the cave and found a corridor with many cells. All were locked and empty, except for one cell. The door of this cell was in the middle of the hall, completely broken.

It was as if something had escaped from inside that cell. Arthur was afraid and advanced with slow steps towards the place. In a flash, Arthur saw nothing inside that cell, but the smell emanating from it was horrible.

“Hm, maybe the creature that escaped caused the death of the mage who lived in this lab.”

There were more things beyond the corridor, so Arthur kept going. The sound of small stones echoed throughout the cave. Even with light steps, the noise was still inevitable. Arthur was afraid that the creature might still be around.

He walked down the same corridor the cells were in and came to an open area. Within this open area was a garden with several unknown plants.

“How are these plants alive? Everything else inside this place seems to be falling apart,” thought Arthur as he approached those plants.

At that moment, a creature came flying from the cave’s ceiling and landed right in front of Arthur.

A loud boom rippled through the entire area where Arthur was. A gigantic creature was looking at him. Its eyes were red as flames, and its majestic wings caused envy to anyone who saw them.

“What the hell is this?”

Arthur knew very little about magical beasts, but he knew that beast was terrifying. The creature had blue fur covering its entire body. It walked using all four legs, and each leg had sharp claws capable of tearing anyone apart.

The number 48 was above the creature’s head. Arthur knew he had almost zero chance of winning against that creature. It had more than double his current level.

“Damn it. Will I die like this?”

The creature opened its mouth, and a bolt of thunder came flying directly at Arthur. Unprepared, he dodged sideways, almost tripping. It did not stop there. One, two, three, countless bolts of thunder flew towards Arthur.

He continued to dodge all of them. Arthur started to get the hang of it, and it became easier for him to avoid these bolts. But, things were not as easy as he wished to be. The creature had enough of trying to hit the bolts and opted for more corporal combat. It flew in Arthur’s direction at an astonishing speed. He couldn’t dodge in time and was sent flying by the creature’s claw attack.

Arthur slammed on the cave’s walls, and blood dripped from a wound on his chest.

“This hurts, damn it. I lost 400 health in one attack. I need to go all-in with everything I have.”

“Draconic Transformation!”

“Agggghrr!”

Arthur’s eyes became similar to those of snakes. The sclera was no longer white but black, and the rest of his eyes were crimson red. Small scales appeared all over his body, and his nails turned into black claws.

A small tail grew behind him, and most of his clothes were