Chapter 126: A Friends Shadow (1/2)
There was a certain alienation when your eyes didn't match what your body felt. As Nikolai saw the incoming attack of the monster, he was prepared for the mind-breaking pain. Yet, it never came.
The monster threw its body at Nikolai, and the resulting current was what sent him flying. There was no pain, and his golden shield brightly glowed as it absorbed insane amounts of damage.
Nikolai crashed into the mossy rocks beside the cave, and there was no damage again. The sea serpent must have thought that its attack would crush the weak bug, but it would have never thought that underestimating Nikolai would be its biggest mistake.
Without hesitation, Nikolai kicked the rocks to dive toward the entrance. The serpent gave another roar as it tried to attack again because it didn't have the time to dive underwater.
Nikolai slipped in before the serpent's body slammed into him again, and it slammed into the entrance instead. The cave shook, and the pressure pushed Nikolai further inside.
His chest was feeling tighter, and he knew he was low on time. However, as if a lightbulb lit up in his head, Nikolai remembered a particular setting he placed on his pocket dimension.
'There is air stored inside my pocket dimension,' Nikolai remembered how he made his pocket dimension habitable. His darkness swirled into his mouth as it began providing air like a diving tube.
Nikolai's vision cleared as he began swimming deeper into the cave. However, his time was limited, as the sea serpent was bound to dive back into the water.
True enough, Nikolai felt the currents change behind him. He slipped into his stealth and waited. Finally, the serpent's eyes appeared, eerily blue and full of rage. However, it couldn't spot Nikolai, making it confused.
The serpent entered the cave head first. Its scales glimmered in the low light coming from the outside. Then, as it slithered its way into the deeper parts of the cave, Nikolai hid in a crack as he held his breath.
The serpent was infinitely close to him, and it seems that it gave up on the battle above water. Nikolai kept still instead of trying to swim now, as he knew the monster was fully alert by his earlier presence.
Luckily for him, there were no powerful currents in the cave that would drag him out of his stealth. Instead, the serpent's nostrils flared, and they released bubbles into the cave. Nikolai watched as its eerie eyes passed by him and went deeper into the cave.
The serpent's scaly body blocked his way, and Nikolai had to wait for it to move. Then, gentle voices came deeper from the cave, and Nikolai knew that the serpent was talking to its offspring.
As he thought that his air might run out, the serpent began to retreat from the cave to resume its battle against the army above.
As the bridge was quite long, it took a while for the unit to cross. Finally, depriving the army of their moment of happiness, the sea serpent screeched and jumped above the surface to fight against the intruders.
Nikolai sighed as he swam out, looking both ways before he went deeper into the cave. The giant cave shook because of the battle above, but Nikolai wasn't worried about being buried alive.
Within the dark dimension, Nikolai swam toward the deeper parts of the cave. The water began getting shallower until he could see lights twinkling above him. Finally, Nikolai left the water and realized there was air in here, and breathing it in was a great solace for his lungs.
The cave was lined with all kinds of gemstones, and they shone brightly to defeat the darkness. As Nikolai looked around, he fell in awe of the myriad of colors. Then, he began swimming toward the shore and enjoyed the feeling of the hard ground after he set foot on it.
The mana in the cave was vibrant, and it made anyone feel reenergized the moment he entered it. Nikolai walked straight to one of the walls to pluck out a gem.
As the gem came off after a bit of effort, Nikolai realized that these treasures could be used for enchantment. These gems were like lottery tickets that granted items different properties and substituted for skills most of the time.
”This cave alone is worth thousands of golds,” Nikolai knew as he looked around, but he knew that mining out these gems would be easier said than done. Moreover, Nikolai didn't have the time to stand around.
Nikolai began walking deeper into the cave to look for the offspring. Soon enough, he realized that this place was too gigantic. It seems this was the permanent den of the serpent, as Nikolai could see deep tracks of slithering on the ground.