As they went deeper into the cave, the natural sounds of the forest were silenced; all that was left was silence. The only sound they could hear was the sound of their boots clattering on the ground and the periodic water droplet that fell from the ceiling. Ellie channeled some fire mana into her hands, which erupted from them like a torch, lighting their way inside the dark, twisting cave.
"So, how big are these fire salamanders?" Ellie asked as they made their way through the cave.
"A bit bigger than Mofu's finy fox form," Ameria answered from behind her.
"Ok, so not as big as I was expecting," Ellie commented.
"What did you expect then?" Nirra asked from behind Ameria.
"Well, you know? Big, as in, as big as a bear or something," Ellie said while using her hands to express how large a bear is.
"Your expectations are too high," Nirra said while carrying a deadpan expression.
"Hey, I can use my imagination when I want to," Ellie shot back with her arms crossed and pouting slightly.
"Quiet, I hear something in front of us," Ameria interjected between their conversation while she pointed at the darkness that was in front of them.
Both of them nodded, and Ellie drew her sword while Nirra readied her shotgun. Ameria kept an arrow ready the entire time.
As they traversed through the cave system, eventually they found light at the end of the cave. They continued walking towards it until they came out inside a massive cavern with a rather large hole in the middle that let in the sunlight. A small waterfall can be seen at the edge of the cavern, which filled up a small pond that was in the middle of the entire cavern. The edges of the pond were decorated with grass, bushes, and vines. The walls felt warm not because of the sunlight but because they were near a volcanic vent.
"Beautiful…" they heard Ameria mumble as they walked towards the center of the room.
"To think, this place was hidden inside an unsuspecting cave entrance," Nirra added as she followed Ameria.
"This is all very nice and all, but where are the fire salamanders?" Ellie asked while she scanned the surroundings.
Not long after, they heard some rustling from the bushings that were near them. They all immediately stood their ground with their weapons drawn.
"I think we found them," Nirra said before a crimson-colored reptile lunged towards her. Its back was slightly glowing with an orange color, and its underbelly is a lighter shade of that same orange color. Nirra immediately pulled the trigger on her shotgun and killed the salamander in one hit.
"Whoa, that little guy is quick," Ellie commented as she looked at the dead body of a flame salamander.
"I told you they were a bit bigger than Mofu's small fox form," Ameria said to Ellie before she suddenly heard more flame salamanders converging on their position.
"Guard up, there's more coming," Ameria warned as she turned towards the location they were coming from.
Nirra ejected the spent shell and loaded a fresh one before closing the breech. Just as she finished reloading, dozens of flame salamanders came out of the bushes; some even used their fire spit ability, which made the trio jump aside to evade, only to realize it was done to get them separated.
Nirra stood her ground and shot a couple of shots, nailing two slamanders before she reloaded her shotgun. All the while, Ellie managed to reunite with her and hold the frontline. Her sword was covered in glowing orange blood as she hacked away at the slamanders that were attacking her and her sister. Ameria also managed to link back up with the twins, covering Nirra's flank as she fired arrow after arrow.
They then heard an audible click from Nirra, which meant she was fully reloaded. She fired her shotgun, killing three salamanders that were on the ground and were about to grab her limbs with their jaws. The image of the slamanders getting filled with holes from the shell lingered in Ameria's mind as she launched three arrows at once, able to kill three more salamanders in quick succession.
"Nirra, look out!" Ameria shouted as she saw an approaching salamander charging towards Nirra with its mouth agape.
Nirra received the warning just as she spent the last shell inside the breech on a group of salamanders that were near Ellie. Without a moment to spare, she quickly took hold of her revolver and shot the salamander in the air as it made a lunge for her arm.
"Nice shot, sis," Ellie commented as she boved and weaved through the slamanders while hacking away at those who were unfortunately too slow for her movements.
Nirra noticed Ellie was moving a bit faster than usual and concluded that it must be the spell she used against the demon puppet back at Aeris.
It took a few more minutes till the salamanders finally started to die off, their corpses littering the ground as they mopped up any stragglers that tried to run away from them.
"Phew, I think that's the last of them," Ellie said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Yeah, I think that was the last of them," Ameria added as she scanned the area one more time to make sure there were none left.
While they were searching, Nirra kneeled down near one of the salamanders she had killed. She said the salamander was filled with holes from her shotgun, but on closer inspection, she could make out the organs inside its body.
"Hmm, I wonder." Nirra then pulled out a small knife and opened the underbelly of the dead slamander she was examining.
She scrambled around to find what she was looking for. The organ that allowed the salamader to use its fire spit: She managed to pull out an organ that was the size of her hand, which was attached to a tube that led to the mouth. When she squeezed the organ, a translucent liquid pooled from the salamander's mouth, which she presumed was the liquid that ignites when it makes contact with heat. Nirra thought she could use this material to synthesize smokeless powder. She cut the tube that was attached to the organ and cooled said organ with her frost magic so it would last longer.
"Hmm, I need more samples," she said as she looked at more flame salamander corpses.
As they went deeper into the cave, the natural sounds of the forest were silenced; all that was left was silence. The only sound they could hear was the sound of their boots clattering on the ground and the periodic water droplet that fell from the ceiling. Ellie channeled some fire mana into her hands, which erupted from them like a torch, lighting their way inside the dark, twisting cave.
"So, how big are these fire salamanders?" Ellie asked as they made their way through the cave.
"A bit bigger than Mofu's finy fox form," Ameria answered from behind her.
"Ok, so not as big as I was expecting," Ellie commented.
"What did you expect then?" Nirra asked from behind Ameria.
"Well, you know? Big, as in, as big as a bear or something," Ellie said while using her hands to express how large a bear is.
"Your expectations are too high," Nirra said while carrying a deadpan expression.
"Hey, I can use my imagination when I want to," Ellie shot back with her arms crossed and pouting slightly.
"Quiet, I hear something in front of us," Ameria interjected between their conversation while she pointed at the darkness that was in front of them.
Both of them nodded, and Ellie drew her sword while Nirra readied her shotgun. Ameria kept an arrow ready the entire time.
As they traversed through the cave system, eventually they found light at the end of the cave. They continued walking towards it until they came out inside a massive cavern with a rather large hole in the middle that let in the sunlight. A small waterfall can be seen at the edge of the cavern, which filled up a small pond that was in the middle of the entire cavern. The edges of the pond were decorated with grass, bushes, and vines. The walls felt warm not because of the sunlight but because they were near a volcanic vent.
"Beautiful…" they heard Ameria mumble as they walked towards the center of the room.
"To think, this place was hidden inside an unsuspecting cave entrance," Nirra added as she followed Ameria.
"This is all very nice and all, but where are the fire salamanders?" Ellie asked while she scanned the surroundings.
Not long after, they heard some rustling from the bushings that were near them. They all immediately stood their ground with their weapons drawn.
"I think we found them," Nirra said before a crimson-colored reptile lunged towards her. Its back was slightly glowing with an orange color, and its underbelly is a lighter shade of that same orange color. Nirra immediately pulled the trigger on her shotgun and killed the salamander in one hit.
"Whoa, that little guy is quick," Ellie commented as she looked at the dead body of a flame salamander.
"I told you they were a bit bigger than Mofu's small fox form," Ameria said to Ellie before she suddenly heard more flame salamanders converging on their position.
"Guard up, there's more coming," Ameria warned as she turned towards the location they were coming from.
Nirra ejected the spent shell and loaded a fresh one before closing the breech. Just as she finished reloading, dozens of flame salamanders came out of the bushes; some even used their fire spit ability, which made the trio jump aside to evade, only to realize it was done to get them separated.
Nirra stood her ground and shot a couple of shots, nailing two slamanders before she reloaded her shotgun. All the while, Ellie managed to reunite with her and hold the frontline. Her sword was covered in glowing orange blood as she hacked away at the slamanders that were attacking her and her sister. Ameria also managed to link back up with the twins, covering Nirra's flank as she fired arrow after arrow.
They then heard an audible click from Nirra, which meant she was fully reloaded. She fired her shotgun, killing three salamanders that were on the ground and were about to grab her limbs with their jaws. The image of the slamanders getting filled with holes from the shell lingered in Ameria's mind as she launched three arrows at once, able to kill three more salamanders in quick succession.
"Nirra, look out!" Ameria shouted as she saw an approaching salamander charging towards Nirra with its mouth agape.
Nirra received the warning just as she spent the last shell inside the breech on a group of salamanders that were near Ellie. Without a moment to spare, she quickly took hold of her revolver and shot the salamander in the air as it made a lunge for her arm.
"Nice shot, sis," Ellie commented as she boved and weaved through the slamanders while hacking away at those who were unfortunately too slow for her movements.
Nirra noticed Ellie was moving a bit faster than usual and concluded that it must be the spell she used against the demon puppet back at Aeris.
It took a few more minutes till the salamanders finally started to die off, their corpses littering the ground as they mopped up any stragglers that tried to run away from them.
"Phew, I think that's the last of them," Ellie said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Yeah, I think that was the last of them," Ameria added as she scanned the area one more time to make sure there were none left.
While they were searching, Nirra kneeled down near one of the salamanders she had killed. She said the salamander was filled with holes from her shotgun, but on closer inspection, she could make out the organs inside its body.
"Hmm, I wonder." Nirra then pulled out a small knife and opened the underbelly of the dead slamander she was examining.
She scrambled around to find what she was looking for. The organ that allowed the salamader to use its fire spit: She managed to pull out an organ that was the size of her hand, which was attached to a tube that led to the mouth. When she squeezed the organ, a translucent liquid pooled from the salamander's mouth, which she presumed was the liquid that ignites when it makes contact with heat. Nirra thought she could use this material to synthesize smokeless powder. She cut the tube that was attached to the organ and cooled said organ with her frost magic so it would last longer.
"Hmm, I need more samples," she said as she looked at more flame salamander corpses.
