"GROOAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
My heart pounding in my chest, I sprinted through the treacherous expanse, desperately evading the monstrous creatures that pursued me.
'Damnit! How was I supposed to know that I'd stumble onto their nest?!'
Their guttural snarls and thunderous footsteps echoed behind me, spurring me onward.
I knew I had to find a way to escape their clutches, to find sanctuary amidst the shadows that concealed me.
'Thankfully, I'm quite fit, so I can navigate my way through this area!'
The tiny regions proved difficult for most of the monsters who chased me.
As for the smaller ones, I was able to dodge them—though barely.
I felt my life on the edge countless times, but I pushed through and endured many times.
As I ran, my mind raced, seeking solace in the plan I had devised before my arrival in this nightmarish realm.
'The Arcanas... yes, that's right!'
There was a reason I had been teleported to this cave-like place by Jared.
Somewhere within these depths lay an Arcana.
'It's signature was detected by Jared, so to begin my journey, I was going to start here, but...'
I had no idea where it was!
With each stride, my focus sharpened, and I retrieved the holographic map from my satchel.
It flickered to life, illuminating my path with a soft azure glow. The map was very imprecise and only provided a rough approximation of the Arcana's location.
'It's in my location, but where exactly? Above? Beneath? To my left? To my right?'
I suppose I'll have to perform some tweaks to my equipment. But first, I had to escape the chasing monsters behind me. a proper
I knew that engaging in battles with the monstrous denizens would only hinder my progress, diverting me from my ultimate goal.
'Their numbers have reduced quite a lot.'
In the eerie stillness, broken only by my hurried footsteps, I plotted my course.
Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I pressed forward, my senses heightened, attuned to every subtle shift in the environment.
'Ah, there! Perfect!'
The creatures here most likely had night vision, so even if I turned off my precious luminous gemstone, that would do me very little good.
They could also probably sense heat signatures, so turning invisible wouldn't work if I had already been detected.
'To lose them, it's probably best to get rid of them.'
"GRROOOAAHHHH!!!" I heard screeching roars from behind me, as if the creatures were trying to remind me of their presences.
'I hear you. I hear you!!!' My thoughts echoed as a wide grin formed on my face.
'Might as well try this...'
I had already observed a very deep chasm right ahead of me, and I was running straight for it.
Removing two devices from my satchel, each with one hand, I braced myself for what would happen next.
"Hup!" I leaped down into the gulf beneath, and so did the creatures who lunged after me.
'Unintelligent. Very good.'
I used one of my devices—a grappling hook—to target the mouth of the cave I jumped out of, swiftly swinging away from the free fall that would ultimately lead to my demise.
Unfortunately for most of the Demons that chased me, they were going to plunge to their doom.
Mist covered the bottom of the huge lacuna, so even i didn't know how deep it was.
"KRRRIRIIIIII" I heard a couple of screeches, along with wings flapping.
'Shit...'
Some could fly, so they were able to avoid their free-fall dive.
Of course, I already prepared for that too.
As soon as I swung to the mouth of the cave, finding a solid foothold for myself, I threw the second device—something akin to an orb—to the approaching creatures.
"Die... I guess."
~BOOOOOOMMMM!!!~
The explosion, caused by purely natural combustive processes, and not Magic, echoed across the hollow of the cave, sending shockwaves flying in multiple directions.
'I better run before something worse happens.'
A wave of such intensity could make natural rock formations like these to cave in. If that happened, I would find it extremely difficult to move around.
Plus, the sound was also bound to attract monsters. If I remained in the same position, there was a high likelihood I could become nutrients for these savage beasts.
'We can't have that, can we?'
As such, once I was done with my task, I returned to my path, determined to be more careful in the future.
'First off, I should find a place where I can tweak as much equipments as possible.'
The map wouldn't be very useful in this instance, since I was already at the estimated location of my prize.
What I needed now, more than anything, were detection tools.
'Heat signatures and Energy Density' Those two were the most important.
'I brought some equipment with me for that purpose, but since I haven't been here before, I couldn't do it while I was with Jared.'
But now, things were different.
I was going to sync my devices and their energy receptive capabilities to the Nether around me, and account for higher density of such energy.
'That would mean monsters are close by.'
If I added the synchronizing effect and made a detection radius device, I could generate a mini-map around me, allowing me to detect the creatures that lurked around.
I'm essence, I would be able to evade them.
Most importantly, I would be able to find a more specific position of the Arcana I was after.
'Just follow the trail of the strongest energy signature.'
But this was a double edged sword.
'What if it leads me to a very powerful monster?'
Well, it was a risk I was willing to take. Inasmuch as I was trying to be careful, I couldn't be too wary.
This entire mission was already too dangerous, to begin with.
"I should also be more proactive." Time was of the essence, after all.
Karlia was waiting for me, and every second counted.
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