Marina came back with her pockets full of pebbles and her eyes shining.
"Okay, guys. I took a peek at both entrances while I was gathering the stones, and they all lead to twisting cave corridors.
So it's not possible to know for sure what is after the corridor. But the one at the northeast branches into two corridors, so we actually have three options and not two."
"Okay. Well, the first thing is 'Never Split The Party.' Wherever we go, we go together."
Carlos was very serious, even though he didn't have any weapon. He wouldn't be of much use during a fight but wanted to contribute in any possible way.
Heloisa nodded and added.
"We should go south, then. It's one less decision to make. How wide are the corridors, Marina?"
"Hm… about one and a half meters."
The eyes of everyone just widened when they heard those words. It is the standard size of a dungeon tile in the tabletop RPG games they used to play together.
"Then let's go in an orderly fashion. Marina, you are the scout, so you go first. Then Ravi, who has a knife. Then me and Carlos. And in the end, Henrique, with the machete. He will guard us if we are attacked from behind."
"Okay. Let me just draw the map of this area real quick before we proceed. I measured it while I was taking the pebbles. It should be about fifteen meters and nine meters."
She took her sketchbook and a pencil and started the map of the 'dungeon,' drawing the room in the center of the page. Though she drew it quickly, her traces are firm and precise, and the result was rather accurate.
"Right. Now we're good to go."
Nobody said anything. They were too excited, so they just nodded and waited for Marina to take the lead, which she promptly did.
She walked through the corridor with a pace that allowed her to properly pay attention to everything. Her heart was pounding in her chest. The others followed suit, nobody daring to say a word.
After only three meters, the corridor twisted to the left.
"I think that I hear running water… but it's very faint."
Marina informed her companions and pressed forward, holding the slingshot in her left hand and a pebble in her right one.
Two more meters, and the corridor bent to the right and soon to the left again.
Suddenly, Marina froze and made a gesture with her hand for everyone to stop. Though she was holding a pebble in that hand, she used the index finger and thumb to hold the pebble and raised the other three.
Everyone stopped without questioning.
Right after the bending to the left, the corridor ended. It was possible for her to see that there was another cave in front, but some sounds she heard made her hair stand up.
Marina signaled for the others to wait, then walked forward the last meters of the corridor and poked her head in the opening to see inside.
The cave was small, about a third of the one where they arrived. The area was almost a square, with a lower ceiling that reached only a bit taller than two meters at the highest point. [M]
Half of the ground was covered by a little pond. It was probably part of an underground river system, as it was possible to hear a distant rush. And the source of the eerie sound was right at the water's edge. A huge rat, drinking water.
It wasn't in reality that big. It was huge only relative to the average rats of Earth, but it was in fact about the size of a small domestic cat.
Without even breathing, Marina quietly put the pebble on the slingshot, drew, and fired.
The pebble hit the rat square on the head. The creature's blood splashed on the water, and it cried loudly and looked at the origin of the shot, where Marina was.
She quickly took another pebble from her pocket to shoot again, but the rat was faster and ran forward, jumping at her leg to bite.
Marina screamed in fright and kicked the rat in a reflex motion, sending it flying to the other side of the cave.
Just as she was trying to process what happened, Henrique ran through, passing by her side. The rat had already steadied itself and was preparing to launch a second attack when Henrique stepped in and cut it with the machete.
At that moment, everyone heard a voice in their heads.
[Rat killed. 1 point.]
"What? What was that voice?"
The first to react to the voice was Marina, but soon the other members of the team entered the cave, and everyone started talking at the same time.
"Wait, wait. This way, nobody can understand anyone. Let's speak each one at a time. Also, let's not speak so loudly. We don't know if there are other creatures around."
Heloisa was the one to bring them all back to the ground so they could communicate orderly.
"Okay. Can I speak, then? Marina and Henrique, you two were just awesome right now."
"It was nothing, Ravi. I just cut a rat. Nothing out of the ordinary. But Marina, your aim with the slingshot is as good as ever."
"Hehehe. It was a nice shot, wasn't it? But he was too fast. I couldn't even draw it again before the thing was already on my leg. I got desperate for a moment and kicked it."
"It was good reflexes all the same. But the big question is… what the hell was that voice?"
At this moment, the adrenaline of the battle had already simmered down, and everyone had calmed. They looked at each other, not knowing how to answer Heloisa's question. Only Ravi dared to put a hypothesis forward, after a minute.
"I… I think that whatever that voice is, it's related to the people who teleported us here."
"Oh, really? I couldn't have figured out."
After Marina retorted to his 'hypothesis,' everyone burst out laughing, except for Heloisa, who insisted they lower their voices.
"Shhhh. Don't make that much noise. Do you want all creatures around us to come after us?"
The laughter quickly died, and Carlos spoke again.
"It said that we earned a point. Which means that somewhere, there is a place where we can spend those points. Like XP in an RPG. This looks very gamified. Whoever did this has some sort of weird agenda. I wonder if we're the only ones in this dungeon."
Ravi nodded vigorously and added:
"This looks like those reality shows. I wonder if there is anyone watching us right now. Well, someone is watching, because they knew that we just killed a rat. So some sort of surveillance is being done."
"Which means that now we have a goal. Before, we were just walking randomly. Now, we have to look for that place where we can spend said points. That place is where we'll be able to learn more about our situation and about how to get out of this place."
Marina was, as always, the more excited one. She stated the new goal, itching for more adventure.
"What if those points will give us special powers? Like real RPG classes? Would that mean that I can finally become the warrior I always wanted to be?"
"Henrique, you dream too small. You are already a warrior, as you just used a blade to kill an enemy. That's what warriors do. For me, I want to be a wizard and cast powerful spells. That's not something one would be able to do normally."
After Henrique and Carlos started talking about powers, the banter went on for some time until Heloisa called them back to reality yet again.
"Hey guys… did that rat drop something?"
She pointed to where the body of the rat had been a few moments ago. In its place, there was a small pouch.
"Loot!"
Marina immediately grinned and ran towards the pouch.