Adriel felt a drop of sweat roll down his cheek while his hands ached from the pressure he was exerting over his own mouth.
He heard the footsteps of that creature he had encountered. They slowly faded away.
The hands stopped pressing so hard; the young man's breathing gradually calmed.
He turned over; his stomach pressed against the cold, uneven rock of the cave. He began to crawl slowly. His eyes registered what was at the top of the dungeon chamber.
Near him were several pieces of something white and clean; bones, hundreds of them piled up. The hunter was not surprised; it was something he expected from the world, and even so, he felt a small shock run down his spine.
He searched with his eyes for any blue orb, but there was nothing. His hands reached the next unevenness to move himself forward.
After a little more, he saw a large rock. It seemed not to be part of the area. 'It's the door to the next room,' Adriel thought the instant he saw it.
His mind went blank for a few seconds. He stood up, then crouched down, summoned his bow, and aimed directly at the descent.
...
Teit's pointed ears twitched at a change in the environment. His gaze shifted backward. His orange eyes gleamed as they met the cave's fungi.
'Was it just my imagination?' He walked towards the lake, thinking.
He bent down upon reaching the shore. In that pure, smooth water, his reflection could be seen perfectly. A large man, about 40 to 50 years old, had perfect white skin, orange eyes that seemed to pierce everything they saw, and hair that hung down in front of his face.
His hands plunged into the water together, then he lifted them to bring water up, splashed it on his face, and sighed heavily.
Slowly, he submerged his hands again, but now they were apart; his fingers moved delicately in the water. He pulled his hands out, letting the water flow through them until it fell back into the lake.
Suddenly, the liquid began to swirl at a dizzying speed; a tornado of water formed in the lake.
The man stood up, and the water that was in the tornado suddenly rose into the air, floating. He walked decisively towards the ascent and climbed slowly and carefully. When he poked his head out, he saw something on the ground.
His eyes opened wide, and the water floated forward in front of him.
An arrow flew towards him, impacting against the water and disappearing. 'So there is an intruder after all.' He frowned and leaped up.
The hunter in front of him discarded his weapon and lunged at him. Teit reacted quickly, punching the young hunter's stomach. He followed up, trying to land a knee strike, but the young man shot backward.
'He's skilled, seems too strong. I could use my pressurized water, but I think it might be better as defense.' The water positioned itself around the man's head, but didn't close completely.
The hunter's piercing yellow eyes fixed on Teit with intensity; his eyes narrowed. After a few seconds in which neither spoke nor moved, the hunter lunged again, this time forward.
His clenched fist was heading straight for the man's chest, but he couldn't react well. Crack! The blow was strong, terrifying; that man could feel several of his bones break on impact.
A follow-up movement was noticed by Teit; the hunter's left arm threatened to strike his right side. Without thinking, he protected his side with the water.
'Wrong.' That word appeared in his head the very next instant. The young hunter's other hand was approaching his throat, which he grabbed without trouble, lifted him up, and, like a doll, slammed him against the ground.
...
Adriel was standing over his enemy's unconscious body. 'I almost forgot my arms have ogre DNA; if it weren't for that, I would have died. A katana is too big for this space; the same goes for the bow and the scythe.'
He summoned his weapon and aligned it with the man's neck, then severed his head.
"Congratulations, you have cleared the first room."
"Congratulations, you have received a reward: Water Spell. Single use. Phase: Initial, Category: B. Description: single-use spell, creates pressurized water with great force, capable of easily cutting flesh and bone."
"Congratulations, you have killed an elf. Phase: Initial Category: A. Class: Hydromancer."
'Seems that guy underestimated me. What kind of madman wouldn't use that the second they saw the enemy?'
Adriel turned to look at the elf's body, then summoned his katana and held it carefully within the cave.
The blade pierced the elf's flesh; then he used his hands to pull it out; afterwards, he began to stomp on the corpse's ribcage.
Blood splattered everywhere, each stomp sending more and more blood in all directions. Soon, the young hunter knelt beside the body.
He reached his hands in; now there was no bone protecting the object, but after searching for a while, he didn't find the blue orb.
'Seems like instead of making me search the body, they gave me the item directly, or maybe it's something else... Better check every corpse.'
He sighed and went down to the lake; there he washed the blood from his hands. Reflecting in the water, he noticed his reflection.
His hair had two colors, as if someone had splattered paint carelessly. White and black mixed together. His face was different from before; it was now sharper, whereas before it had much more fat. His eyes were the most different part; that yellow color felt alien on his body.
'After all... I'm still me... Right?'
...
A young man's feet moved roughly as he tried to walk. He had a strange grimace on his face; he seemed happy, but also a bit frustrated.
Above him, sitting on his shoulders, was a cheerful girl with a radiant smile. "Come on, Kael, you need to be faster!" She had a pair of black ears that twitched happily.
"Then stop moving so much. If you keep it up, I'll fall down with you." His chest rose and fell with difficulty, clearly tired.
'How did I end up agreeing to this? According to her, with her feline eyesight and my height, she'll be able to see something related to the disappearances.'
"Well, we'll fall more easily if you don't keep your balance properly."
Kael suddenly moved his body a bit to look at her, observing from below. "That reminds me, cats are good with balance, right? Teach me a bit someday."
She laughed softly and tapped the young man's head, then straightened him so he faced forward, blushing. "Someday I'll teach you, little disciple Kael."
"I'll be your disciple when you teach me something."
He continued walking with the girl on his shoulders, both laughing softly.