Chapter 10 – Stealth
After recovering from her crushed leg, Milia explored the ore mine to regroup with her friend, Shaki. They found traces of battles between troglodytes and beholders.
The minotaur cautiously approached the corpses, picking up a head.
“Damn it… That’s Shaki’s head,” Milia said.
Slade had a hard time looking at the gruesome troglodyte.
[That’s horrible], he wrote on the blindfold.
Milia picked up the broken spears.
“Three casualties…”
“Ksshhiii…”
Milia froze, hearing a very faint noise.
A trickle of cold sweat fell off as she slowly turned her head, staring at a giant floating bloodshot eyeball peeking out behind a pillar.
[Run!]
The minotaur scrambled on her feet to run away.
“Fuckfuckfuckfuck!”
The beholder’s tentacle latched on Milia before she could escape.
“Woohoo!” she shouted as she bounced.
Sparks of lightning fizzled at the tip of its limbs, shocking the woman.
Oh no! Not the hentai tentacle attack!
“Urgh!” she groaned.
My mana is decreasing, is it because I’m healing her?
She wrestled back. Fortunately, minotaurs boasted greater physical power than most species. That’s why Milia was able to regain the upper hand in the contest of strength.
She pulled the tentacles and stabbed the monster with a broken spear head.
The beholder screeched in surprise as it closed its eyelid before the spear struck. Its limbs released the minotaur as it rubbed its sore spot.
A perfect opportunity to finish off the beholder presented itself.
“Is there a weapon anywhere?!” Milia asked Slade.
[Forget it, its allies are coming! Run now!]
She growled in frustration but followed Slade’s advice.
A purple laser beam grazed past her head and carved into a pillar.
“Argh, my butt!”
The storm of disintegration rays struck towards her. She threw herself behind a pillar, catching up her breath in the safety of her cover.
“Huh?”
She rubbed her bloody buttocks. The wound already disappeared.
My mana is depleting quickly!
“Where should I go?!” she whispered.
[The blood! It must be from troglodytes! it’s going towards this direction!]
Survivors from Shaki’s group must have fled, leaving a faint trail of blood and smell. Slade illuminated the path through her blindfold.
She stormed out of the room.
Purple rays of light shot behind her back. Indeed, the monster’s accuracy had dropped when Milia stabbed it.
Slade’s mana was shaved off, each time Milia suffered from a hit.
We can’t continue like this. I’m going to die from mana depletion at this rate!
Slade could watch from any surface of his own body. He observed the beholder from the back of Milia’s blindfold.
I can do it!
[I’m going to help you dodge the rays, look at the lines!]
A bright line appeared in Milia’s vision, followed by a disintegrating ray flying past her.
But she had little time to dodge between Slade’s warning lines and the actual shot.
“Easier said than done!”
She contorted her body, jumping around.
“Kshiiii!” the beholder screamed in frustration as he chased after Milia out of the room of pillars.
“Krrraaaaa!” A howl answered from the corridors in front of Milia.
She took a tight turn, colliding against a wall, and ran for her life as more voices echoed around.
Her speed picked up as her minotaur hooves carried her into a straight corridor. She did not slow down in the tight turns. Instead, she jumped on the walls, leaving craters at the impacts.
The beholder’s screeching grew distant as she ran away.
“Where… to go… next?”
She shook off her pursuers, but she was wheezing and shaking. Her speed went to a crawl, as she leaned on the walls.
[Sorry, the trail of blood had disappeared midway during the escape. We need to hide.]
Letting Milia wander in her exhausted state would be a mistake. They had a few minutes before the beholder could close the distance.
They entered a room, looking for a safe zone. Rectangular stone slabs were neatly lined. Bas-relief was sculpted onto their lids, portraying the laying body of gnolls. There was little doubt that those large hollow stones were sarcophagus.
Why does an ore mine have sarcophagus?
Milia exerted all her strength to push aside the lid of the tomb, muffling her groans.
[You can do it!]
Slade could only watch the woman struggle alone until time ran out. The beholders reached the nearby corridors, screeching at each other.
“Fuck, I’m done in!” she swore under her breath.
Milia already pictured herself being reduced into a mush of blood.
[Hide inside!]
She stood full of hesitation.
“It’ll never work! I won’t be able to close it!”
[Trust me!]
She plopped inside the hollow cavity.
The beholders entered the room, while Milia was lying inside a sarcophagus on top of a dead gnoll.
She prayed that the monsters would be careless enough to forget to check her hiding spot.
Of course, there was absolutely no chance that her wish would be granted. Her sarcophagus was the only one open and stuck out like a sore thumb.
[Skill: Absorption activated.]
The beholders combed the room. They looked around each stone slab, examining the ground, ceiling and corners.
[Skill: Alchemical synthesize activated.]
Finally, they hovered above Milia’s laying body on the opened sarcophagus.
What is this!? Milia thought.
She was tightly bound in dirty bandages. Dried gnoll fur peeked out from the gap of her wrappings. A fake snout gagged her and prevented her from breathing.
The beholders glanced at her, narrowing their eye.
Their tentacles invaded the hollow cavity, probing its content.
The beholders exchanged a glance, unable to find the minotaur.
Thinking that the opened sarcophagus was a clever red herring to buy time, they hurriedly left to pursue the chase.
After Slade could no longer sense their presence, he released Milia’s mouth and nose. She wheezed. Even after she had recovered her breath, she couldn’t muster the courage to leave her hiding spot right away.
“Hey! Our relationship hasn’t progressed to where you can just choke me whenever you want,” she giggled.
[Sorry.]
“Pheeew, that was incredible! How did you hide me? I was sure that beholders had the skill True Sight.”
[I ate the gnoll mummy underneath you and synthesized stuff to disguise us.]
He reused the bandages and items from the dead gnoll. He made an insulation layer with the fur to prevent infrared light from escaping with Milia’s body warmth.
The beholder also neglected to use their eye because they were too lazy to open wider the lid. Hence, they used their tentacles instead.
“What should we do? It stinks, and it’s all mushy. I don’t want to stay inside this horrible coffin. Maybe we should investigate the place where the troglodytes died once more?”
[Let’s return to where the blood trails stop.]
I want to eat all the gnoll’s corpses, but...
The beholders were combing the maze, spreading from the area of their first encounter. Milia won’t have another chance to go back on her steps.
Besides, Slade was running out of mana. He had healed Milia from her light wounds and synthesized a disguise in the sarcophagus.
He needed to feed on Milia, but they could not do it covertly.
Milia carefully got down from the sarcophagus.
She sneaked out of the room, squeezing the walls. Using Slade to scout at every turn, she avoided enemies.
“This is crazy, we’re waltzing in enemy territory!” She trembled from excitement.
[Thank god I can just ride you, because I’d be too terrified to walk.]
She walked alone in the dark and cold corridors under the constant threat of an enemy encounter. It wouldn’t be surprising if she was scared. Instead, she was calm and alert, ready to use her quick wits.
Slade didn’t detect visual traces, but could smell blood. He asked Milia to stop.
[Here, the blood trail is vanishing. That rock is hiding a passage!]
“Oh! I see.”
She shook her fists in celebration before lifting the rock. Her shackles clanked loudly, spooking her.
[Crap, that noise was loud!]
She shoved herself inside the gap in the wall, finally safe from the beholders.