The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 276: The first exploration

Chapter 276: The first exploration

"These are the first three tunnels, Lord Fateless. But the branch out after twenty or so meters."

Hex faced three openings before him. As agreed, his team entered the burrow first. The opening of the burrow lay at the foot of a hill. This hill differed from the others. The others were just hills formed by sand. This one formed as sand piled over the massive roots of a destroyed tree.

It was hard to tell the difference from the outside. Only after entering through the opening, it became apparent. A massive network of clustered roots, covered by sand, formed the ceiling and walls.

To Hex the entrance chamber – they named it as such – looked like a dome made of roots and sand.

The darkness of the night deepened inside the entrance chamber. Dollaire had proposed to light a torch but Hex refused. Even a faint glimmer would attract the creatures of the dark like moths to a flame. He rather took them by surprise.

"Bashar, you take them and go through the first tunnel," Hex said, grouping Bashar with those he knew. He turned toward the Twins. They didn’t like him but as long as they didn’t obstruct him, he could tolerate them. "You two take the middle."

They nodded. It could be that they preferred each other above the option to tag with him. Whatever the case, he appreciated their cooperative attitude.

"Make sure to proceed with caution. Take it slow if you must. Retreat and regroup, even if in doubt. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Lord." Bashar’s team whispered in unison. The Twins were a bit slower and less enthusiastic.

He watched them enter the tunnels. The entrance chamber was more than three meters high. The three tunnels were a bit smaller. But with a radius of about twee meters, they had enough space for people to walk through them.

’This size suggests a large creature created it. Or a large pack.’

Hex marveled at the sheer size of the construction. The time and energy to create something like this should have been astronomical. No wonder a creature at the Devil stage had been behind it.

The third tunnel stood before him. He didn’t choose this one at random. This tunnel was the least explored one. One of the reasons was the short distance before it branched out. The scouts didn’t dare to venture deep inside the branches. If the branch collapsed or they lost their way, it would take ages for them to be found. If they were ever found.

As soon as Hex stepped into the tunnel, he sensed the ambient temperature drop. The temperature decreased even further down the tunnel. The tunnel sloped downward, which meant that the deeper he went, the lower he descended. He could hear the sand shift beneath his feet.

The darkness deepened but it didn’t obstruct Hex. The abilities of the scavenger hunter inside him kicked in. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness before proceeding further. His senses didn’t detect any creature nearby. But as a hunter, Hex picked up clues of their presence.

Faint as they might be, he still noticed the thin webs on the ceiling. Small skeletons of birds and some sort of mammals lay concealed in the sand. Hex wasn’t lax but he walked through the short tunnel at a brisk speed. His confidence stemmed from experience and his stage.

He reached the end of the tunnel within a few seconds. Two gaping holes in the wall stood before him. He had to choose. The left one felt empty. The right one didn’t. So, he chose right.

"Skrii"

Hex barely entered the tunnel on the right side when something dropped from the ceiling. He felt something droop on his hood as he lifted his head. The spider dangled from the roof, frozen in midair.

Thanks to his enhanced senses, he located the spider before he entered. The narrow tunnel forced him to stoop a little. As he stepped through it, he heard the rustling all around him.

After reaching the Refined Stage, he noticed his senses improve again. The range and clarity improved but he somehow could also differentiate between the different sounds. It helped him estimate the number of sources with more accuracy.

’Ten Fiends, twenty-three Demons, and a hundred regulars.’

He counted in his head as he heard them crawl around. Based on the sound, Hex knew them all to be the Dessert Spiders.

With a thought, the circle on the back of his hand lit up. Hex felt the Ice element scatter out of his circle and envelop the area before him. Within a blink, the tunnel filled with snow, encasing everything he sensed alive.

The tunnel fell silent.

Hex continued his journey. This tunnel forked up ahead. He sensed life in both paths. He still didn’t sense anything at the Disaster or Calamity stage. He didn’t fret like before. After all, with his improvement, he would be able to sense a Calamity too.

He doubted the presence of anything higher than that. It wasn’t impossible but no strategy would work if their luck was so bad.

’If we really encounter a living Devil in here, I will first apologize to the twins.’

Both paths branched as he descended but he didn’t proceed in the lower branches. The opening narrowed even more; he would have to crawl. And he believed it was better to check up on the other two groups.

But he didn’t leave without covering all the entrances with a thick layer of Ice. It helped to mark his progress, it prevented the tunnel from filling with creatures again, and it served as a tracker. Hex applied so much Ice element that they could withstand the attack of a Fiend. If it broke, he would know a Disaster or higher was loose in these tunnels.

"We reached the end of the second branch, my Lord. Only one tunnel had Dessert Spiders. We were able to clear them. We placed the mark at the endpoint and retreated once the time was up."

Bashar stood with his team on the outside as he reported his progress. Hex nodded. He looked toward the entrance of the second tunnel. The Twins exited soon.

"Dead end," declared Dollaire. She didn’t look stumped about it. Hex looked at them and then nodded.

"Anything of note?" he inquired.

"Nothing. It was empty." Rublena replied.

Hex sensed the group of Lord Red Hare approach. "Good job. I guess Lord Red Hare is almost here. As agreed we will sneak back in while they continue to explore."

The others nodded and exited the burrow. Hex stood at the end. As he watched the group leave, he glanced at the first tunnel.

’They are good. Better than I expected. They dealt with all the Fiends without leaving a trace.’

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