Past Life Hero, ch 49

Max had to make a decision on which cave to explore. He had a hunch that the one decorated with fetishes would be a better choice.  Someone or something must have made them, which implied a certain level of intellect, opposable thumbs, and tool users. All sorts of nasty things could live in caves, but at Max's level of power, it would actually be easier for him to deal with creatures around his size or smaller with weapons versus certain types of beasts.

But just to be thorough, he went to the cave with blood splattered everywhere first.  Then he asked Lavinia to go inside and scout it out for him.

The ghost girl came back about fifteen minutes later, appearing before Max's vision.  She shook her head. That one is probably not a good one, boss. Not only does the cave get kind of small in areas, it also has holes all over the place, like a honeycomb. And, I don't know if it's the main monster in there, or whatever's living in there, but there are some giant centipedes that look really heavily armored and blend in with the rock. You might want to check out the other cave system first before deciding to go in this one.

How big are the centipede things? asked Max.

She considered the question a moment.  Their bodies are about as big around as your torso.

Max winced.  He had experience fighting creatures with tentacles in his life as Chasa de Milo, but there were still ways to deal with them.  For one, the body was a good place to attack. But many legged critters like a giant centipede could be even worse.  They were usually fast, wily, and hard to get a good strike on before swarming.

Being stuck in a claustrophobic cave system with a bunch of enormous centipedes didnt sound like someone he should attempt at his meager level of power.  Solo.

Okay, let's check out the other cave, he said. He moved to the other cave and Lavinia repeated her recon mission. She came back earlier this time.  So, you are right about this cave having creatures with hands and thumbs.

What are they?

Goatmen, said Lavinia, specifically, I think they're feral fauns.

Max mouthed "feral fawns" and tried to remember if he knew anything about them. Most of his information was coming in fuzzy. Something about Bronze Age weapons.

Do you know anything about Feral Fauns? He asked Lavinia.

They're fast and strong and mean and not real good with technology which is probably the main reason why they're not considered more dangerous than they already are."

What about magic powers and such?

I think they have magic but it’s sort of basic.  Tribal powers and such, using instruments, maybe. I've only read about them a few times and they never particularly impressed me as being that terribly dangerous, at least compared to some other things, she said.

Max scratched his chin.  He thought to himself, So she doesn’t actually know.  But any info is better than nothing, and it’s gotta beat the fucking centipedes.  Then he mentally projected, In a choice between goat men and giant centipedes, I think I'm gonna choose the goatman.

Probably a good decision, said Lavinia.

Max didn't waste any more time. There were no preparations to make and he wanted to get a move on before any of the local giants happened to come near.

He cautiously approached the mouth of the cave and funneled a little bit more mana into his eyes. That done, he subtly altered the way the energy was applied.  He had a technique to save his night vision if there was a sudden light in the darkness, and he’d applied this subtle safeguard to his eyes from experience. That done, he crept into the tunnel, head on a swivel, all of his senses tuned up to the max. He also mentally asked Lavinia to scout ahead and let him know if he was approaching any of the feral fauns so he'd have a heads up.

As it turned out, he didn't actually run into any of the creatures before getting surprisingly deep, far enough to discover a larger tunnel system. Lavinia told him that this new tunnel continued down for some ways until it opened up again into a large subterranean cavern. Max spotted what had to be the beginning of the cavern ahead.  There was a glow from inside, which tracked with Lavinia’s description of a tribal camp set up inside, complete with fires.  He could smell them now, too. Burning wood punctuated by the filth of offal and unwashed goat bodies.

He moved slower and grew more cautious. His footsteps made less than a whisper on the stony ground.  This was not the first time Max had approached a den of monsters like this, but every time before he’d either been with a group or had more power of his own.  This time he was extra careful, trying to check every step of the way for traps.  In his experience, triplines and triggers could be hard to spot so he used a whisper of mana to comb the air before him.  Pressure plates could be hard to spot but Max knew what to look for.  His augmented vision would help with that.  In addition, Lavinia was ranging ahead, looking for any danger as well.

Max’s breathing stayed even but his attention to detail was dialed up to the max.  As a result, right before he reached the mouth of the cavern, he felt the click under his feet.  Too late, he noticed the hand and foot holds carved into the rock on both sides to help the local monsters move over the trap he’d stepped in.

There was no time to react, no purchase under his feet as the ground underneath Max suddenly gave out. The trap was large, and it hadn’t triggered until he’d been in the middle of it.  A perfectly camouflaged trap door swung down, dumping Max into the dark.  His hands struck out, trying to stop his fall but there was no use.  He barely kept himself from shouting, from making more of a ruckus. As he fell, he thought fast.

.

The trap he'd fallen into was actually a chute. It didn't head straight down but instead curved to one side. If someone caught in the trap fell like a rag doll, they’d be smashed by the jagged rock.  Max invoked Slick's power, creating a buffer of force between him and the stone of the chute. This action protected his body.  Instead of tumbling and being ripped up, his decent felt more like going down a slide. He mentally sent to Lavinia, I thought you said there were no traps!

I didn't see any! she said. She was as surprised and frantic as he was.  Max's jaw firmed. Neither of them had spotted this trap.  And since Lavinia floated, of course, there was no way for her to have discovered it by tripping it. It hurt his pride to admit it, but he’d been caught.  The feral fauns seemed to be exceptionally good at traps, especially in the dark like this.  Even the lack of traps and enemy presence up until Max had fallen had likely been intentional.

As he plummeted, pieces of metal hung together as a crude noise maker rang out, making Max’s fall noisier and no doubt alerting the goat men that they’d had an intruder.

Max's chute eventually ended and he flew out into open space for a couple short seconds. During that time, he managed to get a glimpse of his new surroundings.  He was falling into another huge subterranean cavern below the one he'd been about to enter before. Max also caught sight of fires and stone buildings. This was some sort of dark faun village.  With all the noise and a shower of rocks coming down with Max, all the goat ment’s heads swiveled to watch him descending.

At least they all seemed as surprised by the situation as he was.  He thanked the stars for small favors.

Max used a combination of his strong body, some mana control, and Slick's powers to slow and stop his fall well enough to land on his feet. Not only was he in one piece, he was unscathed.  The moment he touched down, a large group of feral fauns sitting around a nearby fire stared at him in astonishment.

The creatures were a few inches shorter than an average human man, but far burlier.  In fact, they sort of looked like smaller versions of the giants outside.  They didn’t wear armor.  Their shaggy fur was thick, though, and would probably provide protection all on its own.  Beady eyes reflected the firelight.  They all had leather straps across their bodies with pouches and other attachments sewn on.  Their horns varied in size and shape, but all seemed sharp.

A second after they’d all stared at Max without moving, the goat men began scrambling up, reaching for spears.

Max didn't allow himself to be shocked into inaction. There were at least one hundred feral fauns in this cavern, maybe more.  As powerful as he was with a one-star mana body now, he was not confident in fighting all of them, especially since he didn't know exactly how dangerous they were yet.  Allowing himself to be surrounded would likely be a death sentence.

“Lavinia!” he hissed, and thought about what he needed. Ethereal armor sprung up to protect his body. The armor glowed, but after the entrance he'd just made, he wasn’t worried about stealth anymore.

Max had to make a split-second decision. To one side were tunnels, but he could see shadows flickering inside, elongated silhouettes of more feral fauns moving, reacting to his entrance. However, to his other side was what looked like some open space.

What he desperately needed now was a choke point or an escape. Making his choice, he exploded forward, running towards the open area. His movement surprised two goat men, and Max sent his sword whipping through their necks, ending their lives as they gurgled and clutched their wounds on the ground behind him.

Feral fauns began spreading some sort of new alarm in the form of drums. Their screams and bleats demanded blood.  Max sprinted, barely stopping and backpedaling in time to keep from falling into an enormous chasm, the pit deep enough even his augmented vision couldn't pierce the shadows below. He spun and without hesitation ran back to a thunderous charge of goatmen behind him. Several arrows sped in from the darkness, pinging off of Max's ectoplasmic armor.

Before he reached the line of thundering monsters approaching him, he suddenly threw himself forward feet first, mentally commanding, SLICK! Before his body hit the ground, a cushion of force appeared between him and the stony floor. Friction lowered dramatically.  Instead of crashing to the ground and lying there, he sped forward like he was on oiled ice. The fauns hadn't been prepared for this, and those in front of him actually jumped up in surprise, letting Max pass beneath them instead of letting him bowl them over.

The second he was on the other side of the line of monsters, he sprung up, whirling his mana-infused sword in a series of savage slashes that killed a couple more of the creatures. They were fast and strong, but Max was far more skilled, and his sword was alive in his hands.

However, the goat men's bronze swords had so much sheer mass and were coming so quickly that Max couldn't directly block very well without risking his balance and had to parry. This limited his options on how to deal with what was becoming an increasing number of frenzied attacks.

The ring of bronze on steel, and of Max’s sword biting furry flesh punctuated the bleats and screams of the feral fauns.  Echoes of violence range from the stony ceiling overhead.  Firelight provided a hellish backdrop to Max’s desperate fight for survival.

Somewhere in the dim cavern, shamans beat drums and Max could feel magic gathering. He didn't recognize what type it was and couldn't understand it because it didn't seem to even be mana-based. But suddenly all of his enemies glowed red and the next attack from the dark faun front of him nearly split his head open. Max leaped back, barely parrying a couple more blows from new opponents.  The creatures were definitely moving faster now, hitting harder. Max suspected the new red glow was acting as protection, too.

The damn things seemed to be everywhere, filling the cavern.

Again, Max made a decision. He sent a mental communication to Lavinia. Their magic is strong!  I'm going to hold out for a few seconds. Please go across the chasm and see if there's something on the other side.

She understood his intentions with the added mental images he sent.  Got it, said the spirit. She wasn't visible to Max, but he could feel her presence leave. She left her subordinate spirits in place, acting as Max's armor. Max grew increasingly desperate as more faun shamans joined the fight, apparently stacking buffs on the warriors.  It grew harder to fend them off, harder to kill them.

Finally, Lavinia's voice rang in his mind again. There is a shelf on the other side, a lot like this side, but it's way too far across to jump.

About how far is it?

Maybe a hundred yards.  Maybe more.

"Shit," Max growled out loud. Despite all of his physical enhancements, his breath was starting to run ragged. He said, We haven't practiced enough, but I don’t think we have a choice.  I need to give it a shot. Lavina, Slick, get ready!

He ran, heading for the chasm, and shouted, "Slick, now!" Then Max jumped up.  When he came down, it was on Slick's power cushioned and compressed beneath Max's feet.  It excited like invisible springs, almost feeling like Max was jumping on a giant trampoline. Using his momentum, he jumped forward with all his strength.

He sprang high in the air, and the moment he felt like he was at the peak of his jump, he commanded, "Lavinia!" In a split second, the armor around his body moved and changed, gathering on Max's back. Then a large, glowing mono-wing protruded from his back on top of robust chest armor.

The idea for this use of Lavina and Slick’s powers together like this had been inspired by hang gliders on Earth.

He glided forward, silent as an owl. Feral fauns behind him screamed in frustration and shot arrow after arrow.  Luckily none hit. But then Max’s luck ran out.  One arrow hit his upper arm and went almost all the way through.  The fletchings of the arrow had almost entered his wound.

Max landed and hissed. He mentally commanded Lavinia to move the ectoplasm of his wing back to armor. He broke off the arrow through his arm with a thumb before pulling the rear out of the wound. Then he applied mana, cutting off the flow of blood.

At this point, he was out of range of the archers and breathed a sigh of relief.  Ignoring the sheer chaos on the other side of the chasm, he moved a bit deeper into the new, pitch black cavern he seemed to have discovered.  Then at one side, he spotted what looked like a temple.

Max sat down, leaning against the stony wall, and shook his head. "There's a temple down here," he whispered out loud. While sitting, he waited, listening intently and watching for any pursuit. When it became clear the fauns truly could not follow him, he stood and asked Lavinia if she’d found anything with the new scouting she’d just done.  The ghost girl's voice was subdued and Max could hear a waver of fear in it as she said, "No goat men here, but for some reason, I can't enter the building, that temple."

Max nodded slowly. All things considered, his current situation was not nearly as bad as it could have been. He’d tripped a trap, but he was still alive and had even killed a few of the feral fauns. Now he had to figure out what his next move would be.

Idly, Max removed his money bag from his pocket and opened it up, triggering the gathering mechanism. A few mana units seemed to materialize in midair, derived from the corpses of the goat men Max had killed. At least I can get some money here, he thought. Not sure if it’ll be enough to hit a second star mana body.

He cleaned his sword with a rag as he thought.  Big groups of the fawns are dangerous, but I bet I can isolate them a few at a time in the future and avoid a big mass like this with their scary ass shaman buffs.

Max was comfortable in the darkness, so he sat for a while, tuning out the furious roars and howls of the feral fauns across the chasm.  He pondered his next move, but the strange energies coming from the ruined temple were distracting.

Part of him was tempted to explore the structure, but as long as the doors stayed shut, he stayed sane, and nothing came out, he was content to leave it alone for the time being.

No use tempting fate at the moment.  He had enough problems already.



***

*Note: The way Max gets mana units here contradicts something written earlier in the story.  I'm aware of this and will go back to fix it.  If you can remember what chapter it was in, that would be rad, though. :)