Lord of the Cave

---

“Hah!”

I cut down the paralyze bats that attacked. There were more than a dozen of them. When you were solo, being paralyzed was fatal. Thankfully, I had learned Cure Paralyze with Light Magic Lv7. However, depending on where you got hit, you may not be able to chant.

That being said, the paralysis venom was only in their fangs. So I would be fine as long as I was not bitten.

After being startled, the ordinary bats also started to fly around. There was chaos for a moment, I could not tell them apart.

“Kii-kii!”

I swiftly punched down one that came from behind, and then charged up Mine Breaker while swinging in front of me.

Once the ordinary bats flew away, and things quieted down, I could sense the presence of the paralyze bats clearly again, making it easier to fight them. I cut down a few more of them. After that, they must have realized I was no prey, and the remaining ones escaped.

Paralyze bats were E-Rank monsters. While you could sell the fangs, wings and magic stones, they were not worth much. And since I did not want to waste any time, I only took the magic stones. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but there was a rumor that monsters who ate other magic stones would become stronger.

After all, they were masses of magic energy. It would not be too strange if it was true.

I continued the gentle descent, and then the ground gradually became flat.

Though, it was still uneven with rocks. But places where water flowed were relatively smooth. Perhaps I was near the bottom. As I continued to walk, my surroundings began to change.

“Oh…!?”

I couldn’t help but raise my voice. Crystals were growing in various places on the cavern walls.
It was dark, but if I used light magic to illuminate them, it would surely be a fantastic sight…

However, that was not important! What was important, was that such crystals could be sold at a high price, as they were used as magic catalysts!

In terms of weight, they did not sell as high as precious stones. But in this world, crystals could not be made synthetically. And so demand was quite high for them. The large ones were especially expensive.

As for the crystals around me, the largest ones were about the same height as me. This wasn’t some small opportunity, where I could take them back with me and sell them in Suelbur for a little extra money. It was something on a much greater scale. These crystals could be a resource for Nanase village. Great enough so that it develops into a city.

Well, this plan of burying the goblin cave will have to change a little.

However, there were also some reasons for concern. Location. Well, being in a cave was not the problem. Being close to Amernisus was a big problem. If they started a great mining operation here, the elves would surely complain. It could cause diplomatic trouble.

And so the importance of this investigation had just risen in importance. After all, Mezerir intended to take a report to Amernisus. And I was not going to lie to her. Also, elves were highly interested in magic. It was possible that they would want to be the ones to mine the caves.

I was starting to think that keeping the whole thing a secret would help maintain peace in the world. That being said, I had to confirm the situation first. And so for now, I would continue to follow the wind current towards the other entrance.

There were many branching paths in the cave, but it was not too complicated. This was because the main corridor was wide. As for the crystals, they had been scattered at first, but the deeper I went, the more clustered they became. If all of these mined, then it would cause great chaos on the market.

Clink.
A single pebble rolled on the ground.

I flinched and my hand went to my sword hilt. However, all I could see was a small bug flying.

And there was also a strangely narrow boulder.
Then two thin eyes cracked open near the tip. So it was a rock lizard after all.

“Me-zroi-tar-mez-rei. Protection.”

The chant echoed through the dark cave.

And so the second rock lizard of the day rose up as its camouflage faded away.

When man and monster encounter each other in limited space, then combat is unavoidable. The man raised his sword, and the monster bares its fangs. A small fraction of the battle that has continued since the beginning of the world…

…That was close. I did not even think that a rock lizard could use its short front legs in such a way. Not only that, but it used the walls to attack me from the air.

In spite of some blunders, I managed to defeat the rock lizard and continue on my way. The current of water flowed gently into a subterranean lake. On the other side, there was a vast space that I could not see the end of, even with my night vision skill.

The water was frighteningly clear, and I felt like it would suck out my soul if I looked into it. I wanted to create a sphere of light, but did not want to attract any monsters.

Still, it was easy to walk along the edge of the lake. Eventually, the wind began to change, and so I followed in the direction it was blowing. This took me to a large crack in the wall. Apparently, this was the other entrance.

In any case, as the majority of the chamber was filled with water, I could not go in any other direction, and so I went inside of the crack.

Once I changed paths, the current of water changed as well. All of the water in the area seemed to be flowing into the lake. Perhaps it really was the bottom of the cave. I had no idea how deep it went.

The crevice led to yet another vast chamber. The crystals were scattered apart here, and there were hills of sand in the shallow water. Also, I could see water plants that glowed a faint blue.

The pale lights reflected on the water, creating a magical scene. When I looked ahead, I saw that the path ahead sloped upwards.

I must be getting close to the outside. While I wanted to hurry on, I was also tired, as I was not used to fighting and walking in a cave. I wanted to rest soon and get some sleep.

And so I began to walk around and search for a good place. And then I came upon a place where the ground was lower, and so it had been out of sight.

“…!!”

I had to clamp my mouth shut so that I didn’t shout. There was an area surrounded by boulders, and the center was filled in with sand. It was too open to sleep in, but that wasn’t my main problem with it.

There was a giant monster sleeping in the center.

Even from a distance, I could see that it was bigger than the others I had seen. A single leg was larger than a human. It dwarfed even a wyvern. Rough, brown skin covered its mountain-like body. Its neck and tail were curled up as it slept.

Slowly, without making a sound, I moved away. My heart was beating loudly. Damn it.

I had never seen such a thing before, but I knew what it was at once. It was a very famous monster. But they rarely appeared in front of people. They said the last sighting was over a decade ago.

It was a dragon.

As it had no wings on its back, it must be an earth dragon. That meant its hunt rank would be A. Or it could be even higher. A was the lowest it went for dragons.

A monster’s hunting rank showed an Adventurer’s combat ability. A D-rank monster could be killed by a D-Rank Adventurer.
But that did mean an A-Rank Adventurer could defeat an A-Rank monster? Not necessarily. In most cases, you would want to face it as a party.
Obviously, if a C-Rank Adventurer faced a dragon solo, the results would be obvious. Doing your best was not enough.

The investigation. The crystals. None of it meant anything to me anymore. There was no option but to run. My life was on the line.

Still, it was a DRAGON! I was finally able to see one. Subconsciously, I probably wanted to get a better look at it.
Or perhaps it was just one of those things where you cannot look away.

I should have turned around and left quietly. But unfortunately, I did not.

And so Mine Breaker hit against the boulder behind me, causing a high-pitched ring to echo in the air.

I felt my heart turn into ice. The slumbering earth dragon twitched, and then its eyes slowly cracked open.

This time, I turned around and ran as fast as I could.

“GRAAAAAA!!!”

The dragon roared behind me, causing shock waves through the air. I was knocked off my feet and went flying.

“Gah!”

My bones seemed to creak as I slammed into a boulder. It stopped roaring as I pulled my face off of the ground and slowly turned around to see the standing giant.

The earth dragon exhaled. Its visible teeth seemed to promise death. Its head alone was larger than a human. It looked even bigger now that it was on its feet. I didn’t even think my sword would do anything to it.

I would die if I stayed here. And so I got up and took off the bag I was carrying.

“Eat this!”

I threw the bag at the dragon. While there was still some distance between us, it landed close to the dragon’s feet.

The earth dragon looked at it as if puzzled. And so I ran. There was no plan. I just thought that it would slow me down.

The ground was as uneven as ever as I ran from boulder to boulder. Since the dragon was so big, perhaps it would have trouble moving inside of the cave. I hoped that it would.

However, such hopes were quickly dashed. As I heard the sounds behind me, I turned around and saw it moving dexterously from boulder to boulder with its four legs.

It caught up with me in no time. And before I knew it, I felt its mouth closing in.

“Hyaaaaah!”

In desperation, I jumped forward as its mouth snapped shut right behind me. I had managed to dodge it, but now I had rolled on the ground and stopped.

And then it swung with its front leg.

“Gahh!”

It was like being by a tree trunk, and for a second, I felt as if my body had been smashed to pieces.
The impact threw me into the air and my vision spun. It was probably the highest I had ever flown in my life.

And then I felt my body start to descend. Below me, were jagged rocks.

I could not allow myself to fall like this. And so I desperately tried to extend my feet. My prosthetic leg bent to the limit and then bounced. While I was able to avoid the sharp edges, my body still fell heavily to the ground.

“Ughh…”

I could barely move. It was a miracle that I was even conscious. With my face on the ground, I turned my head slightly in order to look at the earth dragon. Its mouth was opened, and light was gathering into its mouth.

In the next instant, the world was filled with light.

Ah, so this was dragon breath…

That was the last thing I remember thinking.

Next Chapter

https://www.patreon.com/tigertransations

Ossan Boukensha no Jimichi na Isekai Tabi