Some kind of fire lizard, covered in red and black scales, about as big as he was. It was clearly asleep, barely moving. Not a good opponent to fight in these cramped tunnels. He could easily imagine his dagger sliding off its scales while he was cooked alive in some kind of fire breathing technique. It would be a bad way to go.
But then again, he’d once fought three trash-goats over what turned out to be a dumb ice talisman. What was sneaking past a sleepy lizard, compared to that? For the promise of his first treasure found out in the wilds, well, even the risk of a fiery death wasn’t enough to turn him away.
First, he prepared a very basic escape treasure: a rope he tied around his waist, connected to an anchor he was attaching to the wall. Once activated, it would pull him violently back. Ideally, he would have some way to cover his smell, but he hadn’t gotten that damn brush, and the stupid guards weren’t up for sharing. As he considered that more, he figured that lizards weren’t usually so smell focused. They were more sensitive to sight and temperature, weren’t they? Especially a fire lizard.
He didn’t have any cooling treasures, but he did possess a rare kind of escape treasure: a pill that made it look like you were dead. It veiled your Ki and made it so that you could hold your breath for longer, allowing you to keep still, while also lowering your temperature.
With that in hand, he crept through the tunnel until he was almost at the lizard, swallowing as he stared at its clawed feet. Taking a deep breath, he focused all of his Ki on making himself invisible, which was not very difficult in a dark cave. Suppressing all of the light around himself, he blended into the darkness. Then, he swallowed the pill and crept slowly forward.
As he steadily went deeper on hands and toes, more of the lizard’s body became visible. A thick tail, covered in spines which continued all across its back. Then, finally, a large head that was mostly mouth and large openings on the side, likely for drawing in air. When he was right next to it, he could feel the heat wafting off the creature like a furnace, making him sweat.
It was all going well, until the pill suddenly kicked in for real. He thought it was already active, having felt its effect, but now it began disrupting his Ki. It was like breathing through a straw. He had to fight to keep his Ki moving, not to lose his cover of darkness. Distracted by his struggle against the treasure’s Ki suppressing effect, he knocked his hand against a small rock.
It clattered on the tunnel’s stone floor for just a moment, but in the utter silence it sounded terribly loud.
Dario turned his head ever so slowly to the right, just in time to see a membrane sliding away, revealing a black vertical pupil set in a red eye.
The membrane slid over the red eye and back again, the slitted pupil moving around, searching. Dario stayed stiff as a board, hand on the trigger of the escape treasure. With the pill’s suppressive effect, he had access to far less Ki than normal, so he had to keep it moving, wrestle each tiny bit of it to stay hidden.
He was painfully aware of the sweat rolling down his skin. Luckily, he was covered in cloth, so that there was no sound of drops pattering on the rocky ground, but at this rate his scarf would be drenched and begin to leak.
The lizard stirred, opening a large mouth which was lined with a row of wicked black teeth. Another wave of heat assaulted him and Dario held himself taut like a string, ready to trigger the treasure and run for his life. But as he watched, the lizard turned the other way, snapping something up that crunched between its teeth.
He seized the opportunity, edging forward, careful to dodge around anything that might make a sound. The lizard, blissfully, kept eating. The crunching sounds would cover what few, faint noises Dario made, so he kept moving, increasing his speed just slightly.
Soon, he was past the lizard and moving on through the dark tunnel. He noticed some small, red bulbs that grew like pocks on the wall, a faint fire aura gathering around them. That might have been what the Reijuu was munching on.
When he reached the illusory end of the tunnel, he settled down to rest for a moment. After gathering his Ki, he looked through the illusion, seeing a cave beyond.
“Fool me twice,” he whispered to himself as he pushed more dregs of Ki into his eyes. A closer look past the cave entrance revealed another trap, a thin string that hung down from above. When he adjusted his angle, he saw that it led into a large bulb. He couldn’t be sure what it was, but that sticky-looking string was clearly bad news.
After another thorough investigation for other traps, Dario sucked in his gut and sidled through the illusory wall and past the obvious trap. The cave was surprisingly large, covered with a variety of plants. It was lit by a warm, orange light and he quickly spotted the source: a small plant with three smooth stalks and a few bright and shiny orange leaves. But as he took stock of his surroundings, another thing became apparent.
“Where’s the damn treasure?”
Everything within the cave was in plain sight. If anything was hidden by an illusion, he would see it. Someone must have set up all those elaborate traps for a reason, possibly even going so far as to lure in a damn Reijuu.
But why? What was he missing? After some time spent tiptoeing around the cave, scanning every corner, he sat down on a rock, narrowing his eyes at the fancy, shining plant. Come to think of it, that thing gave off quite a strong aura and had a good bit of light Ki moving through its branches. He dug the treasure-detecting book from his pack, eyes widening as he read the flowing script.
Mirage Shiten
Wild tales and a great variety of fantastical effects have been ascribed to this elusive plant. No definitive analysis of its aspects and potential uses is available.
“What a fucking waste of money,” he grumbled, putting it away and grabbing his tablet instead to describe the cave and plant to Hana. It didn’t take long for her to reply.
Ooh, that’s a really special one! It’s a plant that goes by many names, though I haven’t heard of Mirage Shiten. I know it as an Amber Ignis Wisp. It likes to grow in secluded places and will use illusions to keep itself hidden. It’s been known to attract other plants and even beasts through mysterious methods. Don’t try to harvest it or take it away! You should take good care of it and then… well, maybe it’ll return the favor.
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Mysterious! I like it. Thanks, you’re my favourite crazy plant lady.
You know a few, then?
Loads. Oh, there are also some other plants here, small red bulbs that give off heat aura, a giant green bulb on the ceiling that looks like it might want to trap and eat me, and brownish flowers that have a weirdly meaty smell to them.
The red ones are Netsu Nubs, they eventually grow into a beautiful, fiery flower, but quite a few Reijuu like to feed on them. I can’t be sure about the green bulb without more description, but generally plants like that are quite straightforward. If it looks like it wants to eat you, trust your instincts. The last one should be Nikukoujo. It’s a plant with hardy seeds that likes to attract predators so that they’ll eat it and later spread the seeds around. That’s why it smells so meaty. Most Reijuu absolutely love it.
Thanks. By the way, I have one more question. Far more important than the last ones.
Sure.
Do you think it’s cool or lame to name techniques?
You mean when a cultivator gathers their Ki and uses some impressive magical attack? And instead of just doing it, they shout out the name while defeating their enemies? That’s totally awesome!
Right!? Some people have no taste.
Then again, if everyone did something cool, would it still be cool, or would that turn it lame again?
Food for thought. Anyway, adventure calls! If you don’t hear back from me, it’s probably because I’m in the fire lizard’s stomach.
Good luck! Let’s hope it’s lost its appetite.
Dario looked back at the plant with pursed lips, tapping a finger on his chin. Upon closer inspection, it did look a bit thirsty, its leaves curling slightly on the edges and hanging just a tad too low. He took a few careful steps closer while whispering at it.
“Hey, buddy. You look like you might be a bit thirsty, huh? Don’t worry, I come bearing gifts.”
After splashing some water near its base, he lifted one of the orange leaves, surprised at how silky smooth it felt against his fingertips.
“You’re quite special, aren’t you? If you were a beast, I’d bet you’d be a Reijuu. Come to think of it, they don’t really need a lot of normal food, do they?”
He gathered his Ki and created a bright little ball of light above his fingertip, watching the Wisp closely. It perked up almost immediately, leaves turning to the light and pulling at his Ki. Dario touched two leaves with his fingertips, channeling light Ki into them, then watched as the plant greedily drank it all up.
As he did so, a strange sensation went through his body, like a faint, ghostly brush had touched him, only on the inside instead of across his skin. He frowned, looking himself over, but nothing seemed to have changed so he just went on channeling more Ki into the Ignis Wisp.
It took everything he had to give, until he had to stop because he was running too low. It would take a bit longer than normal to fill his seams again, this far from the pillar. But Dario smiled as he saw how the plant seemed to be more alive than before, its stem and leaves looking strong and vibrant.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t hang around here too long, or his travel buddies would start asking questions. There’d be no safer place than this to stash his valuables, so he got to work taking things out of his backpack that he didn’t think he’d immediately need. That included some niche artefacts, but also two precious Ki batteries that were filled with his Ki. He’d find an excuse to dump out the remaining contents in front of the guards tomorrow, just to make sure they weren’t imagining a bag full of riches.
After collecting one of the meaty flowers to bring along, he piled everything into a corner, then began to sneak back out, past the sticky string and through the shimmering wall, but then he came to a stop in the tunnel, sucking air through his teeth in surprise. The damn lizard had decided to crawl out of its sleeping hole and go further down the tunnel, so now it was blocking his passage.
Dario frowned as the beast scratched at its side, then seemed to investigate the tunnel walls. It sure didn’t look like it was in a hurry. Spending the rest of the night here waiting for it to go back to sleep wasn’t an option. Neither was fighting it in that cramped passage.
But then he remembered what Hana had said. Filling up on Netsu Nubs, huh?
He went to pluck some of the hot red bulbs from the cave, blowing at his fingers after twisting to get them loose. Then, carefully veiling himself in darkness, he tossed them one by one into the alcove further down in the tunnel. The lizard reacted to the sound, looking around curiously before crawling sluggishly back to its alcove with a wide-legged, bouncing gait. It sped up once it saw the Netsu Nubs, then began to eat, without even a hint of curiosity to where the food had appeared from.
Ten minutes later, the Reijuu was fast asleep and Dario wriggled past it and out the tunnel.
Despite having been gone for a while already, he didn’t hurry back, instead moving with stealth while looking for tracks to follow. After another hour or so, he was back at the campsite, where the sound of hushed voices had him slow his approach. Hiding behind a nearby tree trunk, he listened in to the conversation.
“...No, see, we headed east from there. We should be around here now.”
It was the voice of the younger guard, followed by the crinkling of paper. Did they have a map after all?
“One wonders why the lake isn’t shown…” the other guard grumbled. “But be that as it may, somewhere around the Tawny Veil does sound right. We do not have far to go, then. For all his bumbling about, the peasant did manage to bring us to the right place.”
“He lies as often as not, but his eyes are useful, as demonstrated by retrieving my stolen goods. They should remain convenient for a while still, while we attempt to locate a Silver-Toothed Lynx,” Hokori said.
“Indeed. Still, the insults don’t sit right with me. He made us look like fools and lucks his way through this scouting mission, all in exchange for a single Ki battery? By rights, we should be taking all his things and leaving him for the beasts.”
“Yes, well, you’re the one who insisted he has a powerful master,” Hokori countered.
“Indeed. But if he fails to complete the mission, the deal with the old master would be null and void. We’re in no hurry here. We could just help him fail, let him take an injury from a Reijuu? That is believable enough. Then we have a claim on the rest of his treasures.”
“I suppose… I would like to see what else he’s got hidden. That Ki battery is not likely to really be the best he’s got.”
“Even if the old master has a way to see through lies, as long as it’s a beast injuring him, we would not be speaking any lies. There should be no risk. I’ll just let an attack slip through at the right time. That’ll teach the damn peasant a lesson.”
Dario’s blood ran cold as he hid behind the tree trunk. His suspicions were proven right.
They were after his precious artefacts.