Finn ran along one of the wooden paths that led to the other side of the mountain. He had been separated from Darwin for five hours, and he was getting tired. It was slow, but steady.
"Sigh, I can't keep going like this…" Finn sighed, trying to catch his breath. "Those damn hobgoblins keep coming, not to mention the ogres. I can barely avoid them… is the entire race gathered here?!"
Grabbing his damaged bracer, he yanked it off and threw it deeper into the mountain, intending to divert the monsters' attention, at least for a while.
"Found him, the human is here!" a goblin shouted, but Finn quickly felled him.
Finn quickly grabbed a goblin that had arrived unexpectedly and slammed it against one of the mountain walls. The goblin's head was smashed, leaving only the goblin's chin recognizable.
"Shit, since when do I have this much strength?" Finn shook the blood from his hand as he looked at the goblin's body lying on the ground, then pushed him back to where he'd thrown his bracer. "This will make it more believable that I went that way."
"Uaghhh!"
A loud scream came from behind Finn, and a second later Finn saw an ogre charging at him at high speed.
"No, no, no, if you attack me, we'll fall!" Finn tried to reason, but the ogre paid no attention, throwing them both into the depths of the mountain. "Not again!" Finn shouted, falling.
The ogre and Finn fell through several wooden walkways and hanging platforms, breaking them all and knocking over several goblins and hobgoblins in the process.
Finn, seeing that they were approaching the ground, grabbed the ogre by the head, turned it around, and held it in a headlock, waiting for it to hit the ground.
Thump!
Dust rose from the impact of Finn's fall, and the ogre and the other monsters they knocked down during their fall.
"Ugh, my back, no more superhero landings, please!" Finn complained, getting up and looking at the ogre with his head smashed in. "Sigh, he can't take anything..."
Looking around, he saw several dead goblin bodies, some that had fallen with him, others that had been thrown, and others that had been hit by the platforms that Finn hadn't touched.
"And all for what, a measly D-class mission fee?" Finn wondered.
Footsteps were heard not far from Finn, who looked carefully to see who was approaching only to see Darwin, who was in a similar state to Finn.
"Are you still alive?" Finn asked, surprised.
"Barely..." Darwin replied, "Did you fall from the last level?"
"almost, the penultimate" Finn replied.
"You made a lot of noise falling. We have to get out of here before the monsters arrive," Darwin affirmed.
"Oh, sorry, next time I'll fall silently!" Finn replied.
"Shhh, don't make any noise. This is our chance to escape!" Darwin whispered angrily, but Finn's scared face and the heavy footsteps approaching behind him took away his anger.
Thump! Thump!
"Darwin, don't move. If we don't move, he'll definitely not be able to see us," Finn said, a terrified expression on his face.
"Tell me… tell me it's not an ogre…" Darwin said, completely still, tears already forming in his gray eyes.
"No… it's not an ogre… it's a minotaur…" Finn revealed, seeing the imposing half-bull man approaching step by step with a wooden pillar on his shoulder.
Darwin closed his eyes in fear, feeling the pressure of fear subside as he heard the powerful footsteps slowly approaching. Darwin turned around slowly only to see a creature over 5 meters tall, with muscles big enough to split pine trees with just the squeeze of his biceps, a face like a completely unhinged bull, and an iron collar chaining him to the mountain wall with enormous chains thicker than Darwin's arms.
"Hell no, that thing is way beyond drugged!" Darwin shouted, watching white foam pour from the minotaur's mouth.
Darwin ran out just in time, managing to dodge the wooden pillar by pure luck. Finn didn't hesitate and followed Darwin toward the nearest stairs, hoping to lose the minotaur.
The minotaur tried to follow them, but the chain around its neck stopped it for a moment. Letting out a mighty scream, the minotaur angrily grabbed the chain and pulled it so hard that it ended up breaking the enormous chain without any problem. Then he ran toward Finn and Darwin.
"Shit, the minotaur got free!" Finn shouted, scared.
"How the hell do they have a minotaur here? It's a Class A monster!" Darwin cried, terrified. 'It was supposed to be just a research mission. Where did it go so wrong?!' he thought.
'A minotaur in a cave, a goblin using magic, a base inside a mountain... I remember this. It's in the novel, but it's so short that I didn't even pay much attention. Vana found this place after the queen somehow found out there was a minotaur here, she sent Vana thinking she would die. However, Vana not only defeated the minotaur but also discovered the goblins and killed them all in just 15 minutes… But that doesn't matter, what matters is what she discovered or who she discovered' Finn thought, giving Darwin a quick glance. 'Vana found the corpse of a young dark-skinned adventurer belonging to the Freewalker guild… Darwin is supposed to die here!'
Finn and Darwin jumped onto a platform trying to lose the minotaur and then jumped onto a wooden walkway thinking it wouldn't be able to follow them, but the minotaur made a great leap, landing on the same wooden walkway they were standing on.
'I can't let Darwin die' Finn thought determinedly. 'Run!' Finn shouted, pushing Darwin and continuing their way up.
The two had already climbed five levels running nonstop, but the Minotaur didn't seem to tire at all. The other monsters didn't even try to fight when they saw Finn and Darwin, and simply ran when they saw the enormous Minotaur approaching. Unfortunately, their legs were very short, and they couldn't avoid dying under the Minotaur's footsteps.
Finn and Darwin continued running through all the levels of the cave, unaware that they were using the Minotaur to destroy and kill everyone there. The two reached the 8th level where the monster slaves were imprisoned. Finn quickly looked around the prison and then looked at the horse-woman, who was being held by ogres and some huge rocks placed on different pillars so that she couldn't move at all, getting an idea.
"Darwin, I have an idea!" Finn shouted so Darwin could hear him over all the noise and screams of the monsters. "Can you destroy that pillar?!"
Finn pointed at a slightly damaged pillar that was about to fall.
"I think with a fireball, but I'm not entirely sure!" Darwin replied.
"Don't worry, just do it!" Finn exclaimed, pulling Darwin toward the monster slave cell. "On my signal, throw the fireball!"
Darwin nodded, preparing the fire in his hand. Once they reached the cell, the two entered, dodging the ogres. Finn jumped on the horse-woman, cutting and holding a rope, and then grabbing Darwin with his free arm.
"Now, Darwin!" Finn shouted, frightened, seeing how the horse-woman was struggling harder to free herself when she saw them and the ogres approaching with a minotaur on their backs. Darwin threw the small fireball, but it was powerful enough to break a piece of the pillar and cause it to shatter under the weight of the enormous rock.
The rock fell to the bottom of the mountain, pulling the rope Finn was holding and quickly lifting them. The two rose a few stories until they reached where the rope was resting and continued climbing due to their high speed. The horse-woman, who had already freed herself and had seen them quickly ascend, leaped wildly in an attempt to catch up, but only ended up where the goblin warlock was. The minotaur, who had already destroyed everything in its path in the cells, followed the horse-woman, who now looked like the only prey that had escaped it, to the level where the goblin warlock was.
Finn and Darwin crashed into one of the mountain walls and then fell to one of the upper levels, which seemed to be still under construction. The two got up as quickly as they could and looked toward where all the monsters were gathered, seeing a great massacre. The minotaur and the horse-woman were ravaging everyone there, from goblins to ogres. The goblin warlock defended himself as best he could using shield magic while calling his servants to protect him.
"Stupid creatures!" the goblin witch shouted, conjuring a bolt of lightning that struck the minotaur squarely, knocking it back a few steps.
The minotaur quickly recovered and attacked the goblin witch with its right arm. The minotaur defended himself with a magically generated shield. With its left arm, it quickly grabbed the horse-woman by the foot, as she had leaped toward Finn and Darwin, and then slammed her to the ground. The ogres quickly joined in to protect the goblin witch, thus beginning a full-scale brawl.
The massacre didn't last more than three minutes, as most of the goblins and hobgoblins had already been exterminated by Finn and Darwin. Once the last ogre fell, the minotaur killed the goblin witch with a swipe, and soon a fight between him and the horse-woman began. Finn watched, terrified and fascinated, as the two beasts struggled to emerge victorious… and possibly claim the right to take Finn and Darwin's lives.
"What if we throw the other rocks at them?" Darwin asked, pointing to the other three pillars that still remained intact.
"Yeah… if we throw them, rocks and pillars together, the rocks would fall right where they're fighting. Let's do it" Finn said.
Finn hobbled over to one of the pillars, where he cut the ropes holding it up and then prepared to push as hard as he could.
"Fucking hell! It's so heavy…" Finn turned red from the effort, but little by little, the pillar began to move until finally, a crack was heard from the pillar, and then it broke, dropping part of the pillar and the rock directly onto the monsters fighting. 'How's Darwin doing?' Finn wondered, only to see the other pillars intact and Darwin lying next to one of them. 'Did he faint from exertion?'
With a sigh, Finn leaned against the wall and walked slowly over to Darwin. Finn's appearance no longer looked good at all. His leather armor was completely destroyed, and his shirt was ripped, as were his pants. His sword sheath had scratches from the hobgoblins from all the times he used it to parry their attacks, and the edge of his sword was broken, probably from all the times he crashed and fell from high places. His body and face weren't any better, showing several wounds and bruises that were slowly swelling. Finn reached Darwin, kicking him lightly to check if he was alive.
"Hey, are you still alive?" Finn asked.
"Uh, am I still alive?" Darwin stood up, confused.
"Unfortunately… again" Finn replied.
"I… I fainted? I remember walking here, and as soon as I touched the pillar, everything went dark…" Darwin explained, confused.
'I see. It must have been the adrenaline. It kept him awake for as long as he felt he was in danger, but once he felt even the slightest bit safe, the adrenaline dropped suddenly, and he fainted. It's a good thing our bodies aren't like those of ordinary humans anymore' Finn thought, seeing that Darwin wasn't suffering from any of the side effects of the adrenaline crash.
"…what happened to the monsters? Are they still alive?!" Darwin asked quickly, approaching the shore.
"I don't know, but we have to be sure" Finn said, cutting the rope from the pillar. "Help me push this."
The two of them pulled down the remaining two pillars, as they weren't sure if the dead had been killed by the other rock or if they had died in the long fall, but it never hurt to be sure before going down to see for themselves. Finn and Darwin walked slowly down the rest of the path until they reached the deepest part of the mountain. There they could see the large rocks crushing several bodies. The horse-woman had been completely crushed, her head smashed by the enormous rock. The minotaur, on the other hand, was still alive, its lower body completely crushed by the rocks.
The minotaur, which had previously been spitting foam from its snout, was now spitting blood and trying to use its one hand to drag itself off the rock. Finn searched the surroundings until he found a long piece of wood and wedged it into the minotaur's hand, pinning it to the ground.
"Sigh, look at you now. You had so much to give... and you chose give pity" Finn said, looking the minotaur in the eye. Darwin looked at him, confused by what he had just said.
"Whatever, we should kill him. These bastards have absurdly powerful regeneration. If we leave him alive, he'll most likely start regenerating and gain strength, even more strength than he had before, until he can free himself from this rock, Darwin clarified, drawing his sword.
Finn nodded and also drew his broken sword, but after seeing his swords, Finn knew they wouldn't be enough. He then looked at the Minotaur's horns and, nodding, threw his sword and walked towards the Minotaur with determination.
"Swords won't be enough. I have a better way..." Finn said determinedly.
Finn stood in front of the Minotaur, staring directly into its eyes for a few seconds before grabbing it by the horns and beginning to struggle with it, trying to break its horns. The struggle lasted a few seconds, until one of the horns broke, and Finn used it to stab the Minotaur in the eye. The Minotaur yelled in pain, but Finn was far from finished. Taking the other horn, Finn pulled for a few seconds until he could break it and stuck it in the Minotaur's other eye. Then he grabbed the Minotaur by the horns and began to swing them fiercely from side to side. The Minotaur could only moan in pain until Finn released the horns and with a powerful blow, embedded one of the horns deep into the Minotaur's brain, killing it instantly.
"Sigh, I rise, you fall..." Finn exclaimed. 'It's a shame I can't rip his face off or punch him through the chest with one blow; that would have given it more drama and style' Finn thought sadly.
"Where do you get such phrases?" Darwin asked, more dismayed by Finn's way of speaking than by the Minotaur's death.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" Finn replied, wanting to change the subject. "...should we explore the mountain? The goblins could be hiding something, like a generation of baby goblins or something… I'm not going to kill the babies, you'll have to take care of them."
"Sigh, fine, I'll take care of the baby goblins. Although I don't think there are any here. Goblins come of age in just three days, I doubt another generation has been born in these days. While it's true we should explore, we don't know what mysteries this mountain holds," Darwin agreed.
Finn took one of the horns that were still on the minotaur's eyes and put it half-broken in his backpack. He then grabbed his sword and headed deeper into the mountain. The two walked along the only path until they reached what looked like a construction zone.
"Shit, I think I have a broken arm" Finn said, feeling one of his arms begin to ache and swell. "Besides, my back hurts too much."
"After what we just went through, I'd be surprised if you came out practically unscathed" Darwin said, lifting up his pants and showing him how swollen and purple his leg was. "A damn ogre hit me when I got distracted before we saw each other again" Darwin said.
'anyways, we survived... Darwin is alive' Finn thought, sighing calmly.
Finn and Darwin looked around carefully for a few seconds.
"It seems the monsters wanted to expand further" Darwin said, looking at the holes in the wall and several stone spikes lying on the ground.
"No… this is different. Look closely at the holes, some connect to each other, as if they were passageways, but why create a passageway that connects to the main path itself?" Finn asked, exploring the tunnels. "They were looking for something…"
Finn walked along the main path while touching the stone wall until he came to a part that felt different; it felt like some kind of fabric. Finn grabbed the fabric and pulled it hard, discovering that it was indeed nothing more than a cloth with an illusion spell on it. In front of them was now a strange, large mural with several doodles and what appeared to be stone doors that were sealed with some kind of magic.
"They wanted to get in here, that's why the passageways. They were trying to create another way around this door" Drawn said, touching the stone door. "These drawings on the doors… it's magical writing."
"Do you understand it?" Finn asked, looking at the intricate drawings on the door.
"No, but I can make out some. These ones here are used on seals, usually to seal chests or magical books, but why put it here?" Darwin said, showing great curiosity. "Now I understand. They didn't bring the Minotaur. The Minotaur was always here, guarding this door, but they drugged it so they could work in this area."
Finn continued looking at the scribbles on the stone mural until he came to what appeared to be drawings. Curious, Finn contemplated the drawings, thinking they were the work of a bored goblin, but quickly realized they weren't. The drawings were telling a story, the history of the goblins.
"Darwin, I think you'll love seeing this…" Finn called.
"What is it?" Darwin stared at the drawings, and after a few seconds, his eyes widened in amazement. "Finn, this is an ancestral mural!" Darwin exclaimed in disbelief.
"An ancestral mural?" Finn asked again.
"Yes! These murals are scattered around the world, but they are very hidden, almost impossible to find. They were left behind by our ancestors. They tell us various stories. Many times they are just things like important people from the past or places that were once of great importance. But other times, they reveal very important information about other races and magic itself, or even about the Void World!" Darwin revealed, fascinated "And this is one of those murals, if I'm not mistaken."
The drawings begin with a large, glowing tree, called The Seed of Life. Surrounding the tree was what appeared to be a village inhabited by various figures of varying sizes and shapes. These were humans, elves, dwarves, and the blessed, beings of each race who had been blessed by the great tree with great power.
Then it continues with the following drawing, one of the blessed delving into the roots of the tree and plucking what appeared to be a star-shaped fruit. This was the heart of the tree. After that, chaos. The tree withered and some leaves fell from the sky, along with the arrival of new beings, the primordials. These took control of the Earth and created different zones where each of them would reign. Meanwhile, the blessed being escaped to an area far from the primordials and plunged all those lands into darkness, thus creating the Void World and becoming a kind of being of darkness, the King of the Dark Star.
Another drawing showed that over time, the primordials had offspring until they reached the gods, who now ruled this planet. The gods, filled with greed and desire for power, went to the remains of the great tree where they created more beings. The drawings focused on one of these gods, a goddess whose beauty was adored by everyone wherever she went: the goddess Aphrodite, eager to create her own races, came to the tree, the seed of life, and ate three fruits: From one fruit,she created the godites, a green-colored race with pointy ears and a height similar to dwarves. These beings were dedicated solely to agriculture. From the second fruit, she created the Aphroses, a race similar to humans, but taller and with much more defined and robust bodies, along with horse ears. This race was dedicated to fighting and protecting Aphrodite. From the last fruit, she created the Phrodipies, a race of women similar to humans, but with two enormous wings on their backs. This race served as messengers for the gods. All three races directly served Aphrodite, and all three possessed great beauty and lust, as Aphrodite believed they should resemble their creator.
Another drawing showed the creations being exploited to exhaustion by the gods, followed by a war. The beings of the void world invaded these lands devastating all they looked at, and their leader, the king of the dark star, arrived at a village, the village where Aphrodite's creations lived and using his corrupted magic he attacked everyone, the three races fought as much as they could, but in the end they ended up losing to the king and most of them were captured by the king, with the imminent end in front of them, a light appeared and a winged young woman descended from the sky. Brunhilde, the queen of the Valkyries, who had come to transport the souls of those fallen in the fight, looked at the situation of the races and using her sword along with a seed from the great tree, created a mountain with a cave in it and guided the races to the depths of the mountain where there were stone doors that would transport them to a world far from the clutches of the king and the gods. In the end Brunhilde closed the doors, sealing them with her own magic and preventing the passage of any gods.
The last drawing showed all those who had been captured by the king. The king's magic corrupted the minds and bodies of those races, drastically changing their nature. The male godites, who were the only ones of their kind who had stood up to the king, were corrupted by that magic until they became a more grotesque and uglier version of themselves, the goblins. The aphroses, originally strong and intelligent, lost almost all use of reason, their heads transformed into horse heads, and their skin became a color more similar to that of horses, becoming known as horse-men. And finally, the phrodipies. The wings on their backs fused with their arms, their legs transformed into eagle legs, and their bodies were almost completely covered in feathers, thus transforming into harpies.
The drawing continued showing how these three races spread throughout the world until they ended up as they are known today. Darwin finished looking at the drawings and quickly searched through his clothes until he pulled out a golden card, the adventurer card. He placed the card in his only armband and pressed it lightly. A semi-transparent screen popped up in front of him, displaying a function Finn had completely forgotten about: a camera.
"The Master won't believe us when we show him this!" Darwin said with a big smile. "I can't believe that goblins, harpies, and horse-men were once civilized and orderly races like us. And if what these drawings show is true, then those races still live behind these doors… or at least part of them!"
"Yeah… I wouldn't call them civilized" Finn said, seeing that it was Aphrodite who had created these races. 'The Aphrodite from the novels was worse than the one from the original mythology, and if this Aphrodite is like the one in the novel, then we can't expect much from those races. At most, they might have rebuilt their old homes in this new world, but outside of that, I highly doubt they've made any technological progress like we have here' he thought.
'YESSSS, I hope the goddess Aphrodite doesn't disappoint me with this! I can already imagine them all: winged and beautiful women, half-horse and very tall women, as well as a new species I've never seen before. How exciting!' Darwin thought, wanting to cry with joy. Finn and Darwin nodded, deciding it was time to leave the cave and head for the guild as soon as possible.