Destati Caverns [completed]

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After six months, Princeton and Kazuki had finally returned to the Hope base. It was during the morning when Marx was tending to the campfire when Princeton and Kazuki came through the Tunnels. Marx was surprised to see that they were here and alive. Kazuki proceeded to cheerfully greet Marx with vexing, but auspicious excitement. Marx didn't hear if Princeton had said anything or not. Nevertheless, Marx was happy that the two were finally back.

It seemed that Masami had underwent a major amount of changes during the six months that Princeton and Kazuki were gone. Apparently, the economy of Masami had collapsed and all stores went bankrupt. Along with this, the leader of Nova had died sometime during the time span. Later, the spot was taken by a man named Amateratsu. Marx had never met anyone other than Princeton and Kazuki, so this didn't phase him in the slightest. Marx never found out what had happened to the pair during their long absence, but Marx decided that some things were better left unsaid.

Because a new economy had been established, Marx had to exchange his currency. Afterwards, he went to an weaponry to buy something. After window shopping for a while, Marx finally chose to buy a pair of Katar. Katar were blades attached to horizontal grips. After testing the weapons, Marx saw that they complimented his speed and strength nicely. Marx learned that he couldn't buy any armor as he, as a ranger, wasn't suitable for any form of armor. This frustrated Marx as adventuring would be dangerous without any form of bodily protection.

The stores in Masami could be located from going through some secret tunnels that lay within the vast woods. Marx was surprised that he didn't notice them earlier. The tunnels were hidden behind some brown bushes on the eastern part of the woods. These would lead to the Creature Village. Very few humans like himself could be seen wandering through the plaza. The main consumers were some elves who were simply there for groceries. The elves were tiny, green creatures who had long ears. They had huge eyes and long noses.

Marx saw that the stores in Masami were very limited in their content. All they contained were several sets of weapons and armor for each of the different classes. There weren't any supporting items such as potions or herbs. There weren't even any place to learn any battle skills. Marx wasn't surprised though as Masami was just recovering from a major recession. Either way, Marx submitted a list of items that he would like to see added to the Masami store.

Finally, Marx remembered the main reason he wanted to have weapons in the first place; to explore unknown territory. Marx smiled and looked at his katar. He could go anywhere he wanted now. Marx decided to go to the western parts of the woods as Marx had never dared to venture to those parts. The western parts of the woods were much thicker and were said to be filled violent monsters. Since Marx had his new katar, he believed that he was ready enough to go exploring.

Marx ventured out the next morning as soon as dawn had set in. After walking for about an hour, Marx had finally reached unfamiliar territory. The eastern parts of the woods were filled with various forms of fungi and many carnivorous birds. These birds were like nothing that Marx had ever seen. These birds had large fangs like vampire bats and had long, sharp claws. Fortunately, they didn't seem interested in Marx.

After about half an hour of venturing in the woods, Marx found a wide, dark cave. Marx looked around the opening and saw that plants just seemed to die off as soon as they neared the cave's entrance. Marx stepped forward and felt a frightening pressure. It was the same pressure you would feel when you are filled with terror. Marx got chills and shivered, but he proceeded into the cave.

As soon as he walked through the entrance, blue flames started appearing on the opposite sides of the cave. Marx held his breath and gripped his two katar tightly. He proceeded to walk through the dark caverns. As he walked through, he saw that the floors were littered with skulls and various other bones. They seemed to consist mostly of cat, bird and boar bones, but Marx recognized some humanoid skulls within the mix. Marx was nervous, but he continued on despite the impending danger he expected would lie ahead.

Eventually, Marx was stopped by a dead end. The room was perfectly circular, and the bone quantity seemed to be at its densest here. Marx took his time and felt the walls of the room. There was no secret passageway to be found. This puzzled Marx as he knew that a circular room in a cavern could not have been naturally made. Marx suspected that the maker of this room expected the visitor to overcome a specific trial to find a new pathway, or a monster once made this his den long ago.

Suddenly, Marx was struck with a hot, stabbing pain in his head. This took Marx by surprise and knocked him off his feet. The pain spread through his body, giving the sensation of being in an iron maiden. Marx writhed and screamed on the cavern floors. Marx became delusional; he started to hallucinate. Marx began to see himself back in Detroit. He was standing in front of Scar, the man who nearly killed him before Marx excaped to Masami. Scar leered at Marx.

"You would've been smart to have never come back here again," growled Scar menacingly. He took out a white Colt Revolver from his belt and spun it with his finger. With his other hand, he pointed at his nose. "I never forgot what you did to me kid. Ever since you broke my nose, I couldn't breathe from it. I don't know where that light came from, nor do I know how you were able to evade me, but I don't care either. I'm going to pay you back for what you did to me that day,"

Marx stepped backwards cautiously. He didn't have his katar with him anymore. Marx remembered back to his last confrontation. He remembered a crucial characteristic of Scar; he was a sadist."What, are you gonna shoot me? Anyone could use a gun to kill, but wouldn't killing me with your bare hands be more satisfying? Or how about a knife? Wouldn't it me just so much fun to just slowly cut out chunks of flesh from me? Doesn't shooting me just seem so boring?"

Scar laughed. "You know me well kid. Alright, if you want it so badly, I'll stab you till I have enough blood to paint this whole corridor," Scar took out a long, butcher's knife from his belt and waved it at Marx.
Scar then rushed towards Marx and thrust the knife at Marx's chest. Marx dodged swiftly to his left and delivered a roundhouse kick at Scars back. This knocked Scar to the ground. "I'm not the one dying tonight Scar, I've gotten stronger now. You no longer frighten me"

"You brat, you're gonna die now!" Scar made an upward slash at Marx, but Marx stepped back. Marx then kicked Scar's hand, causing it to break and release the knife and toss it upwards. Marx grabbed the knife as it came back down and threw it at Scar. The knife pierced Scar's throat and the force of the toss pinned Scar on to the wall. A disgusting, gurgling sound came from Scar's throat. Scar waved his arms forward, as if he was strangling something invisible. A spray of blood shot out of Scar's fatal wound. In less than ten seconds, Scar's arms fell and he became still, sitting in a pool of his own blood.

Suddenly, Detroit dissolved back into the round room that Marx had collapsed in. Marx looked around and wondered if what he did at Detroit actually happened. While he was pondering this mystery, a dull moan came from Marx's behind. It was a tall, black figure. It was like a shadow with a physical form. The shadow took out two black katar and pointed one at Marx. Marx quickly realized that this was a shadow form of himself. Marx took out his katar and readied himself for battle.

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Suddenly, Marx's shadow sank into the ground. Marx stayed still and look shielded his front-side with his katari. Marx sidestepped slowly while listening to any disturbance. Marx heard a dull noise emit from the ground and jumped backwards, barely dodging Shadow Marx's upward slash. Marx then jumped forwards and slashed at Shadow Marx horizontally with both katari in an X style. The attack collided with Shadow Marx's attack and the two were at a stalemate.

Marx kicked Shadow Marx and swiped at Shadow Marx's hands. Shadow Marx jumped backwards and shot himself forward. Using his momentum, he stabbed Marx in the shoulder. Marx was able to retaliate with a heavy kick to Shadow Marx's side, causing him to be thrown to the side. Marx felt his warm blood flow freely out of the wound. Marx's puncture stung, but his adrenaline dulled out his pain, allowing him to continue fighting.

Shadow Marx sank back on to the earth. Marx stayed on guard while strafing to the right slowly. He heard the familiar dull noise from behind him and quickly spun and slashed. It was a shallow wound to the chest, but it was a successful attack nevertheless. Marx noticed that Shadow Marx's blood was blue. It intrigued Marx, but he quickly threw his wonder out the door; there's no time to wonder during a battle.

Shadow Marx didn't seem to be dazed by the injury and he proceeded to rush at Marx. Marx jumped to his right as soon as Shadow Marx came in range and rushed to stab his head. The two's katar collided with one another and they were at another stalemate. The two characters started to madly slash at each other and blocking each one's attack. The only things making contact was the katar. Sparks flew off each impact and the earth itself seemed to shake.

Marx suddenly remembered that Princeton stated long ago that everyone on Masami is able to use magic. Marx wondered if he could harness it at all in this battle. Marx ended the stalemate between them and quickly focused on the soles of his feet. Marx could feel a cool feeling in them and Marx decided to push himself forward. Marx sprang forward at an intense speed. This surprised Marx and he fell over. Shadow Marx tried to impale Marx, but Marx rolled away and tried to stab him. He missed and Shadow Marx slashed at Marx. Marx used the same move he did earlier to dodge it.

Marx readied himself for Shadow Marx's next rush. Seconds later, he sprinted and tried to stab Marx, Marx used his quick step to dodge and used it again to instantly appear behind him. Marx then proceeded to stab Shadow Marx in the small of his back. Marx slashed Shadow Marx to the side so that he'd turn around and finished him off with a double slash to the neck. Shadow Marx released an enormous amount of blue blood. He dropped his katar and Shadow Marx melted into the puddle of blue blood.

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Marx dropped his katar on to the cold floors. He was panting from the physical stress he had from the battle. He looked at his hands and saw the blue and red blood make a gruesome purple slime on his hand. His whole body was covered in either blue blood, his own red blood, or a disgusting mixture of the two. His robes were in tatters, especially near his legs.

Suddenly, a stream of blood shot out of Marx's shoulder; the injury must have caused a weakening of the arteries located there. A stabbing, burning pain erupted from the wound's opening. Marx screams of pain echoed through the caverns. No one could save him though; he was far from the safety of society. Marx collapsed on to the cold, rough cavern floor. He violently writhed in pain, hoping in vain that death would consume him soon.

Marx now lay on a pool of his own warm blood. His face grew pale and lifeless while also grimacing from pain, which was starting to dull out. Marx felt the stream of blood flowing out of his wound start to slow. Marx's vision began to blur. The cavern, his blood began to fade away into darkness. Marx no longer felt any pain at all. Was death this kind? Was this what resting in peace really was? Marx was ready to accept it all.

Suddenly, a bright white light erupted out of nowhere. The light wrapped itself around Marx's body. Marx's vision returned to him. He saw that the light was healing him. His wounds, both minor and major, were being instantly healed without any scarring. Even Marx's clothes were being repaired by the enigmatic light. The light carried Marx to his feet; it felt like he was being carried by a soft, cool blanket.

As suddenly as the light appeared, it disappeared without a trace. Marx looked around for some sign of it, but the cavern looked as normal as it was before. Marx was ecstatic, but ponderous of the event that occurred just now. Although it had indeed saved his life, where this this magic come from? Was there more to the caverns than he could see?

As though it was listening to him, a voice entered Marx's mind as soon as he was finished thinking. It was a young woman's voice. Brave warrior, thou hast completed thy primordial trial. A feat that none unwise could accomplish. Though you may have been strong enough to defeat your fears, therein lies more trials to complete, each more difficult than the last. Only when thous complete all trials can thou purify the soul and discover a weapon of unknown strengths. It is recommended that thou train both your body and soul before you proceed. Until then, farewell.

The wall opposite of the caverns suddenly collapsed revealing a new passageway. Marx decided to take heed to the woman's advice and save the trials at hand for another day. After taking a long breath, Marx left the caves, which he christianed as the Destati Caverns, to seek other challenges to train himself. Only once he had trained his body to its maximum point can he feel ready to take on the forewarned challenges in the Destati Caverns.