Chapter 123: First Exploration of the Underdark

Eden and his six-man squad navigated the winding, tortuous passages, finally reaching a depth of over forty meters underground.

"Captain, that must be the teleportation array," one of the members said, pointing toward a formation in the distance that emitted a dim, eerie glow.

"Check your gear one last time. No one knows what we will face ahead; we can only rely on ourselves," Eden said, coming to a halt and speaking solemnly to his team.

Everyone nodded gravely. They wrapped their faces in cotton cloth, leaving only their eyes exposed, then applied deodorizing potion to their cotton garments. Finally, they drew the short swords issued to them by their lord before departure, gripping them firmly.

Seeing that his team was ready, Eden stepped forward and toggled a device that resembled a button. The next moment, the teleportation array activated, radiating brilliant, colorful light.

"Move out."

Eden entered the teleportation zone first, with the other five following closely behind. Three minutes later, the miniature array powered down, returning to a silent state to await its next activation.

...

Dullness, oppression, and fear—these were their first impressions of the Underdark. Although unknown bioluminescent mushrooms provided faint illumination, for the six men from the surface, it was barely enough to make out the path.

"Half, Kuru, you two stay here to guard the array and be ready to support us at any time."

"Understood, Captain." The two low-ranking bronze warriors nodded, accepting the assignment. As the weakest in the six-man team, staying behind to guard the site was the optimal choice.

The remaining four followed Eden, carefully entering the narrow, dark passage to officially begin their exploration of the Underdark. With every step, Eden remained hyper-vigilant, scanning the surroundings for any sign of alien races, monsters, or other creatures that might suddenly emerge.

Suddenly, Eden spotted tree roots obstructing the path ahead. He signaled his team to stop and slowly crawled to the edge of the opening. He discovered that the area outside was a vast, sprawling cavern where a battle was currently unfolding.

*Crunch.*

A massive serpent bit off the torso of a Duergar, swallowing it whole. A tall Duergar gestured wildly at the snake, shouting in an incomprehensible language while cracking a whip to drive his subordinates forward.

A spear pierced the serpent’s scales, driving deep into its flesh.

*Hiss!*

A moment later, several Duergar were swept away by the serpent's tail, slamming heavily into the rubble; whether they lived or died was unknown.

The ensuing battle took an unexpected turn. Dragging its severely wounded body, the serpent fought with its final strength to kill the remaining dozen or so Duergar, finally collapsing just ten meters from the cavern entrance.

Watching the ferocious monster, Eden held his breath and remained pressed against the cave opening, observing the scene through a tiny gap in the foliage, not daring to act rashly. He did not know if the serpent was feigning death or if the Duergar would receive reinforcements.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, several Duergar drove a hundred goblins into the area to collect their companions' corpses and carry the serpent’s carcass back to their tribe. Just as Eden thought they were about to leave, several giant spiders suddenly burst onto the scene. They made quick work of the Duergar, and the remaining goblins, having lost their masters, fled the area in a panic.

In a twist of fate, the ultimate victors were the giant spiders. Once they had eaten their fill, the spiders quietly hid in the periphery, lying in ambush for the next wave of prey.

Seeing this, Eden signaled his men to retreat and explore a different branch of the path they had traveled. To avoid discovery by the subterranean natives, the men communicated only through writing.

"The situation is extremely dangerous. Given our strength, I fear we can only manage to explore the surrounding tunnels at best," Eden wrote on a piece of paper to explain the situation to the others.

The three men nodded in agreement. Even though they hadn't seen the battlefield directly, the sounds and commotions they had heard were enough to make one's skin crawl. This was not the surface, where visibility was high and dangers could be anticipated in advance. At this depth, every step taken could lead into an enemy ambush, and these threats were often impossible to detect.

After reaching a consensus, the four returned the way they came to the nearest junction to continue their exploration.

Over the next six days, the four explored the passages leading to other caverns, using the teleportation array as their starting point. Perhaps because the goblins were diligent, the ends of these tunnels had been partially blocked to avoid detection by other creatures.

In this brief time, Eden’s team witnessed no fewer than ten skirmishes. Beyond the Duergar, goblins, gnomes, and Drow—races known on the surface—they encountered many monsters they had never seen before.

The closest call occurred when they were nearly discovered by a group of Drow. They only survived because they were coated in deodorizing potion and had taken "Green Turtle Potion," a magic elixir that could reduce one’s life signs to a minimum; as long as they remained motionless, they appeared no different from inanimate objects to others.

Back near the teleportation array, the six men sealed the cave entrance, lit a torch, and began summarizing their reconnaissance. Seeing the long-lost light, the vanguard team felt a deep sense of longing. Things that were usually within reach were such luxuries in these bottomless depths.

"Starting from the teleportation array, there are five main passages, each with three to six branches, totaling twenty-one paths. Six of these are blocked by collapsed soil and debris, leaving fifteen accessible. These fifteen paths lead to fifteen different underground caverns."

"Of these, the shortest is Tunnel Six, at just over a thousand meters long. The longest, Tunnel Thirteen, spans six kilometers."

"Among them, the Ninth Cavern, accessed via what we've named Tunnel Nine, is the most dangerous."

Eden remembered the Drow who had been so close he could have touched them, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief; otherwise, they would have met their end in that hellish place.

"Captain, should we continue exploring?" one of the members asked.

Eden looked around; the other five were waiting for his decision. He desperately wanted to capture a subterranean creature to bring back to the surface for interrogation to gain more intelligence. However, if they were discovered, the enemy would inevitably learn of this teleportation array, and their next arrival might lead them straight into a trap.

After weighing the options, Eden said in a low voice, "The mission ends here. We are too weak. If we continue to explore and accidentally fall into the hands of the subterranean natives, there is no guarantee they don't have evil mages skilled in soul interrogation. We cannot risk this teleportation array being discovered because of our actions."

The other five breathed a visible sigh of relief.

Eden then activated the teleportation array, and the six of them entered one by one, bringing their journey into the Underdark to an end.