Chapter 87: Darkness

Chapter 87: Darkness

How could he have been so inconsiderate?

Neave was frustrated and ashamed of himself for his lack of awareness. Of course, some mortal weaknesses were a thing of the past for him, but for his allies, they were a thing of the present.

Of course.

How silly of him.

His allies had come all the way to this nightmare realm. They had been allowed into his world. Nay, they had desired to enter.

Of course!

It was only correct he showed them the utmost hospitality and welcome.

Neave had, with great effort and much help from his best buddy, glass shrub, whom he desperately had to name, created a few beautiful pieces of furniture out of some of the inferior glass shrubs.

To cast away the darkness of the cave, he created a chandelier. There, he created a makeshift fuel for a few candles by using a few alchemy techniques on slime. Then, he shaped lovely chairs out of fine glass and even made a large dinner table.

With much effort and, yet again, a lot of help from Bushy (temporary name), he shaped the glass into dishes, creating plates and fine glasses to drink from.

He needed some help from Dukean to collect metal particles from the soil to make some utensils, but that was promptly sorted. He could have made the utensils out of the glass, but given how nasty that substance was, there was too much risk that somebody would lose a finger or a tongue. Or crack a tooth or something. No need to risk such accidents.

After a quick discussion, it was decided that they would eat quite a bit further away. Namely, to get them away from the glass puppet, which Neave concluded freaked everyone out, and to find them a place to settle at, far away enough from Neave's experiments that their lives wouldn't be at risk.

And now, after much preparation, Neave brought their meal before them.

A glistening, shiny roast(?) was placed on the table before them. This wasn’t a meal suited for mere kings. Not even the emperor deserved to taste this delicacy.

Subjected to numerous techniques designed to remove toxic qi and bathed in liquid spirit, this was likely the best-prepared monster meat you could get anywhere in the entire realm.

The crowd, however, wasn’t particularly excited to eat.

Neave didn’t let that get to him, and he unceasingly pushed with his hospitality. The water created by Dukean was nastier than piss. It wasn’t the flavor that was the problem. It was the odd, floaty feel to it that gave everyone a stomachache. It also had a faint sour aftertaste for some reason.

Neave, however, was confident that he had the solution to that problem. Slime was one of the most elementary substances used in alchemy, yet its intricacies, especially at a master level, allowed for much diversity in its use.

A specific set of procedures could be used on slime to transform it into a sweet syrup. Granted, it had nonutritional value, but it wasn’t harmful either! This was a popular condiment among mortal or low-ranking women of status that wanted to taste something sweet without subjecting themselves to extra calories.

Blood slime wasn’t... The best target for this treatment, but Neave was sure it would be fine!

His allies stared at the pile of unusually and deceitfully appealing meat and the... Faintly golden-brown water in the pitcher with little excitement in their expression.

Ungrateful pricks, Neave thought, with a polite smile on his face.

Marven broke the awkward atmosphere by reaching for the ‘water.’ He poured himself a full glass and gulped it down with gusto.

However, with every gulp, less and less went down his throat, and more and more ended up in his ever-bulging cheeks. How peculiar.

Marven swallowed the rest of the water, forcing it so hard that his face turned a shade redder, and his eyelid twitched slightly. He smiled at the others shakily, shrugged, and spoke, “It was fine.”

Harel squinted at him and nodded severely, slowly reaching for the pitcher and pouring herself a slightly less full glass. She gulped it down, and almost immediately spit it out, splurting the water over the table.

She coughed and wheezed, and for the first time Neave heard her do it, she swore, “Fuck me, that tasted like bloody snot!”

Marven spoke up at that, “Hey, it really wasn’t that bad!”

“Oh please, Marv, you looked like you were swallowing rat poison!”

This got a few muffled chuckles from Gabrias and Neave, which earned them a scornful glare from Harel.

Marven took a deep breath and gathered his willpower as he reached for the roast. He forced himself to take a bite and... His eyebrows raised, “Alright, wow, this is actually good...” He didn’t know how to feel about that.

Actually, he felt that made it worse for some reason.

However, his reaction seemed genuine this time, emboldening Dukean and Gabrias to take a piece. After they confirmed that it wasn’t at all unappealing, and both made a face that clearly showcased their inner conflict about that, Hunter and Harel also joined them in taking a few pieces themselves.

After several brave souls tried themselves against the experimental slime water, it was unanimously agreed that the unaltered version was superior.

Soon enough, the rooms were done. Marven remembered what Neave had told them about comfort, but that wasn’t entirely correct. Humans needed a comfort zone, a space where they could isolate themselves from their problems, even temporarily.

Certainly, torturing yourself until you lost your sanity was a very efficient way to get used to terrible circumstances, but... Yeah. No wonder Neave couldn’t see anything wrong with what he had said.

The other thing Neave had said, however, Marven felt, was a bit of an understatement. According to Dukean, who had seen one of these ‘corrupt demons’ in action, they were a terrifying opponent. Dukean wasn’t confident that Marven could defeat one easily.

This made their next task straightforward—blocking off any unnecessary entrances to their cave.

It was essential to keep one, at least, and ensure Neave could return to the cave, but that didn’t mean they would leave that entrance entirely unprotected. However, it was one thing at a time.

Marven tasked Gabrias with designing a decent blockade for the cave openings while he tasked the others with removing as many black obsidian bushes as possible. He, in the meantime, went to check their surroundings to ensure they wouldn’t miss anything.

The cavern Neave had left them at was relatively close to the large room holding the glass brushes. Marven could reach that cave in approximately ten minutes, give or take a few. There were only three paths that led toward that room. Two were major cave openings, and one required a squeeze through a tight passage. Perhaps some of the other passages could also get them there, but it would likely be a trek through a long, complex maze of caves.

Marven decided that they should wall off the large passages and only leave the tiny one. This was by far the most easily defensible option, and Marven doubted Neave would have much trouble reaching them even if they completely walled themselves off.

Other than that, many passages branched into countless others. There were some that could be blocked off in bulk, which left two rather large walls that had to be constructed and seven minor blockades.

There was another little room, one that held their water reserve. Neave had created a glass cistern and filled it with water with help from Dukean. There wasn’t much to do here, not by necessity, but Marven thought it would be a good idea to clean the room up and turn it into a proper storage facility.

They could all see, more or less, but that didn’t make the cavern’s darkness any less oppressive. The less their base resembled the outer, terrifying caverns, the more easily everyone could keep their sanity.

Neave had explained why his plan was essential, and Marven had to agree. However, that left them in an awkward position since Neave was the only one with solutions to their current problems.

Marven didn’t want to disturb Neave, partially due to the danger but also because he wanted Neave to finish his work as soon as possible.

A reliable source of light would have to wait until then.

Marven returned to Gabrias, who suggested a relatively simple method for creating the walls. He suggested finding a section they wanted to expand, then having Marven excavate it.

Specifically, it should be excavated by carving large stone blocks. They should then cut holes into the blocks and polish a few of the bigger obsidian branches. Once they had holes on the top of one block, they should insert the polished branches, preferably shaped into a perfectly straight stick, and then lower another block on top of those branches, one with a few holes drilled in the bottom.

Although large walls, especially ones with massive blocks, could stand perfectly fine if they were simply stacked, Gabrias wanted to use some sort of adhesive. They didn’t have any adhesive available, not currently, so he wanted to at least create a proper joint that would hold everything together.

Perhaps they could locate some of the black liquid, but Gabrias wasn’t confident about its properties, and venturing into the caves wasn’t a good idea. So, this makeshift alternative would have to work.

They would first have to use a different strategy to create the frame since they needed to make a roughly square, or at least angular, edge before constructing the wall. Otherwise, they would have empty spaces separating the walls from the side of the cave.

Gabrias devised a special brace that would reinforce the inevitable weak points this method would create.

Marven suggested a slight change in the design. Specifically, he suggested they make the walls much thicker than Gabrias wanted. After all, they weren’t in a rush per se, and there was no reason to cut corners with the construction of the walls.

Also, Marven wanted to keep everyone busy as long as possible.

There was another benefit to this strategy. It would allow them to hollow out bigger rooms, which they would be doing a lot of. Mainly, Marven wanted a space for training and a room for storage.

According to Neave, no matter how much they cultivated inside the nightmare realm, it wouldn’t translate to their cultivation outside. However, if they could learn enough about potential, it would make realizing that potential a breeze once they were back out.

Not to mention that training made for the perfect way to keep everyone busy and their minds off the terrifying circumstances they found themselves in.

Marven went over to check on the others and see how they were doing. Dukean did his work just fine and many times faster than the other two.

Far too many times faster.

Marven observed the way Hunter and Harel worked. Hunter was doing his best and working as fast as he could, but Harel seemed to be... He didn’t want to say slacking. However, she wasn’t working fast, and it was clear from a mile away that she was thoroughly distracted.

Hunter noticed her picking up a few sharp branches and walked over to her, “You need some help?”

“No.”

“I can help you with that. You’re not supposed to hold the branch like...”

Harel shot Hunter a death glare, “I said no. Piss off.”

“Come on, let me just...” Hunter reached to grab the branch.

Marven watched in horror as Harel gripped one of the smaller branches...

And stabbed Hunter in the chest.