While Riko and Finn handled the grim, necessary, and frankly disgusting work of carving into the spider queen's massive carapace, Kaelen and Lyra scouted the perimeter of the vast chamber, looking for any other threats or points of interest. The task at hand was not for the faint of stomach. Guided by Rikoâs precise Kokugan perception, which could see the exact location of the valuable poison sacs and the creature's massive heart beneath the layers of chitin and flesh, Finn made the careful, strategic cuts. It was messy, smelly work, a stark and bloody reminder of the victory they had just achieved.
"Alright, that's the last of the sacs," Finn grunted, wiping a thick, green ichor from his blade. "Noel, you wanted to study the fangs, right?"
"Absolutely!" Noel's voice called back, his usual enthusiasm undiminished by the gore. "The venom's corrosive properties could be incredibly useful for etching runes!"
"Hey, over here!" Kaelen's voice suddenly echoed from a far corner of the cavern. "Looks like something's behind this wall."
His task forgotten, Noel scrambled over to join Kaelen and Lyra, who were now staring at a section of the cave wall that looked completely, unnaturally out of place. While the rest of the cavern was a chaotic tapestry of jagged, damp stone, this ten-foot section was perfectly smooth and flat, the rock a different, darker shade of granite. A thin, almost invisible crack, filled with dust and grime, ran along its edges, suggesting it was not part of the natural wall at all, but a massive, expertly fitted stone plug.
Kaelen gripped the edge of the crack with his gauntleted fingers and pulled, his massive shoulders and back muscles straining with the effort. He let out a roar, his feet digging into the stone floor for leverage. The stone didn't budge. Not even a millimeter. "It's too thick," he grunted, giving up and shaking his tingling hands. "And it's sealed tight. I can't get a good grip."
Lyra smirked, shaking her head with a dramatic "hmph" of condescension. She stepped forward, gesturing for Kaelen to move aside. "Watch and learn, big guy," she said, her voice dripping with mock superiority. "Sometimes brute force just isn't the answer. Sometimes, you need a little finesse."
Her palm began to glow with a fierce, swirling orange light. She took a deep breath, her eyes blazing with concentration. "Goddess Aethel, lend me the fire of your forge! Let the stone run like river water! I cast: Magma Ball!"
The temperature in the cave shot up instantly, the air growing thick and heavy. A fist-sized glob of molten rock, glowing with the intensity of the sun, erupted from her hand and slammed into the stone wall. It didn't explode; it melted. The surface of the wall hissed and sagged like hot wax, glowing a cherry red as the magma cooled, hardening into a glassy, obsidian-like lump.
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Lyra stood back, her hands on her hips, a smug expression of triumph on her face. Kaelen pinched the bridge of his nose, his face a perfect portrait of awe and pure, unadulterated exasperation.
"Lyra," he said, his voice dangerously calm. "...you poured molten rock on it. How are we supposed to touch it now without burning our hands completely off?"
Lyra's smug expression froze. Her eyes widened as the thought, which had been completely absent from her mind a moment before, now registered with full, horrifying clarity. She poked a finger near the glowing rock, hissing as she felt the intense heat radiating from it. "...It'll probably cool down in, like... an hour?" she offered weakly.
Kaelen's gaze pierced into her very soul. Before he could unleash the torrent of shouting she so clearly deserved, Noel's cheerful voice cut in. "No need to wait!"
They both turned to see Noel walking towards them, holding a small, intricately crafted iron ball between his thumb and forefinger. He tossed it lightly into the air and caught it with a grin. "I have a much faster, and far more exciting, solution."
"Noel, don't you dare," Kaelen growled, but it was too late.
Noel lobbed the tiny bomb in a perfect arc. It landed with a soft tink right in the center of the still-glowing magma patch, adhering to the molten surface.
"GET DOWN!" Noel shouted, already ducking for cover behind a large stalagmite.
Kaelen and Lyra, with a shared yelp of terror, dove to the floor instantly as the ball flashed a brilliant, hot red. A sharp BOOM rocked the chamber, the explosion smaller than his last but still powerful enough to shake the very foundations of the cave, sending a shower of stone fragments flying.
After the dust and smoke cleared, they both pushed themselves up, their ears ringing, and stared at Noel with murder in their eyes. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" they shouted in perfect, furious sync.
Noel held up his hands, taking a nervous step back from their combined wrath. "C-calm down! I know it was a bit rash," he stammered, "but my Architect's Eye told me the thermal shock from a rapid, concussive blast would shatter the seal! And look! It worked!"
Riko and Finn, drawn by the commotion, walked over, stepping between the furious pair and the terrified engineer. "Alright, you three, calm down," Finn said, trying to deescalate the situation before Lyra decided to test her magma spell on Noel. "He's right. Let's see what all the fuss was about."
Kaelen and Lyra turned their glares on Finn and Riko. "HE ALMOST BLEW US UP WITH A BOMB!"
Finn and Riko shared a worried glance, both silently agreeing that Noel's safety was now in serious jeopardy. But Noel's attention was already elsewhere. "Wait! Look!" he said, his anger forgotten, his voice now filled with pure, unadulterated wonder. He pointed at the new, smoking crater in the wall. "It's not a wall... it's a door."
They all turned. Where the smooth stone had been, there was now a jagged, fist-shaped hole. And through that hole, they could see not more natural cave, but the faint, unmistakable outline of a perfectly carved, man-made tunnel, with a tiny, intriguing sliver of natural light visible at its far, distant end.