Defiance of the Fall

Zac had never taken any hallucinogenic drugs , but it almost felt like he was high as he walked in these psychedelic tunnels . After walking along dazed for a few seconds he suddenly started , and then started to collect samples of all the various herbs and mushrooms . He was careful to not let anything touch his skin , just in case it was poisonous .

He still had no method to discern if they were of value , but he felt that at least some of the magical plants should be of some use . It seemed quite clear that they had grown due to the high density of the cosmic energy , so they might have some magical properties .

Zac started using the vegetation as a basis where to head when he reached crossroads . He simply chose the one with a higher density of subterranean growth , as that passage should have a higher density of cosmic energy .

He was starting to get very curious why there was so much energy in the mountain , and he believed that the demons were so interested in the cave for the very same reason . There should be something in the depths that either contained or produced an immense amount of energy , to the point that it leaked out into the whole mountain range and valley .

If the demons removed it and took it with them then Zac would lose a potential goldmine . He added the task of finding out what created the energy as well before leaving . If it was something small and portable he would try to steal it . If this much cosmic energy could be poured into a couple of arrays he wouldn’t have to worry about the demons ever again .

Zac had walked for almost an hour when a sound made him stop in his tracks and shrink into the wall . It was light hurried steps that echoed through the tunnels not far ahead . They didn’t seem to be coming toward him , so Zac slowly ventured forward , careful not to make a single sound .

The steps slowly were becoming a bit more distant , and Zac hurried up until he reached a crossing . He carefully looked around a corner toward where the sounds came from to see what made the steps . And just before it turned another corner , he could briefly spot a small imp trotting along .

Zac’s heartbeat started to speed up , as seeing the imp opened up a possibility . Perhaps the imps’ main area of activity was underground , which would explain why he had encountered so few up above ground . And if it was , then their herald was likely down here as well .

Chapter 50 - Crystals

Zac waited for a bit to make sure no other imp or demon was incoming before he ventured the same path he saw the imp take .

He surreptitiously glanced around any corners or crossroads , but even after a minute he still hadn’t seen any signs of the imp or anything else of interest . Either the imp was a lone explorer in the caverns or it was out of the way for some reason .

A scratching sound stopped his train of thought and Zac moved to the next intersection to see where the sound came from . He finally found the small imp again and it was just 10 meters away from him , currently digging through some moss . After it removed a top layer it sneakily put something inside , and then carefully put the moss back on top . It got up and turned around , and suddenly found itself staring right at Zac .

Zac didn’t hesitate and instantly killed it with a dagger . He walked up to the corpse and put it in one of his pouches , before walking over to where it dug around earlier . Initially he had wanted to follow it back to wherever he came from , but he had been too careless and immediately got spotted . He’d have to get better at sneaking in these tunnels unless he wanted to get mobbed down .

After removing the moss he actually found a small stash of Nexus Crystals . They weren’t polished and uniform like the ones he had taken from the demon leader , but rather looking like uncut raw gems . Some were as small as a fingernail while the largest was slightly larger than his own crystals .

It seemed like the imp actually was hiding away its wealth in this uninhabited part of the cave system like a cultivating squirrel . So it looked like it wasn’t heading to any other imps or demons , but rather away from them . Perhaps daylight robbery was a real problem amongst the imps , so hiding their cultivation resources was imperative .

The imp’s actions raised a few questions . First of all , could imps cultivate? They seemed to have some inherent proclivity for magic , as all of them thus far were able to shoot those nefarious fireballs . But it felt like all of them more or less were of the same strength , making him believe they couldn’t get stronger .

There seemed to be some fundamental differences between the imps and the demons or himself . They didn’t have levels when he inspected them with Eye of Discernment] , and it didn’t look like they had classes either as everyone used the same attack . That’s why Zac placed them in the same group as the other beasts in his mind .