Adventure World Online (AWO)

"I'll go in, master."

Brownie volunteered bravely—utterly uncharacteristic of him—which caused everyone to turn and look at him at the same time.

"We don't know how deep it is, or whether there's any danger. If I let you go in and risk it, you might not make it out."

Chang Long turned to speak to him with concern. Brownie's face paled a little before he straightened up and spoke with confidence.

"I'll do it. Don't worry, master. I used to be a master thief, unmatched in speed. If there are really any traps inside, I believe I'll be able to make it through."

"All right. I'll trust you. Let's hope there aren't any traps in that hole—just a mechanism to lead us forward."

Chang Long placed Brownie at the hole. He saluted her like a soldier before darting straight into the pitch-black opening.

…..

The Bird Sage had long lost count of how many times he had to change hiding places. He flapped his wings, barely able to lift off, moving from crevice to bush, trying to stay far away from the battle between his rival, Aswa and the Sakunnamakorn beast. But inevitably, the fighting always spread to wherever he tried to hide.

"Ugh… Is that brat doing this on purpose? Why do they always fight right where I'm hiding!"

The Bird Sage grumbled furiously. He was both exhausted and angry, but all he could do was keep trying to escape the range of the battle. After all, his name said it all—he was a sage, not a fighter. If this were a contest of knowledge, he would puff his chest and accept the challenge before the opponent could even finish proposing it. If the Sakunnamakorn had just said it wanted to play a riddle game, he would have kicked Aswa away and claimed victory in under five minutes for sure.

But when he thought about it again, there was no way the Sakunnamakorn would ever suggest something like that. Worse yet, it might even see him as dessert. In worst-case scenario, he would probably end up in the beast's mouth before he could even open his own to speak—if Aswa was not there with him.

BOOMMM

Aswa used a skill to strike the Sakunnamakorn, sending it crashing into a nearby mountain with a thunderous boom. The Bird Sage turned in shock, lower beak dropping. He never imagined that the cheeky brat who argued with him at every chance would be strong enough to wound the Sakunnamakorn. Even more surprising was the killing intent radiating from the young man—it made the Bird Sage's feathers stand on end.

"He's that strong!"

The words of praise had barely left his beak when Aswa was suddenly smacked by the Sakunnamakorn's tail and went tumbling, leaving the sage slack-beaked once more in utter shock.

"Tch. That idiot—praised him and he gets flattened before I even finish the compliment. What a waste of breath. Better find another place to hide—once that thing's done eating him, it'll definitely come after me next."

The Bird Sage exhaled through his nose in irritation, dragging his beach-ball-like body off to a new hiding spot with much difficulty.

Aswa rolled away to escape the Sakunnamakorn's second wave of attacks. Then he sprang up, flipping backward twice to regain balance. The young man wiped blood from his nose and mouth, his eyes fixed on the Sakunnamakorn, which showed no sign of moving in for another attack. But then, a strange sound rang out—a high-pitched screeching, irritating to the ear—and it came from the Sakunnamakorn itself. While doubt formed in the young man's mind, the Sakunnamakorn opened its jaws wide and breathed out a wave of intense flames.

Aswa leapt high into the air, hoping to use that moment to counterattack. But as his body soared and shot forward, the hem of his cloak caught fire. Though startled, Aswa refused to give up the chance. Once he got close enough to the Sakunnamakorn, he activated a skill, striking it at point-blank range.

BOOMMM

SCREEEEEE!

A golden dragon, summoned by Aswa's skill, pierced through the Sakunnamakorn's neck, bored through its belly, shot out from its tail end, and slammed into a nearby mountain, causing an explosive blast. The Sakunnamakorn's body collapsed, sliding down the mountain peak. Blood poured from the massive gaping wounds left by the golden dragon. The Sakunnamakorn gasped for air—its windpipe shredded. It was on the verge of death, and strange fluids were now gushing out from its mouth along with its blood.

"Lad. Get away from the Sakunnamakorn—now. Hurry!"

The Bird Sage shouted at the top of his lungs because he had fled far away to hide from the battle. But Aswa did not hear him. He made a mocking gesture toward the Bird Sage and watched the Sakunnamakorn, which was struggling to take its final breaths with great difficulty.

However, that was not an attempt to take a final breath. Flames burst from the mouth of the Sakunnamakorn, blasting at Aswa at close range and igniting the liquid that had flowed out of its mouth along with the blood. Fire engulfed the Sakunnamakorn's body rapidly until the area turned into a flaming inferno of death. The Bird Sage's eyes widened. His lips trembled as he tried to speak some words.

"L… lad…"

…..

Though he had started out full of spirit, the little thieving field mouse now felt he had made a mistake. This tunnel was so dark, damp, and uncannily snug that he could not even turn around. If there was something truly deadly waiting ahead, he would not be able to retreat anymore. He could only go forward to uncover the truth of what lay hidden in this mouse hole.

At last, he ran into a solid wall. Brownie sighed, thinking he had reached the end of the road—only to face a dead end. And he could not even turn around to run back the way he came. His tiny life was about to end here.

The thieving field mouse rubbed his forehead in pain, but then he felt a breeze brush against his face. If this was really a dead end, there should not be a breeze blowing from the other side. Brownie decided to grope around in the dark. His hand touched emptiness—and airflow. There was a way forward. He would not have to die alone and forsaken here after all. What he had really run into was a sharp bend. No wonder he had slammed into that cold wall so hard.

"Yahoo. I'm not dead yet!!"

Brownie whooped with joy and started running again.

"Huh, did you guys hear something faint just now?"

Chang Long turned to ask the three ghosts and two pets who were waiting outside for Brownie. They nodded and looked wary.

CLANG

CRUNCCCH

The sound of a mechanism activating drew Chang Long and her companions' attention to the stone wall ahead—where Brownie had recently entered. The thick stone wall in front slowly began to descend, revealing endless darkness down the path ahead. A wailing sound from within pulled Chang Long's gaze away from that darkness.

"Masterrr!"

"Brownie!"

Chang Long cried out in alarm when she recognized the voice of her pet. She crouched down to the level of the lowering wall. Brownie was still inside the tunnel within the wall. She could hear his claws scraping against the stones—he had to have been running as fast as he could.

The stone wall kept lowering—so did the tunnel Brownie had gone through. It was nearly touching the ground now. Chang Long shouted for Brownie to hurry out. Even Devi-chan, Hisa-chan, Kitsune, Flatear, and Fluffy Head-chan all cheered him on loudly. Finally, just before the tunnel sank out of sight, Brownie managed to leap out in time. He landed, panting hard, amid everyone's cheers of joy.

"What happened in there, Brownie? You went in through that tunnel—how did you come out through this one?"

Chang Long asked as she handed him some drinking water.

"The tunnels connect, master. At first, I thought it was a dead end. But at the bend, there was some kind of mechanism on the ground that nearly kept me from moving forward. Honestly, I almost didn't make it out—if it hadn't been for all your cheering voices."

Brownie replied while gulping the water thirstily.

THUD!

The stone wall disappeared, becoming part of the corridor. Ahead, darkness still stretched across the space, concealing everything from sight. Chang Long stepped slowly into that darkness. Her Vampire Eye skill activated automatically.

Chang Long found that although it was still a corridor like before, it was taller—and decorated with stone pillars and flower pots. Each pot held a variety of flowers, every one of them with black blossoms. Small flowers clustered beautifully, with a blackish-blue hue. Large bell-like blooms were black tinged with purple. Cascading blooms hung like curtains, glowing a translucent red that one could almost see through.

Chang Long and her companions walked straight ahead until they reached a large, black arched door. There were two statues of tall, long-haired men holding spears with sharp, jagged blades alternating along the length of the blade. They extended their arms holding the weapons across the entrance, blocking the way. Chang Long examined the two gatekeepers closely. The two figures were tall and lean, yet muscular. Their long hair hung straight to the middle of their backs. Their skin was a pale gray, resembling marble. They wore tight, sleeveless tops with light half-body armor made of some glossy black material. They had black leather bracers reaching to their elbows. Their eyes were tightly shut, with faint dark circles beneath both. When she tried to reach her hand closer, Chang Long was startled—because the things that looked like human statues were breathing.

"What is it, master? What startled you?"

Brownie and Fluffy Head-chan asked at the same time.

"These two are breathing—very faintly, but they're definitely breathing."

Chang Long replied, still looking quite startled.

"They're not statues, master?"

Fluffy Head-chan asked curiously. He walked closer and tried touching the body of one of the two gatekeepers.

"These are real clothes. Their bodies are a bit stiff, but I can still feel a pulse."

Fluffy Head-chan turned to inform Chang Long.

"Then why are they so stiff like that? What happened to them?"

Brownie asked.

"They seem to be guarding something. There must be something very important inside."

Chang Long made an observation. She turned to look at Devi-chan and Hisa-chan and saw that neither of them knew what was behind that door either, because some kind of boundary prevented them from exploring inside.

"These two are in a state of hibernation. If you can awaken them, maybe you'll be able to enter."

Devi-chan suggested. Chang Long nodded in agreement, even though she still did not know how to wake these mysterious men from their hibernation.

After trying every method imaginable—giving them water, luring them with food smells, poking them with flowers from the corridor to make them feel ticklish, shouting loudly into their ears, shaking their bodies, splashing them with water—there was still no sign that the gatekeepers would awaken from hibernation. Everyone had already suggested whatever methods they could think of. All they could do now was sit and sigh, not knowing what to do next. Since all the methods they had tried had failed completely, they should probably stop and carefully think things through again. It was obvious that the previous attempts were utterly useless.

"Suppose those two are from the Tribe of Darkness, and the last remaining group of the Tribe of Darkness is hiding in there. We might need more than just simple methods like before."

Chang Long hypothesized, based on her own reasoning.

"Why do you think those two are from the Tribe of Darkness, missy?"

Devi-chan asked.

"The runes in the magic circle carved on the ground before we got here—they looked similar to the runes of the Tribe of Darkness in the Purple Forest."

Chang Long replied.

"I think they might be from the Tribe of Darkness too. I once read in my grandfather's ancient texts when I was a child—there was a section describing the Tribe of Darkness, with illustrations. It showed each person in various ranks. These two seem to be assassination unit members, which is a secret unit reporting directly to the tribe leader. In normal times, they serve as royal guards assigned to close protection."

Hisa-chan agreed with Chang Long, citing a source from an ancient tome he had once read.

"Wow, Hisa-chan, you sure know a lot."

Chang Long praised him with excitement.

"Not really—it's just a coincidence that this happens to be something I know."

Hisa-chan replied shyly.

"In that case, does the ancient book say anything else about the Tribe of Darkness?"

Chang Long asked with interest. Everyone seemed to be listening intently to Hisa-chan, like children waiting for a bedtime story.

"It's said that the Tribe of Darkness had two supreme leaders, a man and a woman. Although they weren't romantically involved or lovers, the two of them governed the tribe with firmness and equality. The Tribe of Darkness had skill in crafting jewelry and magic, but there's no historical record of any mages being born among them. They were a reclusive people who lived in remote, hidden locations, far from the eyes of other tribes. If anyone wished to contact them for trade, they would be summoned to a specially designated meeting place. It was widely known in that era as the Pavilion of a Hundred Directions."

"That's it?"

Chang Long asked when Hisa-chan stopped speaking.

"That's all I've read so far."

Hisa-chan replied. Even though they now knew more about the Tribe of Darkness, Chang Long still did not know how to awaken them from their hibernation.

"Maybe the Tribe of Darkness reacts to dark stuff?"

Chang Long speculated. Everyone turned to look at her in confusion, until Fluffy Head-chan asked,

"It's not dark enough in here already, master? If a normal person walked in here, they would probably trip and fall flat on their face a dozen times."

"I don't mean that kind of dark. I mean objects of the dark element. Like these."

Chang Long shook her head in response and revealed her Advanced Eyes of Darkness, embedded on her blade. (If the sword was sheathed, it would appear on the scabbard instead.) She showed it to everyone.

"So what are you going to do? Slap that Eye onto the faces of those two guys or something?"

Devi-chan asked. The others also looked just as puzzled. Chang Long rolled her eyes and responded,

"No, that would be too plain. I'm going to do this instead."

Chang Long answered. She stepped back away from the two male gatekeepers of the Tribe of Darkness. Her pets and spirit companions, sensing something suspicious from their master's mischievous grin, also backed away cautiously in wariness.