I sat on my haunches beside the stream, staring into the water. It seemed rather deep; I’d be well over my head by going in, but I think a human would only be up to their chest at the deepest parts.

  Occasionally, I saw the shadow of a fish swim by, but I was not sure about how to go about snatching one. If anything in this cavern had water powers that I could consume, it would be a fish.

  I lifted my head and looked around for one of those Lightning Toads. Stealing their prey might be my best shot, but they eat them so fast I’d have a very short window of opportunity. I’d have to attack as the tongue was just pulling a fish out of the water, I figured. And while I wasn’t even a hundred percent sure this would help me towards the achievement I needed, it was all I could really think to do at this point.

  I walked along the stream, staring into the water as I went. It seemed to empty out under a stony arch on the far end of the cavern, but where the waterfall fed the stream, there was a wider pool. If I could find a shallow area to stand in, I could potentially catch one myself without relying on a Lightning Toad.

  As I approached the waterfall, I saw three very small Lightning Toads, spaced out along the pond. I hunkered near a rock where there was a dark spot for my Camouflage to take better effect, and I just watched.

  Any of the toads this size, I was sure I could take out in a single hit. Their presence and size also indicated that there would be smaller fish here, but what I would really like to see is some indication of water powers. It was a reasonable assumption I was making, but I couldn’t be a hundred percent sure until I saw it myself.

  I watched one toad fling its tongue into the water and snatch up a fish, gulping it down in one bite as usual.

  Come on, fishies! Defend yourselves!

  When that toad was done with its meal, it hopped down from its perch on a rock and disappeared into the greenery of the cavern.

  All done for the night, huh?

  I crept closer, keeping my body low. The other two were still perched by the pond, one just above the splash zone and another crouched near a smooth stone where water pooled in a still, shallow area. Their throats bulged and dimmed with a soft glow, their eyes unfocused as they waited for the next fish to swim near.

  I watched. Waited.

  The first one struck—its tongue lanced into the pool with a wet slap and came back empty. The second shifted, croaked, and then its tongue lashed forward as well.

  The fish opened its mouth as it was pulled from the water, and clear needle-like spikes shot out.

  Yes! Water affinity confirmed!

  The toad jumped away to avoid the attack, the needles shattering on the ground it was standing on, but it lost its grip on the fish. Though the momentum from being pulled from the water still flung it to the shore, where it flopped around helplessly, trying to make its way back to the water.

  The other toad that had failed in its fishing attempt hopped over, and then the two toads seemed to stare each other down as the fish flopped between them.

  Suddenly, they both lashed their tongues at each other, sparks of lightning crackling off the stretchy flesh until they slapped together. There was a small shockwave as the two opposing forces collided, and their tongues returned to their mouths. They hopped around, looking for openings on each other, while the fish flopped closer and closer to freedom.

  Battletoads!

  They continued to fight, it seeming that being the same species didn’t give them much honor towards each other’s catches, but this created the perfect opportunity for me.

  I dove out of my hiding spot, barking threateningly, and their battle instantly ceased. I was much bigger, and neither wanted to take the fight as they hopped off in opposite directions. But, that’s exactly what I wanted.

  Just as the fish was a flop or two from making it back home, I snatched it up. It wiggled between my jaws, but I bit down hard as I carried it a few feet away.

  Sorry, no escape for you, little guy!

  …Or gal. It was hard to tell with fish.

  I clenched down harder, piercing my teeth through its scales and flesh until puncturing its organs. However, as I did so, I felt the inside of my mouth beginning to freeze, and I spat it out.

  It flopped weakly and shot out another ice spike, seemingly at random, as it came nowhere near hitting me.

  I licked my chops, my tongue warming the chill that set in as I watched a blue glow around the fish’s body. As the glow faded, I figured it was time to take the finishing blow.

  I dove down on its head and chomped with all my might, not quite severing its head, but my back teeth crunched through its skull, and all the little fight it possessed drained out of it.

  It was a bit of a pathetic meal, and as I got to work, I was conscious to be careful of all the tiny bones it possessed. I remembered from my human life that you should be careful while eating fish, because if they were not filleted properly, you could end up swallowing one.

  The taste was… different. It wasn’t quite like eating sashimi. It didn’t have that same freshness; I could practically taste the pond, and the lack of rice, soy sauce, and ginger to accompany certainly made it a different experience. Even lacking those things, this still was nothing like salmon or tuna.

  Whatever the case, I ate as much as I could and checked my mana to see it ticked up a little.

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  I hope that did the trick… Now I just needed to find something with an earth affinity, I supposed.

  Jumping atop a rock and looking around with a {Pulse Sense}, I was already aware that I would not likely achieve my goal in this safe portion of the cavern. I had done enough hunting here and seen enough to know that earth affinity creatures were scarce, if there were any at all. It was getting late, and I wasn’t willing to bet my time on getting lucky and finding one where I hadn’t before.

  However, the deeper part of the cavern that dipped down into darkness felt promising. The only problem is, there was something huge down there. It had been sleeping the last time I took a peek through Pulse Sense. Still, it was my best shot, so it was worth investigating further.

  I started heading that way, letting out a yawn as I hopped down from the rock. One way or another, I knew I’d end up a bit sleep-deprived tonight, but I had to keep pushing forward. I couldn’t beat the red masks with my current power; I knew that well enough. If what the two guards were saying earlier in the night was true, these caverns would be flooded with the humans sometime tomorrow.

  Escaping without ever having to fight one would be preferable either way, but that wasn’t exactly something I could take for granted.

  As I made my way to the far end of the cave and stood atop the cliff, I used Pulse Sense as I stared down into the darkness below. That large heartbeat I had detected before was nowhere in sight, but there were some more normal-sized ones.

  I walked along the cliff edge until reaching the slope in the earth that would lead me down. The path narrowed the further down I went, and I stopped once to look back and second-guess my actions. I didn’t know what could be down here, and my escape route was uphill and with nothing in the way of cover.

  It’s okay, I told myself. I was in a similar situation in the forest when I was much weaker than I am now. Just use some defensive Pulse Senses and steer clear of anything that may seem too dangerous.

  I went deeper; the light of the bugs and Healing Shrooms from the upper cavern faded the further I went, and my Night Vision began to take effect. I used {Pulse Sense} again.

  I saw more medium and small sized heartbeats. That huge heartbeat from before was again nowhere to be seen. I wondered just how deep this cavern went and if that creature—whatever it was—did its hunting further down?

  The downward slope leveled off as the walls closed in tighter around me, but soon it opened up again to a spacious area.

  I peered through the darkness, sticking close to a wall where I wouldn’t be noticed as easily. When I found a good place to watch from, I searched out the nearest heartbeat to get an idea of the kind of prey I might find here.

  I spotted one that was slow and steady, reminding me of the snake that almost killed me on one of my first hunts.

  I crept closer, keeping my body low and my paws light against the cold stone. I sniffed, not picking up a clear animal scent, but the air here had a different quality to it, strong with soil and turned earth. As I got closer, I saw why.

  There were mounds of loose dirt, piles of crushed stone, and a few jagged crystals jutting from the ground like crooked teeth. The heartbeat was somewhere underneath the ground. As I came closer, I saw movement, and I froze.

  The mound of dirt the heartbeat was under moved, like something underneath was swimming through the land. Great, I guess I’d have to dig. But, this did bode well for the possibility of finding something with an earth affinity.

  Still, I kept my distance. It was on the move, so it must have been looking for something. If I was lucky, it would stick its head up eventually. In the meantime, I used a {Marrow Sense} to get a feel for what awaited me.

  The skeleton that was revealed under me was thick, and every part of it was colored green. It a dense skull, short neck, and likewise stubby arms that reached just in front of its face. The size of its hands, along with the ease it moved through the dirt, made me consider the strength and danger it might pose.

  It stopped, and so did I. Marrow Sense faded, as it did not stay active quite as long as Pulse Sense would, but suddenly the creature changed direction, tilting down, and the mound above ground receded as it burrowed down deeper into the earth.

  I quickly ran ahead, thinking I’d better get to digging before it was too far gone, but unfortunately the few seconds it took me to close the distance told me all I needed to know.

  It weant down deeper and deeper, far from my reach and then stopped, as if it were waiting there.

  I watched until Pulse Sense faded, and I used another. Still, it waited… I had to wonder if it knew I was following it. Come to think of it, when it had first started moving, it took a direct line away from me. I had thought I was being quiet enough, but perhaps it had a Pulse Sense of its own, or it was just really good at sensing vibrations.

  Whatever the case, it was too deep to dig for; it would take way too long for me to get to it, if the earth was weakened from its own movements. Even if I tried, it would certainly just move away again faster than I could dig after it, and putting myself into a hole would be too vulnerable of a position either way.

  Giving up on this prey, I turned away, making use of the duration of Pulse Sense to spot out another worthy target.

  This heartbeat was smaller and even slower than the last I had tracked. As I moved towards it, my tail slumped in frustration.

  It was a turtle, about half my size. It crawled slowly along the cave floor, with who knows what intention in mind. Though I didn’t need a Marrow Sense to see how difficult getting through the shell would be.

  Maybe I could kill it by getting its head when it tried to counterattack, but if the intention was to eat this creature, I knew my work would be cut out for me one way or another. Maybe after killing it I could just carry it back to where I left Lily in our temporary den, then work on breaking through in comfort?

  That was a possibility, I supposed.

  However, a sudden sound delayed any further pondering.

  There was a loud thump that echoed from deep back in the darkness of the cavern, then another.

  Forgetting the stupid turtle, I quickly ran for cover, then cautiously peeked out towards the sound.

  Thump… Thump… Thump…

  They were footsteps, one after another. Slowly coming forward, and as I looked down I saw small pebbles hopping off the ground by my paws with each heavy step.

  I peered through the darkness, realizing I might have to just make a run for it. I hated to give up on my reason for coming down here, but I couldn’t abandon caution either.

  Thump… Thump… Thump…

  Each step echoed louder, until my Night Vision peered through the darkness enough to make out a shape—and unsurprisingly, it was huge!

  It was far bigger than the Felsnare Grazers by at least three times. Yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, and as it exhaled a heavy breath, I could see the whites of its long, sharp teeth floating in the darkness. That thing was a monster!

  Then, its head suddenly turned, and it ran forward. Not directly towards me, but close enough I doubled back to keep my distance.

  Thump-thump-thump-thump—

  It suddenly lifted one of its huge legs and slammed down. The entire cavern seemed to shake, and I watched in horror as a stone pillar erupted from the ground like a geyser, but broke apart as soon as it formed and fell to pieces.

  Lying amongst the rubble was a scrambling creature with claws and a thick head—it must be one of the mole things I was after earlier.

  It tried to dig back into the earth, but the giant monster bounded forward a few steps and snatched it up. A horrifying, animalistic scream erupted just before an audible crunch of bones echoed through the cavern.

  With its prey dead in its mouth, it chewed slowly, its massive teeth grinding down the bones with a series of smaller crackling pops.

  Okay, I thought. Time to go!

  But no sooner had I thought it than the chewing stopped. The monster inhaled deeply through its nose; even the wind of its intake of breath consumed the cavern. Then, its head turned, and its yellow eyes set right on me.

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