Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 4.11: Vanora

"Hope you'd like this." He said while placing the plate of blue rare meat drizzled in some kind of red colour sauce in front of her. It already smelt and looked appetizing. Her stomach finally growled with hunger she did not know she was suffering from and the desire to hunt for much more arose within her.

I see... I really wouldn't know how much I'm craving for meat unless I'm around my prey or when it's too late. She stared at the generous serving on her plate then looked at him. "Do you not need to eat?"

"I'll eat whenever I feel like it. I do not suffer the same dependency on food like other demons."

"I see." Vanora returned her attention to her meal and proceeded on to cut off a chunk of meat. The moment the flavour and taste hit her, she could not help but let out a sound of pleasant surprise. "Mm!"

She could tell that he gave her something of premium quality yet again. It tasted so good that she could not help but wonder if everything else she ate after this that was below this standard would taste plain from now on.

Vlad was put in a very good mood to see Vanora enjoying her food. "Take your time to eat, I'll be back in a jiffy." And he left again the moment he was done speaking. He really just comes and goes as he wants. 

She returned to eating without a care in the world and did not take very long to wolf down her meal. By the time she was done eating, Vlad coincidentally appeared back in the middle of the room.

"Just in time." Vanora said as she stood up to walk to him. 

He smiled and walked towards her as well then curled his arms around her waist. As soon as he made contact with her, the familiar grey fog started covering the scene around them. This time when the fog lifted, Vanora found that they were on a vast barren land standing in front of a random cave entrance.

"Fight to your heart's content." Vlad said while he extended a hand towards the cave.

Vanora looked at the cave with a raised eyebrow. This is like some dungeon quest to be completed in fantasy stories or games. I wonder if the monsters gradually become tougher the deeper in you travel too. 

BaoBao took it as a prompt to check what was inside. I think it may be. I can't tell how strong they are but they do look like different demons the deeper in you travel. Also, the cave goes deeper and deeper underground but it will level off after about 1 kilometre under then there will be an exit on the other side.

Vanora had intended it as a joke but with BaoBao's information, she wondered to herself while she entered the cave. I didn't know hell was so... organised.

The path was brightly lit up by the flame torches lining the wall of the cave. They walked on for quite awhile and like BaoBao said, she could feel that she was very gradually going down a slope. Finally, the tunnel opened up into a big open space that looked like an arena ideal for battle. She could feel like she was being watched the moment she stepped foot into the open space but nothing appeared, so she took decisive steps toward the center of the arena.

This feels so... scripted.

The moment she reached the center with Vlad, several ugly and deformed winged creatures swooped down towards her from the darkness above her. However, she had been expecting it. She jumped up and kicked the one above her to crash into another then moving on to deal with the others. She found that although there were a lot of the creatures and they were very fast, they were considerably weak. She easily matched their speed and knocked them out in either one or two hits. The floor was increasingly littered with their still bodies. She did not know how long exactly she took but she was slightly panting by the time she was done. It's... a perfect warm up exercise...