The place we were thrown into was like a heaven.
With a lake in the middle that had blue liquid emitting sparkling light, brightening the whole cave.
This place should have looked like heaven if not for the thousands of feet-long body of a snake-like creature, whose end we couldn't see, bound with chains right beside us.
"W-what is this?" Grace asked as she crawled towards me.
Her expression morphed into horror and anxiety as she looked at the creature's body.
Amidst the darkness, illuminated by a faint, eerie light, lay it's colossal figure.
Its form, covered in emerald scales that shined like precious gems, towered to a colossal height of fifty or so meters.
Frozen in place, the creature emanated an aura of imposing monstrosity, its massive bulk betraying no hint of movement.
"E-Eden?" Grace shook me from my shoulder, bringing me back to her.
"It's not moving, most probably it's dead, don't worry," I assured her as I stood up, my clothes covered by the viscous liquid sticking close to my body.
Because of some reason the liquid felt like it was sticking to my body like insects crawling on my body and oddly enough I felt a little cold because of it.
Ignoring the cold,moving closer towards the creature, I looked at the chains that bound it.
They had an eerie aura that felt more dangerous than the creature itself.
"Runes?"
Inspecting closer, I mumbled as I looked at the patterns made on the chains.
But strangely enough I felt another presence of another energy inside the runes aside of mana.
The presence that I thought only I can feel in this world.
I felt the presence of Star Energy from the runic chains.
"What the heck is this?" I mumbled as I tried to touch the chain.
"Eden!" I halted my hand as I heard Grace's voice, looking back I noticed her shaking her head.
I stopped my hand as I moved back towards her.
'Is this the snake that came to talk to me?' I thought as I sat beside her.
If it's the same snake, then it's most probably alive, but at least it's bound with chains.
'So, was it able to sense Star energy because it knew about it before?'
If I thought about it, it made sense.
It's the Star energy that bound its body for an unknown amount of time.
So it could at least sense it.
'But why did it show greed when it saw the Star energy?' I still felt puzzled about its behavior.
Does that mean it came to me with the hope I can free it?
"Are you okay?" I asked as I looked at her, noticing her shivering in the cold.
"It's c-cold," she mumbled, and I moved closer, concerned.
"Should I make a fire?" I asked, observing her continued shivering.
"No," she replied, shaking her head. "We are underground; don't use fire in a place like this."
I nodded, understanding the concern, as I slowly stood up.
"What are you doing?" Grace asked me, her expression one of confusion.
"Taking my clothes off," I replied as I started to unbutton my shirt.
"Don't do that in front of me," she replied, folding her arms to warm herself.
"Look somewhere else, then," I suggested as I removed my shirt, revealing my broad chest and flawless bare skin.
Grace didn't avert her gaze, which surprised me a little.
"Seriously, Eden," she said oddly as I began to take off my pants.
"What?" I asked, halting my movement.
"Don't you have any shame?" she asked incredulously as I stripped down to my underwear.
"Don't you have any shame ogling at a young man's body?" I rebuked, which left her speechless for a while.
"You are the one who is stripping in front of me," she replied, but strangely enough, she still didn't avert her gaze from my body.
"Whatever you think, lady."
"Wait! Wait! Eden!" She quickly averted her gaze, closing her eyes and placing her hand over them as I started to take off my underwear.
"Don't look, Grace. I am completely naked."
"I am not looking!"
"Don't you want to?"
"No!"
"Not even a little?"
"I said no, you idiot!"
"Last chance, Grace."
"Shut up, shameless."
Aye, I love her flustered look.
How long had it been since I last saw her being this flustered.
I smiled a little as I saw her face dyed in red from embarrassment.
Throwing the clothes in the inventory I took out a spare one as I started dressing.
"You can open your eyes." I said out loud as I changed into a comfortable clothes.
"You have changed?"
"Yes."
"Promise."
"Not really."
"Eden!"
"Okay, promise I changed."
After confirming that I wasn't lying, she opened her eyes only to find me smiling at her.
Her cheeks, still rosy in color, made her look more beautiful than she already is.
"Keep a distance of a meter from now on, pervert," she said firmly, looking at me.
"why am I a pervert now?" I asked.
"Exhibitionist!"
"Hey, that's too much," I replied as I stepped closer.
"Don't step any closer," she replied, extending her hand and making me halt my feet.
"Anyway, I have more clothes. Do you want some?" I asked, shrugging my shoulder.
"Why?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Instead of replying, I pointed at her body.
She looked down and immediately understood what I meant.
Her clothes were sticking closer to her, while her blazer covered most of her upper body. Her shirt inside stuck closer, revealing her cleavage, while her skirt didn't hide much of her beautiful legs.
"Pervert," she mumbled, trying to fix her clothes.
Shrugging my shoulders again, I took out my hoodie, shirt,shorts, and a towel passing them to her.
"If you tried to peep, I will make you regret it,she threatened me a little, taking the clothes as she stood up.
"I am not that desperate, unlike you and don't go too far from me," I rebuked, leaving her speechless again.
Leaving her, I moved towards Aeloria, who had her knees stuck to her chest, making herself like a ball.
"Hey, wake up." Crouching beside her, I lightly slapped my cheeks.
"Wake up, idiot," I said once again, this time slapping her a little harder.
"Hmm, cough... cough..." I stopped slapping her as she started to wake up.
I sat beside her, looking curiously as she slowly started to move, her eyes groggy, opening as she looked around until her eyes fixed on me.
"..."
"..."
We both looked at each other.
Her expression kept changing from confusion to realization to doubt. She then focused on me as her lips parted.
"You didn't kiss me to wake me up, right?"
"And why do you think I would waste my precious lips on someone like you?" I replied, and in the next instant, her expression hardened.
"How can someone sound both rude and narcissistic at the same time?" she asked as she slowly sat down.
"I just asked a genuine question," I replied.
"You should have gone for that, and now you will never get a chance again," she replied, sounding as narcissistic as me.
"Again, why would I do that? I'm not into old hags," I replied, finding amusement as her haughty expression crumbled.
"I am not old!" Saying so, she stood up. "You are the toad who wants to eat swan mea—ahhh!"
In the middle of her words, she screamed as her eyes landed on the monstrous body in front of us.
"W-what's that?" she asked, hiding behind me while peeking at the monster from my side.
"A snake," I replied, standing up as I watched Grace coming towards us, wearing my hoodie while she dried her hair with the towel.
"You woke up," Grace said, looking at Aeloria, who was still hiding behind me.
"W-we should r-run from here," stuttering, she replied, her eyes kept drifting towards the creature.
"Change first." Throwing some of my clothes, I said.
"Can't you see that shit there?" Catching the clothes that I threw at her, she pointed at the monster as she angrily said, "we need to move away from it."
"We will talk after you are changed, so do that before arguing."
Leaving her behind, I moved towards the liquid that was emitting soft blue light.
Dipping my hand into it, I tried to feel it.
It was thick and viscous, but as I observed it closely, I immediately thought of something that matched its description.
"What is it, Eden?" Grace asked as she arrived beside me.
"It's mana." Dipping my hands deeper into the liquid, I replied, "liquid mana."
*Rumble*
Her hand, which was drying her hair, stopped as we both looked at the body of the monster.
The colossal body shifted ever so slightly, a ripple coursing through its massive form as the chains that bound it held it firmly in place.
"AHHHH!" Almost immediately, Aeloria's shout resonated throughout the cave.