Chapter 7 Cohabitation? (1/2)

These are absolutely stairs right?

Tiny eyes boggling, I approach the cave entrance in order to closely examine these stairs.

It definitely appears as if these stairs have been carved directly into the rock. Now who exactly would be responsible for carving stairs into solid rock Anthony?

Why humans of course! Human civilisation! This is the first tangible evidence I've see that any sort of humanoid creature exists in this new world. Fantastic! I can't help but be excited and also a little nervous. I wonder what sort of fantasy like people live here? Will I see dwarves? Elves?!

The idea of voluptuous Elf ladies is almost enough to make me giddy!

This is getting more and more interesting. Why would they bother to carve stairs into this tunnel and not the others? The answer is almost self-explanatory, this is a very frequently used tunnel, therefore they have made it more convenient to travel down here. This means it's likely there may be more stairs nearby, but leading up instead.

Perhaps a path to the surface!

I quickly crawl down the wall and approach the stairs leading downwards. Wow! This is actually the first chance I've had to compare my size to an object I can relate to in my previous life! If we can a.s.sume that people in this world are roughly the same size as those in my old world then by comparing my size to the stairs I'll be able to make a rough estimate of how large I am. All I have to do is hop onto these stairs.

Hmmm.

I think I'm a little smaller than perhaps I first thought? Judging by the height and length of each step I can say I'm probably only tall enough to come up to a full grown adults knee, and I'd be roughly as long as a full stride, so perhaps a metre?

But wait! That means all those monsters who looked to terrifying and ma.s.sive to me, from a human perspective … would actually be fairly small?! The wolf creature would be almost waist height, the th.o.r.n.y lizard is even smaller than I am, about the size of a badger, and the terrifying, enormous Croca-beast would be less than shoulder height?!

Are all the monsters in this area actually very weak?

Thinking logically it would be a great thing if they were, since I probably would not have been able to survive this long if they were strong. This does raise the possibility of there being much stronger, larger and more powerful monsters elsewhere in these tunnels.

I'll be doing my best to avoid those then! May our paths never cross.

Okay, since the more powerful creatures probably live deeper, since that's how it works in games and this world is so strangely game-like I will operate on the a.s.sumption that the safer places are closer to the surface.

I resolutely turn away from the tunnel and begin to move further into the cavern. Yes! I can see more signs of modification here and there. Every now and again there is a step carved into the floor to make pa.s.sage more easy and I also notice carved areas at about human head height on the walls at fairly regular intervals. Are these perhaps for holding torches and illuminating this s.p.a.ce?

In fact, the further I travel the more signs of civilisation I see. The ground is starting to slope upwards more and more as well. Perhaps the surface is actually very close?

Looking around I can see that there are very few tunnels branching off the main cavern at this point, not even small ones, also the pulsing veins of light along the walls are further apart and thinner, making the s.p.a.ce a little darker than further into the cavern.

Perfect for a stealthy existence like me! I'll keep exploring!

My heart is pounding in my chest now. I might actually get to see a person from another world! I have so many questions. What do they look like? What race are they? Do they know magic? Is there some sort of adventuring guild that goes dungeon exploring? Maybe I'll be able to communicate with them somehow, perhaps sign language or some form of interpretive dance will work?

This could be breakthrough in human/ant monster relations!

How often would they have seen a human mind trapped in a monster body? Possibly I'm the first of my kind!

The cavern is becoming more narrow, the steps more frequent and the slope steeper the further I travel. Actually … is that? I think it is.

Sunlight.

My antennae wave excitedly in the air as they get their first taste of dim, reflected sunlight. The surface must be extremely close now!

I continue scuttling forward, excited to get a taste of the surface air on this new world. Gradually I can see a source of light ahead, reflecting off the stone and diffusing into the cavern.

Oooo.

More human construction! It look almost like a wall of some kind. I s.h.i.+ft my head to try and get a better view, my eyes seem to work even worse than usual under the effect of natural sunlight, I may need to get closer.

Yes, it seems like some sort of wall constructed against the side of the pa.s.sage, there are small window slits carved into the stone, presumably so someone behind the wall can see and attack out.