Staring at the second tunnel, Drake held his staff up and peered into the darkness. "Well, this is the last one unless it splits again," Drake stated calmly. "We might have to go back to the little chamber in the first tunnel if it's what I think it is. After that, I'm pretty sure we need to go back to the Chamber of Knowledge."

It didn't take them very long to go through the previous tunnel, nor to open the hidden door. Now they needed to go through this one so they could complete their quest. As far as Drake knew, this was the last tunnel that they had to search. He hoped that this was the final tunnel. He didn't want to have to go through any more of them. They were too short on time.

With one last sigh, Drake entered the tunnel. His friends followed close behind him. They had their eyes and swords still glowing, as well as the Master staff. They didn't want to miss anything.

Like all the other tunnels, the walls were smooth, devoid of indentations or openings. The dark depths were shadowed in darkness, preventing them from knowing how long the tunnel was.

They scanned the tunnel as they walked, hoping that it would be a short one.

They could hear sounds in the distance. It made Renn hiss. She didn't like whatever was up ahead. Drake whispered to his friends, who could also hear the noise. They gripped their swords tighter, ready to fight whatever was hiding in the darkness. "There's something up ahead. Be prepared to fight. If it's anything like those worms, don't let them overwhelm you."

Out of instinct, Drake softly tapped the staff on the ground. A wave of soft green energy burst out, spreading in front of them. Shrieks were heard as the wave of energy flowed through the tunnel.

{You have slain a Level 3 tunnel leech}

{You have slain a Level 3 tunnel leech}

{You have slain a Level 3 tunnel leech}… … …

The system continued sending notifications, seemingly never-ending. Power rose in Drake and his cohort as the messages continued one after the other.

As the wave of energy continued, more shrieks could be heard in the dark depths of the tunnel until the soft energy finally evaporated out of existence. The glow of light particles from the leech's deaths lit the entire length of the tunnel, briefly showing that they had all been slain. Items spread out along the tunnel glistened as the light particles flickered, then vanished.

Drake wished he could see what was dropped, but the system didn't have that function. He had to keep an eye out and find whatever items were there as they searched the tunnel for their quest items.

"Watch for items dropped by the tunnel leeches," Drake advised. "I know there are a few, but I don't know what they were. My system was sending notifications one after the other, and I was too busy paying attention to what was happening with my energy, so I don't know what was dropped or how many items there were."

"I hope it's something good, whatever it is. We haven't really gotten anything for a while," Mike began, "It would be nice to get something that we can really use, like our weapons and Renn's armor."

Chad nodded in agreement, his focus on the tunnel around them. He was already looking for loot dropped by the leeches. Mike wasn't the only one who was tired of not getting anything from killing the beasts.

Renn squeaked softly on Drake's shoulder as he scanned the tunnel with her glowing green eyes. She leaped onto the ground and scampered down the tunnel. She wasn't going that fast. She wanted to find the loot and bring it back or send Drake an image of what she had found during her search.

Drake led Mike and Chad through the tunnel as they scanned the area for both items and loot. Drake didn't think there would be any items until the end of the tunnel. The only loot they would find would be from the slain leeches.

He didn't want to assume, so he kept searching with his magical eyes to see if there was anything under the dirt as they traveled down the tunnel.

After going nearly thirty feet, they found their first bit of loot. There were three small piles. One was a bag of silver coins. The bag was translucent as if it were made of the leech's skin. The second pile was a quiver of arrows. Their razor-sharp tips were translucent like glass and shimmered softly with a white light. The last pile was a pair of translucent blades that resembled crystal shards meant to attach to gauntlets.

Drake handed the crystalline blades to Mike and the quiver of translucent arrows to Chad, keeping the silver coins for himself. Double-checking the area, they continued down the tunnel. Renn came back to Drake, not being able to carry anything that she had found. She quickly leaped back onto Drake's shoulder and squeaked softly as they searched for more loot.

Mike took the blades, grinning widely as he studied the detail. Snapping them onto his gauntlets, the translucent blades shimmered and melted, the liquid running slowly over the metallic curved blades of the gauntlets. When the liquid settled, there was only one set of blades, but they had been altered. The curved blades had sharpened, creating a far more lethal edge that shimmered with a soft white light.

Chad studied the arrow tips after seeing what Mike's gauntlet blades had done. He wasn't sure what his own arrows would do, but decided to check later. He was currently using his sword, not his bow. After placing the quiver into his dimensional storage ring, he walked behind Drake and continued to search for more loot.

Drake had stored the silver in his storage cuff, not bothering to store it in his book. That would take a bit of extra time.

After going several feet, there was another pile of loot. Drake bent down and picked it up, inspecting it. It was a ring made out of translucent material, the same as the other. He wanted to be fair, so he held onto it until they found more, intending to split the loot evenly.

Another pile lay near one of the walls. It was another bag of silver in a translucent bag. He held that one too, placing it in his cuff next to the ring. After only a few steps, they could see another item. It belonged on a sword. Drake studied it. It had the same runes as Mike's. He stored it as well, not wanting to hand out loot until each of them had an equal amount of it.

After searching the tunnel, they found only three piles of loot left. There was a translucent whip and two bags of silver. He kept the whip, pulled out the sword attachment, handed it to Mike, then handed Chad the ring. "I think the ring is yours, but I'm not sure. If you can tell it's not, let me know, and I'll trade a bag of silver for it." He then handed a bag of silver to each Mike and Chad. "I think I gave everything to who was supposed to have it. I wasn't sure about the ring, though.

Chad studied the ring carefully, then put it on. It shimmered briefly before darkening. "I don't think it's mine," he stated, taking it off and handing it back to Drake.

Drake put it on, trying to see if it was his. When he placed it on his finger, it transformed into a glowing green crystal ring. The shape changed, reshaping into a thin ring that adjusted to fit his own finger. The top, bubbling up to form a larger area, then flattened. A thin line swirled, forming an insignia on the flat surface. The soft glow remained, not darkening like the others. Drake smiled, pulling out a bag of silver, and handed it to Chad. "Now I think we have what we were meant to have."

Drake put his sword in its sheath, then uncoiled his whip. Taking the translucent whip, then snapped the handles together. The translucent whip melted and then formed onto his metallic whip along its entire length. When it had completed, his whip shimmered with a lethal air. The blade's sharp tip, now translucent, glowed softly with a shimmering green light.

Recoiling his whip, he pulled his sword, allowing the soft green glow to encase his blade as they continued their search.

They found no more loot on their way, nor did they find any items meant for their quest. It took nearly an hour to reach the end of the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel was yet another chamber. It was roughly six feet in diameter. The walls were smooth and rounded. There were no indents or openings. It appeared empty, but Drake knew there had to be something hiding. At least, that's what he was thinking.

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