After some more exploring down the tunnels, Miri and Anne finally arrived at the place where the riddle rune was kept—-magically floating on top of a pedestal in the middle of a wide-open cavern. On top of the cavern where the pedestal stood, there was a large hole at the ceiling that allowed sunlight to shine through—acting almost like a natural skylight. Grown around the area were sparse patches of spotted browncaps, ones that were accompanied by small, brown blob-like creatures.
Cave slimes. Each of them varied in size, going from the size of a beach ball to the size of a bean bag chair. Having a generally brown and gelatinous body, they did not have any eyes, ears, nose, or mouth to speak of. They slid and slithered across the cavern ground at a rather slow and unhurried speed—leaving thin, sticky trails of mucus along their path.
Miri was about to raise her staff to fight against these creatures when Anne halted her. “Wait, no, Miri. These cave slimes are generally not hostile. As long as we don’t disturb them, we shouldn’t need to worry about them attacking us.”
“Well, if you say so,” Miri replied, relaxing her stance a little.
The two of them then proceeded to walk up to the pedestal to grab the star rune.
“You know, these cave slimes are quite interesting in that they are one of the few creatures that are able to eat the spotted browncaps without suffering any ill effects,” Anne continued explaining as they walked. “Their unique biology allows them to break down the mushroom's toxins, thus allowing even deadly mushrooms such as these to become part of their regular diet. In fact, cave slime are capable of consuming several other species of poisonous mushrooms besides the spotted browncap. It is really quite fascinating.”
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“Well, as long as their diet does not include us, I couldn’t care less,” Miri replied snarkily. After taking the star rune from the pedestal, the two of them examined it to make sure it was the genuine article. “Haha, yes! Looks like you’re right on the money on this one, Anne. Now that we’ve got ourselves one star rune, we’ll just need one more for both of us to pass.”
“I wouldn't be so sure about that,” a man’s voice was suddenly heard echoing from the darkness, startling both women.
“What?! Who said that?!” Miri shouted, readying her fighting stance with her staff in hand.
“I did,” the voice said. Soon, a young man stepped out of the shadows in order to reveal himself to Miri and Anne. He was a young man with green hair, wore a green robe of a druid, and wielded a wooden staff with green leaves grown from one of its ends—ones where the edges were tinged with purple. His eyes had a dull and fatigued aura to them.
“And who the hell are you?” Miri demanded, her staff now pointed warningly at the man.
“I’m a contestant, of course, Same as you two. Why else would I be here?” the druid said. “Though if you really must know, my name is Caleb Ashgrove. I must admit, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here. Finding this particular riddle rune requires an in-depth and obscure knowledge in medicinal herbology, one that even most healers lack. ‘Beware of caps with spots of brown, for it is used to kill the crown’. That is obviously a reference to the spotted browncap, which tends to grow in caves such as this one.
“It’s quite remarkable how you two are able to find it here, not to mention your handiwork with the mauve agaric spores—one that you used to handle the swarms of foxbats back there. I admit I’m quite impressed. However, this is where my praises and pleasantries end. I’m going to have to ask you to hand over the riddle rune right this instant.”
