Tesilim finished emptying his stomach and looked over just in time to see Alyx thrust his staff forward. With the thrust came another flash of light, though this time it was a bright blue and white as the gnome unleashed his staff’s lightning bolt. The bolt was launched at the pink, slenderman-looking creature at the far left of the cavern. Except the attack never made it. Instead, it struck a barrier of pink energy around the cave's midway point. A barrier that stretched from one side of the cavern to the other. Placing it right between the party and the pink aberration.

  It was a very tall, slender humanoid aberration with skin that varied from pink to purple. After the lightning bolt hit the barrier, it turned from the table it was by and spoke even though it had no mouth. Its face was just a blank oval, and its voice manifested in the air.

  “Hello, visitors. I'm glad to see you finally arrived. I enjoy having an audience, and considering I'm almost done with my current experiments, you couldn’t have come at a better time. Now, please wait a few minutes while I finish,” The creature finished, its voice bland and friendly.

  After the creature turned around, the party had a quick telepathic discussion about what they should do. The question was whether to waste mana to try and break the barrier, which Alyx’s lightning bolt had done nothing to, and get even lower on mana, or wait for the monster to finish the horrifying thing it was doing. Of course, as much as they hated it, after pointing out the facts, it was obvious what they had to do, and though they got ready for a fight, they waited, deciding to give the creature a few minutes while also setting up something to provide them with a slight advantage. Waiting would also let Tesilim and Rose recharge a little bit more because they would need every bit of mana they could in the fight to come.

  To begin, the thinman, which was what the tall aberration was called, was a Low C Ranker, which would already be a problem. Additionally, there were five moapiens, which varied from Mid D Rank to High D Rank. Currently, these moapiens were assisting the thinman with the messed-up experiment it was running, an experiment that seemed almost over.

  At the far end of the cavern, there were five large stone tables. Next to each table was a moapien, sitting atop a pile of flesh that appeared to be a mix of humanoid and beast, with pelts and bones included. From what everyone knew of moapiens and their ability to help other creatures regenerate flesh by consuming flesh themselves. It was clear that the blob aberrations had been used as a means to regenerate the bodies on the table.

  To that end, the bodies on the tables were what had caused Tesilim and Rose to vomit. They were a terrible mix of humanoid and beast bodies. On the very right table was the body of a very large duck whose wings and head had been removed and replaced with the arms and head of a gnome woman, who was still alive and groaning.

  Next to the duck gnome was an even bigger boar, about the size of a bear. The boar's head had been removed and replaced by the upper torso of a dwarf, essentially making a centaur of sorts. And like with the duck, the dwarf was very much alive and conscious, though his face showed he had lost his will to live.

  On the table next to the boar was an actual bear whose head had been replaced with that of an orc. The orc bear was sleeping and unmoving except for its slow, almost unnoticeable breathing. Following that was the body of a stag, which had a similar transformation to the boar. Its head had been removed, and the upper torso of an elf with dark brown hair was attached instead.

  If it hadn’t been for the last table, the party would have assumed the elf was the brother they were searching for, but it definitely wasn’t. On the last table where the thinman was currently working, one of his long fingers infused with energy, there was a large wolf. More importantly, the wolf’s head had been removed along its neck, and instead, the upper body of a furry, humanoid-looking creature was being attached. It was clear to everyone what the creature was—a werewolf. And though there could have been another werewolf in the nearby area, they all doubted it. So, the most likely cause of the brother's disappearance was that he had become a test subject for the thinman.

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  While the thinman worked, the party had decided on their approach. Obviously, Lili would engage the C Rank monster while the rest of the party dispatched the moapiens. There were two high-rankers and three mid-rankers, which would pose a threat. Of course, the real problem was going to be the cave.

  It was a large cave with plenty of room to fight, yet it remained a confined space. This meant that the aberration could target another member of their party much more easily. To that end, they had discussed leaving the cave and fighting outside, but there was concern that the aberration would attack before they could make it out. And if it caught them in the tunnel, things would get ugly fast.

  “I can trap it while you guys deal with the moapiens, but I will basically be useless afterward. Though the same ability will deal some damage,” Lili said during their telepathic discussion.

  “So, the question is whether we will be able to deal with the C Rank aberration after you use whatever ability you have or whether we want it in the fight from the beginning,” Rose stated.

  “I think it's best we let Lili trap it. Otherwise, it will make it easier for it to attack one of us if it manages to incapacitate Lili for a few seconds,” Alyx said.

  “Definitely let her trap it. That means we get to kill it,” Jasmine added coldly.

  “Drex and I are fine with either; I do have some special mana to use, not a lot, but enough to maybe make a difference in an emergency. Also, if we let you trap it, you need to leave the cave. I don’t want you placing yourself in danger,” Tesilim finished his words by looking over at Lili, who smiled.

  “Alright, so trapping it is?” Rose asked, and everyone agreed.

  “Okay, but how do we stop it from targeting us from the beginning?” The redhead asked, adding to her last question.

  “I will work on that, but I will need your help, Lili,” Alyx answered, and began a chant that Tesilim didn’t understand, but Lili clearly did, as she began making the same sounds.

  The rest of the party watched the two work as a mist began filling their side of the cavern. They didn’t know what the mists did, but everyone had a decent idea, and they eventually clarified things when the two finished their work a minute later. At this point, their entire side of the cavern was filled with the whirling mist, which did block their sight a bit, but not by too much.

  “The spell is great because it hides us from specific senses, mainly the aberrations. My spell alone wouldn’t do much due to the aberration's higher rank, but by throwing some of Lili’s power in there, it will mix it all up and make it harder for it to spot us,” Alyx explained.

  A few minutes after Lili and Alyx had finished their spells and filled their side with mist, the aberration finished and turned in their direction. As for the wolf and werewolf, they were still unconscious but fully attached; the moapien was no longer attached to them, supposedly having kept both alive. Leaving its two victims behind, the thinman moved towards the barrier, speaking as it did so.

  “Oh, I see you have made some preparations. Not that they will do much. I must say, however, that I appreciate your patience. You have been excellent spectators, and for that, I will make sure to use you to the best of my ability. Of course, first, I have to catch you.”

  Finishing its words, the aberration made it to the barrier, the moapiens having followed but still some distance behind it as they slowly shuffled forward. At the barrier, the creature touched it with both hands, its long fingers spreading out, and then the entire thing shattered. However, instead of dissipating, it became a floating, jagged mass of pink glass shards.

  It was obvious what the thinman was planning, and thankfully, the monster had overestimated itself. Before it could send the shards into the mist, a black leather hand shot out of it, touching the thinmans chest as Lili spoke the words.

  “Void Prison!”

  Then, the pink slenderman was consumed in unreal darkness, trapping it in a bubble of the void.