Discovering the Secret Cavern
Pebble led the three of us into the newly discovered passageway. At first the tunnel was very narrow, only letting one person able to walk through at a time, but as we went deeper it began opening up into a more spacious path.
After having walked for over 30 minutes Pebble started pointing out spots on the wall he wanted us to dig into. Liza with her pickaxe in hand would enthusiastically begin digging, uncovering little bits of iron ore and silver. As she dug deeper Liza ended up finding a big chunk of sapphires. Their elegant forms reflecting the little light we had, making them more beautiful.
“What a score. You rarely find rare gems like these here. We must have discovered an untouched cavern.” (Liza)
A dopey grin could be seen across Liza’s face. Honestly who could blame her.
With Pebble leading the way he would point out spot after spot where Liza would dig up more and more gems. A few hours went by and by then we had collected a treasure-trove of gemstones. We had gathered multiple rubies, sapphires, topaz, amethyst, emeralds, and a small amount of diamonds.
“Hey little miss, you think it’s time we head back now? We’ve collected quite the haul already.” (Raiden)
“Just a little more. Luckily we haven’t run into any monsters here yet and I’m so close to unlocking another copy of my soul card.” (Liza)
“It looks like Pebble still wants us to go further in too.” (Arin)
Out of all of us Pebble was the one most eager to continue on. He would pull on my leg, trying to make us move to the next spot down the tunnel. Even with all the rage gems and metals we had uncovered Pebble was more interested with what was at the end of the passageway.
“Alright Pebble, we’re coming. Relax.” (Arin)
We kept our pace going through the tunnel, only stopping to either rest or mine more gems. After a while the tunnel began branching off, becoming more of a maze than a mine. Thankfully Pebble’s intuition helped us decide on the path that led us to more treasure. And unlike the when we first entered the mine we had not encountered any other monsters.
“Master I think I see something up ahead. Be careful just in case.” (Raiden)
In the distance a small light could be seen. It must have been the end of the undiscovered area. Walking closer and closer the light which was more dim became much brighter. When we had fully reached the light we found an enormous cavern.
The walls reached hundreds of feet high, curved in almost like a dome. At the top was a massive hole leading to the surface. The light from the sun shines through, illuminating a crystal clear spring made more dazzling by water falling from the sky light into it. Moss and other plants were growing by the edge of the water source, and in certain places rainbow colored crystals decorated the terrain.
“This is… I…” (Liza)
“So beautiful…” (Arin)
Both mine and Liza’s minds took a moment to process the magnificent sight before us. Without thinking I blurted out the first feeling I thought in my head.
The only one of us not entranced by the scenery was Pebble.Almost instantly Pebble dashed towards the rainbow colored crystal and cringed to it with an almost euphoric expression. Weird that a golem could make an expression at all but I guess when you’re that happy things find a way to happen.
Now hugging the crystal Pebble uses [Secrets to Alchemy] and starts absorbing the it into his body.
“Stop right there you rock muncher!” (Liza)
Liza hurries over to Pebble and pulls him or the crystal mid meal, leaving most of it intact, but with a good portion of it gone and in Pebble’s body.
“Wait before trying to eat everything here. When you discover a never before seen crystal the first instinct shouldn’t be to eat it.” (Liza)
Liza grabbed Pebble by his nape and quickly pulled him away from the crystal. Pebble started to look sad, almost as if he was about to burst into tears.
“Liza you can let him have one at the very least. There’s more then enough of those things here.” (Arin)
Liza looking back at Pebble who was dangling from her hand. Looking into his eyes you could see Pebble's innocence shining through. This look made Liza’s face slightly flushed. She tries to calm down and hide her embarrassment.
“Fine, you can one right now, but wait until I grabbed a few before chowing down on them again. Got it?” (Liza)
Pebble violently shakes his head up and down in excitement. He is them placed back down and goes back to enjoying his meal.
“Looks like the lass is weak to things she finds cute. Sorry master, that’ll make it hard for you.” (Raiden)
“Pardon? What are you talking about.” (Arin)
“Maybe I have it backward. The little lady’s got a long road ahead.” (Raiden)
I’m not sure what Raiden was talking about but that thought could wait for now. I was more interested in the rainbow colored crystals we had just discovered.
Now that Pebble was dealt with Liza with her pickaxe in hand started excavating the crystals. After a few swings the first specimen was easily acquired.
“I wonder what what you are.” (Liza)
Liza uses the [Card Craft] skill, turning the rainbow crystal into a card and looks over its written description.
“So what does it say? Is it something good?” (Arin)
I walk over to where Liza was standing and see a stupefied look on her face. Her jaw completely dropped, eyes widen, Liza was was absolutely overwhelmed by the shock of finding out about the mysterious crystal.
“Hey you good? Liza, snap out of it. Are you even listening. Hey!” (Arin)
“Wha… Sorry, sorry. I just… look at this.” (Liza)
Liza hands me the crystal’s card and examine its contents. My pupils dilate from surprise and I make sure I read the card properly. What we had just found was worth more then ten times what we had gathered so far.
Manatite Crystal
Rank: 10
-This crystal is formed from dense mana in the environment condensed into physical form. Has magic conducting properties that now only enhance magic channelled into it but reduces the cost of mana used. Recommended material for legendary class weaponry.
A rank 10 material right before my eyes. Usually something of this rank could be sold to nobility for a fortune. A sword or armor made with this could be classified as a national treasure. Not to mention that all around us there were more crystals then I could count.
“Liza, for some reason no matter where I look I see dollar signs.” (Arin)
“What a strange coincidence Arin, so do I.” (Liza)
With one glance at one another we knew we had the same thought.
“Lets grab them all!” (Arin & Liza)
Both Liza and I started digging up as much manatite as we could find. Non could escape us. Before long a giant pile of manatite was successfully gathered by us.
While ecstatic about our haul I noticed Raiden with a worried expression.
“Is everything alright Raiden? You seem anxious.” (Arin)
“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this place. For the longest time while exploring this new area we haven’t run into a single monster. Normally Liza’s skill should have attracted all in the area towards us for the longest time I haven’t been able to sense a single presence.” (Raiden)
Now that he mentioned it the four of us had been exploring for hours now and we weren’t attack at all as soon as we entered this unexplored place.
“That paired with how manatite only forms in areas with densely packed mana could be a sign that this isn’t a normal cavern.” (Raiden)
Right on queue with Raiden’s concerns a powerful gale blew up about at the the caverns sky light. The light from the hole started to dampen as a massive shadow began eclipsing the sun from above. As the creature entered through the hole its form became easier to discern.
Giant black wings that could create thundering gales., just as dark scales encasing its entire body, and an ominous smoke leaking from its jaw. The beast was the embodiment of death itself.
“Raiden, I think this is the reason why there’s no other monsters around.” (Arin)
“Unfortunately master, I believe you are right.” (Raiden)
As it descended to the ground the monster’s form was unmistakable. We had ended up in the nest of a black dragon. An high ranking monster that would require a small army to handle it.
At this moment this was no longer a normal bodyguard job, this was a fight for survival. One that we were severely unprepared for.
