The other villagers didn't come along. The only one who showed me the way was the old village chief.
"...Here we are. Young man, I still believe it would be better if you left." [Oswald]
In front of me was a cave supported by wooden pillars. Using |Night Vision|, I could see worn out lamps embedded in the walls of the cave.
"...I'm fine. Old man, you should head back. I'll be leaving after I've cleared everything here." [Solace]
"That's…" [Oswald]
I gave the old man a bright smile and headed inside.
"Warning: Hostility detected." [Spirit Guide]
("Already?") [Solace]
It hadn't even been a minute since I stepped in and something already wanted to kill me. It's like one of those video games where I immediately aggro something just by breathing.
("Alright, where is it-") [Solace]
Before I could even finish my thought, I felt an object slam into the back of my head.
"Owwww!!" [Solace]
I quickly turned around to see a goblin looking at its dented mace with a baffled expression.
"You little…! |Wind Edge|!" [Solace]
An invisible blade of wind sliced the goblin in half, splattering the walls with blood.
"You have gained |Experience|." [Spirit Guide]
"Ew…" [Solace]
It smelled horrible. I probably didn't notice it before, but the smell of goblin blood was similar to rotten fish.
("Did it have anything good on it?") [Solace]
Inspecting the corpse, I only took the mace it had. Anything else it had on it was just torn old clothing.
"Let's move on." [Solace]
A few minutes later I encountered three more goblins.
"|Ashen Arrow|!" [Solace]
The arrows melded with the darkness, striking the goblins down without much bloodshed.
("It doesn't smell as bad now.") [Solace]
Picking up their weapons, I acquired two old hatchets and a rusty short sword.
("Meh. I might find a use for these later.") [Solace]
"|Item Box|." [Solace]
I stored away my spoils of war, and moved on.
("...How long have I been here?") [Solace]
I navigated throughout the mines for what felt like ages. I didn't even find any monsters along the way.
("Huh? What's that?") [Solace]
I found what looked like an old elevator within the mines. Unlike the modern day ones, it was composed of rope and metal bars.
("This looks more than just potentially dangerous.") [Solace]
However, I didn't really care and entered.
("Ah.") [Solace]
The moment I set foot was a moment of regret. I heard the metal bars creak, and the rope snap.
"Oh. I've done goofed." [Solace]
I fell along with the elevator. The metal bars broke apart like a bunch of legos, so now I was just someone amidst a bunch of debris.
("How far is this fall?!") [Solace]
I looked down into the darkness, seeing quite the distance before I hit the ground.
("Judging from the speed of my fall, I'll go splat in about thirty seconds.") [Solace]
That thought process was just being generous.
("Well then, how do I get out of this one?") [Solace]
I pretended to sit in the air, sitting in the "thinker" pose.
("Hm. Can't think of anything, so pain it is.") [Solace]
I turned my feet towards the ground and braced myself.
"|Reinforce|!" [Solace]
A blue hue covered me as I hit the ground. I felt the shock enter from my feet and go up my body.
"Urgh…!" [Solace]
My legs shuddered, causing me to drop to the floor.
"Ouch…" [Solace]
Lucky for me, none of my bones broke.
("Did I lose any health?") [Solace]
"|Analyze|" [Solace]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: Solace
Race: Forsaken Spirit
Gender: ???
Age: ???
Level: 24
Health: 3867/4100
Mana: 1943/2050
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
("Huh. Almost three hundred damage. Thank god I learned |Gentleman's Favor|.") [Solace]
As I took a breath of relief, I heard a growl around me.
"Warning: Multiple hostiles have been detected." [Spirit Guide]
I glanced around, my eyes widening by what I saw.
("Well damn.") [Solace]
A sea of goblins covered the floor, each one of them staring at me with bloodthirst.
("Maybe I shouldn't have come down here.") [Solace]