My first thought about the cave was that it was disappointing.
You'd think it would at least look cool with an intimidating name like the 'Goblin Caves.' Like a giant crystal pathway full of rare and precious gems ripe for the picking. Sadly that was not the case.
We ended up in a wide hallway made entirely of rocks and stones.
It was the opposite of what I imagined as a dark empty cavern. The disappointment I felt was immeasurable, and my day was ruined.
The old guy in charge must have noticed my disappointment because he turned his head and said
"The first floor Is like this the whole way. The only place you'll see anything worth the time is either near the stairs to floor two or, if we get really lucky, a cavern but considering all the main caverns of floor one have been milked dry, that's unlikely."
"Has it always been like this?"
The old man let out a sheepish smile.
"No, not always. Back in the day when these mines were first discovered, they were littered with rare crystals and precious metals, But that was decades ago. Now you'll be lucky to find a couple of red mana crystals."
"What happened?"
Joe turned his head and looked back at me, then chuckled to himself
"Heh, What do you think happened? The government, The Clans, and all the major guilds kept mining until it was all gone. You don't get out much, do you kid?"
Annoyed by his remark, I just started ignoring him
When I started disregarding his existence the old man glanced back at me with a smirk on his face
"Well, I'll tell you this much, if we find a Cavern, we'll be set for the rest of our lives."
Saying his peace, he turned back around and kept walking.
....
"Alright, let's stop and set up camp here."
All the miners set their stuff down. They started setting up tents and creating a base camp.
"Hey, kid, help us set up here!"
"Coming!!"
Afraid they'd cut my pay if I didn't help, I rushed over and started assisting where I could. After an hour or two of going around and helping set things up, I eventually took a break and ate dinner.
"Here you go."
"Thanks"
Looking down at my dinner, I tried my hardest not to wolf down the delicious-looking soup.
'God damn, when was the last time I ate something with substance?'
Holding back my flood of emotions, I started walking back to my tent until
"Hey, kid, come over and eat with us!"
Some of the other miners stopped me. Not thinking about it, I decided to join them.
Right as I sat down, the guy next to me started asking questions
"What's your name?"
"Abel..."
"Hmmm, That's a good name. Well, Abel, nice to meet you, my name is Phillip, and these guys over here are my friends Maurice and Clarence."
The two other old men looked at me and gave lukewarm greetings.
"So Abel, what made you join a risky job like this?"
Looking at Phillip as if his question was stupid, I responded
"The money, obviously."
All three of the old men started chuckling at my response.
"Hahaha, yeah, I guess that is obvious. My bad." After the chuckling died, he kept asking me question after question, and I kept giving him cold two-word responses. This kept going on and on until I finally finished my dinner. Wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, I gave them an excuse so I could leave.
When I did, Phillip looked disappointed but let me go with a reluctant smile.
"That's a shame; oh well go get some rest. I hope you feel better."
"Thanks"
Suddenly he dropped his smile and became serious
"Make sure you're careful in these mines, Abel. I know they may seem harmless, but if you let your guard down for even a second, you'll die without knowing what killed you."
Startled by the sudden character shift, I just gave him a weird look
"I'll keep that in mind."
After that disaster of a meal, I returned to my tent to get some rest for tomorrow's endless march.
At least, I tried to. I couldn't get that guy's words out of my head for some reason.
'What did he mean by that?'
Fiddling with the ring on my finger, I tried deciphering what he said or at least trying to understand. But it was a fruitless effort.
'I mean, no shit, this place is dangerous. I came to this place knowing that. Crazy old man
Thinking so, I finally started to drift off to sleep. As I finally managed to fall asleep, the ring on my pointer finger started pulsing like a human heart, letting out bursts of colorful light. Almost as if it was awakening.
"VVVRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMM"
But, after a couple of minutes, the light show dimmed down and the ring became dormant once more.