After about half an hour, Lucas started to calm down. His quick-paced breathing was replaced with deep heavy breathing. Both Robert and Lucas' faces had streaks of red on them. They stayed quiet and still, letting the wind brush the ash around them. Robert didn't say a single word, nor did Lucas, but for different reasons. Hugging each other, they formed a serene picture in the broken-down church.
Eventually, Lucas broke the embrace, his mouth was shut tight, but Robert wasn't expecting anything. He had always lived in luxury, everything was delivered on a silver platter. Anything he asked for he could get, but there are things you simply can't buy. One such a thing was love, he always wanted to be embraced by his father or mother but rarely received such intentions, seeing Lucas in such a state blocked all his rational thoughts and reverted back to basic instincts, hugging him only felt natural.
Figuring out where Lucas grew up, he would normally have some nasty remark. This time he stayed deadly quiet, showing respect to his surroundings. His idea about the way commoners lived changed after what he saw. During the Scarlet Moon he was taking a bath enjoying the warmth of the steam, yet looking around him showed how disfigured the gap between ranks was.
Standing up, they left the church at a slow pace. Lucas was looking around, staring at certain spots like they had some special meaning but Robert couldn't figure it out.
'I don't know whether there aren't any bodies are a good or bad thing.', if they simply died, their bones would be lying around, but there weren't any signs of humanity left.
'...'
Further ahead the caravan was waiting for them, Liam stayed with them, not wanting to leave behind their young master. Lucas stopped in his tracks and took a few seconds before saying a few words.
"Thank you."
Robert didn't say anything back, not wanting to break this serene silence. With one last look at his village, Lucas went back to the caravan, not looking back anymore.
The rest of the trip was in silence, the soldiers didn't know what happened but could tell enough from their faces. Liam also didn't make any more comments and simply moved on toward their objective. 'Perhaps he can vent it out on those beasts.', Liam thought, knowing Lucas loved a good fight. Hoping that he would get out of his trance by the time they needed him.
It took some time when they arrived at their destination, this time, there was more than just a simple wooden building. There were multiple outposts and buildings. Even a small railroad that could carry minerals and raw ores from the cave.
"This is one of the biggest mines in these areas, our lord has inherited these money makers, all we need to do now is clear it out of monsters. As I've already said, there are mostly Steel Spiders inside of this mess, there could be other kinds of monsters, but I hope that our two mages take care of that. Any question?"
As the captain, it was his duty to explain how the operation would unfold. They would move as one group, splitting up was discouraged.
Their goal, for now, was to reach the center of the mine and then clear out every shaft one by one. Liam wasn't sure what to do with Lucas, he still hadn't talked at all. Normally Lucas had this cold or serious look, but it seemed that was merely a front, or the shell just cracked. Robert was next to him, while the other soldiers avoided them.
Lighting their torches they moved inside the mine as one big group. Because the mineshaft wasn't wide enough to hold them all, they formed a long line. Usually, the strongest should be at the front, Liam didn't mind taking the lead, but he was waiting for Lucas to become his normal self again. "Lucas, will you be okay?", keeping it short and straightforward he wanted to test the waters. Lucas didn't answer with words, merely nodding to signify his readiness.
It didn't take long before they heard the familiar tapping sound of the Steel Spiders. "Alright men, we're about to have our first fight of the day, are you all prepared?". The tunnel wasn't big enough for the entire group to fight, only three people could fight at the front. Lucas, Robert, and Liam took those places as the strongest of the group. One spider would take up the entire tunnel, so at least they could also handle them one at a time. This would change once they reached a bigger room, but that was a worry for later.
KIEEEK
The spider saw what entered its home, staying hidden was practically impossible with such a large group, not that they had any intention of sneaking around. Liam looked at his two mages and wasn't very happy. Robert had never fought any kind of monster, so he was scared from his first encounter, his face said enough. Lucas, on the other hand, seemed to be in an internal debate. 'Guess, I should show a good example.'
Liam drew his sword. It looked a lot different from the normal iron swords. It had red runes covering the blade while greenish runes covered the hilt. Taking the sword in hand, he made a quick but simple downward slash, completely killing the spider by severing it in two halves. "Wow", many of the soldiers were impressed, even Liam wasn't expecting such an outcome, 'I knew that this sword would be a bit stronger, but it seems the baron has outdone himself. With this, I could clear out this mine alone.', looking at his supposedly strongest companions he had another thought. 'Perhaps that's not a bad thing.'
Liam had a magically enhanced sword that completely outclassed anything without magic. He had only heard from the baron that with Venion's connections he was able to contact someone that sold magical items.
The group moved on and encountered a few spiders on their way. So far, the captain had always taken care of the monsters since he could practically one-shot them without any worries. Robert joined the battle a few times by firing some spells when Liam gave him the order. Lucas though stayed quiet, but his aura was changing. It seemed like he was coming to terms with what happened, he didn't look toward the ground anymore. Rather, he was staring at the monsters with a certain blaze in his eyes.