"Are you sure you won't be needing any more guards?" Randel asked.
Asher shook his head as he replied,
"I'm only going for an inspection. Also, it's not like the miners and guards here aren't loyal to the family, so they won't attack me. Even if they do, my guards can handle it."
It had already been a day since Asher tried sneaking into Randel's office but failed, however, he didn't really mind it. For this trip to Vermont mine, Asher was prepared to send four days or even a week, so long as he could achieve his goals. The administrative office had some extra rooms that he could make do with so a roof over his head was not an issue. Also, Vermont city wasn't exactly far so even if Asher didn't want to stay in the mine, he could retreat to the city.
After returning to the excavation site the following day, he had made preparations to 'inspect' the area, bringing with him only Luther, Aaron and a guide. Randel felt it was a bit strange and opted to add more security to his line-up, after all, Asher was still the young lord. Despite that, Asher had refused, so he could do nothing about it.
"Alright then. I will be off now, Sir Randel."
Asher headed towards the edge of the thirty metres wide pit. He moved mana down to the soles of his footwear before suddenly jumping into the pit.
"Young lord!" Randel and the others couldn't help but scream.
They thought that Asher would wait till the climbing equipment was brought over and never expected him to jump all of a sudden.
Luther was the first to react as he appeared right at the edge of the pit followed by Aaron. He was about to jump in too when he noticed something.
"You almost scared me." Luther couldn't help but sigh with relief.
"Haha. You guys look down too much on me. Have you forgotten that I'm already a Late Human stage mage?"
Asher who was standing horizontally on the wall of the pit, precisely perpendicular to the floor and the others above, smiled.
"Hurry up. The mine is quite big, and it would take a lot of time to explore it fully. The faster we leave, the better."
With Asher leading the way, Luther and Aaron also jumped into the pit and began running on the wall to the bottom. The guide was not as skilful as the trio, however, and was making use of some climbing equipment.
Sometime after the trio had descended, Randel appeared on the edge of the pit.
'For someone rumoured to have a null body, he progresses just as fast as an average talented mage or maybe even a tad faster. The duke must really love him so much.' Randel thought with a bit of spite.
It was general knowledge that a null had no talent in practising magic. Even the best of the null that had appeared in the past only made it to the fifth-stage Guardian realm, albeit barely and at an old age. For Asher to have been progressing this fast, many assumed that Darius was spending a lot of resources on Asher to force his level to keep up with others his age. Originally, they would have doubted the effectiveness of such an act, but after the True Calming potion was released, it seemed to answer all their doubts and questions. The True Calming potion was a potion that helped one to rank up in the Human stages of the mana system. As the sole producer of this drug, it wasn't surprising that Darius was able to get access to a large amount of the drug and use them on his son. If one thought from that angle, it would explain Asher's 'absurd' progress. Nonetheless, a null was still a null and the potion would lose its effect at the Guardian stage, so those guys weren't bothered.
. . .
"So where to now?"
At the bottom of the pit were six tunnels. Asher now stood in the middle of them with the other three as he wondered out loud.
Taking the cue, the guide walked up and explained the nature of the mine.
Of the six tunnels, two were positioned towards the edge of the magic crystal vein, so the quality of magic crystals mined there was lower and less valuable. Another tunnel leads to a slightly similar area but with a higher concentration of magic crystals and a low chance for some good items to appear. The remaining three led into the depths of the mine, but only two were said to reach the true depths. Asher's goal was the depth of the mine as whatever secret his grandfather had hinted to be here would most likely be located there. The problem now was to decide which of the two tunnels he would take first. It should be known that the tunnels in the mine had been worked on for over 40 years. The depth and length of the tunnels had reached impressive numbers so if possible, it would be best not to go on a pointless walk.
"Of the two tunnels, has there been any with strange occurrences within?" Asher suddenly asked.
Although the question sounded vague, Asher believed that there would be an answer.
As expected, he got one.
The guide paused a bit after the question but still replied.
"Tunnel number 5. Some workers had reported strange sounds, seeing ghosts, having strange daydreams and so on within the tunnel. If there's one tunnel that you could call 'strange', it would be it. The elder had eventually ordered an investigation of the tunnel before, but nothing came out of it. On the contrary, two deaths had occurred. In the end, only the bravest miners work there but even then, they only did so for four hours; two hours less than the others. That was the limit of the workers before they begin spotting strange sightings and having weird daydreams."
Seeing the look on Asher and the two guards, the guide seemed to predict what they wanted to ask as he said.
"The tunnel couldn't be ignored as most of the precious magic crystals with higher mana concentration were extracted from it. Most of the stock of Ope crystals we have, at least 60%, is extracted from this tunnel."
Ope crystals, just like Methan and Fera, were a special type of magic crystals, but unlike the other two, they could be used by mages for training, specifically, Guardian mages from the fifth stage and above, although mostly sixth-stage Guardian mages and above used it. For this reason, it was very valuable no matter the place. That the Vermont mine had an Ope crystal deposit was one of the selling points of the mine that made even the royal family want to wage war against the Arnhaunts for it.
"Tunnel number 4 also provides a certain percentage of Ope crystals, but it is lower than number 5. On the contrary, it has a higher concentration of Klobat crystals."
Tunnel number 4 was the other of the two tunnels that led to the true depths of the mine alongside tunnel number 5.
While Ope crystals were for fifth-stage Guardian mages and above, Klobat was commonly used by first-stage Guardians up to the fifth stage, but it was still a popular item that was very valuable in the market.
"Number 5 it is." Asher nodded.
If there was one place that might hold the secret of the mine that his grandfather carried to his deathbed, Asher believed that it would be the mysterious tunnel number 5. The problem now laid in the risk level of the tunnel.
"Young master,"
Luther, who realized this fact, couldn't help but frown. Even the guide looked as if he had his stomach in knots.
It should be recalled that the weakest guard in Vermont mine was a second-stage Guardian mage, as this was the average level of strength here. After the strange sightings and experiences in tunnel number 5, Randel had sent in a group of guards to investigate the incident, but not only did they not make any progress or achievement, they had lost two men. Asher was only a Late Human stage mage and could not compare to 2 second-stage Guardian mages. Even with his skill, Luther could not be certain of being capable of protecting Asher against the unknown force in the tunnel, hence the reason for his hesitation.
"Don't worry about it. I've made adequate preparations." Asher replied calmly.
Luther didn't say a word, but he recalled that being the young lord of the family, Asher possessed a few protective charms. Apart from that, the king had recently offered three protective artefacts that could withstand a full blow from a fourth-stage Guardian. Luther was confident that Darius had given Asher at least one of them, especially since the items were a form of apology for the assassination attempt on Asher. In other words, Asher should have at least three charms with him. That, added to Luther and Aaron's abilities, should be able to preserve his life. Of the group of soldiers who went in to investigate, only two had died. This meant that the death rate was not high, so, with the items he had on hand along with Luther and Aaron's assistance, Asher did stand a pretty high chance of surviving.
"Alright." Luther nodded.
"You too?"
The guard couldn't help but widen his eyes. Sadly, his question was met with silence as even Aaron said nothing.
Realizing that he had no choice, the guide could only lead the way.