The crowd quickly drew their weapons. Wesley, a director of the Luigi Commerce Association, instinctively pulled out the curved knife from his waist, while the accompanying guide took down the shield from his back.
But before everyone could get their weapons ready, the holy warrior Alfred rushed in front of them all. He raised his standard-issue holy warrior longsword and shouted.
"Holy Light Art!"
A powerful platinum glow carrying strong holy energy shot towards the dark mass of vampires bats. Those with blood-red eyes melted into ashes upon contact with the glow. The rest of the vampire bats scattered and fled, quickly disappearing from sight.
"What a powerful Holy Light Art," Wesley sighed, sheathing his weapon.
"Mr. Holy Warrior, could you warn me before you do that next time? I was nearly blinded by the flash," Estel complained.
"I didn't want to do that, Mr. Estel, but these vampire bats are smart. They'll remember our faces after a counterattack and will be too scared to attack us again," Alfred said seriously. "We're here to investigate the anomaly, not to waste time with these vampire bats."
"Fine, I don't like teaming up with holy warriors anyway," Estel muttered, reluctantly agreeing with Alfred's point.
"Have there always been vampire bats in the mine?" Ryan noticed something unusual. Normally, a mined tunnel shouldn't have so many vampire bats.
"There wouldn't be this many when miners are around, but we've stopped mining this vein for nearly three months now. Maybe these damned creatures thought humans had left, so they came out again?" Wesley guessed.
This guess seemed reasonable, so Ryan didn't ask further and continued moving deeper.
The tunnel of Mine No. 1 was long. Ryan held a warhammer in one hand and a pale blue psychic blade in the other, illuminating their path. Noticing many of the rock walls were very moist and covered in ice, he asked, "Is there groundwater seeping through here?"
"Yes, Mr. Ryan, there is groundwater seepage," Wesley nodded, pointing upwards. "When Count Casanova sold us this vein, he explicitly mentioned the groundwater seepage. That's one of the reasons he sold it to us so cheaply."
"To prevent the mine from flooding, we've reinforced many areas," Wesley pointed at several seepage spots. "While there's still minor seepage in some places, it doesn't affect mining operations. The only issue is the increased cost of extraction."
Acknowledging this, the group continued towards the depths of Mine No. 1.
Noticing the candles were burning out quickly, Ryan sighed, wishing Veronica was here with her torches that were brighter, lasted longer, and illuminated a wider area compared to the poor candles.
As they moved deeper, the path became narrower, and the ground and walls more slippery. Wesley wiped off the ice from his forehead, pointing to a turn ahead, "That's the end of Mine No. 1, leading to an underground lake... What's wrong, Mr. Ryan?"
"Wait... I think I hear something," Ryan signaled everyone to be quiet.
Rustling and clicking sounds came from around the bend.
Armed and ready, the group prepared for combat. The half-elf peeked around the corner, his vision clear in the dark.
Upon seeing the scene, Estel's eyes widened in shock.
Rats! Huge rats!
Several rats, taller than a man, were gathered on the frozen surface of the underground lake, gnawing at something. They had blood-red eyes, massive bodies, and sharp claws and teeth. Estel couldn't see what they were eating, but the flying bones and flesh indicated it was something alive.
The half-elf turned back, whispering, "It's rats, huge rats."
"Skaven ratmen?" Ryan asked quietly.
"Not exactly... They look like ordinary giant rats," the experienced half-elf identified them as not the infamous Skaven ratmen, but just ordinary mutated rats.
"Then let's take them out!" The group nodded, preparing for battle. Ryan's pale blue psychic flame burned brightly as he targeted the feasting giant rats.
Psychic Storm!
Pale blue lightning struck the feasting rats, causing them excruciating pain. Two were killed instantly by the psychic storm, while the others quickly dodged the lightning and charged at the exploration team.
Estel quickly drew his bow and fired.
"Whoosh!" The first arrow hit a giant rat in the eye, killing it instantly.
As Estel prepared another arrow, the cunning rats began to dodge. One charged directly at Alfred, while two rushed towards Ryan.
"Ha!" Alfred struck one rat's head with his shield, causing it to bleed profusely.
"Whoosh!" Estel took advantage of the stunned rat to shoot another arrow, killing it instantly.
On the other side, Ryan smashed one rat's head with his hammer, while the other, sensing danger, turned to flee.
"Take it down!" The group wanted to pursue, but the ice made it slippery. Wesley hurriedly said to the half-elf.
"No need to tell me!" Estel replied irritably, aiming his bow. He calculated the distance, then shot an arrow high into the air.
Wesley doubted the half-elf's archery, but was amazed as the arrow, guided by a precise trajectory, pierced the fleeing rat's skull, delivering its final judgement.
"Such precise calculation of distance is commendable, a skill of the forest folk," Ryan nodded in approval.
"Every child of the forest can make such a shot; it's a trivial skill," Estel said, unimpressed by the praise. The group, unable to add to the conversation, moved on to see what the rats had been eating.
They found the body of a gnoll, already gnawed beyond recognition.
"Are there gnolls in this mine?" Ryan asked Wesley.
Gnolls, detestable creatures that thrive in damp underground environments, are also skilled miners and cunning slave traders.
Wesley signaled the guide to answer, who said without hesitation, "Yes, since we started mining this vein, gnolls have never stopped appearing. But they usually avoid humans, retreating after we've cleared them out a few times."
Ryan's face twitched, thinking everything seemed to have an explanation.
What really drove the miners mad?
"Have you directly consumed the groundwater here?" Looking at the thick ice layer of the underground lake, Ryan sought another explanation.
"No, we used to, but after some miners went mad, we suspected the water and told the miners to bring their own," the guide replied.
"Alright, it seems there's nothing else in Mine No. 1," Ryan concluded, noticing the ice lake was a dead end. The only features were rat burrows and dark rock walls above. "Let's move to the next mine!"
"The beginning is also the end."
"What?" Ryan frowned, turning to Estel. "Estel? Since when did you start making cryptic prophecies?"
"Hey! What are you talking about, Ryan? I didn't say anything," Estel looked at Ryan oddly. "What prophecy?"
"Ah? Wasn't it you who spoke?" Ryan was puzzled.
"I really didn't say anything," Estel was slightly annoyed. "None of us did. Are you hallucinating?"
"Yeah, good friend, none of us spoke," Alfred confirmed.
The group exchanged looks, realizing something was amiss. Ryan immediately asked, "Wait! Mr. Wesley, you mentioned earlier that many miners could hear a deep, muffled voice?"
"Yes... Did you hear it too, Mr. Ryan?" Wesley's eyes lit up, seeing the effectiveness of inviting Ryan to investigate.
"Did any miner understand what the voice was saying?" Ryan's brows furrowed deeper, asking solemnly.
"No, they said it was an incomprehensible language," the director said helplessly. "We tried to have the miners record the language for linguists, but each miner described it differently."
Ryan felt he already had a clue and signaled the group to explore Mine No. 2.
Mine No. 2 was similar to the first, but with a purer concentration of mithril ore and even narrower paths. In some places, the group had to crawl, making the damp underground environment uncomfortable. As they spent more time underground without sunlight, their sense of time blurred. Some felt they had been underground for three to four hours, while others thought it had been half a day.
The ceiling of Mine No. 2 was higher, making it hard to imagine the rock layer was fifty to sixty meters from the surface. Carefully advancing, Ryan's right hand emitted a pale blue psychic blade, lighting the way, while the others held candles to inspect the rock walls.
As they moved on, the path became narrower, with rock walls pressing in from both sides, causing intense psychological pressure. Ryan and the others were coping, but the guide and Wesley were struggling. The director cleared his throat, "Ahem, Mr. Ryan, we've been down here for a while. Should we go up for a rest and continue tomorrow?"
Ryan considered it but shook his head, "Let's finish checking Mine No. 2. If there's nothing, we'll head back to the surface."
"Okay."
After walking a bit further, Estel felt water droplets on his face and looked up at the ceiling, noticing something swinging: "Ryan? There seems to be something on the ceiling."
"What is it? Estel, can you see clearly?"
"It looks like... something hanging and swinging," Estel strained his eyes but couldn't determine what it was. "Sorry, Ryan, my dark vision isn't as good as true wood elves. It's too far, and I can't see clearly."
"Where is it?" The group looked up, seeing only darkness. "Something hanging? Can you shoot it down?"
"I'll try!" Estel aimed his bow, and the group made way, waiting for the result.
"Whoosh~" The first arrow soared into the darkness and disappeared.
After ten seconds with no response, Estel prepared another arrow, "This one will hit!"
Indeed, five seconds later, they heard the sound of metal scraping, "Hit!"
Something heavy fell to the ground about fifty meters ahead of them, making a much louder noise than expected. The group hurried forward.
They found a skeleton, covered in dust and cobwebs.
"What is this? Did someone die here?"
"It's not surprising to find bodies in underground tunnels."
"This one seems different. This body must have been dead for a very long time. Look, there's no flesh on the bones, indicating it's been years since death."
Ryan, Estel, and Alfred discussed the skeleton, puzzled by its appearance.
"Normally, a body exposed to the air and at a standard temperature and environment becomes a skeleton in about a year and a half," Ryan pondered. "In this cold underground environment, it would take even longer."
"At least several years," Estel added, flipping the skeleton over. It was unusually tall, about 2.2 meters, and had become a complete skeleton, with many bones broken and only the outline visible.
"Wait, this is..." Ryan noticed something different about the skeleton and opened its jaw.
Under the candlelight, they saw the skeleton's teeth were sharper than a normal human's, resembling wolf teeth.
Ryan's eyes widened, and he pulled out a silver wolf-head pendant, which began to glow under the scrutiny of the group.
"Impossible!" Ryan exclaimed in shock. "This can't be happening!"
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