The secret goblin tunnel proved itself to be not quite what one might imagine upon hearing the words ‘secret goblin tunnel.’ Though certainly a secret and equally a tunnel, it was hard to imagine a bunch of primitive greenskins as the ones responsible for making it. For starters, the passage was wide and tall enough for someone of Ozzy’s stature to traverse it comfortably. That was impractically spacious for goblins. Secondly, it was carved into a layer of solid granite. Quite expertly, at that. The angles between the walls, floor, and ceiling were all a perfect ninety degrees, and the surfaces in question were smooth and flat to the point of disbelief. The fact that the tunnel was still intact and uncollapsed despite its apparent age spoke volumes as to the craftsmanship that went into it. It was hard to imagine a bunch of goblins from millennia ago would have both the technology and the expertise to create such a thing.

This mystery did little to deter the survey team, of course. If anything, it only spurred them to delve deeper and quicker, though Ozzy and Angela made sure the group maintained a moderate pace. Though a slight draft had followed them in, it was safe to assume that they’d run out of oxygen quite rapidly if they weren’t mindful of their breathing. That was why the druid was quietly thankful that they had flashlights instead of torches. Back in Einhan, one of the first lessons every rookie adventurer learned was that open flames and closed spaces were not a healthy combination. Ozzy imagined plenty of folks back home would pay top coin to have this convenient handheld device. It was basically magic that anyone could use.

The druid grunted a swear under his breath. What the hell was he doing? This was neither the time nor the place for such idle thoughts.

“Everything okay back there?”

Apparently the man’s self-admonishment had been a little too loud, seeing as Angela heard it even though she was way out in front and Ozzy was covering the rear.

“Just a pebble in my shoe,” he lied.

“You want to stop so you can get it out?” the redhead offered.

“No, I’m good. Best not to stand still down here.”

“Yeah, about that,” Wade nervously piped up. “Just how long is this damn tunnel?”

“I’ve been wondering that myself,” Eva took out a pocket watch. “We’ve been in here for almost ten minutes now. This doesn’t feel right.”

“I agree with Libby,” Angela chimed in. “This tunnel makes no sense.”

“How so?” the technician asked.

“No writing or pictures on the walls. Also no forks or turns, not even stairs or ramps. It’s like a maintenance shaft. Except we’re inside a mountain, and it was made by cavemen. It make-a no sense.”

“Huh. That’s… a very good point.”

“It’s frustrating, is what it is,” the librarian sighed. “I cannot for the life of me figure out how, why, or even when this thing was made. I feel like a failure of a scholar.”

“Come now, Eva,” Ozzy tried to cheer her up. “Even the greatest detective cannot work without clues.”

“True, but they’d also have ideas where to find them. Meanwhile all I can think of is that it definitely wasn’t made by goblins.”

“I think you might get the chance to flex your brain very soon, Libby.”

“How so?”

“I hear running water up ahead.”

Sure enough, another fifty paces later and the group were finally out of the mystery shaft. They emerged into a spacious natural cavern about the size of a theater in terms of width and height. It was so spacious that Angela allowed Marcello out of his covered cage so he could stretch his wings. The falcon couldn’t fly freely, however, as the space was dominated by a series of enormous rocks that looked a lot like the standing stones the team had encountered previously. They were tall, cylindrical, and covered in moss and lichen just like the aforementioned landmarks. They were also significantly larger than the ones outside, ranging from two to ten times the height and width. As for the sound of water, that was coming from a subterranean stream that flowed through the cavern. Over the years the water had carved out a small canyon, creating a five-meter-wide gap that obstructed the team’s way forward.

And the team absolutely wanted to go forward. Shining their flashlights across the gap revealed a large stone structure built into the cave wall on the opposite end. Furthermore, the ground on that side was paved over in stark contrast to the moist dirt the explorers were standing on currently. There were also signs of a bridge that once spanned the chasm but had long since collapsed. On the upside, there was no danger of running out of oxygen here, so the team was finally able to stop and assess their situation. Some minor concerns about whether they should back out after all were raised, but quickly brushed aside by Ozzy and Angela. The two of them were far more concerned with getting over the enormous gap and exploring the ruins on the other side than any legal or professional repercussions they might face.

“Wade, any ideas?” Eva asked.

“Uhm, why are you asking me?”

“You’re our technician, and we seem to be in need of an ad-hoc engineering solution.”

“Right. Er… I’ll… start working on that…”

“I have a grappling hook and plenty of rope. Maybe we can work with those?” the druid suggested.

“Mmm. Maybe. There’s not much to anchor it to, though,” the gunslinger pointed out. “What about climbing down and up the other side?”

“That could work. Water doesn’t seem like it’s moving too fast, but the rocks are damp and no doubt slippery.”

“Yes, and it’s a fair drop down. We could use some pitons and that rope to make sure we don’t fall.”

“Do you have any pitons?”

“No. I wasn’t expecting to do any rock climbing. You?”

“Same, but I think Wade might have some.”

The two of them turned to the young technician, but he didn’t seem to notice them as he was lost in thought while staring at one of the huge stone pillars dotting the chamber.

“Wade!” Ozzy raised his voice.

“Hm? Sorry, what?”

“You got any climbing gear in there?”

“Afraid not, sir. May I ask why?”

“We wanted to try to climb down and then back up onto the other side.”

“Ah. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Some of us might not be able to… handle that kind of exertion.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Hello?” Eva called out, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Frail bookworm over here.”

A realization of, ‘oh, right, not everyone’s a trained athlete’ dawned on both Ozzy and Angela.

“I could try and throw you across,” the druid suggested.

“Really?” the brunette crossed her arms.

“I’m stronger than I look.”

That was quite the statement considering he was basically an orc in human skin, and after seeing him ‘play’ with the wildlife, it was hard for anyone to dispute that boast. However, that wasn’t the issue here.

“Absolutely not,” the librarian replied. “That’s a five meter gap. Even if you somehow clear it, I’d land so hard that I’m liable to break something.”

“Can you toss me across instead?” Angela asked. “I always land on my feet, you know.”

“I’m… having second thought about that, actually,” the man winced. “I could very well miss.”

Safely throwing a person over such a gap would not have been an issue for Ozzy back in Einhan, hence his spur-of-the-moment suggestion. However, he had been neglecting his physical conditioning ever since he arrived in New Ostor, and the natural magics that suffused his body could only do so much. In other words, he was just reminded that he was weaker than he usually was, and therefore uncertain about his ability to clear the chasm. He could theoretically bulk up tremendously if he took on the first form of his Feral Aspects, Bear That Stands. It was how he ripped open the stone wall that led him and the others to this place to begin with. However, that wasn’t something he wanted to show to others unless he was completely out of options.

“You could try to throw something of similar size and weight to see how it feels,” Wade suggested. “A dry run, of sorts. Maybe break off one of these here stones for it.”

“Great idea. How much do you weigh, Angela?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Eva interrupted. “This place looks like it might be a natural wonder. Not to mention its historical and cultural significance.”

The other three looked at the librarian for a few awkward seconds before Angela said what all of them were thinking.

“Come, now, Libby. It’s just a bunch of stupid rocks.”

“It’s not like they have writing or anything like that on them,” Ozzy pointed out.

“… Fine,” she relented with a pout. “We’ve already defaced one historic site today. Why stop now?”

“Exactly!” the gunslinger smiled for a moment before turning back to the tracker. “Anyway, with all my gear, I’m about ninety-five kilo.”

“Alright,” he nodded.” Wade, can you give me a hand?”

“You got it.”

The two of them got up from the small huddle they were all seated in and walked over to one of the rocky pillars. The druid pressed his ear to it and tapped on it a few times, then moved onto another and did the same. This process was repeated a total of six times before he settled on one that was about as tall as Angela.

“This one will do. Can you knock it over?”

“Shouldn’t be too hard. Give me a minute.”

The technician took out a metal toolbox and set it down on the ground. From it he retrieved a hammer and some thick iron nails that he used as improvised chisels. The stone proved far tougher than he was expecting, however, and had to rely on Ozzy’s superior strength. The druid had a rough understanding of what he was doing and was able to topple the rocky formation in just a few minutes. It landed on the ground with a heavy thud that sent moist dirt flying everywhere. This was clearly much heavier than Angela, so Ozzy tried breaking it in half. Unfortunately the nails he was using weren’t meant for this sort of work and were bent into uselessness before he could finish splitting the pillar.

“Ugh,” he groaned. “Maybe I should just fetch a log from outside.”

“Wait, what are you even doing?” Eva asked.

“I’m getting a substitute for Angela. You know, so I can check whether I can actually-”

“Yes, yes, yes, but what would getting her across the chasm alone accomplish?”

“Uh…”

The two of them looked to the redhead inquisitively. Surely she had some sort of plan and wasn’t just asking to get thrown over a deadly drop for the thrill of it. Right?

“You know, that is…” the gunslinger hesitated, “a very good question!”

“Great. Just great,” Eva grumbled. “So, let me get this straight - we just broke Wade’s tools, wasted our tracker’s energy, and smashed what might as well be a natural wonder, for nothing?”

“I am sorry, Libby. I did have an idea, but in the moment I forgot Wade did not have-a the climbing gear.”

“Where is Wade, actually?” Ozzy suddenly noticed his absence.

“He was just here, wasn’t he?” the librarian looked around.

“He walked off muttering about something while you were knocking the pillar over,” Angela claimed.

“Where to?”

“There.”

The redhead pointed over her shoulder to a rogue beam of light that illuminated the ceiling about twenty paces away. A closer look revealed this was coming from Wade’s flashlight, which was resting on the ground at the base of one of the biggest stone pillars in the cavern, not too far from that annoying chasm. The group then saw the man himself walking backwards through the light while holding a device that was completely foreign to Ozzy. It was a wooden box about the size of a flower pot with a T-shaped handle on top and two spiraling wires poking out from the bottom end. Eva and Angela were equally stumped as to the device’s function until Wade revealed that the aforementioned lever was actually a plunger, which he accomplished by pressing down on it until it clicked.

What followed was a thunderous boom, a flash of light, a startled falcon’s cry, a cloud of smoke, several splashing sounds, and two very loud crashes, not necessarily in that order. Wade emerged from the ordeal entirely unscathed except for a few scratches from errant shrapnel and a bunch of dirt stuck to his clothes. Only then he noticed the other three were looking his way with confusion and disbelief plastered on their faces. The technician took a few moments to pat the dust off his sleeves and hands before finally answering their unspoken question.

“I, uhm, made a bridge.”

He pointed at the source of the explosion, where the formerly standing stone pillar had fallen across the chasm. With the shock wearing off and realization setting in, Angela let out a boisterous, rapid, high-pitched, wheezing laugh. Regardless of the woman’s various shortcomings, the way she expressed her joy was so pure and natural that it immediately dispelled any tension from the situation. Ozzy couldn’t help but chuckle along, and even Eva had a smile on her lips even though her head was shaking in disapproval. Seeing the librarian’s conflicted expression made Wade realize something a little too late.

“Ah. I… probably should have warned you first, huh?” he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

He’d been so focused on solving the problem at hand that he momentarily forgot there were other people around. It was a bad habit of his that contributed to his garage’s lack of customers. People hated being ignored, after all.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” the redhead declared between bouts of laughter. “Good job, Mr. Technician!”

“Aye,” the druid nodded. “That was some precise destruction you inflicted. You’re a man of many talents!”

“Uh. Y-yeah. Absolutely.”

Eva squinted hard at the man. She had a hunch this was the first time he’d actually handled the League-issued demolition charges. Admittedly one had to have a specific license to requisition them from the quartermaster, implying that Wade had at least a basic level of competence with handling explosives. However, the librarian knew for a fact that acquiring that demolition license was far, far easier than it reasonably should be. The qualification process was essentially just a few seminars and a written exam that any explorer with half a brain could pass. The irresponsible ease with which total rookies were allowed explosive devices was just one in a long list of issues she had with the way the League did things. None of that was Wade’s fault, though. He was just trying to help, which he absolutely did. Even though most of it was probably beginner’s luck, the young man had provided a safe and stable way to cross that chasm and likely learned a lot in the process. The team’s scholar therefore decided to let him have his moment and gave him a reassuring thumbs-up.

Eva’s criticisms were quite valid, however. The aforementioned seminar taught basic usage and safety precautions when it came to handling League-issued demolition charges, but that was it. The course didn’t even touch the subject of what sort of complications could arise from the use of explosives, with cave-ins being an obvious hazard. That wasn’t an issue in this scenario seeing as how the pillar wasn’t even connected to the tall ceiling, but there was one other unforeseen side effect. The shaped charges sent tremors through the ground that travelled for hundreds of meters before fully subsiding. These vibrations were entirely imperceptible to humans at that extreme range, but there were things in those depths that were quite sensitive to such disturbances. A small pack of these creatures noticed and were drawn to the source of the blast. It would take them some time before they got there, but the survey team had no idea something was coming. That was why they took their time to carefully traverse Wade’s ‘ad-hoc engineering solution.’ They had just finished crossing the chasm and were halfway to the stone ruins in the back of the cavern before the consequences of the rookie technician’s rash actions caught up with them.

Angela was the first to notice that something was amiss. A barely audible assortment of sounds crept up from the ravine behind them - hissing and scraping noises that were mixed in with the rushing water at the bottom. The feralian instantly spun around, drawing a revolver with one hand and a flare with the other as part of the same conditioned reflex. Ozzy reacted to that movement by doing much the same a split-second later. Eva and Wade were the last ones to follow suit, both puzzled and alerted by the other two. There was a tense moment of silence during which they were all made acutely aware of the rapidly approaching disturbance.

“Merda,” Angela whispered under her breath, then raised her voice. “Marcello! Fwit, fwit, fwit!”

After whistling three times, the redhead popped her flare and tossed it into the air. The falcon swooped in and snatched the metal tube with its talons before ascending towards the spacious cavern’s ceiling. Within moments, the entire area was lit up by the bright red flames and sparks spewing out of the flare, almost like a miniature sun. The things climbing up from the chasm reacted by rushing over the ledge and towards the group. At a glance, they appeared to be enormous ants. A second look revealed that they were significantly more grotesque. Their bodies were tall and narrow, with short, barely noticeable tails and elongated necks. Steel gray chitinous plating covered everything but their underbellies, where rough, dull red flesh could be seen. They had four legs, each tipped with an enormous pick-like appendage that looked ideal for splitting apart rocks and people alike. Their slender heads sported a pair of round pitch black eyes and a set of jaws flanked by sharp mandibles and filled with dozens of long, needle-like teeth.

There were four of these things in total, each of them as big as a horse and similarly quick as they charged the group.

“Mine-munchers!”

Angela’s call-out was instantly drowned by the roar of her revolvers. Wade and Eva frantically retreated away from the incoming threat while the gunslinger fired off a total of seven shots at the closest beast. Three of those bounced off of its natural armor, one burrowed into its open maw, two more grazed its exposed-yet-muscular neck, and the last one nailed its eye. That was all the damage she managed to do before the muncher finished closing the distance despite its injuries. It squeal-hissed as it lunged towards the gunslinger, but never reached her as Ozzy shoulder-checked it from the side. The muncher let out a high-pitched yelp as its top-heavy body fell over with a heavy thud. Its thin legs flailed around as it tried and failed to get back up. It would succeed eventually, but was out of the picture for a precious few moments.

With one muncher temporarily incapacitated, Ozzy moved towards another two that were circling around him to the right. These things clearly had a pack-hunting instinct, given how most fanned out to surround the group while the biggest and toughest among them challenged them head-on. The druid couldn’t let that happen, especially since the creatures outnumbered them. Wade and Eva were not combatants, after all, so it was largely up to him and Angela to fight these four off. It probably wasn’t a good idea for the technician and the scholar to move away from the fielder and the tracker since that would make protecting them more complicated.

Or at least it would, were it not for Angela. The redhead noticed one of the beasties trying to get at the vulnerable people behind and made that one her next target. She unloaded the remaining five shots in her twin six-shooters into it. Thankfully it was much easier to hit mine-munchers from the side than the front, and all of her bullets hit their mark. They burrowed into the creature’s flank, just behind its front shoulder. The muncher kept running for a few more paces before it rapidly slowed down and fell over, no longer able to breathe as its lungs had been destroyed with pinpoint precision. Unfortunately, though one target was down, Angela’s revolvers were out of ammo. Though deadly and precise, the fixed cylinder design made it so reloading them required time that she did not have. The one she had shot initially and was then tipped over by Ozzy was moments away from getting back to its feet, at which point it would no doubt resume its attack on the gunslinger. The redhead was in a bit of a rough spot, but this was far from the first time she had found herself in close quarters. She was ready for it.

Meanwhile, about twenty or so meters away, Ozzy was engaging the third and fourth munchers in close quarters. They bit and stabbed at him with their jaws and forelegs, but he was able to shrug them off thanks to the protection of his enchanted leathers. Unlike his disposable handaxes, the man’s asymmetrical armor had been custom made to fit him and his fighting style. True, it left his chest and back largely exposed, but that rarely mattered considering he faced opponents with his armored left shoulder forward. Combined with speed and agility that belied his size, he was able to scrape by the munchers’ assault with only grazing injuries. He wasn’t just stalling for time, of course. Though relatively small, the hatchets in his hands nevertheless dug deep into the beasts’ chitinous shells thanks to his superhuman strength. He also made good use of his feet, and not just to move around. These creatures had to raise one of their forelegs if they wanted to stab someone, which left them precariously off-balance for a split second. A swift and powerful kick to the other front limb at the right moment was enough to trip them up, and Ozzy was able to exploit that weakness to great effect. As one might expect, handling two of the beasties at once was a significantly easier task when they were stumbling and falling over.

However, the so-called mine-munchers were much smarter than they looked. Their nastiest trait was the uncanny speed at which they adapted to situations, and the two-on-one scuffle with the druid was no exception. As the one to the druid’s left raised its bladed foreleg for another thrusting attack, he naturally tried another sweeping kick to knock it off balance. He succeeded, forcing it to stagger back as it frantically attempted to keep itself upright. Unfortunately, the muncher to his right was waiting for this and returned the favor. The tip of its limb slammed into the druid’s grounded ankle from the side with enough force to send him tumbling to the ground. It then reared up and lunged down at him with both forelegs, threatening to impale him through the chest. The man barely managed to catch the sickle-like appendages with a hand each, cutting up his palms in the process. He grit his teeth and held firm, struggling to keep the creature at bay while it leaned into him as hard as it could. It also used its long neck and snout to chomp at the man’s face. Thankfully the creature was lighter than it looked. Though it was too heavy for the druid to throw it off from his compromised position, he had just enough wiggle room to head-slip those nasty teeth.

Things then took a turn for the worst as the other muncher rose to its feet. Rather than dogpile on the pinned man, it chose to run off towards the back of the cavern, where Wade and Eva were. It likely sensed they were easier targets and opted to take advantage of that while its friends were keeping the actual fighters busy. The librarian let out a scream when she saw the thing charge in her direction, prompting the mechanic to stand bravely in the muncher’s path to protect her. Wade was neither a seasoned adventurer nor an experienced explorer, but he was equally not a pushover. Every boy that grew up in Last Flag’s Blacktown knew their way around a brawl, and the mechanic was no exception. Not to mention that, befitting his station as a technician for the League of Explorers, he had prepared a certain self-defense gadget for just such an occasion.

As the muncher lunged at him, it raised one of its pick-like legs and swung it down at him. Wade was ready for this, taking some hints from watching Ozzy fight the thing. He raised his left arm and intercepted the attack. His limb screamed in protest and his knees nearly buckled from the force of the blow, but the mechanized glove protected his hand from getting hurt. That wasn’t its main function, though. Having secured a grip on the muncher’s foreleg, Wade used his free hand to hold down a button on the battery pack at his waist. This prompted the brass gauntlet to release fifty thousand volts of electricity directly into his assailant. The muncher squealed and spasmed uncontrollably as the current made its muscles go out of control.

Wade held on as long as he could, but the beast’s erratic movements caught him off-guard. It took a desperate swing at him with its other foreleg, which he reflexively tried to defend against with his other arm. As the limbs collided at an awkward angle, the technician screamed and fell over from the sharp pain that followed, letting go of the creature in the process. He was lucky he was struck with the blunt side of that pick-like appendage, though the nasty snap he heard did not bode well. At least he didn’t have to worry about zapping himself since his finger was no longer holding down that button. This was good as he had much larger concerns in the shape of an extremely pissed off mine-muncher. The beast was still reeling from the shock and thrashing around on the ground, but otherwise unhurt. It would not be long before it scrambled back upright and resumed its assault.

Ozzy had no idea what was going on over there since he had his own situation to worry about. However, judging from Wade and Eva’s screams, the situation was most dire indeed. At that moment, he made a split-second decision. It was time to stop holding back and go all out. It would take him only a few moments of focus to bring out the Bear That Stands. That would give him more than enough strength to throw off this damnable creature on top of him and then crush the skull of the one threatening his new friends. Yes, that would also oust him as a ‘mutant’ and likely demolish any trust they had in him, but that was fine by him. At least they’d be alive for it.

For better or for worse, he didn’t manage to invoke the magic in question before an armor-piercing round blasted a hole through the side of the muncher’s head. Ozzy quickly pushed the mostly limp yet still twitching creature off of him, grabbed hold of his dropped axes, and rapidly rose to his feet. He took a split-second to assess the scene. He saw Angela down on one knee and giving him a wink while she yanked the bolt on her rifle back. He saw Eva on the ground and paralyzed by fear. He saw Wade similarly curled up next to her while yelling in pain. And finally, he saw the final muncher standing up just two paces away from them.

It then fell down moments later, a bullet hole in its lung and an axe lodged in its neck. With the danger passed, the gunslinger and the druid rushed to the other two. Technically one of the munchers was still alive, but it wasn’t going to be a problem. Angela had restrained it using some sticky pink slime that looked uncomfortably similar to the same stuff a certain mini-lich had used on Ozzy and the rest of the Chuckle-nut Quartet. This brought up a lot of uncomfortable questions, but his new friends’ wellbeing was the man’s primary concern at the moment. Eva was thankfully unharmed, if severely shaken. Wade was not as lucky. The intense pain erupting from his right forearm left no doubt in his mind - it was broken.

“This is bad,” Angela winced while looking around. “We need to move. Now!”

“You think?!” Eva screeched. “We never should have come here! What the fuck is even going on?!”

“More are already coming. We need to push on.”

“Push on?! Hell no! We’re leaving, right this-”

*SMACK*

The brunette’s panic was interrupted by a sound slap to the face, courtesy of her foreign friend.

“Libby! Listen to me,” Angela spoke forcefully. “They’ll be here any second, and they’ll be coming out of that ravine. We won’t make it over in time. Do you understand?”

The librarian nodded frantically while holding back tears.

“You heard the lady,” Ozzy told Wade. “Up you go.”

The druid helped the injured mechanic to his feet. Well, it was more accurate to say he picked him up by his shoulder and plopped him back down on his heels, but that was irrelevant to the crisis at hand. With little other choice, the team rushed ahead, piling into the stone doorway built into the cavern wall. A few quick whistles saw Marcello abandon his flare and follow them inside. Once everyone was past the entrance, Angela pulled something out of her coat’s inner pocket. It was a cylindrical metal canister with the letters ‘RSG’ printed on its side. She pulled the pin at the top and tossed it into the doorway they had just gone through. Precisely two seconds later, the object burst open into more of that sticky pink sludge. The mucus-like substance stretched to encompass the narrow opening, blocking anything and anyone from going in or out.

“Okay, that should keep the bugs from chasing us,” Angela declared.

“And also trapping us in here,” Ozzy pointed out. “What is that pink stuff, anyway?”

“Riot glue,” she answered simply.

“And where did you get it?”

“Does it matter?!” the redhead snapped back.

“I… No, nevermind.”

She was right. The time for those questions was still a ways off, though her reaction gave Ozzy the impression that she wasn’t exactly supposed to have that stuff.

“S-so, wh-what do we do now?” Eva asked, still trembling.

“For starters, we avoid making the booms.”

“No comp- Argh!” Wade groaned. “No complaints here.”

“Libby, here, take my first aid kit and patch Wade-boy up.”

“R-right! Leave it to me! But, uh, we- we- we need to stop moving.”

“We will. In a bit.”

The group kept going down the long and straight hallway at Angela’s behest. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all lined with beige stone bricks as big as cars, likely limestone. It was roughly the same height and width as the one they followed from the goblin cave. It made sense considering both were likely made by the same civilization. However, this one had actual ventilation in the form of fist-sized holes in the ceiling through which a slight draft could be felt. In terms of length, the passage stretched out ahead as far as the team’s flashlights could reach, and the entrance behind was awash with squealing, hissing, and scraping. Much as Angela had hoped, the mine-munchers were unable to get past the sticky barrier. They’d need to either hose it down with a lot of water or wait until it dried up and became solid in about six hours’ time. Alternatively they could try to burrow around the blockage, but the dense stones would surely delay them all the same. Either way, the team had plenty of time to regroup and plan their next move.

They eventually came to a crossroads, of sorts. The tunnel kept going further on, but there were two doorways on opposite sides, minus the doors. They led to identical rooms that housed a whole plethora of curious relics and artifacts. There were a few pieces of wooden furniture that were as dry as a bone, including shelves loaded up with old tools. Stoneworking and masonry implements, by the look of them. There were also some busted up crates holding chunks of rock that glistened slightly in the flashlights’ glare. Unrefined ore, perhaps? Last but not least, what was clearly a stone furnace rested in the corner, though a quick glance revealed the chimney for it was far too narrow for a person to squeeze into. On the upside, there was sufficient ventilation for everyone to catch their breath.

The team decided to make use of this ancient smithy for the moment. Wary of touching anything, they huddled around the center and situated themselves on the cold stone floor. Eva put her aborted medical training to use and started putting Wade’s right arm in a splint and a sling. She didn’t have anything to numb the pain so the mechanic had to grit his teeth and soldier through it. He was taking it admirably all things considered, but he still wanted to distract himself somehow. So, he decided to inquire about what had just transpired while his injury was being treated.

“What were those things?” he turned to Agnela. “Mine-munchers, you called them?”

“Yes. They’re not normally that aggressive, but they hate the sound of digging and explosions.”

“I… see.”

Hearing that he was most likely responsible for that attack was rough.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Ozzy tried to reassure him. “You couldn’t have known.”

“That’s just it. We should have known,” Angela sighed. “Normally the League boys keep track of these things. We run into them a lot, so it’s common practice to check for them before you leave on expeditions.”

“So, what, you forgot to check?” Ozzy raised an eyebrow.

“No, she did,” Eva spoke softly. “So did I. There just wasn’t any mention of them.”

The librarian knew of them, and how dangerous they were, which was precisely why she avoided going on expeditions that risk running into mine-munchers. Everyone else would do the same if the League didn’t offer up extra hazard pay for those jobs. Eva didn’t care about the money, though. For her, this explorer thing was a hobby, something she did in her spare time. She therefore had every intention to never see a mine-muncher in person. She probably wouldn’t have come on this survey job at all if she knew there was even a slim possibility of that happening. But, as Ozzy said, she couldn’t have known, because the League clearly did not know. If they did, then the aforementioned hazard pay would have been stipulated in the expedition’s details. The gap in information likely stemmed from the fact that Forchill Hill had never been mined for natural resources, so those creatures’ presence had remained unknown until now.

“Their actual name is kathatan burrowers, by the way,” she explained. “Mine-muncher is just a colloquialism.”

“… A what?”

“A local saying, Wade.”

“Oh. So, they’re not local?”

“No. They’re an invasive species from Weisslicht. Dwarf merchants brought them over to the Ostorian Expanse about three hundred years ago. Thankfully they only eat mushrooms, lichen, and minerals they extract from the ground, so their impact on the ecosystem is minimal.”

“I’m not too sure about that, Miss. From where I’m standing, their impact has clearly gotten out of hand.”

Eva gave Wade a look that was best described as a death glare, prompting the man to instantly clam up while Angela snorted a giggle. Ozzy ignored the pun and was simply relieved that the young man was in good spirits despite his injury. It helped ease the druid’s guilty conscience, seeing as he was the one that dragged him and the others into this mess. On second thought, perhaps ‘dragged in’ was too strong a phrase. All he did was open the secret passage, and the team chose to go through it more or less of their own volition. Regardless, their way back was blocked for the foreseeable future, which left their current options rather limited.

“So, what now?” he turned to the redhead.

“Well. We should probably go deeper and look for another exit. This doesn’t look like a tomb, so it should have another way in or out.”

That’s what her past experiences with ruin delving had taught her, at any rate.

“Besides,” Angela continued, “we might as well search this place while we’re here. Maybe we’ll find something big to make this trouble worth it.”

“What if… there isn’t a back door?” Wade asked warily.

“Then we come back here and wait for the riot glue to dry up. With a bit of luck, the munchers will have calmed down enough to disperse.”

“I doubt it would be that easy,” the druid stated. “We have spilled their blood. The scent of their fallen lingers on us. Especially on me. Leaving the way we came will not be so simple.”

“Oh,” Eva said weakly. “Is… is that what those… stains…”

She passed out mid-sentence. Thankfully she had just finished administering first aid to Wade, who was able to awkwardly catch her before she hit her head on the ground.

“Eva?!” Ozzy called out to her.

“Miss Applebee?!” the mechanic did as well.

“She’ll be fine,” Angela shook her head. “She faints at the sight of blood, remember?”

“Oh. Right. Forgot about that,” the druid mumbled.

“… Same,” Wade admitted.

The redhead did mention that unfortunate trait on the train ride over. She probably would’ve passed out sooner if she wasn’t hopped up on adrenaline or focused on administering first aid. But, now that things had calmed down, she finally noticed that the stains covering Ozzy were not, in fact, dirt.

“Does anyone have something I can wipe myself down with?”

“Yessir,” Wade replied. “Should be a towel in my backpack. Over there, the bottom compartment on the left side.”

That heavy lump of luggage had been in the way of treating his broken arm, so it had temporarily been left to sit in the corner of the room.

“My thanks. My point still stands, though. They might track us using the scent of their dead.”

“I’m not too sure if mine-munchers have noses that good,” Angela argued. “At least I have never heard of such.”

“Maybe not, but what if these ones are mutants?”

“Merde!” she cursed. “That may be. I did not get a close-a look at them, but they did seem bigger than usual.”

“So, I guess we really, really, really hope there’s another way out?” Wade asked gloomily.

“Don’t worry. Worst comes to worst, I have an idea to make it through that cavern.”

“Ozzy, no,” Angela firmly stated. “I know what you’re thinking, and I am telling you - no!”

She caught on that he was planning to use himself as bait and lure away the creatures so the rest of them can escape. It was pure madness in her eyes, and she’d never allow a teammate to sacrifice themselves like that. The druid was honestly surprised she managed to catch on, or that she was so quick to reject the idea of leaving someone behind. Then again, she might feel differently if she knew just how fast Ozzy could get once he let his simian side take over. Regardless, that was only a worst-case scenario.

“Look, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, alright? For now, we should get moving. Wade, can you walk?”

“Yes. I’ll be fine, just don’t expect any more ‘engineering solutions’ from me.”

“Okay. I’ll carry Eva until she wakes up.”

“Then I will take point,” Angela got her guns out. “Let’s-a go.”

And so the group ventured forth once more, each of them on high alert. Nobody was more on edge than Ozzy, though. He didn’t say anything, but he had the misfortune of knowing more about mine-munchers than he should. Back in Einhan, they were known as ‘deep hulks,’ and they were no mere beasts. They were monsters, unnatural abominations spawned in part from aberrant magic. Their presence here was both concerning, and logical. Deep hulks were drawn to natural fonts of mana and fed on the energy to swell their size and number, which made them common in ancient caverns and tunnels. Whether this was also true of these local variants wasn’t exactly certain. They looked and acted similarly, but their spit and blood lacked the voraciously acidic properties that Ozzy had come to know and dread. It was entirely possible that he was overestimating the mine-munchers’ sense of smell and that Angela was right about them. It was equally likely that they also lacked the magic-dependent diet of their Einhan counterparts, even moreso when considering what Eva said about them feeding on minerals and such.

And yet, despite all that uncertainty, Ozzy was certain he had found the ‘leech’ that was plaguing this mountain’s spirit.