As it turned out, rocks couldn’t handle magic going through them, at least not enchantments that manifested an effect outside the stone. They didn’t explode in a hundred chunks sending shrapnel all over the place. Rather the engraved lines of the blueprint started to crack and the entire thing failed after a very short use. They were also a lot harder to carve but that was because he was just using a rock he’d found, it wasn’t exactly a smooth surface. Surprisingly wood handled better than stone but not by much. There were magical woods according to the book that worked extremely well but Will doubted anyone in town had some. Well, the Landrys might but even if they were willing to sell, he couldn’t afford it. Will decided he’d want to get a steel plate if he ever wanted to make a magic shower. Or easier yet, a silver steel carapace.

Not only did the book state silver was a good conductor of mana in an extremely roundabout way. Will also needed to get into the dungeon and get materials to sell. Preferably before any adventurers arrive and Marshall Young had warned them that it wouldn’t be long. So two birds with one stone.

So the following morning, Will started his day by finishing power washing the front of his home after borrowing a ladder from the back of the saloon and getting a portion of the side of the building done before it fizzled out. He could probably finish up right before nightfall.

After he locked the wand up in his safe with his tools and other experimental projects that he could lock up. Basically, all he had left out was a group of boards enchanted with different versions of strength and hardness set up in a way to test if they helped with tension, sheer, or compression. His back yard was still a mess but now a section of it was a weird looking mess with boards propped up holding up rocks, bent with rope, or sitting in a position to try to sheer it at a single point. Also a few crumbling stones.

Finally, he set out armed with his revolvers, rifle, carbine, and hydraulic cutter. It was a bit much but with some work, he managed to convert one of his bottomless saddlebags into a temporary back pack. An act that led him to realize if you turned the saddlebags inside out you could see extremely complex etching on the inside. The long term enchantment deactivating until he turned it the right way again. Something he would have to look into recreating.

As Will walked to the mine he stopped, then moved to a jog. There was a large fire outside the mine. Columns of smoke beginning to rise. His thoughts immediately went to the dragon and he drew his 50 cal revolver while simultaneously wondering what the hell he was doing.

“Get a look and run like hell,” he decided and picked up his pace. As he got within sight of the miners village he could see the old buildings around there burning. He slowed to a fast but steady pace and scanned the area, sparing a glance towards the sky. He approached with his weapon ready and entered the village initially focussing on the dark hole that led into the old mine.

“Woah!” Will jumped but not as bad as the man who stepped around the corner of a building just starting to go up. Will couldn’t see his face because of a mask but the man saw the weapon and immediately raised his arms, “Ain’t causin’ no trouble mister.”

“Who are you?” Will asked.

“Name’s Bernie,” he said and pulled down his mask. Will looked at him and lowered his firearm. Will hadn’t known the man's name, but he recognized him from town.

“What are you doin?” Will asked, moving out of the smoke beginning to rise from the building.

“Mayor paid me ta come out here and burn all this her down. Too far gone to do anythin’ wit,” Bernie informed him, “Just makin’ space for adventurers… you one of em? No, seen you around before.”

“No, I’m not one of them,” Will told him and after a thought, he asked, “Is anyone in the mine?”

“Not that I seen. A couple o’ the Landry boys rode past a little while ago but they ain’t been back and saw a wagon come by from Belview but they didn’t look like the type. Had little uns wit ‘em,” Bernie said. It was good news, Will hadn’t wanted to go into the dungeon with adventurers or even the Landrys in there with him. Besides obviously not wanting to risk getting shot in the dark after being mistaken for some sort of monster, he also didn’t want to risk following their tracks and having a wasted trip.

“Alright, thanks,” Will said and grabbed a loose board that hadn’t ended up in one of the fires, “Just gonna leave a sign by the door in case someone else comes along.”

“Sounds good mister, good luck in there.”

Will left Bernie to his Burning and walked up to the mine entrance, giving some of the bigger flames a wider birth, and made his best attempt to avoid getting a smoke inhalation status effect. When he got up there he set the board upon a rock and started to carve into it with his knife.

Going right at fork. William T.

It was a simple message and might invite someone to come up behind him but it’s not like they’d follow him all the way through. Especially since he wasn’t sure himself. Will walked into the darkness and pulled out his lantern and a copy of the map he’d found in the mining office.

“Well, could just go the same way and find more bugs but…” He knew he should look for another centipede or two and with them spawning he assumed they respawned but he didn’t know how often. Plus he’d already collected a treasure there and wasn’t sure if those respawned or not. At the same time he needed to check out the slate and the iron coin. He still hadn’t forgotten about that and wondered if placing the truth coin on the right pedestal would open a new passage. But there was also the issue that the passages to the left led towards Silverstead, with a small dragon somewhere in that direction, it was better to stay away. Will didn’t want to risk tripping over it.

“I’ll ask the sheriff or someone and see if the loot respawn. Let’s try…” He looked at the map and traced out where going right at every fork would bring him. It was a dead end but if he went left at the last one there was a short passage and a small room. Not a shaft or cavern but it was actually labeled as a room. He didn’t know what they put in a ‘material storage’ room but he knew that wasn’t the dynamite room. Which was through a more complex route and towards silverstead as well.

“Alright, go right, see what’s there. Work my way in,” Will said to himself and looked at a few other caverns and dead ends to the right he could check out on his way to the room. Besides giving him more opportunities to find stuff, he also made sure his escape route was clear… mostly. There were still longer tunnels that went further into the complex he couldn’t explore.

His mind made up, Will lifted his oil lantern and set out into the sloped shaft descending into the ground. He also had his other hand hovering over his revolver, the double action one for the time being but he also had his hydro-cutter and 50 cal ready to reach with the long guns in the bag.

***You have now entered the Silver Depths***

***Young***

“Alright, let’s test this out,” Will said and he stepped back and pulled out of all things his trusty broom out of his bag. He held it out towards the threshold of the dungeon and he saw the shimmering lights rippling through the air where the broom crossed it. He waved it back and forth a few times and watched the trails of light spin out and fade into nothing.

Of course, he’d believed the Sheriff and Marshall that it was a dungeon entrance below his home. With them having a lot more experience in matters like that. But at the same time ‘trust but verify’ was a thing, so he did. Happy with the knowing for sure what it was below Silverstead, Will stepped forward again.

***You have now entered the Silver Depths***

***Young***

He entered and listened for a moment but didn’t hear anything, satisfied Will followed his plan and turned down the right hand shaft. Only a few paces down the tunnel he heard a familiar slurping sound. He raised the lantern and soon saw what may as well have been the same amorphous blob that he’d seen before, they all looked alike.

“Ready for you guys this time,” Will said and pulled out his hydro-cut wand, he let out a single pulse of water at the slime and it received a large gash across its ‘top’ and rolled backwards, acidic fluid quickly draining out of the small creature. It balled up and jumped at him but Will quickly stepped back, avoiding the acidic goop splashing out of it, and lanced it again. This time he let the pulse last just a bit longer while doing a short sweeping motion of the wand and watched the slime get almost completely bisected. He walked up to the slime and quickly switched out his wands.

After realizing that rocks weren’t going to cut it for enchanting, Will made his plan on entering the mine. He didn’t make one for where to go in the mine in case there was someone else already there but he did get his supplies in order and go as far as to craft a new wand.

Will pointed his newest uncored wand at the slime and activated it. A hot cone of water came out with a solid but undangerous pressure behind it. He sprayed the remains of the slime and collected the slime crystal at its core.

“Probably the most useful thing I’ve made so far,” Will said and tossed the wand up to spin it in the air before putting it back in his belt.

Not only was it enchanted with hot water and pressure from the Air element, he’d also managed to throw in just a little bit of the purification attribute from the diamond. It didn’t do much but it did help clean but unlike his pressure washer which was meant for cleaning, he’d added it just for slimes. Mainly to deal with the acid. Of course, after making sure the pressure wouldn’t harm him he also used it to wash his hair out back and planned on using it on Void in the future. So even if he didn’t have a shower, he had a portable shower wand… double meaning there.

Will continued further down the shaft while killing a few more slimes in the same fashion and collecting the silver mites he found, even if he hadn’t found a use for them they were still worth a little. It continued like that until he reached his first side shaft that he’d marked to explore. He walked in and slowly made his way down the shaft with his lantern in front of him, his hand hovering between his revolver, the 50 cal, and his hydro cutter, not sure which one he might need if either one at all. Will saw something skitter across the floor as he neared the end. It darted behind a rock to his left and then he saw something else skitter up the wall. He stared at the walls in front of him and tried [Identify] on something that stood out. Nothing happened. Another one darted past then he spotted them. An entire section of the back wall was moving. Will’s hand twitched between his weapons and used [Identify] on the shifting mass.

Cave cricket - level 2 (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: A small, blind cave dweller that feeds off molds and fungi found in the depths.

Composition: 98% organic, 1% silver, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Will exhaled and relaxed before shaking his head and moving forward. It only took a few steps to be able to make out the large but as far as he could tell, completely harmless cave bugs. He noticed a few other varieties mixed in with them.

Vilepillar - level 2 (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: A small, blind cave dweller that feeds off molds, fungi, and other small cave fauna. Contains a ridge of poisonous spines on its back.

Composition: 98% organic, 2% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Silver Orb Weaver - level 3 (Deceased-Dungeon Spawn)

Details: A small, blind cave dweller that feeds off small insects. Spins a silver silken thread valuable in high quantities.

Composition: 98% organic, 1% silver, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Looked like the spider had made the mistake of trying to eat one of the small pale caterpillars and got himself stung. Will looked up at the few webs hanging from the ceiling of the shaft and shrugged.

“I did bring the broom,” he said and quickly pulled it out and after swinging it around through the webs he put it in the saddlebag. He knew he probably had more than a couple spiders in the webs but wasn’t concerned about them. There was no mention of venom in their description and living organisms couldn’t survive in the saddlebag due to the spacial enchantment.

Will continued through the mine but now besides looking for mites and slimes he kept his eyes on the walls and ceilings, looking for the occasional spider web. At first, he’d identify them to make sure it was the silver thread variety but after his fifth one, he thought he could recognize them by look alone. He hadn’t seen any other spiders in the mine anyways.

“Should be getting to the next fork,” Will mumbled as he walked around a bend in the tunnel. He knew there was a four way intersection of shafts somewhere up ahead. It was in a small cavern that was the single largest fork he’d have to go down with his planned route. His destination was of course to the right but to the left was another short dead end.

He turned at a near right angle in the shaft and looked out into the cavern ahead

“What the fuck?” he whispered.

The cavern looked far larger than it did on the map, which wasn’t that surprising after dealing with the pedestal room but the thing that took his breath away was that there was a forest under the ground. It wasn’t plants but giant mushrooms growing up out of the rock and from what he could see, a pond of glowing blue water sitting in the center. It might have been concerning but a few of the mushrooms were glowing too, so maybe some under the water.

Glowing Milk Cap (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Large glowing fungi found in subterranean environments. Highly toxic.

Composition: 93% organic, 6% arsenic, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Quicksilver Umbonate (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Large fungi found in subterranean environments. Highly poisonous.

Composition: 89% organic, 10% Quicksilver, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Giant Wrinkled Tuber (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Large fungi with unique cap found in subterranean and woodland environments. Edible.

Composition: 99% organic, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Will finished identifying the bigger ones around him and looked at the umbonate and the tuber. The first due to its contents. He was pretty certain it was mercury in that. Which he didn’t know a ton of uses for off the top of his head but there were enough that made it potentially valuable. The second he looked at it because of its appearance. It was a six foot tall morel mushroom.

“Not really a fan but damn,” Will said and walked up to it, careful to stay away from a group of glowing milk caps. But stopped and quickly backed up into the shaft again. He pulled up the two dangerous oversized mushrooms again and looked at their descriptions.

Glowing Milk Cap (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Large glowing fungi found in subterranean environments. Highly toxic.

Composition: 93% organic, 6% arsenic, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

Quicksilver Umbonate (Dungeon Spawn)

Details: Large fungi found in subterranean environments. Highly poisonous.

Composition: 89% organic, 10% Quicksilver, 1% other

Durability: Unknown

Damage output: Unknown

Estimated value: Unknown

“Highly toxic... highly poisonous-” Will compared the two but his focus went to the blue window that popped up in his sight.

Feat: +1 luck

“Eat poison, injected with venom, toxins are the all of the above,” Will said and looked back at the Glowing Milk Cap nearest to him. He activated [Zoom] and looked closer at it. He could see the dust falling from the bottom of the mushroom's gills, “Fucking spores.”

Will quickly retreated from the entrance to the cavern and made his way to the last fork in the tunnel. He looked back and then down at himself and made a choice there. He dropped his bag, set his weapons within reach, and pulled out his shower wand. It was time for a bath, just in case.

Will put himself through as close to a full decon as he could. He sprayed his outer clothes, and exposed skin, working from top to bottom, and then when he was done removed his top layer of clothes to do to the same again, ensuring that nothing was on his skin. He didn’t go further than that but did give himself a rinse below the belt quick and pulled up his shorts before spraying his saddlebag and holsters.

“Damn it… I should prob-” Will went quiet as he heard an echo. Coming through the caverns. He grabbed his gear and pulled it to the side, drawing both revolvers and looking at each of the tunnel entrances.

“You know there’s nothin’ in here, right? We haven’t seen shit,” Will faintly heard a male voice in the distance but it wasn’t familiar and he was almost naked so he kept his position.

“It’s a young dungeon! Did you expect to walk in and find a silver golem laying spread eagle at the entrance for you?” A woman’s voice answered him back.

“It’d be nice to find anything spread eagle layin’ in here since there’s NOTHIN’ in here.”

“Oh, fuck off, Alvin. The only way you’re seeing me spread like that is if you walk in on me at the wrong moment. And that’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

“That’s not what I mean-”

“Will you two just stop! Can’t help but think the reason we haven’t seen squat is cause you two are bickering. Shut your yammer holes or-” A gruff male voice berated them.

“Or what, kick me in the ankle?”

“You forget boyo, I may be short but what you might do to give a straight jab to the face, I do the same to hit you in the stones.”

“No need for- Hey, Silvia, quit it. Why are you takin’ his side, I was just playin,” They sounded really close now.

“Hey, shut up. There’s a light up ahead,” the woman said.

“You were the one that-.”

“Shut it.”

Will looked over at his lantern and debated turning it down. But that would mean-

“AAAHHH!” Three strangers charged through the tunnel while Will took cover and he answered their war cry with one of his own.

A pathetic imitation… It was more of the what the fuck because three armed people ran in screaming and ready to fight while you were hiding behind a rock in your boxers kind of warcry. So not a warcry but in Will’s defense, he hadn’t expected that. What kind of sane person yelled like that when clearing a dangerous space? He could see they were people though.

“Hi-” Will started and his eyebrows shot to his hairline. The taller man swung his weapon around wildly and spotted Will sitting there and pulled the trigger. Will ducked from the explosion of stone above him and threw himself to the side to get out of the man's sights. He felt his skin scrape against the rough floor and looked at the man, ready to activate [Quick Aim]

“Wait!” the gruff voice yelled and a bright flash of light passed through the cavern and Will suddenly had spots in his sight, “Are you fricking daft! That’s a human, don’t ya know your own dang kind!”

“Whaaat?” The man sounded completely dumbfounded.

Will blinked his eyes in a vain attempt to get his sight back to normal. He saw the female of the group looking down at his crotch before she met his eyes and grinned. It was a wild, crazy looking grin.

“How, who…. Is that your junk?” she pointed as Will covered himself with his hands and tried to look at her through his vision issues. Once he sat up he managed without looking up. She had to be only three feet tall, “You’re not a halfling? Kinda tall for a halfling. Are you a halfling?”

Will shook his head and looked over at the shorter man, only a half foot taller than her.

“Who are you?” Will asked.

“We’re from the Union?” the woman answered brightly but didn't sound too sure. Will rolled his eyes.

The adventurers had made their way to Silverstead.