Chapter 6 Miner Problems

“Is it really safe to use an open flame in a mine Laz?” Kate asked.

…… “No, no it is not.” I snuff out the flame leaving us in a dim tunnel, only illuminated by what light sneaks in from outside.

“Hah, that’s what you get for bringing a minor into a mine, schooled.” Dave chuckles.

“That was terrible, and you should feel bad Dave.”

“But I don’t!” He quipped.

Why me… “Kate use some of that holy magic to make a glowing bubble or something please, we’ll wait while you create the spell.”

It took 5 minutes for Kate to make her spell, Dave spent the time whacking a wall with his pick but only found rocks. When she got it working a golden bubble about a foot wide formed above her head, it cast a bit more light than the average torch and gave off a soothing feeling.

With the new light, I could see a glint of copper ten feet from where Dave was mining. I joined him in mining after we moved over to the small copper vein, with our strength it only took 10 minutes before we stopped finding ore. Storing it all away we continued exploring the mine.

I was a bit wary of letting Katenip lead but since she had the light it made sense. I followed close behind though and kept my sword out. When we found the first branching path we stuck to the left and eventually found a dead end. Along the way we had stopped to mine a few more times, netting a few more pounds of copper ore. I was starting to see why this mine was abandoned, it had jack shit left in it.

The dead-end was a large room, my guess was an old storage area but it had been picked clean long ago. We backtracked and tried the right path that led further down, this tunnel widened and had side passages. Going down one of them brought the first unpleasant surprise when a dark form leapt at Katenip with a snarl.

Since I detected it with my lifesense I managed to step forward and slash it out of the air, but while I knocked it off course my sword barely managed to cut it. As It got up from the ground, I could finally identify the creature.

“Fuck, it’s a kobold.” I warned my companions.

Kobolds in AoA weren’t your weak monsters that they were in other games, they were still short, standing at around 3 feet, but they were strong, fast, and had very hard scales. Kobolds resembled slightly draconic bipedal lizards with long claws and a very strong bite. Worst of all they were smart, they had a society and could use tools even at the lowest levels. Most kobold clans could smith and set traps as well. These were not fodder monsters, they were ambush predators that liked to kill. They were also never alone.

“Dave behind you! Kate help him!” I called, it was standard practice for the scaly fuckers to set up pincer attacks after all. I also could vaguely feel some life coming from that direction. I couldn’t help him since I was currently fighting the quick little shit in front of me, damn thing was pretty good with a blade too. I was limited in my attacks since you never knew in a mine when explosive gas might be hanging around, half of my leveled skills were unavailable if I didn’t want to risk a cave in. I compensated by flowing decay mana through my sword so each slash I landed left behind a persistent wound, it would work but it was taking too long. As the little shit tried to leap at my face I covered my fist in rock and slammed him into the wall, imbuing some of my Will into my sword I managed to drive it through the kobold’s face and pin it to the wall. I could hear crashing noises from behind me as I fought, along with rapid ‘thwip’ sounds that I assumed was Kate’s dart spell.

After securing my foe and checking for other life sources I turned back to help the others. Dave had massive cuts on his chest and was mostly swinging his monstrous sword to keep the other kobold at bay. Kate stood right behind him and was firing tiny darts that left shallow wounds on the lizard although it managed to dodge most of them, since they weren’t in immediate danger I turned back to my still struggling foe. Kobolds way too damn sturdy, a blade through the face might land a serious critical hit but they had the HP to survive it. While the fucker would be able to break any stone bonds I made it was having a bit more trouble removing a steel sword embedded in rock that was stabbed through its skull. I wouldn’t give it time to succeed. I pinned its arms and sent icy mana into its body, the invading chill I laced with rot and spurred on with a touch of growth mana. I might not be able to break its scales easily but I could bypass them. It only took five seconds for the kobold’s organs to liquefy and freeze, finally ending the damn thing.

Level 21 Kobold Scout Killed!

+1200 EXP (shared)

After my dungeon experience, I finally remembered to turn on the party exp notifications, the exp split hadn’t changed but at least it would now mention it.

Returning to watch Dave and Kate’s fight I kept alert and waited for them to wear it down. I figured it would be a good experience for them, and I would step in if they needed it. After 5 minutes the thing finally collapsed from blood loss and expired.

“Well that was exciting, wasn’t it? I asked, clapping Dave on the shoulder. He gave me a dirty look, fair enough.

“I really need to get the money for a shield.”

He wasn’t wrong, there were cuts and gashes all over him and he was covered in blood. Well, he was until a bubble swept over us and cleaned it all away. Now he was just still bleeding from the wounds that were slowly closing.

“Welcome to life as an Adventurer, you always need money for something.” Okay, that wasn’t strictly true, if you got powerful enough you could sort of ignore money. No one would likely get that far for at least 5 years though. “How are you doing Kate?”

She had her hands on her knees and was panting, must have nearly tapped out her mana. “I’m…fine….just….give me a minute.” Right, sure you are.

“Kobolds don’t tend to leave their dens, so they aren’t a danger to the city at the moment. Do you guys want to continue exploring? There are bound to be a whole lot more of them.” I asked. Kobolds are really not noob friendly foes, they might not have the strength of those zombies from the dungeon but they are quick and hard to put down, dragon ancestry tends to make most things hard to put down actually.

Dave stood up and set his shoulders. “Hell yeah, lizards with a chip on their shoulder ain’t gonna scare me off. This is also good training. The skill I just got will make the next time different.”

“Oh, what did you get?”

“A skill called ‘Stand Your Ground’ that increases my defense while fighting the longer I stand in one place.”

“Nice, now you need a taunt-type skill and you will be a real tank.”

“I want to see if I can improve my dart spell, it was way too weak against those scales.” Kate said.

“Well if you chain it and make it a channeled spell you might be able to fix that.” I suggested.

“If I what?” She looked at me with confusion.

“Oh, I didn’t teach you that yet did I, well pull up a rock or a body then.”

I spent the next few minutes giving another lecture on magic, Dave wandered a short distance away and started mining the wall, starting his own tunnel. I guess it was good strength training. When he took a break, Kate started casting her bubble darts down his tunnel, trying to tweak the spell each time. This would take her a while so I meditated on the earth and tried to commune with it, if I had to have a druid class I might as well make use of it. Dave let her keep his first tunnel and started digging out more of the walls, I had to give him a few tips on structural integrity so he wouldn’t cause a cave in though. There really was a bunch of copper here, but since copper was worth so little this mine had to have been for something else originally.

We weren’t jumped by the kobolds again, I had a feeling they lived much deeper in the mine since those were only scouts. After an hour of practice, Kate still hadn’t managed to create her spell but had strengthened her dart to the point she felt it was now usable. Before we left I nabbed the more intact corpse. We decided to take the first of the side passages and kept exploring, I marked the walls as we went.

We came upon another room-sized dead end, the room had faded carvings on the walls that I couldn’t make heads or tails of, more importantly, it was home to a nest of dire rats. Various bones were strewn all around and the rats showed up to my lifesense as a nebulous mass. I warned my companions in time and Kate and I launched magic at them while Dave set himself in a solid stance with his sword. The rats weren’t that tough, just level 10-13 and they died quickly to my stone spikes and Kate’s darts, the few that made it close to us were taken care of by Dave’s big ass sword.

Searching the remains was made easier with Kate's cleaning spell, we actually found 4 silver and 26 copper pieces among the bones. Without Kate, I doubt we would have found anything. I kept a couple corpses I thought might sell well but left the rest.

We explored a few more tunnels and did a bit more mining, I finally got a clue as to what the mine was for when we found a tiny vein of iron ore after digging out some copper. As for fights, all we came upon was some more rats and a lone rock slime. It was getting pretty late and we decided to call it quits for the night and log in together in the morning.

I took the visor off and dashed to the bathroom, since I hadn’t logged off all day I needed to go badly. After that, I popped two quick noodle dishes in the microwave and opened up my info file. I began making the file yesterday when I realized I was in the past. I poured everything I could think of into it, information on classes and professions, important events and people, disasters, the crossover events I knew about, and more. My master document was the culmination of many hours of typing non-stop, trying to get every important detail. Now I just needed to expand upon it and flesh it out. I planned to release packets of info on the game starting after the first week originally, but maybe I should only wait a couple days. I would only be releasing the basics of course, just info on classes and professions, maybe touching on affinities, blessings, and proficiencies as well. In three days the first highlight reel would be released, and people would be able to start recording video in-game. The highlight reel was created entirely by an AI, it monitored the servers and recorded any particularly cool or impressive moments. That would let some people get pretty famous very quickly and lead to interviews with the perceived best players in the game, I needed to be one of those.

I hated the very idea of the spotlight but it was the only way I could think of to get exposure and credibility for my advice. People quickly stop asking how you got so good when you offer them tips to be able to do it themselves. Or at least they stop asking for a little while, and that is all I needed. Once my primers were used by everybody and people were discussing the game on the news, in the office, and at home, the information would spread. When everything went to shit so many more people would know what to do, how to grow, how not to die. I knew I couldn’t save everyone, but this game wasn’t a competition, even if only I knew it, this was a cooperative effort.

The microwave dinged and I scrambled to get out my food. I hadn’t had anything since breakfast, so I was hungry, sure I have dealt with worse over the years, but no one enjoys going hungry. After my double-sized dinner, I spent the rest of the night writing the first volume of my info packet before going to bed.

I woke to my alarm and had to take a moment to remember where I was. Right, yesterday was Release Day, I made the first steps toward power. Oh, and I had a goddamn time affinity, whatever happened to send me back I was grateful, but it scared me shitless. Power like that doesn’t come without cost, and I didn’t even know if I was the only one sent back…..fuck that’s a new thought, I would have to keep an eye out for signs of others. My best bet would likely be the first highlight reel. Who was featured on that would likely tell me a lot of things.

With a groan, I got out of bed and went through my morning routine. Then I had some cereal and savored the sugary crap. God, I missed stuff like this. Junk food never recovered after the merge, and sugared oats just don’t hold a candle to the likely plastic marshmallows in my bowl of cereal.

Yesterday had proven my new path had potential, I still didn’t know exactly where it was going but the power it offered was enough to forgo my old warrior skills, just as I had hoped. I still wasn’t sure what to do about my skills with the darker sides of magic, last time I hadn’t been in a good place when I delved into those, it set me on a powerful path filled with pain and regret. Still, I couldn’t deny that I was good at those types of magics, and they could be a powerful tool if used right. Eh, I’ll think more on that later. Right now I need to get back to the mine before the others and make sure they spawn in safely.

I prepare myself before I put on the visor, you never know what you will spawn into. Once again, my mind falls into the depths and I appear in a flash of light. Right next to a fucking kobold. Before it could notice me I put it in a headlock and pumped decay magic into its skull. After a few seconds, it died and I let it fall, accidentally waking the other four kobolds. Shit, after finally paying attention to my lifesense I could clearly feel the four kobolds spread around the room. In the darkness I couldn’t see a thing, I guess I actually hadn’t seen the one I killed with my eyes, I just knew it was there. Damn getting used to a new sense is a hassle. Of, course the fucking lizards can see in the dark.

There’s no good way out of this at my current level, I’m already punching way above my weight class. I’ll need to use my trump card. “Primal Form” I growled, the blobs of life actually moved back a step and I transformed into a monster. I could feel the connections and affinities of my soul erupting out onto my flesh. I got taller, bulkier, I gained claws and a beak. My skin turned to stone with rivers of lava pumping through it instead of blood, the wind kept me light, and my breath was the soggy rot of a watery grave. My eyes could now see perfectly in the dim light I cast off, they were no longer true eyes, just chips of ice from the heart of a glacier. A tail of vines capped off the transformation, I was no longer a mortal, I was an embodiment of forces older than these lizards could understand.

It was over in moments, I didn’t get fancy, I just tore the kobolds to shreds. Just as I was tearing the last one in half two flashes of light signaled the arrival of Katenip and EpicDave, who just stared open-mouthed at me as I shifted back to human form when the skill ran out. Covered in blood I tossed the two kobold halves away and waved.

“Hi guys, I got here early. There was an ambush, I took care of it.”

Dave worked his jaw a few times before speaking slowly. “You don’t say….”

Kate seemed to be trying to say something but it wasn’t working. Luckily the moment she had spawned in she had cast her light spell otherwise we wouldn’t be able to see, actually looking at the blood and entrails scattered around maybe that would be better.

“Oi Katey Kat you awake there?” I asked. That got a reaction.

“Damnit not you too, my brother also calls me that!” She whined.

“He sounds fun, think we could get him to play?” Asked Dave with a teasing smile.

“Don’t you dare!” shot back Kate.

“Children please, while this is vastly amusing, I am covered in blood and it has obviously gotten a lot more dangerous here. We might want to make our way out of the mines and find a place to grind that is a bit more level-appropriate. We have enough ore to make some coin from, and these monster parts should sell.”

“If we get in trouble can’t you just do…whatever that was?” Asked Kate, with a raised hand….. this is not a classroom damnit.

“That would be a no, it has a 24-hour cooldown. So, we are officially out of backups. With you two we can probably take 4 kobolds, but I would be real careful about more.”

“If it's okay I want to continue, it would be a good learning experience. I want to get better and be useful.” Kate says meekly.

“I too want to venture forth into the depths, we will find treasure and level up!” Dave adds, “Besides we just respawn if we die right?”

“Well yes we do, but you may have noticed that getting hurt, well it hurts. Dying is the same but more painful. Also, you lose anything not in your inventory or bound to you like the packs and badges. If you are both prepared to risk it then we can continue.”

Getting nods from both of them and a quick cleanse from Kate I let our resident flashlight lead the way. I was keeping my senses open and searching for lifeforms as best I could, the damn skill said it scaled with wisdom but I wasn’t seeing it. I just got vague shapes and dim blobs. I tried to make a game out of guessing what they were. Spider, roach, spider, fly, kobold, spider, another roach…oh shit.

Before I could warn her the first kobold jumped right at Kate's face, since I was trying to identify life blobs I had fallen a bit behind her as well and couldn’t block it. Luckily she saw it and had good reflexes, I just really wish they had been different reflexes. Just as I was running forward and yelling “Dave check you 6.” Kate reflexively fired two bubble bolts at the kobold, one caught it in the shoulder and another in the side and they both detonated nearly simultaneously. Being that close to a powerful explosion isn’t a good idea, being right in front of two of them is even worse, having all of this happen in an old abandoned mine is really bad. The blast blew the kobold in half, although it wasn’t dead yet, and sent Kate and I flying. We hit Dave and a second kobold just as the rumbling started.

The ground crumbled beneath us, I barely had enough time to grab Kate and Dave before we fell into the black. I hastily created a form-fitting shell of stone around us and spent 1000 mana to reinforce it. We collided with other falling rocks and bounced off walls, at one point I was sure we had stopped, and then we started falling again. We finally stopped just as it was getting hard to breathe. I slowly dissolved half of the stone around us and rolled off my two companions.

“Not again.” I muttered. I was bruised, bleeding, and I was laying on a kobold arm sans kobold…ew.