The scent of water and grass assaulted Blackthorne's nostrils with its pleasant aromatic existence. The lakeside was busy as ever that day, as he worked at collecting the grass that he needed to complete another round of requests.

Several days in the dream, and another work shift in the real world had passed after the events with the new service desk associate at Archers. He spent that time working on his bank roll. Verdant grass was not a gold mine by any stretch of the imagination, but by converting it into vita grass he was able to sell it to a few interested parties. His production capacity was not nearly high enough to become a major player in the market, but it did allow him to acquire the funds to eat and sleep without concern for his immediate future.

He looked up to see a group of grass cutters fight off a roving pack of onions. These particular creatures seemed to be a little larger than the screaming onions that he was accustomed to seeing, their attacks considerably more potent.

Blackthorne wiped his forehead with the back of his hand then looked away from the scene. Battle was not his focus at the moment. He needed money, at least enough of it to prepare for his trip to the forgotten mine and to keep a roof over his head. Grass cutting was a simple, but effective means to that end.

Once mid-morning rolled around, he tied off the last of his verdant grass sheaves then bid farewell to the lakeside area. On the way back to town he could not help but smile. It was his last trip for the purposes of earning a living. The next time he returned it would be to seek out his true target in the area.

Jackie was nowhere to be seen upon his arrival at the tavern, which was not unusual of late. She seemed to work fewer hours each day, though she did drag him off to train each night. Training sessions between them became more intense each night. Soon she might even allow him to hold a sword!

Blackthorne nodded to Scraggles then headed up to his room. Sheaves of verdant grass slowly became sprigs of vita grass over time. He did not need to convert them all, as the sheaves of grass themselves were a quest item. No, the vita grass was for his own purposes. Some would be sold to bolster his finances, but most would be kept for later use those leaves were the best healing agent he could acquire without spending actual money, and they took up little space in his bag.

It was midday before he switched gears from making grass into grass, and began the process of crafting a new vita grass ring. The results was no different than previous attempts. His ability to craft jewelry was still limited. However, he did not mind. Practice would increase his results in the end, and it was basically free armor.

He crafted a few dozen fresh verdant grass rings to use as disposable energy sources for his synergy and spells, then called an end to his work. Blackthorne had no desire to spend his entire day playing with his grass once more. Instead, he carried the needed items to their respective buyers and received his pay.

Preparations were made, he purchased items needed for cavern exploration and charged his rings. Jackie put him through the ringer later that evening during their training time, and the next day he set out for the lake once more. This time, however, he stopped his approach when he saw the water.

Blackthorne took out a map and checked his destination. With a nod of his head, he set out once more. His destination proved to be lackluster, it was merely a random point in the grassland. Several hours passed as he searched the area. He grew frustrated and disheartened after a time. There was nothing but grass, grass, and more grass.

He shaded his eyes and looked to the sky. "It's afternoon, I guess... Can't search too much longer if I want to make it back before dark."

Blackthorne's proclamation proved unnecessary, however. After searching for a few more minutes he noticed a certain strangeness with the color of the grass up ahead. "Is that a stick?" he asked curiously as he noticed what appeared to be a random tree branch in the distance. The forest was not close enough for the existence of such a thing to make sense, so it continued to draw his attention.

Upon closer inspection he discovered that the so-called branch was not fallen from a tree, but part of one! Several withered trees greeted him from the bottom of a large bowl-shaped depression in the earth.

"Well, this might be promising..." he said lightly as he looked around for a way down into the small valley below. Were he able to fly like a bird he would have seen the place easily before now, he was certain of it. However, the lay of the land and thick grass hid the valley from those at ground level unless they knew exactly where to look.

"Is this a road?" he asked curiously as he discovered a mild cleft in the side of the valley. Below him he noted a few cracked and worn stone tiles in places where the grass did not grow thickly.

The supposed road held the least overgrowth, so he followed it a short distance. He soon spied a small clump of trees near a hole in the ground.

"Seriously? It's just a hole?" he asked in bewilderment. Wasn't it supposed to be a forgotten mine? Did people really just dig a hole in the ground and climb down? His experience with mines all came from television, and those thoughts revolved around a cave opening in the side of a mountain.

He took out one of the torch stones that he purchased for the occasion and set it to work. He shined the light down into the darkness below then nodded. "A drop-off then flat stone... Must have taken whatever equipment they used to pull up materials with them when they left."

The design of the entrance made little sense to him at first. Who dug a hole in the dirt and made it difficult to get into the mine? Surely they would have simply dug out a gentle slope for the purpose of easy material extraction.

His thoughts proved correct after he circled the hole. There was indeed a ramp leading down into the mine. It was merely collapsed inward. "Maybe they tried to seal the place off when they were done and the hole opened up over time?"

Blackthorne tapped his chin briefly then shrugged. It was as good of a reason as any that he could think up at the moment. It did not matter in the end, his only easy way into the mine was to climb down the hole.

"Going in today would be foolish," he said. "And I don't like the looks of that hole..."

He reached into his bag and pulled out a few items that fit inside its surprisingly accommodating depths. He laid the shovel, pickaxe, and coils of rope to the side then extinguished his torch.

He started with the shovel, and dug at the former location of the ramp which would have led down into the earth. His stats were better in this world than on Earth, but that was little comfort to his straining muscles. He worked as hard as he could while sweat poured down like rain. Eventually, he began to hit upon large rocks that his shovel could not overcome.

Blackthorne took out his pickaxe and began to bust them up. His goal that day was not to completely clear the ramp, it was to make an easier access point. He could have simply lowered himself down into the hole with his rope, but if he could do this much to ease his future exploration, the better.

The sun was low on the horizon before he called it a day. Several hours of backbreaking labor produced something akin to a new, much smaller, ramp that led down into the hole. It was a bit steep for his liking and still needed work, but with a little more labor over the course of the day to come he would be able to have a decent entryway that did not make his butt-cheeks clench at the thought that he might trap himself inside if his rope broke free.

Filthy and exhausted, he marked the area so that he could find it with greater ease upon his return then headed back to town. Jackie needed to work late that night and did not drag him off for sword practice, something that caused both elation and mild disappointment for Blackthorne.

He bathed then settled into bed for a bit of rest. He was in no mood to train any of his skills, so he went to sleep in the dream and awoke on Earth.

"Damn, middle of the night," he muttered. Scott unleashed a powerful yawn then crawled out of bed. He took care of a few issues that might cause problems later, such as visiting the restroom, then spent a few hours staring bleary-eyed at his computer screen before he meandered back to his bed. One healthy dose of cough medicine later, he was ready to make his grand return.

Sleep took a little longer to reclaim him that he'd previously hoped but Blackthorne eventually awoke within the confines of his otherworldly room.

He hissed lightly as pain lances through his body. "Yeah, over did it a bit yesterday..."

Blackthorne opted to take a long hot bath to ease the stress placed on his muscles then ate a hearty mid-morning breakfast. All the while, he looked to see if Jackie would make her grand morning debut. She never did show up, not that he was surprised. Her late night work for the tavern included prepping food and cooking supplies for the rest of the week.

Despite his best efforts, it was after noon before he was able to relocate the mine. However, to his surprise there were animals hanging around near the entrance. "Are those lobsters? Crawfish?" he asked in a foolishly hopeful tone.

He stepped closer to inspect the oversized lobsters then frowned. Clearly they were not lobsters or crawfish. "Scorpions. Of course it's scorpions..."

The mine shaft entrance proved to be just as useful for creatures inside to make their exit as it would for someone else to enter. Blackthorne shrugged to himself then readied his equipment by enchanting his sword with the Jolt! spell. If he were lucky they would not be venomous, but he doubted that would be the case.

Upon his approach, six scorpions the size of a basketball turned toward him then clacked their claws decisively. Dinner was served!

[Infant Scorpion – Level 3]

"Infant? At this size?" he shuddered slightly as he realized just how much bigger an adult scorpion might be.

Blackthorne used his recent training in footwork to dodge a few well-aimed strikes of their tails, but it became clear to him that six-on-one was a difficult proposition when his opponents were of a higher level. The scorpions were agile, aggressive, and armored.

He swatted at one of them with his sword, but produced no noticeable damage. Though, the sparks that flew upon release of his jolt spell did cause the little inland lobster to shriek and flail about a bit.

A tail barb snapped out and slightly impaled his left calf, but the damage itself proved to be negligible. What caused him concern was the sudden sense of cold numbness that befell him.

"Shit," he growled. They were definitely venomous.

His leg moved sluggishly as he tried to dance around another strike, and he failed to escape. A wicked barb caught him in the shin.

"Dammit!" snarled Scott as he slowed even further and several more strikes pierced his flesh. The creatures did not rely on physical attacks to end their prey, it seemed. Their venom was the key to their victory.

In a fit of growing madness, Blackthorne lashed out with a desperate stomp of his heel. A loud snap and crunch was his immediate reward. The scorpion immediately went limp as green ichor spurted freely from its crushed body. The scorpions were not strong at all, they were just well defended from sword strikes!

Numbness creeping up his legs with each passing second, he hopped back as best he could and put away his blade. A look of determination crossed his face and he pulled his pickaxe from his bag. It was not really a weapon, but it should do the job!

With a loud cry, he whirled his mining tool downward and readily pierced his way through the shell of another scorpion. It shrieked and flailed in agonized terror even as Blackthorne yanked his weapon sideways to bat away another lashing tail. The scorpion, still impaled on the pickaxe, was used as a flailing meat shield during the short skirmish between the desperate man and his armored foes. Whenever the opportunity allowed, he stomped on their heads or battered them with his mining gear.

Slowly, the tide of battle turned in his favor. He defeated the last of the scorpions and stood victorious above their corpses. Panting for air, he called out, "T-that's what you get!"

The creeping numbness continued, and he soon found it laborious to walk. He checked his status then frowned. The poison was mild by itself, but there was enough of it in his system to force him to rest for the remainder day. "I need better equipment before I come here... Who knows what else is down there."

He ate a few of his vita grass leaves and collected what he could from the scorpion corpses. Surprisingly, their shells came off easily. It was similar to the situation with the onion, actually. Upon dying, the scorpion shells no longer seemed to be attached. Those that were intact came away intact from the fight were uniform in size and shape.

He harvested a few tail barbs and claws from his foes as well. One never knew what would be worthy of synergy or as part of a sale.

Another scorpion crawled out of the hole and looked around excitedly. Blackthorne took that as a reason to leave. He knew where he needed to go, and some of what to expect. However, it was obvious that more preparation would be needed before he could properly tackle the mine.