The vermite woke just before 9pm daily and Adam had no intention of venturing deeper into the mine alone so had worked out that with some planning he could take Ti and Rai with him. Not wanting to stall for another day before enacting his plan he now found himself outside the mine. Going at a reasonable pace to allow the vermite to keep up they reached the entrance to the mine just after 10pm giving him limited time to explore but giving him hope that it had been worth trying.

He knew the first few branches off the main tunnel were deadends so activating torch twice he handed one to Rai before striding quickly down to the first room where the ore deposits were. The two vermite followed in awe as he didn't slow his pace or show any concern for the spiders they had struggled with the night before. They were not aware of the intense dislike of fire that the spiders held so thought that Adam had some kind of magic to hold them at bay instead.

Having checked the first room was clear of any spiders Adam left a torch at the branch from the main tunnel and turned to the vermite.

"We are going to explore deeper in the mine. When we return I will need rest so I need to you guard until I wake. Do you understand?" He looked in turn to Rai and then Ti, waiting until they both nodded.

Once they reached the final branch of the tunnel Adam placed another torch in the right hand fork and checked with Discern. The spiders were all contained in their nest at the moment.

"Right, I am going to start a fire to kill most the spiders, be careful as any left alive will rush at us." Said Adam as he led down towards the nest, not wanting to leave a potential enemy at his back. Ti drew her dagger and Rai fell into a defensive stance in preparation once he said this.

"Spider dead." Said Rai. His face not portraying the confidence his words did. Ti stayed silent and simply moved to the side of the tunnel and watched Adam.

Adam threw a torch into the spider nest and stepped back from the chitinous cry as the spiders were engulfed in flames when the webs caught. He could sense four coming swiftly towards him and the vermite held their ground as two spiders came rushing into the light.

Ti stepped out from the side as a spider moved past her; having foolishly ignored her as a lesser threat than Adam. Her dagger darted in and out of its thorax two then three times before it stopped moving other than a twitch in its legs. Rai stepped in front of the next two and spun his staff to knock them both back in turn before focusing on one then the other with quick jabs. Neither were disabled but he managed to hold them back as Adam swung his longer staff from above down onto one as Ti circled round to stab the other hard between the eyes.

Before they could celebrate defeating the three smaller spiders the Queen approached; patches of her hairy back on fire from the blaze in the nest. Rai once again fended the spider off with his staff but the larger, more agile Queen did not give Ti the opportunity to get any closer with her dagger. Not wanting to prolong the fight Adam used fire lance; hitting the Queen in the head and following up with a stab through her abdomen with his staff while she hissed in anger and pain. The two vermite once more looked up in admiration of Adam and how he had quickly and efficiently dispatched the Queen; not knowing this was his third fight with her and that he knew her weaknesses.

Not giving the vermite time to rest or think much further on this Adam led them back to the fork in the tunnel. It had taken less than five minutes to dispatch of the spiders and he was keen to explore deeper in the mine. Activating torch a fourth time he made his way to the centre of the space in front of them and threw a fifth torch down into the hole leading down to the upper levels of the mine. The torch bounced off the walls of the hole; showing them to be rugged with plenty of hand and footholds before landing on a sandy flat surface about twenty feet below where Adam stood.

Unlike most areas where Adam had time to find and identify the threat he was immediately attacked on reaching the sandy floor of the upper mine. Discern still being locked to the cave spiders he knew it was the same creatures approaching him. Of the three spiders he could sense in close proximity two were level four and one level three. Adam span his staff to keep them at bay; noting that they did not seem to fear the torch as much as those above. Each spider moved closer as he turned towards the others working in a three to slowly surround him.

It was Rai that reached him first; jumping the last few feet down to knock back a spider that tried to lunge at Adam's back while he was turned facing the others. His improved balance meant he rolled out of his attack onto his feet; facing one of the spiders while Adam held back the other two. Having no time to spare to build his fire mana and not able to get any momentum behind his attacks for fear of the other spider taking advantage the fight fell to a standstill with Adam gradually being edged back to where Rai held off the third spider. Moving closer to the torch did nothing to deter the spiders; the whole idea of exploring feeling more foolish by the second to Adam.

Suddenly Ti silently dropped from the opening above having positioned herself above the larger of the two spiders fighting Adam. Landing on its back she thrust her dagger deep into its midsection and rolled to one side. This turned the tide of the fight as the spider turned to hiss at Ti; taking its attention from Adam. With only one spider to keep back he made a dramatic sweep with his staff exchanging from a two handed grip into holding it in his right hand. Left hand free he was able to build the fire mana and unleash a fire lance at the spider that had moved to attack Ti.

The flame severed two of the spider's legs where it hit causing the spider to turn and hiss at Adam. At the same time Ti lunged forward plunging her dagger into the spider's brain. With one foe down the balance shifted and Adam was able to use fire lance as Ti and Rai held off the spiders. Each died with two hits of fire lance making Adam consider whether the creatures had a set HP and fire lance a set damage. Ti had lost 5HP when one of the spiders bit her in the arm but his group was otherwise intact. Adam took a moment to check for other spiders with Discern before looking more thoroughly at their surroundings. The fight with the vermite at his side had not felt as scary as fighting alone. Adrenaline pumped through his system and he wouldn't go so far as saying killing the spiders was fun; but it was more rewarding. With the clock running down and just under a hundred stamina remaining Adam got ready to continue exploring.

There were three tunnels leading out from the space with the sandy bottom. The only differentiating feature being that one was larger than the other two and seemed to slope downwards. Given the time taken to fight off the spiders and drain it had on his stamina Adam felt they would be best choosing one of the smaller tunnels and then returning. Picking up the torch he had thrown to the floor he stabbed it into the sand and activated torch a sixth time so they could take a light with them.

Rai excitedly pointed at glittering veins of metal that ran along the tunnel. Both the vermite were helpfully collecting pieces of ore that Adam pointed out while he watched ahead for any danger. At the first branch Adam once again placed his torch in the main tunnel and summoned another to ensure they would not get lost in the mine. Moving down the lefthand branch he stopped as an odd wet rattling sound came from in front of them. Gesturing to the vermite to be prepared he threw the torch ahead and activated Discern on the glistening lump that was slowly moving up the tunnel.

What looked like a wet sack containing an assortment of ores about three feet around in size was making its way towards them. Slime - level 4. Resistant to elemental attacks. Can absorb objects. Looking closer Adam could make out small antennae on the top of the slime and tendrils that moved forward exploring the ground before it rolled on. Without eyes or other obvious sensory organs he presumed it would remain oblivious to their presence but there was a definite change in the movement pattern once he had thrown the torch that suggested otherwise. As Adam lunged to grab back the torch the slime leapt towards the torch too. There was an intelligence to the way it had used the ores inside to build momentum and then throw its mass; judging well how far it could manage in one leap. Rather than grasping the torch Adam instead found his hand ricocheting back off the outer rubbery layer of the slime.

Discern told him there were no more of the creatures nearby and despite the ability to leap it was pretty clear they could outrun the slime to escape if needed. However, the ore inside the slime looked purer and would represent more than the amount they had already collected by far. This entire evening adventure was about taking a risk so Adam kept with the theme and swung his staff hard into the side of the slime. He might as well have hit a wall for all the difference it made. The slime wobbled slightly at the point of impact but did not seem slowed at all. Taking his cue Rai and Ti moved to circle the slime and each attacked in turn.

Ti's attack was the only one to breakthrough; causing a small trickle of liquid to run out of the wound her dagger had caused. Adam switched to using his dagger too and between them they started making holes in the slime's outer layer while Rai distracted it with attacks from his staff. There was a noticeable reduction in the volume of the slime when Adam noticed his hands were burning from the liquid that had run onto his dagger. At the same time the slime had quickly altered its tragectory by shifting the ore inside and had rushed towards Rai; the ooze left behind thicker than before. It landed near enough to cover Rai's feet and lower legs in the acidic liquid making the small vermite yelp and fall backwards. Adam watched on in shock; thinking what to do as it slowly rolled forward up towards Rai's knees.

Thinking quickly both Ti and Adam had the same thought at the same time.They both rushed the back of the slime and rather than stabbing; drew their daggers down after breaking through the outer membrane. A rush of liquid spilt on the ground in front of them; splashing up to Adam's knees which were thankfully protected by his hide trousers. Ti gracefully jumped backwards to avoid the same fate and was only hit by small droplets on her arms. Ignoring the slime for now Adam reached over to pull Rai up and away from the burning puddle of liquid and set him down a few feet away. They all then sat exhausted for a minute; catching their breath.

Adam was the first to recover. He checked Ti and Rai's stats and noted that Ti was now at 14/35 HP while Rai had dropped down to 21/60 HP. His HP had fared much better; remaining at 106/110. What worried him a little more was the stamina of 17 and that it was now showing 11:40 on his watch. Knowing that they were all safe for now Adam quickly moved to the slime that had died in their last attack. Most of the acid had leached away as they had briefly rested and he was able to use metal mana to lift the few pieces of ore that were still covered in liquid. Stowing these in his pack he lifted Rai who was still recovering from the injury to his legs and started back down the corridor to return to the entrance of the mine.