Chapter 8 - The bloody report

Sometime after William requested a large group of adventurers to explore the haunted mines they arrived at the adventurers guild.

Lucy informed him of their arrival and William was quick to welcome them. High-level adventurers had a relatively high position, similar to nobles.

Because of this, it would be unwise and rude to not welcome them accordingly. He paid for their lodgings, in a guest manor in the nobles district.

Not only would these men and women explore the dangerous mine but they too had a high position. And with this noble standing came an understanding of politics and the possibility of alliances.

Powerful adventurers should never be disrespected, they could one day become precious allies.

The next day, after they had rested and relaxed, William called them in for a strategic meeting. Gathered were some of the elders, officers, and all of the group's members.

They discussed the known layout of the mineshaft. Told the tales from the day of the disaster. Reported the increased flow of mana out of the mine. And, rumored about possible sources of the strange ongoings.

One of the adventurers even told of a story, similar to this one, he had heard of before. It started the same as the one told by the local grandparents. A young boy died tragically in a deep cave system. His soul remained in the mortal realm. Not wanting to pass on, it remained close to its old body.

Over the years the soul deformed into something it wasn’t before. The negative feelings and heavy pressure of the earth corrupt the grieving and young boy.

Until one day, a party of adventurers, searching for treasure, passed the boy's last resting place. They were killed horrendously by the corrupted soul and formed the ghost's last missing ingredient.

In the nutritious soil of their death, the young boy's soul formed into a rogue dungeon core. The corrupted counterpart of the extremely rare pure dungeon core.

One in a hundred rogue dungeons was a pure dungeon core. A treasure guarded by the most powerful of empires.

The rogue dungeons though were a seed of destruction and chaos. Wreaking havoc in their surroundings and sending out aberrations to kill and corrupt the environment.

William wanted to first have a solid report before he assumed the mineshaft to be the home of a rogue dungeon core. And even then he wanted to first think before he would begin to act.

During his journey as a slave through the world, he spent a long time with a group of mad cultivators and various cults. Not everything they taught him and experimented on was as stupid as the normal person would think.

The mad cultivators not only taught him how to use his cultivation to boost only his brain and not his body. And he listened in on discussions on how to control rogue dungeon cores through various means.

Pumping them full of pure mana, or speculations about controlling their cores with powers darker than the dark lords and more horrendous than the red gods. But for a practical man, there were no borders, everything was just a tool towards the goal of perfection.

Having finished the strategic meeting the adventurers went on their way. They were 10 party members, every single one being a strong cultivator. They consisted of 5 front-line fighters. Heavily armored in a soft gambeson lying underneath a heavy enhanced iron plate armor. Though their helmets were quite open allowing for a better vision in the dark shafts. As weapons, they wielded short swords and tower shields or short spears.

These weapon armor combo allowed them ideal protection and movement in the tight and restricting mine shaft. Behind them, three archers protected their backsides and provided medium-range coverage.

Protected by an Aketon, Cuir Bouilli, and chain mail combo. The Aketon was similar to a gambeson protecting the archers against blunt weapons. The Cuir Bouilli was a robust and solid leather armor. Protecting against any ambushes from behind while not robbing them of their needed mobility.

The majority of them were women. Using their better eyesight and control to wield strong repeater crossbows. Reinforced by iron they were able to fire up to ten shots a minute. Secondary weapons were swords or long short-swords.

At the front of the group, their scout Stella was responsible for coordination and scouting. During her cultivation, she had enhanced her senses and was apt in stealthy movement and scouting. She wielded a large number of weapons, ranging from high steel string, traps to blowdarts and dual shortswords.

She was the one furthest advanced in cultivation and had decades of experience with various weapons.

The group ranged in cultivation from Tier 0 to Tier 2 low, every different member specializing in a different style of combat and cultivation.

Once the meeting had been finished the adventurers left towards the haunted mine.

William meanwhile managed the village while the adventurers explored the mine. The increasing mana was causing some problems and more guards had to be stationed to protect the farmers. One of the lumberjacks was killed while in the forest and a funeral had to be planned.

Two days later, the adventurers returned. Lowered faces, grim slits for mouths, and dirty members greeted the mayor. They didn’t make a sound, just gave him their report and went on, towards their manor.

William already knew what happened. The job of an adventurer was a dirty and dangerous one. Casualties were many and death reports came in more numerous than the number of new trainees, wanting to become warriors.

He took the report to his manor and sat down. He broke the hastily made seal and began to read the letter. Word for word his smile widened. While normally every man reading this paper would take what he could and flee the land. William though was a bit special, his knowledge was specially fitted for this exact situation.

His one and only lucky stroke that he would take, and turn into an empire.