Instead of writing a letter to Renato, John found it might be better to go in person. It was only a couple days of travel, and most of that was along the same route he would be going to check out the dig site. Abundant spirit darkness was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Fortunately Renato was present at the Order, since John didn’t want to delay too much. But he did want a little bit of extra backup. John was easily able to meet with Renato, even though he was a favored disciple- and one of the most likely candidates to reach Consolidated Soul Phase. In the near future, even. It seemed that talents were abnormally high in the latest generation.

Renato’s chambers were sparse, but filled with the basic necessities. The sitting room looked as if it was rarely used, and John could sense that the bedroom was nearly empty as well. But the personal training room had obviously seen frequent use, and Renato was occupied there when he arrived. It seemed he must have sensed John as he came out a short time later.

“Good to see you again,” John smiled. Breaking through to Foundation Phase together and escaping a danger zone in the Crystal Caverns had drawn them close, and they’d fought together a number of times in the handful of years since.

“Likewise,” Renato nodded. He was dispassionate in general, though John knew he was not actually emotionless. Just well in control, and oddly formal many times. “What’s the trouble?”

“This could just be a friendly visit, you know,” John complained.

“Not with as many Soul Expansion Phase cultivators as you brought with you. Even if you don’t intend to involve me in said trouble, there is some. So what is it?”

“I recently received a letter from a trusted colleague informing the Tenebach clan of a great opportunity. A new dig site found caverns quite filled with spirit darkness, at just the time we could make use of more. So I’d thought to go check it out.”

“It’s a trap, right?” Renato said bluntly.

“What makes you think that?”

“The fact that you had to inform me the letter was from a trusted colleague. And you coming here.” Renato paused, “I am not saying I will not go with you to support your efforts, but I am aware of the Tenebach clan’s recent conflicts.”

John sighed, “Yeah, it’s probably a trap. Almost certainly. The letter didn’t even have Artsiom’s handwriting right, just his signet. That kind of narrows it down.”

“I will be glad to lend my assistance,” Renato confirmed. “Continuing to foster this relationship between the Order of the Amber Heart and Tenebach clan should be beneficial to us both.”

In a way that was a typical cultivator thing to say, though usually people just thought it and spoke of friendliness more directly. It was somewhat reassuring that Renato was how he was, though. If anything, John felt the friendliness was what remained concealed while the practical nature of their arrangements was simply out in the open.

-----

As they approached the dig site, John took note of the various tools and structures set up. Either this place was actually being used for a purpose like they stated or they were doing a good job of putting on a pretense. Some of the structures seemed older, though.

As John approached, trailed by a few dozen people, a bulky fellow styled as a foreman came to the edge of the camp to meet them. “Halt! This mine is property of the Chist Mining Company. Who goes there?”

“Greetings,” John said amicably. “I am Fortkran Tenebach, here representing the clan. We heard from Artsiom that you had stumbled upon a large quantity of spirit darkness. We were hoping we could negotiate for a good rate on some of the supply.”

“The young master of the Tenebach clan?” the man’s attitude changed quickly, “We’re honored to have you visit. I’m sure we could negotiate something appropriate for the quality of what we can provide. If you come take a look, I’m sure you’d find we can meet any standards you have.”

Too eager. Clearly the man was hired more for his bulk than his subtlety skills. But John could play along well enough. “Certainly. I’d love to take a look at your operations, and perhaps get an eye on future yields.”

“Of course, that can be arranged. Follow me.”

When the rest of the group came along with John, the man looked a bit nervous. “My men will rest here in the camp while we take the tour, if that’s alright.”

“... of course,” the ‘foreman’ nodded.

They made their way towards a tunnel that certainly wasn’t recently dug out. When John and five others made their way to step in, John assuaged the man’s worries before he could voice them. “My guards need to be with me at all times, in case there’s some unforeseen danger within. I’m sure you understand. My friend here,” John gestured to Renato, “Is quite an expert on mines, and he and his assistants were eager to come along.”

“Right. Sure,” the man nodded. “That’s fine.”

So. The ambush was big enough he thought they could take on six Soul Expansion Phase cultivators. The man himself was only in the early Soul Expansion Phase along with two others moving with him while John, Renato, and Crystin were in the late phase. Aydan and the two others were still mid Phase. It would be best to make sure they did not pass too many side passageways or end up where they could easily be surrounded.

As they went inside, John noted tracks for mine carts that might even have been in use lately. They followed one track deeper into the mines before coming to a large cavern. Then the man stopped. He didn’t have a choice, because John had stabbed him in the back of the neck, through his spine. It wasn’t a fatal wound, but it would be difficult to recover from. The important thing was that it didn’t take an excessive amount of energy, and John shoved the man into the cavern ahead of them.

His move seemed to give away their hand, but there was no way John was stepping into a room with so many people waiting for him. They were actually quite well concealed for the most part- and they’d taken note that the Tenebach clan would be able to see in the darkness. They were hidden behind things, their cultivation muted. But there was one detail they didn’t know about that lit a particular member up like a beacon. Another shard of Ciaritzal, which meant a powerful member of the Society of Midnight.

A flurry of throwing daggers and needles were launched at the group as the battle began, but the two additional ‘miners’ weren’t able to join in, still surprised they were attacked. They had of course been ready to fight a moment later, but being ambushed when they thought they were the ones doing the ambushing threw them off.

Renato hadn’t been apprised of the exact moment John would attack, but he smoothly struck out with his stone club as the fight began, sending one of the two men flying into the room- and a number of the incoming projectiles.

John had been suspicious of another layer of deception, but either it didn’t exist or was still extremely well concealed. Though there would certainly be something going on outside with the rest of their group.

The two other members of the Order of the Amber Heart stomped on the ground, sending up a pillar of stone from the floor that provided cover as everyone continued to retreat down the hallway. It would simply be foolish to fight where the enemy was set up.

It only took a few moments for them to encounter their first obstacle, a group of two Soul Expansion Phase and four Foundation Phase cultivators that John legitimately hadn’t noticed down some of the other tunnels. It seemed they had kept a conservative distance, but once the battle started it would be easy for them to sense it happening and come join. “You four deal with those guys!” John ordered, “Renato and I will hold them back here!”

The person in question was the fastest among their pursuers- and the most dangerous. John didn’t recognize the man, but then again he’d only met members of the Society of Midnight on a couple occasions. But he knew the power of Consolidated Soul Phase cultivators. They weren’t something he could fight alone, but with Renato… he could at least avoid serious injury for a moment. He had half a mind to try to rip the shard of Ciaritzal out of the man, but he thought it better to find a proper opening first.

John parried a spear reaching out of the darkness powerful enough his eyes couldn’t pierce it completely. The man seemed intent on following through with another attack, but Renato’s stone club swung down on the weapon. He had to spin it away to avoid having it it crushed against the floor. But Renato’s attack wasn’t done yet- his club smashed into the ground and sprayed a shower of stone shards at the man. He deftly avoided them, but he had to take a step back which delayed him for a moment.

On the other side, Aydan and Crystin were dealing with a mix of darkness and earth cultivators. They focused on the members of the Society of Midnight simply out of practicality, the two members of the Amber Heart being less well equipped to deal with people in pure darkness. On the other hand, they were dominant forces when set against other earth cultivators, knocking them back into the walls of the tunnel with force that John was concerned might bring the whole place down on accident.

The group blocking their retreat wasn’t defeated in the first exchange, but a path was opened up. John and Renato slipped by with the others, John slipping away in a veil of darkness. In the brief moment that Renato’s back was turned, the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator stabbed him in the back. John winced as he felt it, though the point of the spear only made it just past his ribs. That was through Renato’s defenses of spiritual energy forming stone armor layered atop a metal breastplate- but his defenses held just enough to prevent serious injury.

As the group that had been blocking their way tried to get their balance back, John created a flash of lightning behind their retreating group. Even not looking at it, his dark-adapted eyes hurt. It should give them a few moments at least… enough to run into another group. This one was generally of lower cultivation, a handful of Foundation Phase cultivators that had been the ‘miners’, though with proper weaponry at the ready.

The tunnel was slightly wider, which unfortunately gave an advantage to the opponent with greater numbers. Crystin and the other two began the attack on the earth cultivators, while Aydan turned to assist John and Renato.

John was quite surprised with the grace his uncle possessed as he faced off against the enemy’s spear. Even he couldn’t see the attacks coming so clearly. With that said, John needed to lend his assistance to give Aydan some breathing room. Renato took over the rest of the passageway, making wide swings to keep back the growing group of approaching enemies. Anyone who got close had to choose between crushing injuries or retreating- where they often were met with a spray of stones from the wall.

The initial ambushers had caught up now, continuing a barrage of thrown projectiles, but Renato shrugged them off. John protected the rest of the group with sudden gusts of wind, redirecting all of the attacks by just enough to allow everyone to dodge the attacks without leaving large openings.

Their opening to retreat once more came when another darkness cultivator managed to get close to Renato. He seemed to think he was inside the reach of his club, which was fair enough- but Renato simply kicked him backwards, the tunnel trembling as his foot pressed into the ground to provide leverage. That cultivator was sent flying towards the Consolidated Soul Phase cultivator with enough speed to force him to dodge, regardless of his personal concern for his companion.

Crystin had impaled several of the earth cutlivators with her spear, swirls of darkness keeping her angle of attack hidden from them until it was too late. Their solid defenses simply couldn’t withstand her higher cultivation and ability to seek out areas of weakness, and the other members of the Amber Hearts had battered another handful into submission.

That allowed the group to retreat once more, finally leaving the tunnels. John knew that the forces he had left outside would be sufficient to overcome the remaining ‘miners’. Indeed, when they stepped out into the sun he found them mostly incapacitated. There just happened to be another group of enemies pressing in from outside the camp, whose numbers included two more Consolidated Soul Phase members of the Society of Midnight. Neither of them had pieces of Ciaritzal, indicating they weren’t from the oldest generation, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still strong.

The presence of the two of them was a bit more than John had counted on, but it was exactly the sort of thing the other half of his group that had stayed away from the camp was in reserve for… and a secret or two that had been tightly kept.