“Is it really that dangerous?” asked Akira.

“I don't know how dangerous it is, because I have never gone inside. The only thing I know is that no one has exited the mine after entering. So the mayor had it blocked in order to stop people from entering. I myself have often wished to enter the mine in order to search for the rare ore. If I ever went in and my luck was good enough I might be able to find some and use it for creating a masterpiece. Many a dwarf in this town has thought the same exact thing,” said Delgar.

“If the ore is so valuable then why has no one cleared the mine in order to get it?” asked Akira.

“The ore is not common this is true, comparing it with iron and copper it's less common and stronger as well. But it's not rare enough to warrant sending warriors in to die, along with the possibility of them being unable to clear the mine of all the monsters inhabiting it.”

“Can you show me where the mine is?”

“I can, but I would suggest not to go inside with the pitiful armor you have,” said Delgar pointing at Akira's tattered chest armor he had not taken off since the fight with the enraged boar.

Akira was led outside and followed behind Delgar for a few minutes until they had passed the last house and exited the town. They continued walking until stopping in front of a run-down wooden shack not too far away from the town.

“This is the entrance to the mine. The shabby building in front is the guard post that was built for additional security,” said Delgar.

Akira walked forward and tried to look through the only window. He couldn't see anything due to the dust and dirt that was covering the window.

“No need to worry about anyone being inside. It would be a waste of gold to post a permanent guard here. The multiple layers of locks are only checked once or twice a month,” said Delgar as he watched Akira inspecting the small shack.

Akira reached for the door and was surprised when it opened easily. He cautiously poked his head inside the small one-room shack, scanning the area. There was nothing inside unless you count the thick layer of dust that coated everything. On the wall opposite the entrance was a thick metal door with multiple chains, locks, and thick metal bars covering it.

Closing the door Akira gave a sigh and said, “Even if I did want to enter the mine I can't break through all that.”

“Well I might know the person who has the keys,” said Delgar.

“Really? Who? Would they be willing to open the door?” asked Akira.

“Well, they might. As for who has the keys...that would be me,” said Delgar his thumb pointing at his chest.

“Why did you say so before? So, can you open the mine for me?”

“I'm not supposed to, if I did I would get in trouble. Plus I'm not sure if you're strong enough to enter.”

“I'm plenty strong enough! I have killed many monsters and I've even cleared a dungeon by myself!” said Akira.

“Really what rank was the dungeon? How old was it?” asked Delgar who seemed to perk up at the mention of clearing a dungeon solo.

“Um... well it was a Rank F dungeon. It was probably only a week or two old. But that doesn't mean it was easy to clear just because it was new and a low rank. The boss was quite tough. Since then I have become even stronger and I'm sure It would be far easier now if I were to try and clear it again,” said Akira.

“I don't know...” said Delgar not convinced.

Akira though for a short moment trying to think of a way to get Delgar to open the locks.

“Would you...would you like to also come with me? We would be killing two birds with one clearing the mine while also searching for the Aorium ore,” Akira asked hopefully.

“Okay! It's a deal, with the two of us there should be no problem,” said Delgar immediately agreeing as soon as Akira finished suggesting the idea.

'I knew it, he was waiting for me to invite him,' thought Akira.

“We should go back and get some supplies ready. I think I have some armor that would fit you so you can replace the scraps you're wearing. You can pay for it with some of the Aorium ore. You should keep this quiet from everyone else otherwise we might get stopped,” said Delgar.

Ding!

Quest: Reopen the Aorium mine.

Delgar has shared information with you on the [Spotted Spiders] that have taken over the Aorium mine. Kill all the [Spotted Spiders] inside.

Difficulty: E+

Quest requirement: Failure upon death.

Reward: Experience, a chance to find and mine Aorium ore

Time-based reward: If the quest is cleared within three days the dungeon will not collapse and will return back to a regular mine.

Will you accept?:

Yes | No

“Yes,” said Akira accepting the quest and agreeing with Delgar at the same time.

***

Back at the forge workshop, Delgar was sorting through a pile of armor that had been tossed into a large wooden box in one of the corners in the room.

“Don't have many sizes for humans...Ah, this should fit! Try this one on,” said Delgar carelessly throwing the hauberk in his hands towards Akira.

Akira's old tattered chest armor had already been replaced with a gambeson that Delgar had given him to wear under the hauberk.

He quickly equipped the baggy hauberk and fastened his sword belt, taking the weight off of his shoulders and placing it on his hips where the belt was.

Ding!

Equipment updated!:

Reforged sword(Common):

Durability: 18/18 | Damage: 13-16

Gambeson and Hauberk(Common):

Durability: 30/30 | Defense: 27

Weak shield(Trash):

Durability: 10/14 | Defense: 10

Leather pants(common): Durability: 22/23 | Defense 5

Metal headband(common): Durability:20/20 | Defense 2

Delgar inspected the armor for a few seconds while walking around him a number of times.

“It looks good on you. Now you don't look like a bum or a highway thief anymore with your tattered armor,” said Delgar.

When the gambeson and hauberk were both added together the weight was heavier than his old leather armor, but not to the point that his movements would be hindered. The best part of the new armor was his total defense stat had nearly tripled.

Ding!

New passive skill learned:

Heavy Armor Mastery (Beginner lvl 1| 0.00%):

Wearing heavy armor requires great strength.

You must block attacks with heavy armor equipped in order to level up the skill.

Higher levels of this skill will help unlock requirements for certain heavy armors.

+10 % to defense when wearing heavy armor

+10% when a full set is worn.

Unable to add points into the skill.

“This is great!” exclaimed Akira after reading the new skill.

“I'm glad you like it,” said Delgar smiling, thinking Akira was talking about the new armor.

“Just wait here for a sec and I'll go equip my armor and weapons,” said Delgar before leaving the room.

When he returned he was fully equipped with two throwing axes, a large warhammer, and a smaller gambeson and hauberk.

“Did you pack the food and water?” asked Delgar.

“Yep,” said Akira patting the small bag on his hip.

“Well then, let's do this while everyone is getting ready to go to sleep and not paying attention,” said Delgar.

***

Akira stood beside Delgar inside the dusty shack as Delgar fiddled with the keys looking for the correct key for each lock. After what seemed to be an eternity the last lock was removed from the large metal door.

“I'm probably going to need your help opening the door since it might be stuck due to it not being opened in such a long time,” said Delgar.

Akira stepped forward and grabbed the handle near the top of the door while Delgar grabbed onto one that was near the bottom of the door.

“On the count of three, start pulling,” said Delgar pausing for both of them to get ready.“One, two, three!”

Akira began pulling with all his might, but the large metal door continued to stay still until a slight movement caused the door to move forward only an inch before stopping again.

“Again!” said Delgar after they had rested and regained their breath for a few seconds.

Putting all his strength into legs and arms Akira along with Delgar pulled on the door, which slowly began to open. When the door was opened wide enough to let Akira and Delgar enter, they stopped pulling and leaned against the wall breathing hard trying to catch their breath.

Akira could feel the damp musty air that was flowing out of the mine.

“Let's go,” said Delgar as he picked up the torch that had been lighting the shack before passing through the small gap they had opened, with Akira following after him.

Ding!

You have entered the [Spotted Spiders] Dungeon.

Warning!

Due to the fact that the dungeon was locked for many years the [Spotted Spiders] population has increased to a dangerous point. A dungeon break may happen at any moment.

“Delgar, we should be careful seeing as this place has been locked up for a long time the enemies are most likely too numerous to count,” said Akira.The message popping up startled Akira who was intently scanning the surroundings as he entered the mine.

Delgar just gave a grunt in acknowledgment before walking forward a short distance until he found a hand car with a small mine cart connected to the rear.

Jumping up onto the handcar he used the torch to light the lamp that was hanging from a pole and then placed the burning torch n a socket on the mine cart.

“We should partially close the door so that nothing can get out while we're in here otherwise we'll be in even bigger trouble then we are now if we get caught,” said Delgar.

Akira turned back towards the thick metal door with the light from the lantern shining off the door revealing large dents on the back of the door that had not shown up on the front.

It seemed whatever was in this dungeon had tried to unsuccessfully force its way out of the mine. Whatever it was had to have the monstrous strength to be able to damage the door to this extent.

Akira and Delgar were able to pull the door almost all the way shut, it was much easier to do than trying to pull it open.

Akira noticed some scrapes on the door that after inspecting them turned out to be words someone had carved onto the door.

“Delgar, look someone wrote a message on the door,” said Akira before reading it.

'For anyone who might come looking for me. I was locked inside after sneaking into the mine for rare ore. Since the door has been locked, I will search for another exit.' -Bigtoe Groont

Under the first message was another more hastily carved message.

'I've just escaped near death. Don't come into this mine! There are too many spotted spiders although they are not extremely strong they make up for it with numbers. The real threat is…'

The message stopped there where a large scrape was as if the person writing had been messed up. Next to it was a large dent with what looked like red rust.

“Well, that's nice to know,” muttered Akira.

“Well we already knew about the large numbers but apparently there is something else in here that we have to be careful of,” Delgar after he finished reading the two messages.

Leaving the large metal door they both walked back to the handcar that was sitting on some tracks that led deeper into the mine.

Delgar gave a brief explanation on how the handcar worked before they jumped up onto the handcar each on one side of the large double-sided lever. They started to pump the lever up and down causing the handcar to move forward slowly picking up speed as they move further into the mine.

Only a few minutes had passed as they continued down the track when Delgar let out a curse and pressed his foot down onto the break which immediately slowed down the handcar.

Akira turned his head to look behind him to see what had caused Delgar to curse.

It was a large spider web that was covering the whole passage.

Akira hopped off the handcar and unsheathing his sword but after hacking at the web for a minute he gave up due to doing little to no damage.

“Stand back, let me try this,” said Delgar who was carrying a torch.

As soon as the fire from the torch touched the wall of spider webs, it quickly disappeared due to it burning faster than anything Akira had ever seen before.

With the wall gone, he could now see three large sacks made from spider webs hanging from the ceiling. The spider thread looked to be thinner than the thread used on the wall. Walking forward Akira swung his sword easily slicing open one of the sacks.

A short skeleton still equipped in old rusted armor and holding onto a battle ax fell to the floor causing Akira to shout in surprise and to jump back.

Delgar gave a few choice curses when he saw that the skeleton and realized it was probably one of his kinsmen.

After cutting down the other two sacks and moving the skeletons of the tracks Delgar and Akira continued to travel deeper into the mine they had yet to see any of the [Spotted Spiders].

They traveled for five minutes before they entered a large round room that was full of spiderwebs. The tracks abruptly stopped a short distance ahead of them, causing Delgar to stamp his foot down onto the brakes to slow the handcar down.

Looking around Akira could see there were five different passages in the room each went in a different direction.

“So do you know which passage we should choose?” asked Akira.

“The ones on the left should be the oldest passages, and will be the longest, while the ones on the right are newer, so they should be shorter. We should check the newer ones before we go to the older passages” said Delgar.

Just as Delgar finished speaking a sound of movement could be heard coming from all five passages.

Quickly Akira and Delgar readied their weapons. Akira held his shield out in front of him ready for whatever was coming for them.

What appeared from the tunnels in large numbers were black Spiders the size of cats with large gray and white spots on their backs. Akira looked at one of the spiders to inspect it and see its level. [Spotted Spider lvl 10]

“It seems we're an unwelcome guest here,” said Akira.

“We'll just have to crush and destroy them all,” said Delgar with a smile.

Once the fastest of the swarm of spiders had reached the pair the fighting began.

Delgar used his war-hammer to smash any spiders that were unlucky to come near him into pancakes causing their green blood and other body parts to cover the surrounding area.

Akira concentrated on fighting the swarm of [Spotted Spiders] in front of him using his sword to slice the spiders in half.

He would use a [Shield Bash] or [Sword Slash] when the spiders began to bunch up in front of him allowing him to kill multiple of them at a time while clearing the area in front of him for a short time.

The spotted spiders continued to pour into the circular room for over ten minutes. When Akira and Delgar finished killing the last spider over fifteen minutes had passed.

“This place is no joke,” huffed Akira.

“Hopefully it's not as bad as this the farther in we go,” said Delgar who was drenched in blood.

When they had finished resting for a short time the search for the Aorium ore began starting with the shorter tunnels. As the traveled there were multiple multiple branching paths which they just picked on at random and continued to walk down the path. All of this was recorded on Akira's map, when they reached a dead end Akira would lead the way back to the last branching path.

“I'm impressed with your memory. Most humans would become utterly lost in these mines,” said Delgar.

“Haha... It's nothing much,” laughed Akira guiltily as kept looking at the map in the top left of his vision.

They continued to search each tunnel and all the branching paths and were forced to fight multiple waves of [Spotted Spiders] along the way.

When they had cleared all the tunnels but the one farthest to the left, both Akira and Delgar's moods were dark. They had only found normal iron and copper so far, there was not even a trace of Aorium ore.

Akira and Delgar were resting to regain their stamina and eating near a fire in the main circular room Delgar had started using coal found inside the mine.

Although they were resting they were still alert in case any of the [Spotted Spider] came from the last tunnel that was not cleared yet.

“I'm glad the armor seems to be working properly for you,” said Delgar who had seen Akira fighting throughout the night. He was quite impressed at his battle sense and fighting power.

“So am I. It's so much better than the leather armor I was using before,” replied Akira.

During the search and fighting, Akira had gained a lot of experience points. In the last battle, multiple popup messages had appeared but they were ignored.

Now that he was resting he checked the popup messages.

You have leveled up! Current level is now 10.

Son of the Night has changed from Novice to [Rank F] Beginner!

- (-5%) reduced stamina usage

- Strength +5% boost while transformed as a Werewolf.

-Max amount of time able to stay transformed has been raised to 1 hour.

New class skill has been learned!

Call of the Wolf Pack - Summon Shadow-wolf 1:

-A skill that allows the summoning of a Shadow wolf companion to fight alongside the skill user.

-Shadow wolf will stay summoned until it's HP is depleted.

-Skill can be used a maximum of three times a day.

-Shadow Wolf has its own level and must be summoned in order to gain XP from kills.

-When summoned XP is split between the master and the shadow-wolf.

Skill cost: 100 mana

Akira was shocked speechless by this new skill. He desperately wanted to test it out but he was not alone. He did not want to shock Delgar and cause him to become suspicious of his true identity.

“Well, we only have one more tunnel left to search. Hopefully, we find something there,” said Delgar as he stood up ready to continue the search.

Akira nodded in agreement before quickly adding the bonus points he had received from leveling up to the Strength, Vitality, and Stamina stats, before standing up and entering the last tunnel with Delgar.