[Book II Chapter 9] HOPE: The Bottomless Mines

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“Sorry about the delay.” Eren said.

They were gathered in a plaza with other foreign adventurers waiting for the once a week admittance to the Bottomless mines. Not many had recognized her so far. She’d swapped out her ninja gear for a nondescript leather outfit and changed her hair back to its natural auburn shine. Jenna’s appearance is less well know than the living heroes.

“It’s fine. It gave me the chance to visit Ravelin.” Hope answered.

Eren had given her a tour on the first day, starting with the purple fields of cave wheat on the far side of the forest, and they’d eaten some wonderful plumb-shaped fruit at the nearby orchard. Observing the motionless leaves and stems, Hope found it eerie to never hear any rustling. The breeze is so slight it’s barely noticeable.

Armored stone giants lined the city’s external walls, and more were scattered throughout the inverted forest, usually in neat rows along the paths. Every one was a powerful golem.

The city proper also featured its own statues, but, compared to those outside, they were otherworldly in their perfection. Apparently, Magerdon Bristel, Ravelin’s king and first immortal, had been close friends with Anthony Snowrun, Aery’s immortal sculptor. The stone figures looked so alive and expressive, it was almost strange they didn’t come to life.

Hope had been afraid there would be many places she couldn’t explore, but that fear turned out overblown. Not every dwarf had Eren’s dexterity with size magic, so most buildings had ceilings she could just barely move around in comfortably. There were, however, many gnome-sized shortcuts throughout the city, some of which led to bars and pubs.

Hope noticed scurrying on a nearby roof and made a point to look away. Evil little imps.

The second day was when her stay had taken a turn for the worst. Wandering the city alone, she’d been inspecting a surprisingly small statue of lion when it suddenly quadrupled in side. That’s when she’d made her first mistake, letting out a high pitch yelp. This had delighted the children hiding nearby.

These brats called themselves the ‘rat pack’ and were a notorious bunch of tricksters. They’d immediately taken to following her trying to elicit the reaction again.

Their antics gradually wore away Hope’s patience, but what really set her off is when she’d looked up to see a falling boulder, only for it to shrink and bounce off her forehead. I’m the one who pranks others with pebbles! This led to her second mistake: retaliating.

Moving through a side alley, She’d dropped a gold coin. A minute later, she heard a satisfying splash as a deluge washed through the streets. Unfortunately, the rat pack had taken this as a declaration of all-out-war, something Hope wasn’t prepared for.

While she’d certain restrains when dealing with children, they felt no similar convictions. Itching powder was dumped on her from cracks in the ceiling. The ground under her became coated in oil. They even managed to slip some slugs in one of her pouches. The pests could turn into the size of mice and scale buildings. Nowhere was safe.

By the end of the third day, Hope had descended into paranoia. Any falling drop could become a bucket’s worth of water. Any grain of sand could grow into a dog turd. Every dark corner was an enemy ambush waiting to happen. At the end of her rope, she’d thrown away her pride and begged Eren for help.

Surprisingly this worked. While she could still feel them following, they no longer tormented her. When she asked Eren how she’d accomplished this miracle, the girl had proudly declared it was easy, as the rat pack had originally been formed by her years ago. Through a heroic act of self-control, Hope had succeeded in hiding her sense of betrayal.

A black-haired woman in tight-fitting leather walked out and whistled to get everyone’s attention, “The Bottomless Mines are open for business. Follow me.”

Passing through a gate, they descended towards a scaffolding filled chasm. On the other side, several pulleys were bringing up minecarts full of ore. These were collected and placed on tracks by giant-sized dwarves. Hope glanced further up at the hill of smoke spewing buildings. The forges.

As they passed a pair of guards, Hope realizes something was off. “Say, why isn’t it a dwarf leading us?”

“Because that’s Anna Sorelli.” Eren whispered back, staring hard at the woman’s back. Hope waited, confident Eren would remember her general ignorance. It only took a moment. “Anna is an agent of the HEAVENLY DAO, an immortal in charge of the adventurer side of running dungeons. It’s almost unheard of for her to make this type of personal appearance.”

“I see…” Hope said. She observed the immortal closely. It’s because of me, isn’t it? Anna peered back briefly. I knew it. She hears my thoughts just fine. Hope knew all about agents, their omniscience, and the curiosity it engendered. Why didn’t you show up when we visited Lost World?

Anna glanced back again, looking like she wanted to speak. Finally, she pointed to a lift ahead of them, “That’s your transportation to mines. It can only take ten at time, so some of you will have to wait.”

“As for why I’m here,” she continued. “I sometimes oversee the admittance of foreigners when the mood strikes me. Unfortunately, dungeons without any gatekeeping don’t allow for this type of excuse.”

Thanks for answering. But why all this roundaboutness? Couldn’t you just come up to talk to me? Hope noticed Anna’s gait faltered slightly. Not used to people who realize you can read minds?

Anna covered her mouth, and Hope was sure she caught a suppress a chuckle. The immortal stopped and turned, wearing a pleasant expression, “I’m sure you can find your way from here. I’ll—”

Don’t teleport her away. Anna’s eyes went wide.

“——be taking my leave.”

For a long moment, the immortal just stood there, nothing happening. Her smile seem to grow tense as whispering began. Hope finally took pity. Okay, that’s probably enough. Relief flashed on Anna’s face before she poofed out of existence. That was fun. I was right to think the HEAVENLY DAO would go along with my prank.

Waiting their turn at the lift, Hope turned to Eren, “So what exactly does Anna do?”

“Her recruitment goes back to the first days of dungeons. Rulers quickly recognized their value and took steps to monopolize the benefits of those within their borders. Some charged entry fees or taxed the rewards. Worse, others forbid outsiders entirely. The HEAVENLY DAO couldn’t allow that.”

“Why?”

“It would’ve made dungeon placement politically charged, turning the HEAVENLY DAO into a kingmaker. Areas without them would be at an extreme disadvantage, leading to a great imbalance in power over the long run.”

“To prevent this, the HEAVENLY DAO recruited Anna Sorelli, one of the original dungeon junkies. As an agent, she deals with local authorities and ensures their exploitation doesn’t go too far.”

“What happens in cases where they don’t listen to her?”

“Whenever access is forbidden, perils become deadlier and rewards sparser. Fees and taxes risk catastrophic ‘overflow events’ where monster pour out. Finally, dungeons can be moved if all else fails.”

“By the way,” Eren added. “Anna is pretty popular because of her other role. When she isn’t negotiating, she test runs dungeons and makes sure nothing is too unfair. Rumor is she and Calin often clash in this department.”

That makes me feel a little worse for teasing her. Hope paused, suddenly hit with a sinking feeling. “Does this mean that Anna has influence over what happens inside dungeons?”

“Yes,” Eren answered. “Why?”

“No reason.” Hope said sheepishly. She isn’t a petty person, is she?

Hope peered over the railing as they descended. “Couldn’t we just jump?”

“Don’t.” Eren said. “The scaffolding here grows and morphs, never staying the same. If you land on any, it’ll collapse the section. Sending a ton of debris down the main shaft is the quickest way to get banned. Trust me, there are those eagerly waiting for a valid excuse.”

Fine. Hope patiently watched the various offshoots of the cavern pass them by. Some were filled with worn tools, and she wondered if they were part of the dungeon or genuine discarded equipment. The theme here is abandoned mines.

Eventually the bottom came into view. The Minecart Hub, which will take you almost anywhere. Her eyes circled to where half the tracks plunged into a perfectly clear lake. The flooded mines, a huge section with nice rewards for those who don’t mind getting wet.

There were dwarves scurrying all around, pushing carts and hauling gear. Once they touched down, Eren excused herself to chat with one of the foreman, so Hope went over to inspect the water. The emerald blue was beautiful against the beige rocks.

The surface rippled as the cavern trembled. Then it happened again, but stronger. Far off foot-steps echoed through the rock as something big approached, tearing its way towards them. Oh no.

For a second, the noise stopped. Then a figure shoot out of a submerged passage and burst from the lake, releasing an inhuman cry. A wave of heat assault Hope as every bit of scaffolding burst into flames.

Stepping through the steam and boiling water, a huge figure with the head of bull emerged. It carried a deformed hammer, and absolute fury shone in its eyes. With another screech, it vaporized the water coating its red fur.

All around was panic. Dwarves were shrinking and ducking into holes while adventurers were sprinting away. Near an exit, Eren was waving for Hope to follow, but she ignored this and faced the beast. Anna, this isn’t funny.

Hope could tell this wasn’t an opponent she stood a chance against. She was also pretty sure she knew why it was here. If anyone is going to die because of something I did, it’s going to be me. That said, I doubt it’ll come to that.

The minataur focused on her as the nearest target and stomped over, saliva dripping from its clenched teeth. This is just a feeling, but I think it’s madder than usual. Must not like getting wet. It raised its hammer, and Hope sweated a little. Okay, I’m sorry. Can we end this, please?

And then it was gone. The fires flickered out, and the burn marks began to fade. Everywhere people were peaking around corners, wondering what was going on. Hope realized she’d gone a little stiff from the tension. Well, that sure taught me not to trifle with agents. We’re even now, right?

Normalcy returned surprisingly fast. Dwarves resumed work, and adventurers cautiously crept back. Hope saw several expressions of admiration and wonder at her refusal to flee.

Eren was less amused, “I can sort of understand, given the strange circumstances, but that’s how you get killed. When a monster like the Red Smith shows up, you run no matter how special you think you are.”

Hope couldn’t explain herself so she just followed hanging her head. Eren walked over and picked up a minecart. This place constantly spawns new ones, Hope remembered as an empty one shot out of a passage.

Hope glanced over at where fellow adventurers were boarding their own transportation, “Everyone is using the track over there…”

“This way is faster.” Eren explained, dropping the cart and climbing in.

Hope joined her as the others disappeared down a mine shaft, “Where are they going?”

“Probably Corthia, same as us.”

“Then…”

“That track over there was made by us dwarves. It’s tame and boring.” Eren explained. “This one was originally part of the dungeon. It’s way more fun.”

Didn’t we just have enough excitement? Hope sighed and braced herself as an enlarged Eren, using the cart as a skateboard, kicked the ground to get them going.

Soon they were zooming through an inverted forest. A river flowed through the trees, probably from the flooded mines. But that wasn’t what grabbed Hope’s attention.

“It isn’t supposed to be this way.” She stated as the wind made her eyes tear. She was absolutely certain no sane individual would lay minecart tracks in the air, on rickety scaffolding, when there was a perfectly serviceable floor below. She was equality certain that the rails shouldn’t be going vertical on sharp turns. What madman builds on the assumption of breakneck speed? And what’s this pathing? They were swooping to one side of the river bank, into dark winding caverns, only to shoot out and return to the flowing water.

“We’re approaching the mushroom caves.” Eren warned. “Watch out, we’ll accelerate with the drop.”

Accelerate? A cliff came into view with building-sized purple mushrooms far below. I hate gravity.

The noise from the cart became deafening. Hope took solace in that this only appeared dangerous. Surely, anyone who designed such an absurd course would make sure it worked. But wait, couldn’t we hit some type of dungeon hazard? As if to answer her question, they veered past a gigantic neon-green caterpillar. … At least we’re moving so fast we won’t have to fight anything unless we derail.

“The dark falls are next.” Eren yelled, bracing herself. “Make sure to hold tight cause it’s hard to see the turns.”

I am never doing this again. Hope counted four waterfalls. She only saw the first, but guessed the others from the sounds and the sudden steep declines. Finally, light appeared in front of them.

They shot out into a void near yet another waterfall. The minecart executed the sharpest swerve yet, returning to hug the cliff wall. Eyes adjusting, Hope saw a brightly lit landscape and a city below. Corthia was built next to the dungeon’s midway station, on a relatively safe plateau. Further down, overgrown strip mines spread out into the distance.

“We’re here!” Eren declared. “Also, get ready to jump because this isn’t stopping.”