บท 64: What can Possibly Go Wrong?

The oil lamps that hung from the wooden beams swung from side to side, casting shadows on the stony walls of the mine. There were U-shaped wooden structures placed at regular intervals of the tunnels.

Arthur glanced at them as they walked deeper into the mine, wondering what they were for. They looked sturdy and every single of them was connected to each other via more wooden beams.

Ian caught Arthur looking and the foreman provided the explanation, "These wooden beams are for the structural integrity of the mine. The U shape provides the greatest tensile strength needed to hold the mine and to stop it from collapsing unto us."

Arthur nodded with understanding showing on his face. One would learn new things every day. 'Perhaps I'll be able to use this knowledge to my benefit in the future somehow. After all, with the power of my vocal materialization upgraded, there are more chances for me to use my power in creative ways, utilizing the mastery over its shapes and sizes.'

Arthur made a mental note of that fact and continued to follow Ian into the mine. Along the way, Arthur noticed many of the miners nod inaudibly at Ian as they passed by. At the same time, when their eyes moved away from Ian and spotted him, quite a few of them allowed their gaze to linger on Arthur for a period of time that was longer than necessary.

From how Arthur understood it, the silent greeting pointed towards the respect Ian garnered from his subordinates as the foreman. Many of them seemed to place Ian at a high regard and would probably refer to him for important problems related to the mine.

The inquisitive gaze that the miners tossed his way was probably because they were curious at why someone like Arthur was there, within their ranks. However, they did not voice any question since Arthur was in company of Ian and this was again another sign of their deference towards their foreman.

The tunnel had many twists and turns but Ian seemed to know the place like the back of his hand. Arthur did not see the foreman stop once to consult a map or even to think where to turn next. The map was probably already imprinted on the man's mind.

The air started to get thick with the smell of coal as they moved deeper into the mine.

As they turned yet another corner that looked unsettlingly similar to Arthur, the young man asked, "Brother Ian, what exactly is this problem that the mine is facing that you have reached out to the guild for help?"

Along the way, Arthur had seen many able-bodied men and women. Even Ian himself was built like a bear. Therefore, he doubted this group of individuals would request aid from the adventurer's guild if the problem was something small like pest infestation.

After nodding at another passing miner, Ian turned around to explain to Arthur. "About one month ago, this mine has been commissioned by the city council to dig into a new vein of coal.

"It was to improve the city's coal productivity and thus drive the overall economy." Arthur nodded along to what Ian said.

"All that is fine and dandy. Things like this happen fairly often. After the old vein has been depleted, a new tunnel has to be excavated until the mine itself runs out. Such is the life of a miner. However, there is something different about the excavation project this time."

Ian paused to study the walls of the tunnel they were standing in. Then, he pointed down the left tunnel and waved for Arthur to follow. "This way."

Arthur noticed something different about this tunnel that they were taking. The wooden beams looked fairly new and the smell in the air was different. The smell of coal stopped being so heavy and in its place, was a musty smell. One that smelled like old tomes and crypts.

Another conspicuous change was the number of miners that they stumbled across had drastically dropped. They had been walking for quite some time and they had not come across another miner.

While Arthur was making these observations, Ian continued the tale. "The group of miners who was tasked to lead the excavation crashed their way into what looked like a deserted crypt."

"A deserted crypt?!"

"Yes, actually, we're almost close to the entrance, you should be able to see it for yourself." As Ian promised, after they turned another corner, Arthur found himself standing at the end of the tunnel and a hole opened up in the wall. The hole was about Arthur's size, meaning at most 1 large male would be able to get through one at a time.

Arthur looked through the hole and saw a sharp drop. The hole was at the top edge of a large space that opened up below. Arthur tried to shine the oil lamp into the hole but the weak light was completely swallowed up by the darkness.

"As you can see, it is too dark to tell what is down there." Ian explained. "A few of the miners planned to go down into the hole to explore the place for themselves but I barred them from doing so.

"I just have a bad feeling about this and I told them that we need to leave this to the professional… and that is why you are here."

Arthur nodded. "That friendly advice might have just saved their lives." Arthur agreed with Ian's assessment, there was something about this place that screamed danger. However, unlike the miners, danger was the reason why he was there.

Arthur looked at the hole and wondered how he was about to do this. There was really nothing else that he could do but pursue this head on. He had done all the preparation that he could prior to coming to the coal mine.

"I guess I better get moving." Arthur said he took cautious steps towards the hole.