บท 25: Ch 24: The Dungeon experience 101 [pt2]
The group quietly slipped past the retreating beasts. The way to the center was finally clear for their group and they quickly reached the mining section.
It was littered with all kinds of pretty but precious gems littering on the ground. But there was no way to see the ‘blue crystal’ they had been tasked to return.
“Now, my slaves, hurry up and bag as much of these treasures as you can. We need to take it all back and then we will become rich.”
Baron Luke ordered the slaves to start mining and they had no choice. These precious crystals were mined and then packed into a small bag. Baron Luke had a satisfied look on his face as he watched this.
“Do you come here to mine these things all the time? I can understand why your city is so rich now. You people are so lucky.”
Baron Luke turned toward his guide and his careless words escaped his mouth. The slaves tensed, looking toward the guide to see if he would take offence.
But Sha remained calm and seemed not to be concerned by what he heard the Baron speak about. He only had an amused smile on his face which seemed to be mocking the Baron. (Not that the fool noticed this.)
“We are, indeed lucky, to have such a large mine be this near to our city. But truthfully speaking, there is no need for us to come here for resources. Everything we might want or need is provided to us by our god.”
Baron Luke’s eyes widened as soon as he heard this. He could not imagine having such a bountiful resource of gems so nearby and trying to monopolize it. But he had seen how wealthy these folks had been and he understood their reasons.
If one person tried to monopolize such amazing resources, then others would try that as well. In that case, it was best to let this place remain neutral grounds.
Of course, he was completely wrong but there was no one out there to correct the Baron’s misunderstanding.
“I see. Anyway, that’s good news for me since I have more resources to take from. Hey, be careful not to damage these gems. They can sell for a lot of money.”
Alex rolled his eyes as he continued to pick the gems carelessly. He did not care about these meaningless stones at all. What he was searching for was something different.
As he was looking through the pile of gems, Alex’s attention was grabbed by a shiny red stone and she held it open in his hand. That stone looked more like a pebble and it was not beautiful at all.
But Alex could see a beautiful blue aura surrounding the stone.
‘This core is associated with Celety, the goddess of healing and illness. It would do you well to keep it near you.’
The goddess whispered inside Alex’s ear and he was about to put the stone in his pocket when the guide and Baron Luke noticed him. They both walked toward him and Baron Luke grabbed Alex’s hand.
“Hey, what are you doing? Are you trying to steal something from me? Ha, what is this? A pebble? How useless.”
Baron Luke looked at the stone with disgust in his eyes but Sha looked intrigued with the stone. He reached out to look at the stone more carefully before his eyes lost their excitement.
This was not the stone his master was looking for.
“Is something wrong, guide? You can have this stone if you want to.”
The guide looked at the stone with the shiny blue aura and debated whether to keep it or give it back. It was a stone with an aura but it was not the right one. And the power of their god was not compatible with it.
Besides, one look at Alex’s face was enough to make the guide flinch and look away. Alex’s unnerving stare gave the guide a bad feeling and he decided to pull himself back.
“No, nothing is wrong with this stone. It is quite worthless to us as well so I can let your party have this.”
Sha gave the stone back to Alex and not to the Baron. It irked the Baron but he could not help but feel like this was what the guide wanted.
So as much as the Baron did not want to give this stone to Alex, he decided to hand it over to him. It was what the guide wanted and the Baron was trying to impress him.
“Fine, you can keep this stone with you if you want to. But if you slacked on your task and pocketed any more stones, I will have your head. Do you understand?”
Baron Luke was all barks and no bite. But Alex still nodded to show that he understood and pocketed the stone. He also made sure to pocket some more stones when he found ones with the aura.
But none of these stones was blue like the crystal the king wanted.
“Looks like we were unable to find the crystal you were looking for. What do we do now? Do we get to keep any of my loot?”
Baron Luke asked with a frightened expression. He had already begun to think of these resources as his own and he was not willing to go back without them.
Unfortunately for him, Sha rolled his head in a negative and he looked sorry as well.
“I am sorry but that would not be possible. Not because we don’t want to give these things to you, but because you won’t be able to physically take them out of here if you don’t have the blue crystal’s energy.”
Baron Luke was stumped as soon as he heard that. He had been counting his chickens before they hatched and now his disappointment was beginning to rear its ugly head.
But there was still a chance for him. There was no need for Baron Luke to give up. He could still turn things around for himself if he found that blue crystal.
“I-I see. So, I cannot take these treasures out unless I have that blue crystal. In that case, I will find that blue crystal at all costs. It will not be able to hide from me.”
Baron Luke was motivated once more. And this time, he joined the search himself.
They found a few blue gems but none of them were the right gems that the guide seemed to be looking for. And every second without that blue crystal made the Baron more depressed and angrier.
“WHERE THE HELL IS THAT BLUE CRYSTAL.”
In the end, Baron Luke ended up yelling and the cave shook. He had forgotten the reason they needed to remain quiet and a solid head broke the surface.
One of the Barrel worms arrived at the surface and looked at their group. They were lucky that this was a small welp and not a well-developed Barrel worm.
“U-Ugh, where did this thing come from? Hey, you all, hurry up and take care of it. What are you waiting around for?”
Baron Luke quickly ordered as he looked at the Barrel worm. It was getting ready to attack but their guide quickly formed a shield around them.
“We are quite lucky that this is a child Barrel Worn and not an adult one. We still have a chance to fight against it and get away.”
Sha informed their group and everyone prepared to run.
Everyone except Alex, that was.
Alex could feel his blood sing for him to fight. His body was telling him that it was time to work it up and kill some worms.
Ashura had his bow out and held at ready. He fired an arrow and it pierced the Barrel worm’s soft flesh. This was not an adult so it had weakened defences.
The Barrel worm cried out and the ground began to shake once more.
“Tsk, the cry of this kid has alerted the other Barrel worms about its location and possible prey. We need to get out of here right now.”
Sha yelled as he quickly turned around. But Alex did not want to run. He wanted to at least test his skills against the Barrel worm and win this small fight.
The Barrel Worm made the first move. It let toward Alex’s group and opened its mouth to eat them all. Alex’s instincts reacted and he formed a sword to counter the worm and block its mouth.
“Alex, what the hell? Hurry up and come back.”
Kurina yelled at him from her position. She had her borrowed spear held at ready and threw it at the Barrel Worm. it pierced its skin and it cried out in anguish.
That gave Alex enough time to thrust his aura-made sword right through the roof of its mouth and the monster died.
It dropped a small stone and all Alex could see was a bright gold.
“O-Oh god! It’s a blue stone. That monster dropped a blue stone for us.”
Baron Luke confirmed the colour of the stone but Alex had guessed it as well by this point. Now he was sure that the thing the king had asked them to bring back had not been a blue crystal but a mana stone for his element.
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