Chương 10: Chapter 10

"Today is the day."

Standing in front of Leo while Sicily let out a small yawn. Yuki announced proudly which just led to a small confusion to the two of them. Now instead of her normal outfit, she wore leather pants and a top with a shield on her back.

"Is there something special going on today?" Leo asked, slightly confused.

"We are dungeon diving today. Dungeon diving is one of the quickest ways for an adventurer to make money and level skills." Yuki explained, slightly excited. "Due to how many monsters that spawn in a dungeon. We can quickly gain materials as well as experience in both fighting and collection."

"Was there a dungeon around here?" Leo rubbed his chin slightly confused.

In his imagination, a dungeon was a densely popular spot for adventurers as well as town folks. It not only provides resources as the adventurers bring them back. The town mayor or lord could use it as an attraction to bring in other adventurers. Yet, he hasn't seen such a scene of many adventurers rushing or loudly telling stories about it.

"Well, even if we call it a dungeon, it is actually just an abandoned mineshaft that goblins and other monsters occupy from time to time. Thanks to its conditions and low level of monsters that gather. The guild usually uses it to teach dungeon diving to new adventurers since it is relatively safe."

"Goblins, yuck." Sicily said with a bit of disgust.

Goblins like in many fantasy stories are little green humanoids that capture women and hold them hostage to increase their numbers rapidly. While they are weak, it still isn't a small number of women that get captured by them. Even experienced adventures could fall to them if they are careless or there is an evolved goblin leading them.

"You didn't seem to mind them yesterday." Leo said.

"Yesterday that was because we were in a forest, now we are going to a place where they tend to thrive. In dark and low lighted tunnels where they could surround us easily." Sicily replied.

"Yes, so you need to be prepared and on guard all the time. So you can't stare at my butt the entire time again." Yuki nodded.

Leo fell down as he drew circles into the ground. He was slightly disappointed in the idea, but so be it. In the end he would just need to get his fill on the way there then.

"Is this an iron mine?"

Leo asked lightly as he saw a large pile of red sand around the entrance and rusty minecart tracks. He remembers watching an anime where the protagonist used alchemy to turn it into pure iron. Then he remembers he neither has that skill nor the energy to find out if that was possible.

"Yep, but due to the rate monsters kept inhabiting the mines and due to fears of a cave in. They deemed the mine depleted and besides checking the supports once in a while. It's mostly handed over to the adventurer guild to keep the monsters out." Yuki explained.

While there were a few vines overgrown surrounding the entrance, the place entrance was fairly well maintained for the most part. Unlike the path which led the way here, due to years of most traveling on foot here. The road was overgrown and too narrow to take a wagon here.

"It looks bright in there." Sicily pointed out as lanterns were hanging from the ceiling illuminating the place.

"Strange. This shouldn't be the case unless another adventurer group comes ahead of us." Yuki commented. "Which shouldn't be the case since I requested this a few days in advance."

"Shall we head in to look?" Leo spoke easily.

"Yes, I want to see who has the balls to try and take my quest from me." Yuki got fired up.

Walking into the mine, Leo looked around to see if there was any monster hidden or not. Unable to find even a hidden tunnel or a branch that could easily be missed. The three of them soon stumbled upon a gobin that was brutally torn apart. Half of the head was missing and the remaining part looked to be filled with fear and unwillingness to die.

"Brutal." Sicily said softly as she looked at the corpse.

"I don't think it was caused by an adventurer or they have some major anger issues." Leo looked closer. "It was like they were beaten with a large heavy object like a club of some kind."

"You're right, but look at the ground. It's damp but it's not blood." Yuki said as she touched it with her finger. "It's also got a terrible odor to it."

"It saliva if I had to guess. So, it must be quite a large being if this much around it." Sicily said as she looked around. "But that doesn't make sense either. The tunnels aren't that wide for such a being, much less swinging a large club."

Leo looked around the narrow cave and noticed she was right too. There isn't really a lot of room since the tunnel is really round eight or so feet tall and ten or fourteen feet wide. So a large creature or large club would more or less hit the walls.

"Is it a rock type monster?" Leo rubbed his chin. "One that can tunnel through the ground at least."

"I haven't heard about any in the area lately." Yuki said, confused. "In the past there have been a few mole types that appeared but they are very dolce and not very strong. Golems aren't an option either as they usually linger around ancient ruins. The only other type I know are Earth Dragons, but they are usually lazy and sleep all year around."

"Hmm, it actually might be a worm type." Sicily commented from the back.

"Why do you think so?" Yuki asked.

"Because it has been staring at us." Sicily said as she pointed ahead.

At the end of the tunnel, a giant worm sat idle with a large beak on top with three pincers forming a lower mouth. In its mouth three tongues with razor sharp teeth could be seen expanding outwards as the entire thing was six feet in width.

"Graboid?" Leo spoke while blinking.