The party waited for a few seconds until Elder Cepaniar continued.
“I thought of sothing. Recently we found a newly ford silver mine. Initially I thought it was the gods’ gift for but then it turned out to be infested with monsters, only causing even more work.
If you could clear this mine, it would be a great boost to our budget, and I could prepare so coin for Folor.”
“Fonor.”
“Right.”
The party mbers silently pitied Fonor while leaving the temple with an updated quest. Returning from the mountain they regrouped with the others, who had slacked off enough, and crossed the city towards the horse-drawn cart.
Radiant Shield let out a sigh, knowing that a bumpy ride laid before them.
They traveled through scenic nature by cart until they stopped in the vicinity of a cluster of houses at the foot of a mountain range.
Letting his eyes wander over this village within the city Final Fend elbowed Braag:
“Hey, looks like you would feel right at ho here!”
“Hmm, not bad…”
“So many dwarves in a city of nephilim…”, said Radiant Shield.
“Well, this place is referred to as dwarven mines by so locals for a reason. But its official na is Duabalis Mines.”
“Are those dwarves living here?”
“Yeah. Just like they do in most mountain ranges throughout Crunaboul.”
Clearing his friends’ doubts Liam led them through the dirty streets. He didn’t waste much ti and directly continued along a broad mountain path.
But suddenly Liam frowned slightly. He signaled his party to stop, focusing on the surroundings. His actions imdiately caused his party to be on high alert, subtly repositioning themselves.
Silence fell on the scene.
Watchful Eye suddenly felt a strange sensation. But before he could speak up, another voice sounded out.
“Edelweiss, behind you!”
Liam’s sudden shout startled the group, who hadn’t noticed anything. The bard jumped to the side, reacting instinctively. A fine, wooden lute appeared in her hand, which graciously glided over the strings.
“Salolh.”
A voice like an angel’s sounded from Edelweiss’ mouth, resonating with the world. A black-robed figure was suddenly revealed, frozen in place. Instantly Liam and Bloody Edge appeared next to the daring thief, ending his life with a few swings of their weapons.
“Hey, not bad Edelweiss! What was that skill just now?”
Edelweiss held her hand on her chest, taking deep breaths before answering:
“This… was [Song of Binding]…”
“Well, if that isn’t aptly nad.”
“Edelweiss did well, but what could have gotten into this thief?”, asked Bloody Edge with a shake of his head.
“Testing his steal skill probably.”
Just as Liam answered Bloody Edge, he suddenly swirled around, slashing his swords at the seemingly empty air.
“Ah!”
A low shout could be heard. Shocked by the enormous damage the second thief tried to retreat but Watchful Eye appeared in his way, striking him down.
“What’s happening? Did we poke a nest?”, questioned Silver Blade in disbelief.
Liam pondered for a mont before rembering sothing.
“The place we are going to indeed has sothing which attracts thieves continuously. Respawning treasure chests.”
“Oh. Let’s be careful then. Keep your eyes open, guys.”
“I think that’s good training for you, Bloody Edge. You should be able to discover stealthed thieves without being discovered yourself.”
“Alright.”
After the short interruption the party continued. Bloody Edge directly used his [Stealth], not sticking close to the group. anwhile Liam fed him with advice on what to keep note of when in stealth.
On the way they t a few more thieves. Bloody Edge managed to intercept two of them, but a few others reached the party and were cleaned up by Liam.
Still, Bloody Edge felt his proficiency rising by the minute. The thief would have loved to go on for hours, but the party soon reached a large mining entrance.
A few soldiers had set up defenses around a large, dark hole in the mountain. Thief players arrived from ti to ti, plunging into the mine to try their luck.
As soon as the party entered the rocky tunnel, they could feel the temperature drop. Sounds of footsteps echoed through the surroundings. The rocky, uneven, floor caused the thieves so difficulty.
From ti-to-ti voices could be heard when two players encountered each other.
Braag tried to discover sothing in the light of fluttering torches, noticing an opened chest not far away, causing his eyes to light up.
“Mirage, should we also hunt for treasure?”
“What do you guys think?”, asked Liam with a look at his friends.
“I think we should pass. You can imagine Cyclone’s reaction if she learns that we wasted ti…”
The others agreed with Silver Blade’s opinion, but Liam noticed so reluctance. Considering it for a mont he ca up with an idea:
“Let’s do it like this. I will give Bloody Edge a map so he can farm a few chests and compare himself to other thieves. anwhile we will go ahead and clear so monsters. In an hour we can et up… here.”
While talking Liam had pulled out a piece of paper, drawing a complicated web of tunnels and marking several spots.
He handed it over to Bloody Edge who received the map with a thankful nod.
“Sounds like we got the best of both worlds.”, said Silver Blade.
“Yes.”, answered Liam before addressing Bloody Edge. “But don’t waste too much ti or the mobs will respawn.”
“Got it.”
Bloody Edge acknowledged the advice while his body turned invisible. The faintest of footsteps could be heard, slowly distancing themselves.
anwhile the rest of the group followed Liam until they reached a breach surrounded by a bunch of rubble and blocked by a few soldiers. Sounds of fighting could be heard from behind it.
When the party approached the soldiers eyed them suspiciously but didn’t intercept them.
So thieves sitting in stealth close by were surprised, as those soldiers made their lives difficult, refusing to let anyone pass. Only those with a certain level of skill managed to sneak by the soldiers.
The party naturally didn’t know about their thoughts. They were focused on the updated quest, which automatically appeared in their vision.
[ Quest: Coin for the architect]
[Step one: Talk to Cepaniar]
[Step two: Reach the silver mine]
[Step three: Clear the mines of spiked earth-eating rats]
[Hint: Hurry up! The faster you are the less silver the Broken Council loses.]
Reading the hint Silver Blade imdiately turned towards their expert with surprise.
“Is this a tid quest?”
“Not quite. But the slower we are, the longer Fonor will take to join us.”
“Is this bad?”, asked Edelweiss puzzledly.
“Well, the first guild war is in a week. I estimate we need an evaluation above B if we want Fonor to arrive before that.”
Hearing this, Radiant Shield frowned:
“How about calling back Bloody Edge?”
“Don’t worry, it’s ok. A thief isn’t of too much use. You will see.”
“Alright…”
The others trusted Liam’s judgent, advancing deeper into the cave. The surrounding wall beca noticeably rougher, and the torches were replaced by orange luminescent mushrooms.
Soon, a small black creature could be seen under the light of one of the mushrooms. It looked like a crossbreed between a hedgehog and a rat but with the size of a cat. Its snout twitched excitedly as its white eyes suddenly focused on the party.
Liam nodded at Silver Blade, indicating for her to take the lead, which prompted the tank to imdiately look for the opponent’s information.
[Spiked earth-eating rat
Rank: Common
Level: 22
HP: 6500/6500]
“A minor enemy…”
Radiant Shield’s words got stuck in his throat as the rat let out an ear-piercing scream. Instantly more enemies appeared, so scurrying along the tunnel, so breaking out of holes on the walls.
In no ti at all the party found themselves facing eight rats.
“Braag!”, shouted Silver Blade imdiately.
“On it.”
The dwarf moved before the rats could disperse. His launcher glowed, spewing out four small bombs.
Heavy explosions rumbled along the tunnels as the bombs exploded amidst the group of rats.
[-338!]
[-111!]x6
[-507!]x7
[-304!]x7
[-236!]x7
“Beautiful!”
Final Fend exclaid loudly watching the devastating damage. He wasn’t intimidated by the rats squeaking angrily, focusing their eerie eyes on the party.
The group of monsters surged forward, eager to get rid of the insolent dwarf but were imdiately t with Silver Blade’s [Luring Barrier] and Radiant Shield’s [A paladin’s challenge].
Silver Blade felt the heavy impacts against her barrier as four rats lunged towards her.
[-116!]x4
However, seeing the damage dealt by the rats Silver Blade remained incredibly calm, knowing that her shield could block them for ages.
Radiant Shield on the other hand found himself in a demanding situation having to defend against four rats on his own. He held his shield close to his body, but one rat managed to sneak around him and attack from behind.
[Stance -1]
[-1!]
The tank suddenly froze with a confused expression:
“What’s going on? Is this a bug?”
“Well, what did you expect? Lower-level common enemies against a tank with pieces of rare equipnt? I would be shocked if you would receive any damage.”
“Oh… well, the difficulty just decreased enormously.”
“Don’t be complacent yet. Those mobs have a trick up their sleeves.”
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