Chapter 54 – King of the underground (5)
“What is it, my lord?” Scarlett asked from behind.
“There’s something in front of us,” Brendel’s voice was reduced to a whisper.
Scarlett’s eyesight was currently no different from an ordinary person, and it was difficult for her to see far ahead with the weak light provided by the crystal.
Brendel pulled out his sword and led the girl slowly ahead and realized that it was a person, seemingly a worker in this mine. He carefully studied him, but there was no visible injury.
“He’s still alive,” Scarlett took a glance and immediately judged so.
Brendel agreed. He had also seen the shallow rise and fall of the worker’s chest. The latter seemed to be merely unconscious. He tried shouting at him, but the middle-aged man did not wake up, so he took his waterskin bag and poured a little on his face.
Considering that they might be stuck in the underground and the water they had on them was limited, he refrained from pouring too much of it. He was about to slap the worker’s face, but it seemed like the worker’s eyelids twitched and opened soon enough.
His rousing was not pleasant, and the moment he saw the two people in front of him, he retreated to the walls and knocked himself against them.
Brendel hurriedly said after seeing his panicked reactions: “We work here as well, there’s no need to be frightened.”
The worker stared at them for a while before he calmed down. He studied them carefully and asked: “You’re from the administration? Foremen? Or the guards?”
Scarlett’s disguise as a man held because of the darkness, but he could see the outline of their weapons. Only the three groups would be allowed to have weapons, but it was more likely that they were guards.
“We’re from the guards,” Brendel nodded and answered, knowing that the workers knew almost every foreman.
That man seemed relieved to find that there was help, but he quickly tensed up.
“Did you encounter monsters too?” His gaze went to their injuries.
Brendel exchanged glances with Scarlett.
[Monsters? The only monsters are my summoned spiders……]
But he thought that the situation was not so simple.
“What type of monsters did you encounter?” He frowned and asked.
“Statues, monstrous creatures in the form of statues, Marsha above!”
“Creatures in the form of statues?” Scarlett repeated his words curiously.
“There’s no need to worry. We’re here to help you. Take your time and think back to the time when you encountered the creatures. Is it a humanoid or beast-like creature?” Brendel asked.
[There are many types of creatures made of stone. The Wizard Craftsmen from Galbu, Gargoyle Sentinels, and War Puppets, but considering the environment here, Earth Elementals are also a possibility.]
“They are like beasts, but made out of rocks! Please believe me! I swear I didn’t mistake them for something else!”
“A beast form? Are there wings?”
“No!” His reply was firm.
Brendel rubbed his forehead. He had not heard of a living rock monster. Even though there were plenty of strange creatures in the continent, most of them had particular traits. Monsters made from rocks or soil were usually artificial life forms made by Wizard Craftsmen, and the other type was Elementals, although the latter was unlikely because they did not resemble beasts.
[Non-flying animated statues rarely come in the form of beasts. And Elementals mostly come in the form of worms.]
But the worker was looking at them puzzledly for some reason, and Brendel quickly moved on to his next question: “Is there anyone else besides you?”
The workers usually worked in groups, and as expected, the middle-aged man in front of Brendel swallowed as he remembered the incident that happened earlier, and nodded quickly:
“Yes, I came in a group, but we were separated when we encountered the monsters,” he took a quick glance at the deeper parts of the tunnels, and continued with some uncertainty, “but I’m not sure where they are now, or whether they are alive…… I think the monsters went after them.”
He seemed thankful to be alive, and at the same time, he was still feeling a little afraid.
“Oh, that’s right, Marhann was also here.” He suddenly recalled something.
“Who?” Brendel asked.
“You don’t know him?” The worker was surprised. “He’s the foreman in charge of our level. I heard that he used to be in the army and his swordsmanship is amazing. When the earthquake started, he said he would go to the pits to take a look. Not long after he went in, the monsters started appearing.”
The corners of Brendel’s mouth twitched. He nearly outed himself when he randomly asked a question, but it was lucky that the worker was not alert because he thought ‘his allies’ were rescuing him.
Scarlett, on the other hand, frowned when she heard the answer. “Didn’t the tunnels start to collapse immediately after the earthquake? Furthermore, what made him think of going to the pits?”
Brendel immediately caught on to the problem when he listened to Scarlett’s reply: “That’s right, isn’t it better to find a safe place to avoid the collapse at that time?”
“No, no,” the worker shook his hand, “the tremors were not that strong in the beginning, and the walls are much thicker here, and there wasn’t much of a collapse in this area. Also, the key point is that it originated from the south of the tunnels here. It seems like you were not in our level when it happened, otherwise you would have known that.”
Brendel suddenly sighed when he heard the surprising information.
[That seals the deal. Jocah’s group had dug out something from this mine and caused a Mana Resonance. It looks like they are likely to be dead since the point originated from their side.]
“It doesn’t sound like an earthquake, my lord,” Scarlett whispered to Brendel.
Brendel nodded. He decided to investigate Jocah’s location.
Even though the Legacy of the Silver Lineage was not as rare as the Golden Apple, it was still a unique item. But the quest probably was not going to be easy, judging from the power of the Mana Resonance.
He suddenly turned around and placed a finger on his lips and said: “Both of you, stop talking.”
The tunnels turned quiet, and only the worker’s heavy breathing could be heard. Very quickly, they heard rumbling noises coming from the south, as though there were things moving across the ground.
“They’re back!” The worker suddenly whispered with urgency and immediately paled.
Brendel readied his sword. He was a little suspicious in his mind. Even though it seemed many things were coming towards them, they did not sound like they were something dangerous.
Very soon, the first creature emerged from the darkness. It was a greyish-white panther that elegantly trotted across the ground, glaring at Brendel with a pair of gemlike eyes.
No— The eyes were actually a pair of gems.
The cat-like creature seemed like it was carved out of stone and had a pair of grey colored gems as eyes, but Brendel finally knew what it was.
[That’s not a stone creature but soil molded with Earth Element Mana into a creature. It can take on any form that the summoner wants. Does this mean there’s an Elementalist doing this, or some other defense mechanism activating and summoning these creatures?]
Brendel thought the second possibility was more likely, and it meant that the Legacy item or Sanctuary was possibly sentient. Either way, it meant there was a Fantasy-ranked item. Brendel’s heart soared and his eyes nearly teared up.
It was the first time where he could get his hands on a high-level equipment.
More creatures poured out from the dark tunnel, easily more than a dozen, and their eyes glinted dangerously in front of the Light Crystal. Eventually, twenty of them surrounded them in a semi-circle.
There was no sign of anxiety on Brendel’s face, and he took a step forward: “Stay back a little, Scarlett.”
“Understood.” The red-haired girl caught the worker who was trying to crawl away to flee the area and dragged him back to where they were.
It was safer for them to stay where Brendel was at. She did not move forward to help him because she would instead interfere with his movements, given her current state.
But she was not worried. Her judgment remained even though she lost her power, and she could see that the panthers were hardly a threat to Brendel.