New System, Who Dis?

Friday, April 26th, 2069

With my Mining Skill, and Smegma’s understanding, I did most of the work to remove as many full Crystals as I possibly could and pointed out the places for the others to strike and shard fused connectors.

“This is deep,” Willa said, as she carefully chipped out a section to expose another large chunk and the visible part of what once was a Crystal Stem. “Still, you sure it be Crystal, Bro?”

I was mid swing near an edge, cracking away stone to expose a stem for myself when she spoke. I let the pick slam home and smelled the ozone as a spark flew, but paused for a moment between swings to answer. “Not sure, no—but relatively confident. If it is, it’s likely very old, and that should make it rare. Hopefully valuable and rare…”

“You sure that this won’t be confiscated too?” My dad whispered from beside me. I took another swing before glancing at the minder’s from Mirage, then shrugged as the stem shattered with the sound of the shattering tail of a Rupert’s Drop. The Crystal didn’t fall free, and I began looking for the fuse points that needed to be broken away.

“These edges will give us the most whole pieces of material,” I said as if directing the others to focus there. I’d already said something similar a while ago, so it wasn’t some great epiphany and a scoff from one of the five minders made me roll my eyes. I turned to face them and said, “We’ll be done in about ten to fifteen minutes. You might want to get that porter down here.”

As I spoke, I bent down and pretended to study a full Crystal amongst the shard. As I picked it up to show the men, I used my other hand to send another to my Necklace of Holding. In my best, ‘I told you so’ tone, I addressed the leader, “It sure looks like a Mana Crystal, doesn’t it?”

I left unsaid my own doubt to that effect. I’d tried and failed to send the Mana inside the ‘Crystal’ to the Demonic Vault—so I was even less sure what this was, even though it looked very much like a Mana Crystal in a different color. Regardless, I knew it would still be valuable outside.

He snatched the Crystal from me and squinted at it, ignoring my comment, and me. His lackeys crowded close, and I saw another opportunity. I ‘pocketed’ two more of the basketball-sized B-ranked or higher Crystals. I didn’t dare take any more.

The leader got fed up with the crowd from one excited breath to the next. “Buzz off ya flies. Jack, go get the porter. Viccar and Etien go scout the next cavern. We don’t all need to watch these men sweat.”

“And ladies!” Willa said pointedly under her breath. She wasn’t usually one to speak quietly in these situations, and I gave her a look. She discreetly motioned to the leader, making it clear she didn’t like him—and simultaneously was getting a strange vibe from him. Like her talking back might be somehow a threat to the group.

Blinking, I simultaneously felt my stomach drop. I hoped she was wrong and that she was just being overly cautious thanks to the rumors and stories Jarred and my dad told. Still, the asshole was unlikeable.

“I’ll follow the two to the next cavern,” Smegma said, picking up on my internal thoughts. “See if they discuss anything worrisome.”

It took another twenty minutes before we were finished, but to my surprise no one had returned. Neither Jack and the porter or Etien and Viccar. I studied the metallic yellow Crystals on the floor as I mentally sent, [Everything okay, Smegma?]

The imp popped back into view beside me, and his expression immediately put me on edge. “The next cavern is huge. Larger than any we’ve been in so far; including the ones with the Lynx or Snow Birds Guild. It’s filled with Crystals, but the two who went to scout got too far away to hear more than them speculating about how much this stuff will be worth. I was waiting for them to come back, but I couldn’t see where they went.”

“Where the husk are Etien and Viccar?!” The leader growled, seeming to realize that we were done with this section and that his two ‘scouts’ were missing. The late realization from the leader made me dislike him more. Shouldn’t he have noticed before I did…

Slapping feet from the opposite direction the two minders were lost down echoed down the hall to us, and pretty soon Jack arrived at a run. “Echo-five says that the Boss is moving, and he needs us all now! They can’t send porters!”

“Husk!” the leader said, and looked to the tunnel that led to Etien and Viccar. “Jack, go get those two. Aaron, and I will head up. You lot, keep mining.”

“That’s not part of our contract, we were guaranteed protect—”

The leader was in my father’s face so fast, that I stepped back. His hand was on his sidearm at his waist, which was a strange way to communicate a threat considering he had a strapped AK-47-esque weapon draped in front of him. “Listen, here! This is husking protection! You want the Boss to collapse the entrance to this mine with you lot inside?”

My father didn’t flinch back and met the man’s steely stare. “You and I both know that’s a stretch. We can leave and come back once the all clear is given. The Portal out is close by.”

The click of the holster being released sounded louder than the picks on stone moments before. “If I tell you to keep mining, you keep mining. Do you understand me, Pooler?”

Willa gasped, and I frowned. That was a particularly offensive name to people who Awakened with only the Mana Pool gift. It was rarely spoken anymore in pleasant society. There were just too many of us Mana Pool Awakened—and thus public opinion was heavily swayed by us.

My frown was because I assumed every Hunter in here would also be classified as a ‘Pooler.’ So, the insult was even more nuanced. Like a superiority complex, against Awakened who didn’t strap on weapons like these men did.

My dad’s jaw was clenched but he nodded slowly, while the leader waited, meeting his eyes intensely. After a time, the man re-clipped his holster and strode from the hallway. My dad followed his departing back with eyes that threatened retribution. Still, the leader and Aaron were soon out of sight and despite not having seen Jack leave, he too was gone.

We were essentially by ourselves, with the threat of Jack, Etien and Viccar returning. I studied each of my groups in turn. Willa, and my father wore expressions of rebellion, where Jarred and Dave both stared silently down to the ground. I, for one, was somewhat happy with this turn of events, and said, “You do realize that being left alone means we can sell more Crystals to Demonic Vault, right?”

“We talked about this Brodie,” my dad instantly answered, his voice hard. “This isn’t a race! We work our way up—you slowly work your way up. Remember?!”

It was my turn to look at the ground.

“Then what are we going to do?” I asked, as I studied the metallic yellow carpet of shards and Crystals.

“Once Viccar, Etien and Jack come back and leave, we’re also going to go. Then we will never be working with Mirage again,” my dad said.

“Wait, we decided they were the best of the offers Legion could get for us. Plus won’t that stop us from getting a good reference from them?” Dave asked as his head popped up.

“Better to be alive and workin’ to better our reputation, then dead,” Willa countered.

Jarred nodded, while Dave and I looked at each other. I agreed with Dave. We hadn’t seen a monster down here yet—clearly, Mirage had done a good job clearing it out. Surely it was safe enough, even without minders. We hadn’t had Steady Jural in the same cavern as us or other Hunters when working with Lynx or Snow Birds. Of course, that reminded me of the King Leeches and the fact that Steady Jural had died protecting the deepest cavern.

“Listen to your father, but I do suggest we take as much of this stuff as we can,” Smegma said, while indicating the carpet of Crystals. “You might not be able to sell the Mana inside for some reason, but it definitely has Mana.”

[The Hunters are coming back,] I said, even as I studied the carpet again to see if I could get away with more, without it being noticeable. After a moment I shook my head but did think, [Once they’ve left us, I’ll take a few, maybe…]

“Okay should we go back to the last couple of caverns, though, as we wait,” I said, thinking we could still sell many full Crystals from those locations.

“Yeah, but we stick together,” my dad ordered. We all nodded and moved back up the tunnel.

We were finished Mining the nearest small cavern, and we still hadn’t heard or seen anything from the direction we’d come.

I was up to twenty thousand Mana Coins in the Demonic Vault, thanks to my very sticky fingers. One issue did seem apparent, looking at the leftovers. Without sharding, it was easier to identify my theft. Still, I wasn’t too worried—thanks to the moss. A quick brush of the hand covered a great deal of the small visible stems that adorned the walls.

Sure there weren’t many there, but it would definitely help hide the missing Crystals.

“Next cavern?” I asked, but only to break the eerie silence.

“Something is wrong,” my dad answered. He was staring back down the hallway with the Metallic-Yellow-Crystal-Mural. Everyone nodded.

“Do we go check it out, or get the hell out now?” Jarred asked. I could tell, his question was again just meant to be a prompt.

“We’re getting out of here,” my dad sternly answered. He instantly spun on his heels and started walking—the action and words more than enough to get everyone else to follow.

Dave fell in beside me. “Look how good my pick looks,” he said, brandishing the aforementioned mining tool. It was even starting to darken in the handle—which was interesting, considering ours only did that after we rang the Golem Heart. Otherwise known as defeating the Rock Golem. “I felt it steering my swings a bit, when we were working on the Mural. Isn’t that annoying?”

“Huh? Why?” I asked.

“Well, I was trying to shard, and it was clearly wanting me to hit elsewhere.”

“Mine didn’t do that,” Jarred said, butting into the conversation. “I did feel it steer, but it made the swings more precise.”

“Ask Dave where he was aiming,” Smegma said, still invisible—in case the Hunter’s suddenly popped up.

I conveyed the question and Dave shrugged. “In the general areas you or the others indicated.”

“That’s why,” Smegma answered. “He’s not being specific—so the Enchant is choosing the best spot for him. If you know the best spot and aim for it—it directs the point there. The Enchantment is essentially a pseudo-Skill and works on intention.”

Again, I conveyed the response from Smegma, and Dave’s eyebrows raised. “Is it reading my thoughts then?”

Smegma started laughing and I couldn’t help the smile that broke onto my face. I had something reading my surface thoughts—so, this wasn’t a big concern for me. Still, the smile didn’t last, because the others concerned looks sobered me instantly.

Smegma didn’t stop laughing but did manage to shake his head as he said, “No, no. It’s more experience, I guess. Your father, Willa and Jarred are already aiming at the right spot—so they won’t feel much. Only minor corrections. Dave intends to strike a wider spot and thus the pickaxe corrects further—and if that area has two or three good strike points it will pick one at random. Thus the intentions.”

My smile was returning, as I opened my mouth to correct the meaning from a moment before—

The ground under my feet rumbled. It happened again, and again in quick short bursts. “Is that an Earthquake?” Dave asked before I could.

“No, the husking Hunters are using explosives. It’s closer than we thought—we better start running!”

My father matched his words as he increased his pace to a jog. The sound of slapping work-boots on Crystal piles and stone echoed out of rhythm as each of us moved individually. Right up until everyone planted those feet, and slid over the carpet in unison. We came to a stop even as an extremely loud crash echoed down toward us. We were just passing through the cavern I’d mined this morning.

So, three from the exit.

A cloud of dust followed the sound, and I just managed to pull up my mask and avert my gaze before it crashed over us. Some of the others began coughing and cursing having not been quick enough. I stood still waiting for the dust to settle. The few peeks I did make, showed me nothing but a grayish green haze, surrounding me.

Smegma seemed to either be able to see or guess what happened because he soon said, “The entrance collapsed!”

Everyone made noises of distress—telling me that he had made himself visible, not that they saw him. But they clearly heard him.