Return to Jorgaldur

Although tired, they made sure to provisionally seal the exit of the anthill, and place alarms along the tunnel network, which a much larger team will study in depth. Unfortunately, the exit of the anthill was far from the other side of the mountains, so it wasn't useful for Eldi.

The main tunnel was long, but they were tired and there was much to do, so they returned where they had come from, being replaced by a larger team, that had been gathering and was waiting for them on the other side of the armored gates, and which was restless for the lack of news.

The story of the battle against the ants and the taking of the anthill was a surprise to those who were listening, and it also meant an opportunity. They had to take advantage to secure that long tunnel, which the new team will continue to explore, and the maintenance team will start conditioning. No doubt, new teams would be sent shortly, especially now that they could have more of them due to the supplies they had brought, freeing them from their current occupations.

Eldi, on the other hand, also met again with the friends and disciples he had made in the city, because he needed to repair his weapons and carry all the supplies, which ended up being much more abundant than any of them had expected.

He would have liked to be able to repair the equipment with the anvil from the beginner's village, but he had to do it with the crafting platforms, which meant a resource spending, although much less than crafting them again.

He also took the opportunity to create equipment and potions level 45 and, to teach how to craft them. The Royal Guard and the Queen had provided them with raw material, in addition to the fact that the mole-people had gathered enough of that level while he was away, and that they gave them to him without hesitation, since they owed him much more than they could ever pay.

He soon departed again, accompanied by another of the groups that was heading to the tunnel, and which included Tica. They hadn't managed to persuade her not to go, so they finally gave up, since the danger seemed controlled.

The tunnel they had freed had been part of one of the main routes between two of their cities. One of the cities was the one they came from, while the other had been lost in time, because of the war and its consequences, such as not having anymore enough strength to defend against the dangers of the deep. It was several kilometers long, and led to another one of a similar size.

Security and maintenance teams were distributed throughout the length of that tunnel, while expeditions to the second one came and went, crossing another pair of armored gates with intermediate security chamber, and which had been restored with great care.

They talked for a while with one of the expeditions which had just returned. They were somewhat tired but not injured, because all the expeditions had at least one member capable of healing, as long as they weren't very serious injuries.

They had advanced a couple of kilometers, sealing and monitoring the cracks, which until now hadn't been too deep. They were short expeditions, because they returned as soon as they couldn't carry more raw materials, results of their confrontations. The mole-people knew what it was to go hungry, so the expeditions weren't willing to throw anything away. They might have enough for a while now, but they weren't going to stop storing for the future.

They hadn't found ants, and it was unlikely that there were any, as there were other species in the tunnel. For now, they had faced beetles. Some larvae of different species, which live underground during this phase of their evolution. Or worms. But they weren't ruling out encountering other aggressive species. The maximum level they had found had been 42, but they were convinced that it would rise as they approached the old abandoned city.

None of the mole-people were leveled up higher than 45, since there weren't powerful enough enemies to allow them to advance further. But, in ancient times, when the relationship between the various settlements was cordial and the tunnels safe, warriors traveled from one city to another to face the right enemies. And the abandoned city was the right base to level up to 55.

The group that were accompanying Eldi was more numerous than usual, with just over forty members. This was because he had offered to skin, dismember and store the threats they would defeat, so they didn't need to worry about the cargo. And there were also the blessings he conferred to those who were in the front at each time, making their work more efficient. He would have wanted everyone to be blessed at all times, but his mana wasn't enough for it.

Of course, such a large group had no major problems in subjugating whatever enemies they found, although sometimes they had to move through narrow openings to face them, in which only a couple of them fit. At least, they didn't have problems during the first few days.

“It's getting harder and harder,” sighed one of them, after facing a group of five scorpions level 49, almost at the end of the tunnel.

Two of their companions were being treated with potions against poison, and the healing of Eldi and three other healers-mole. Their life wasn't in danger, but it was better to stop to rest until everyone was in good condition, and while some were watching the work of the assistant. Not only had they not tired of that wonder, but they had begun to study it thoroughly, with the intention of improving their own techniques. Sometimes, they even asked to be the ones to do it, in order to practice.

The tunnels weren't wide enough to let them all fight at once, and against five opponents of higher level, it hadn't been easy, although the help of the foreigner and his wide arsenal of spells had helped a lot. After almost two weeks, he was already at level 45, and wore equipment at that level, while he was beginning to wonder how to get raw materials for 50.

He wasn't the only one who had leveled up. Tica was at 41, and hoped to raise to 42 soon. She was carrying a huge hammer in addition to her spear, with which she could execute a very imperfect version of Devastating Blow, and was trying to perform Smash Ground while they were resting. She wasn't the only one who had tried other weapons, and tried to imitate some foreigner’s spells and skills, although, by now, few had managed to perceive them.

Far from bothering him, Eldi did as many displays as requested. Although he knew it could take up to a year to master the simplest ones, and several years the more complexes ones. In fact, he had begun to notice progress in a spear-mole technique, although, for now, he was only able to pull out dust from the ceiling.

But that didn't stop the warriors-moles. They were excited about the chance of getting in stronger and learning new tricks. Even one of them had reached level 46, which was the first time in over a hundred years, and everyone expected to reach it at some point. Although what surprised them the most was the fast growth of the visitor, who days ago barely exceeded level 30.