Racing like lightning, Ivan and his companions arrived at Stone Creek Town. They passed near the small town and headed straight to the location of the magic stone mine.
Dismounting and walking for a long while in the forest, they arrived at an unremarkable gully.
Under Heidi’s leadership, they passed through a rocky passageway into the interior of the magic stone mine, only to realize how vast the space inside was, housing several small cottages and a strategic pass that guarded the mine.
“Everyone, be careful.”
Heidi stepped forward and pressed a translucent token against the stone wall blocking the pass, revealing a thick defensive membrane covered in various rune lines.
Ivan, excited by the hunt, tried to recognize some symbols but immediately felt dizzy and quickly averted his gaze.
Seeing Heidi regaining her focus, Wolban hurriedly asked, “How is it?”
“I haven’t found anything unusual,” Heidi replied with furrowed brows. After pausing for a few seconds, she added, “Since that’s the case, we can only enter the mining area to investigate further.”
Last time they found nothing unusual, and this time they hadn’t been hopeful either; now feeling resigned, entering deeper into the mine seemed the appropriate course of action. They did not intend to follow the narrow passages from their memories.
Heidi took a deep breath, then pressed the token against the stone wall again. The token merged with the defensive membrane, and she chanted another spell.
The protective membrane rippled, and a sinister passage suddenly appeared, its walls trembling incessantly on either side.
“Quick, follow me.”
Heidi swiftly removed the token and led the way into the exposed passage, with the others quickly following her steps.
The surroundings were hazily dim, and soon they were running through the passage one by one. As the last person, Cooke, emerged, the passage closed instantly, making him break out in a cold sweat for his narrow escape.
The leader, Heidi, was also visibly exhausted, with sweat on her brow.
In front of everyone, she downed two potions—one to replenish her mental power and the other to restore her Mana, causing envy among the others.
‘Truly affluent.’
Gina gestured a mouth shape to Ivan at her side.
Ivan smiled wryly; he, too, was envious. He had Mana-replenishing potions but not those for mental power. Anything related to the spirit was invariably scarce. If they completed this mission, he might consider exchanging for a potion recipe.
By then, they had reached a dim underground cave where the only sources of light were some faintly glowing plants and stones.
“The energy particle concentration here seems a bit low.”
“Mental power is being mysteriously suppressed, I estimate we can only unleash eighty percent of our full strength.”
Someone voiced their observation. The place felt chilling and oppressive, though it was unclear whether this was due to the magic stone mine or the defensive array, even restricting their inherent abilities. Find exclusive stories on empire
Heidi said, “This is normal.”
After calming everyone with a word, she took out a nose-tip blood from a two-headed hound Mordo as magic-casting material and cast the Tracking Technique, creating a black two-headed hound.
Such a technique would be more aptly called ‘Search Technique.’
Guided by the black two-headed hound, the group hastened through the cave, advancing deeper into the magic stone mine.
The silence along the way was excessive. Ivan could sense the chilling presence intensifying around him as shadow particles overwhelmed other energy particles.
From afar, they saw an area stark white with bones, exactly as Yosef had remembered it. The rune lines previously arranged around were now worn away, and the white bones pit seemed to have become the den of a significantly large wild beast.
Their pace involuntarily slowed as they advanced step by step toward the white bones pit.
“Hiss, hiss.”
Before they could approach, a cracking sound resonated from the white bones, and a massive creature emerged, standing over two stories tall, a white-scaled snake covered in black spots.
From above, the white-scaled giant snake stared down at the uninvited guests.
Not far around it, thirty or forty skeletons and mummies were also disturbed and shakily stood up.
Unexpectedly, there were even undead creatures born here.
“Quick battle, quick decision!”
Heidi and Wolban exchanged looks and saw the determination in each other’s eyes—they issued commands to their team.
“Use lightning-type magic.”
Heidi emphasized, and both set an example by using an enhanced powerful spell right away.
‘Double Condensed Water Chains’
Heidi, using magic-casting materials, cast the spell first, summoning a torrent that transformed into two thick chains, locking the white-scaled giant snake and pulling it apart from the left and right.
The white-scaled giant snake writhed, attempting to break free from the chains, but the liquid that made up the chains was like a viscous gel, tough and strong, resisting all the snake’s wriggling, making it impossible to escape.
‘Lightning Dance Leap’
Wolban’s spell arrived, and a lightning spear as thick as two fingers struck the white-scaled giant snake dead on.
This strike not only punctured a bloody hole but also caused lightning to spread around, making the snake’s body stiff and numb.
The other members’ spells were cast in succession, clearly inferior to Wolban’s, with their many attacks causing the giant snake to howl continuously.
What to do if you can’t use lightning-type magic? Just clear the skeletons and mummies around, which didn’t seem strong with their shaky movements—in fact, they were not. Ivan summoned a blood-colored pigeon.
In cooperation with others, they quickly cleared all the undead creatures in the vicinity.
The only enemy left was the white-scaled giant snake, which was still stubbornly alive despite being bathed in lightning. By this time, Heidi had already cast the Double Condensed Water Chains a second time.
Ivan recalled the blood-colored pigeon, watching the vast battle scene, and embarrassingly found himself unable to contribute. For now, sending out the rapid wood silkworm would only get it accidentally killed by the lightning—an unworthy risk.
Compared to the other 3rd Class apprentices present, his foundation was somewhat lacking.
Disheartened, he stepped back several paces, and his steps suddenly came to a halt. Amid the noisy figures around, with the exceptional hearing provided by Bat’s Eyes, he heard an unusual noise underfoot.
“Watch out, there’s something underfoot.”
Ivan shouted loudly to the surroundings and hurriedly stepped back.
Some people, like Gina, alertly retreated with him, while others, like Hawtherley, just moved a few steps away.
No sooner had the shout fallen than the ground where he had been standing broke apart, sending mud and rocks flying. Two rock-like massive bodies burst forth, revealing giant beasts, a pair, seemingly armored with a dense, thick iron plate.
The two iron-armored giants swept through a large area with their huge bodies, knocking three apprentices flying as soon as they appeared. One of them was Hawtherley, who had recently been beside Ivan, along with two other hunting team apprentices.
Ivan and Gina withdrew in time, avoiding the beasts’ charge.
On closer inspection, they turned out to be two magicalized pangolins, each about eight or nine meters long, armored with scaly plates that clearly spelled trouble.
The magicalized pangolins used their massive bodies to block the entrance of the white bones pit, and the white-scaled giant snake inside seemed about to break free.
In the blink of an eye, the situation reversed, putting the apprentices in a disadvantageous position.