Boros motioned for the group to enter the cave. Alex, Linnie, and Andris followed him, curious.
Just a few meters in, Alex opened his eyes wide.
"Woah… there's a slope! It's way deeper than I thought!"
"And that's nothing," replied Boros with a slight smile. "There are seven basement levels."
Alex's eyes sparkled like stars. He started running down the slope.
"Aaah! I can't hold back any longer!"
"Wait for me!" shouted Linnie, rushing after him, equally excited.
Boros then turned his head toward Andris, who remained calm.
"You're not running with them?"
"I'm not as excited as…"
Andris didn't even finish when Boros showed him they had already reached the first basement.
The walls were embedded with a hard, dense, dark metal. Metallic veins ran through the stone, heavy and motionless, as if the rock itself had absorbed and fused with the ancient metal.
Alex and Linnie, meanwhile, darted everywhere, touching everything they saw, even jumping into the air, amazed like children let loose in a candy store.
Andris sighed as he watched Alex and Linnie run around.
"They look like children… well, they do have the appearance."
Alex, twirling from wall to wall, suddenly stopped, his eyes moist.
"This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life!" he exclaimed before letting a tear fall. "I can die in peace… Uh, actually no! I have to forge with all this!"
Linnie, for her part, had a mouth full of jelly-like drool dripping from the corner of her lips.
"Woah… all this looks delicious…"
Boros, amused, gave a small smile before settling into a corner where he evidently had the habit of sleeping.
Alex sat on the ground, arms crossed, his excitement giving way to deep thought.
"Hmm… I already have to forge Kiran's sword…" he muttered. "Ah, and I also need to make my hammer… and the weapon to face the other monster king…"
Linnie plopped down next to him, still imagining her gigantic metallic feast, her eyes sparkling at the thought of devouring everything.
Andris watched them for a long moment, completely bewildered.
What are those two making…? he thought, seeing them act like two hyperactive kids lost in a treasure.
Alex continued marveling out loud, touching every wall as if it were sacred. Linnie drooled almost as much as she breathed.
Finally, Andris raised an eyebrow.
"This is all really nice… but we don't have a pickaxe to mine these materials."
Alex and Linnie's world collapsed instantly.
They both fell to the ground, tears in their eyes, as if their most precious dreams had just been shattered.
At that moment, Boros returned, dragging a long woven wooden basket. Inside were blocks of metal of all shapes and colors, perfectly extracted.
"It's okay," Boros said calmly. "You can use these. It's a mix of metals from the first four basement levels. There's a bit of everything."
Alex and Linnie jumped simultaneously, their cheeks wet with tears of joy.
"THANK YOUUUU!"
Andris, however, remained cautious.
"Are you sure? That looks… valuable."
Boros shook his head with a simple smile.
"I never knew how to use them. And these materials were mined to be used. The fact that my savior is using them… it works perfectly."
Alex clenched his fists in excitement, Linnie trembled with happiness, and Andris… still didn't understand much of what was happening.
But at least, they had what they needed to forge.
Alex raised his fist proudly.
"Now, we can officially say the King's Raid mission is complete!"
"Yesss!" replied Linnie, hopping with joy.
But Andris immediately raised a finger.
"Sorry, boss… but it's not over yet."
Alex blinked.
"Huh?"
Linnie tilted her head, confused as well.
Boros quietly observed, curious about what would happen next.
Andris sighed.
"We still need the food. One of the other reasons we came here was for the hunting grounds. Remember? Plenty of prey?"
Alex froze.
"Ah, right… yesss!" he exclaimed, slapping his forehead. He then turned to Boros: "Boros, would you guide us? If it's not too much trouble, of course."
The white giant shook his head.
"This territory belongs to you now that I'm at your service. I will do whatever you want."
"Perfect!" said Alex with a huge smile. "Then let's go! We'll return with what we need."
They climbed the slope of the cave together. Once outside, Boros slung the long wooden basket, filled with metals, over his back as if it weighed nothing.
"Follow me," he said in a deep voice. "There's high-quality prey over here."
The group started moving behind him. The forest stretched out ahead, dense and vibrant, the air charged with an almost wild energy.