— Raid route —
[Sandworm pass route: 15km]
[Wyvern pass to mine entrance: 2km]
[Mine Entrance to Mine shaft: 5km] An hour's march from the entrance to the main shaft, boring deep into the ground where the more valuable minerals are. A few minutes by mine cart.
— Profitability of a mine —
[Iron ore ~ 200 spire silvers / ton]
[Coal ~ 300 spire silvers / ton]
[Cave crystals (very low) ~ 400 spire silvers / ton]
[Cave crystals (low) ~ 2000 spire silvers / ton]
Munch. Munch.
Hikari munches down on her dried rations.
The chewy taste of ivory berries that she hates but must eat to replenish her mana.
She wolfs down two in a row.
A warehouse compartment in the mine shaft.
It was big enough to house her, though she had to share it with several crates of unshipped ore.
Common iron for making steel. Limestone for buildings.
Nothing worth a raid party's time.
Her inanimate roommates left her enough room to be housed comfortably.
She stretches her legs, bends forward, and touches her toes.
She had marched all the way from the mine entrance.
Time is hard to estimate without seeing the daylight cycle inside the mines.
But if she counts the ration packs, she reckons she had marched for a full day carrying that heavy shield.
The back pain was real, and her legs were sore.
But thanks to the salamander skin, she feels like she could march much further.
It synchronized well with her movements, providing an additional layer of muscle that shared the pressure on her joints.
She stretched her sword arm.
It was still in good fighting condition.
The sword of a previous RazenHeir.
It was the best sword she had had so far.
The Runium core responds well to her mana.
This lets her put telekinetic force behind each swing, cutting clean through the queen spider's legs.
The softer outer layer of black steel was scratched, but the blacksmiths could easily replace it.
The rare runium core keeps the sword out of the common marketplace.
It alone makes for a sword worth passing down the generations.
She checks the rest of her gear.
A lot of her steel balls were gone.
They got lost in the spider swarm.
Luckily, they are not hard to replace.
So are most of her throwing daggers, which she overloaded to burn the hive.
She swallows the last bite of her dry rations.
Her hair hits the hard stone as she has nothing more to do than sleep.
She hears the miners working outside.
Pickaxes hacking away at the queen spider's carapace.
Shovels clear away rubble and load it into mine carts.
Flamethrowers torching away at the remaining spider webs.
The constant banging of hammers.
They assemble the drill that will bore through the mountains to the queen wyvern's lair.
Rey walks in.
He approaches cautiously, staying close to the wall.
If the giantess rolled over, she'd crush him.
Fortunately for him, Hikari senses him.
She's quite used to dealing with tiny people and hasn't accidentally crushed anyone in a long time.
She turns her head and opens her eyes.
Rey was still getting used to standing in front of a giant face.
"Ahem! Sorry to disturb your rest. Would you mind a word?"
"Sure."
Rey cleared his throat.
"Thanks a bunch for saving me back there. A queen spider. I was not ready to deal with that. If you didn't come along, I would have become a womb for baby spiders."
"It's nothing."
"You're quite humble, you know. Anyways, good job. Splendid job. Excellent job."
Hikari feels good about the compliment.
"Rey."
"Yes."
He flinched as Hikari's gaze turned to him.
He begins to sweat.
"How do I take it off?"
"Take- take it off? "I'm not sure what you-."
"My armor."
"Ah…"
He breathes a sigh of relief.
"Nothing to it. You peel it off. It's just how salamander skin is. It sticks to its host for warmth and mana. It hates letting go, so you have to put some muscle behind it."
Rey was engulfed in Hikari's telekinetic aura.
The loose pieces of stone around him chatter.
A piece of her wyvern skin rises and floats into a pile.
Rey's eyes opened wide.
It was the first time Rey had witnessed Hikari disassemble her armor.
A thick layer of black, viscous goo lay beneath.
Rey had seen various adventurers with salamander skin, but never at this size.
Hikari pushes her fingers into her salamander skin.
She tears away at it.
The salamander skin tries to stick to her.
She pushes it outwards with her telekinesis.
In large swathes, she pulls the salamander skin out and piles it in a corner.
Her soaked layer of cotton clothing underneath.
Rey turns and faces the wall as she strips.
"Ahh..."
Hikari feels a wave of relief as the cool mine air eases the heat trapped in her tight armor.
She looks down at Rey.
He hugs the wall tightly.
His crotch armor is securely fastened.
"So what now?"
Rey shrugs.
"Nothing. We're done. We cleared the way to the mine shaft. We just have to hold it until the slayers conclude the raid."
"Nice."
"I have some good news for you: the soup kitchen is set up at the mine entrance. When the next supply run comes, you'll be able to taste hot stew."
Hikari smiles.
The stew is nothing special.
But a day of eating the chewy rations already makes her miss it.
"We just have the inspection to go through."
"Inspection?"
"Yes, I hope your Lady briefed you ahead of time. The adventurer's guild hasn't legally cleared us to attempt the mana veins. If you bring back evidence that you've been there, you'll get your lady and us in trouble. I know it's routine for the Moradale houses to ignore that and send their expeditions anyway, but on this occasion, your lady does not wish to tangle with that."
Hikari keeps quiet.
Rey fishes something out of his pocket.
Hikari sits up.
She recognizes it.
"Ria's letter. We have been in the shaft for more than two days now. She must be anxious for a reply."
Rey opens the letter and places it in her palm.
The invisible ink of the RazenHeir house.
Ria's meticulous handwriting.
To Hikari, if this letter finds you, I am overjoyed that you are alive and well. The inspectors have just arrived. Normally we hate them, but they mean the raid is nearly over. I have ordered a feast for you. The famed Herdial bird, said to be the goddess Herda's favorite dish. Hope to see you back at the camp. P.S. Please don't go around looting the place. You'll get us in trouble with the Herdial adventurer guild. Your lady Ria.
Hikari quietly reads the letter.
She hands it back to Rey.
"Come, let us write a reply together."
Rey takes out a blank piece of paper and a quill.
"You first, after all, you're the star of the raid."
Hikari scratches her cheeks.
"We do good."
"What? That's it? There's still plenty of room on the paper. Do you want me to write it in bold to convey your booming voice?"
"Yes."
The general looks at her with dead eyes.
"I'll fill up the rest then."
He scribbles on the paper.
Once he's done, he holds it up for Hikari to read.
Unlike Ria, his handwriting was borderline readable.
To my porcelain princess Ria. Your letter has indeed found us well. Hikari says, 'We are doing good'. She is sitting right in front of me, in good condition, as I write. We have successfully reached the mana shaft. We are assembling the drill as we speak. We are scheduled to be back within the week. P.S. I am deeply jealous you have not ordered a Herdial bird for me. Yours truly, the baby fawn general Rey.
Hikari giggles.
Her mid-pitched voice reverberates through the tight warehouse where she was housed.
Rey covers his ears.
Hikari calms down.
Rey composes himself.
"Now, I suppose I should leave you to rest now. But listen closely."
Rey whispers.
"There's a mine shaft leading upwards to the top. From what I've seen, you can scale it easily. The second mana vein is close. Go in. Absorb some mana. Get out. Don't bring anything back."
Hikari pursed her lips and nodded.
"Now! One last thing, I'd like to take stock of your remaining rations so that I can plan the supply schedule better."
He walked behind Hikari towards her harvest sack.
It towered over him.
"It looks rather bulky; is it all your ration packs inside?"
"Yes."
"It looks like you have enough then."
"Yes."
Rey stares at the harvest sack.
"How many ration packs do you have?"
"Enough."
He turns around and looks at Hikari with his dead eyes.
Hikari looks away.
Her finger scratches her cheek.
"Hikari…"
"Yes?"
"Open the sack…"
"It's open."
"Open bigger…"
…
Rey stood before the most impressive haul he had seen.
Mana crystals even bigger than he is.
They glow so brightly they overwhelm the ambient lantern light.
The air around them seemed to freeze from their presence.
Exotic fruits harvested from the mana veins.
Vivid colors and textures.
Some could fetch a common soldier's full year's wages.
Wyvern parts.
The skin and bones could keep long after the meat decays.
Especially the wings, which would fetch a reasonable price at the Herdial exchange.
Imbued weapons and armor.
Enough to equip a full party of gold-ranked adventurers.
Rey could recognize many of the insignias etched into the armor and identify the house they belonged to.
He turns to Hikari.
His dead eyes stare at her as she looks away, scratching her cheek.
He turns and runs for the warehouse entrance.
There was an iron gate.
He pushed it with all his strength.
Hikari helps him with her telekinesis.
The gate slams shut.
Rey catches his breath.
"Herda's tits. I thought I told you not to bring anything back. If a miner with a loose tongue sees it, we'll be in big trouble."
"Sorry."
Hikari scratches her cheeks.
Rey begins frantically sorting the fruit into two piles.
"These are edible. You can eat them straight away. The other pile is mildly poisonous. I think you should feed it to your salamander skin."
"Hmm...?"
"Yes, in the wild, the salamander skin grows by absorbing various decaying plant matter that its host tends to roll itself in. Crush it and sprinkle it over your salamander skin. By the way, you can take some of the spider carapace. They aren't as valuable as her egg sacs and venom glands, and they are a pain to transport, so you can take as much as you want."
"Yes."
Rey backs off.
He drinks another potion.
This one boosts his mana defense, as he was exposed to the huge crystals from the mana vein.
"Consume it all; I'll watch."
Hikari grabs a mana crystal with her bare hand.
The cold was biting.
She pops a fruit into her mouth and begins absorbing the mana crystal.
— Hikari —
[Physique : 812]
[Mana : 873]
[Defense: 762 -> 785]
[Height: 4.9 meters]
[Weight: 2700 kg]