I mentally severed the Peko's live feed, and the quiet, natural rustle of the dense woodland immediately rushed in to fill my senses as my boots crunched against the dirt path.
[Make me an honorary knight so I can fight their cultist war for them? Yeah, hard pass,] I scoffed, aggressively shoving my hands deep into my pockets. [They aren't even trying to be subtle about it]
I pushed the political headache completely out of my mind, focusing my attention entirely on the massive clearing finally opening up through the tree line.
The Hollow Cinder Mine sat right in front of me.
It wasn't just a simple hole in the ground.
The facility occupied a wide, deforested basin carved directly into the base of a towering mountain.
To my left, a modest stone Shrine of Amaterasu sat quietly near the tree line, offering a stark contrast to the gritty industrial layout.
