Soon after hearing the man's report who took them off the street, Luke asked for information about where the Abandoned Mines were.
Whether it was a good thing or not, the man revealed that underground in Latgor, there was a complex of deep caves, whose area in the past had been well exploited as a Silver Mine, but with the growth of agriculture, a new risk for the area soon became apparent. Thanks to the drying up of rainwater and crop fields by millimeter cracks in the ground, the risk of collapse grew exponentially, which forced the miners to exchange their picks for hoes to work the farms.
According to the man who received the trio of half-beasts, there were several entrances to the Abandoned Mines in every corner of the city, but almost all of them had been locked for a long time, which made it impossible for them to surprise the creature. In other words, the half-wolf's group would need to enter through the same entrance the creature was probably entering too.
Luckily, this larger entrance, and the only one open, was located in a distant part of town, more precisely at the foot of a mountain. Without a second thought, Luke, Alexis and Meredith headed there after saying goodbye to the humble family.
The directions were simple:
"Follow northeast until you find the mouth of a cave that looks like it has a dog's fangs."
When they found the cave, at the end of a small wood, it was already night. The creature's odor was very strong in the place, and it was clear that he had only been there a short time.
"Are you sure you want to go in?" Luke asked, looking into Meredith's brown eyes. "It could be very dangerous."
Meredith's gaze was lost for a few moments because she was afraid of what might happen and of perhaps being a burden to the adventurers. Still, she wanted as much as possible to be part of this dangerous world that the half-wolf was experiencing.
"Don't worry, I will protect you with my life if I have to." Alexis spoke and smiled at the half-fox, making her look confident.
After the quick conversation, they left the bush they had been hiding in and entered the cave.
Since it was night, Alexis used the light from the <Divine Radiance> skill to illuminate them.
A few meters after they entered the cave, the trio found the first trace that that place really had once been a mining site. There was a pickaxe lying on the ground, this one was already very rusty, and the wooden handle was already completely rotten.
"Well, I guess at least that man didn't lie to us." Meredith spoke, as she crouched down to take a closer look at the pickaxe.
"Maybe, but we haven't found anything relevant yet... let's stay alert." Luke spoke, ignoring the pickaxe and looking further into the darkness. This environment reminded him of Dungeons, and it had been a while since he could enter one.
"You're right. Let's keep going..." said Meredith as she stood up.
Normally, the trio of half-beasts could easily find the mysterious creature, but the rotten odor condensed in the air was so violent inside these tunnels that it was making it impossible to track the creature by smell. Anyway, no one was alarmed or rushed, because they could hear when the creature was walking in the city, and it would be no different in these tunnels, so it would be impossible for them to be surprised.
From the height of the cave ceiling and the width, Luke thought the creature was between three and five meters tall. Such a large creature would have difficulty finding the necessary air in the depths of a cave, so when they realized that they were already deep in the Abandoned Mines, they deduced that maybe the creature was sleeping in some corridor that they had missed.
Nevertheless, they decided to go on for a few more meters and suddenly encountered a faint glow, accompanied by a current of air. Luke, Meredith, and Alexis looked at each other because if there was a current of air, it could mean that the creature might be much deeper in the cave than they expected.
The trio followed the draft and the glow, which gradually became stronger. When they turned a steep corner, they found the most beautiful cave they had ever seen in their lives.
From the ceiling and the floor in this cave came giant crystals and small crystals, which varied between blue and violet hues. These crystals weren't like the precious crystals that could be found in Dungeons, which were almost transparent; these were solid and massive. Still, the crystals were impressive because of their sturdiness and also because the little bit of light that came into that cave through the various holes, bounced off the crystals and created a light show.
Meredith felt that she could spend hours looking at the details of the place, that is... if there wasn't a creature sleeping right in the center of the area.
This creature had the appearance of a panther, but was actually white. His limbs were stretched out of proportion to the size of his head, and on his back was proof that he was not just some strange animal, like the Giant Bear that Luke had killed or like the Lizard Monkey. Connected to the back of his head was a gigantic, tough-looking shell, from which four other limbs came out, limbs that were even longer than his four long legs. These strange limbs had the exact same appearance as the legs of a conventional spider, but which from afar appeared to be as sturdy as the giant crystals on the walls.
"How do you want to do this?" Luke muttered to the half-dragon after they hid behind a small crystal.
"Let's be quick and efficient. Meredith, you had once told me that you have great aim, so you will take that obsidian dagger in Luke's hand, and you are going to throw it at that crystal. Do you think you can do it?" Alexis asked, pointing to a medium-sized crystal above where the creature was sleeping.
Fearing making noise now, the half-fox answered Class-S with an excited nod. Next, Luke borrowed the small obsidian sword and handed it to her.
"Luke, the signal for us to start will be when the crystal falls on the creature. At that time, this thing will surely wake up, so I will face it head-on, and you will use your skills to kill it from behind. If he's stronger than we expect, no need to rush, we don't need to be fast but rather that it doesn't make too much noise."
"Alright, I'll stand by for the signal then." Luke stated and used the <Invisible Trail> ability to not be detected in any way by the monster.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om