In the Fabelt's Pass, somewhere deep in the unexplored underground Grade 3 Gold mine.
Ragdek Mighthold woke up from his makeshift bed in what appears to be an alcove in the large tunnel walls and changed into his work clothes.
They were a set of coarsely designed coveralls, stitched together from sturdy cloth made of off the various hides of monsters, some parts woven from the threads of spider monsters. While they stretched poorly and did not feel comfortable when worn, they had certain resistances to various environmental effects.
They were a poor choice for everyday wear which was why he has to change out of them when he wanted to rest. However, they were exceptionally suited for working in the mine tunnels, where conditions were poor and the temperature changes rapidly depending on what section of the tunnel you were in. For dwarfs, there were certainly better options when it comes to mining equipment but Ragdek and his crew could only afford so much at the moment.
After he was done putting on his clothing, he put on a metal helmet, of the sort that light infantry might wear. Although he did not have any light attached to it as this was one of the older gears for miners and it did not even contain any padding within it for comfort so Ragdek and his crew would manually pad the inside of their helmet with thick towels.
As dwarfs had a variation of the skill Darkvision as their racial traits, a way to see almost perfectly in the dark. Ragdek and his crew did not need to spend the extra cash for an updated miner's gear as they could use luminous rocks to make up for the difference.
Finally, he equipped himself with an oversized pickaxe that seem to be the most impressive thing amongst everything he had on him right now as it gleamed with a purple hue. This was a magic item made out of Tritanium, the second rarest metal in the world.
After his preparations were complete, Ragdek emerged from his temporary room and headed straight down the tunnel to where he could hear the faint sounds of metal striking something hard.
As he approached the source of that sound, it steadily got louder and soon he saw the figures of three short but stout and broad individuals, crouched down by the corner of the large tunnel as they seem to be digging something from only a single spot.
There were ores of gold scattered all around them but they didn't seem to care much about them, rather focusing on their work.
"Ohhh! Ragdek! You were gone a while, were you that tired, you're losing your edge you know."
Sensing his approach, the dwarf closest to the direction he had come from turned his head and spoke to him in a friendly tone as he took off his helmet to wipe his sweat away. He had a similar build to the others but seem a lot taller and more muscular than them.
He had grey hair that was knotted in what appears to be cornrows, his long grey beards were bound at the middle with a large golden ring.
"Ho! Bernir! You can't go around comparing people to you man. You should know by now that you're a freak of nature."
"Come on man. Don't be mean the moment you get here, I'm a sensitive fellow you know." Bernir Galnik, a dwarf that seemed to be built more like a warrior than his friends grumbled at Ragdek remarks.
"I'm not mean, I'm just stating the truth."
"Ho, Ragdek! You're back, Let's do our best today!"
Turning his head around, Ragdek saw another dwarf coming from the same tunnel as he had. The dwarf was around the same height as him, being around four feet tall. He had thick red beards that matched his brown pupils and a scar that ran across his right eye.
His name was Farren Drollavam and he was also returning from the temporary rooms the group had created for themselves.
"Mm, mm. Today's the seventh day! I have a good feeling about the number seven. We're sure to find something today!"
"Ha~ I feel exhausted just hearing you say that, I wanna slack off so bad~"
One of the other dwarves that work alongside Bernir spoke out as he stretched his arms wide in an exaggerated manner.
"You say that every day Gerl, we ain't working for anyone but ourselves this time so if you slack off we won't get anything done."
"I was joking man."
"Somehow I don't believe you."
"You're quite grumpy this morning Ragdek, what's wrong."
"Well, I don't blame you, I'm like that as well whenever I wake up from that thing we call a bed."
While mining was not a strange job for dwarfs, their civilization had advanced countless times over the years so they no longer needed to sleep in such places while they explored mines and there were countless ways to provide the workers a more comfortable environment during their resting periods.
However, this was a job that had been undertaken secretly and without the aid of anyone out of their little group so they could not afford any such luxuries.
They chattered on like this as they began. their usual work which had remained the same for days now. Searching for something with the vast labyrinth of this mine.
While they did nothing but work, they also needed to take breaks to refill their stomach and relax their minds so they could maintain their strength and more importantly, their spirits.
Despite their developed muscles and superior mining skills and techniques, the countless mechanical repetitions of their work meant that their bodies craved rest the moment their labors ceased.
They all collapsed on the hard ground without a care in the world as they rested for a while before bringing out and eating their packed rations in merry. They had liquids like juice, soups, and water with their foods, however, there was no sign of the dwarves' beloved beverage, booze.
There was no way it would be there. While it was true that the dwarves were highly resistant to alcohol and would not be intoxicated by just a few drinks, no mining leader would ever allow his prized workers to touch the demon drink while working in such dangerous tunnels as dwarves weren't known for their self-control if given the chance.
That said—
One of his men, Hulnyl, took a swig from a flask at his waist. It was obvious what the contents of the flask would be and although Ragdek was the mining leader on this expenditure, he said nothing to reprimand the man.
"Puhaa~"
The air he exhaled was redolent with the scent of alcohol.
"Damn, this place is really messing with my mind. It's a good thing we haven't encountered any of these intelligent monsters you were talking about."
"I know right, even with the item we got from the Ruz Kingdom, we might still die if we're faced with a lot of them."
"Hm hahaha, That's right."
"I think you're drinking too much Hulnyl, you need to slow down, we'll be moving deeper in to dig another section of the mine today."
"Seriously man."
"Of course, we haven't found what we want after digging here for three days now so it's best to move on. Our food rations will only last three more days."
.
"I guess that's true, what do we do about the Gold we've gathered so far."
"Hm, well... Gold does seem quite valuable in the Ruz Kingdom so we'll take as much as we can with us, it should be enough to help fund our research."
"Alright, let's get back to work. I mean let's get moving."
As soon as they were done with their lunch, the five dwarfs all got up and promptly went back to work. They gathered the materials and ore they had dug so far in their medium storage box along with their tools and walked deeper into the tunnel with caution.
Their steps made no sound and they looked a little transparent. This was because the group was using a tool that produced the effects of the silence spell and camouflage on them at the same time. Even the luminous Rock they held for light, would not catch the attention of the monsters in this cave.
Ragdek held a parchment in his hands that he read as the group walked carefully on a straight line to their destination. This was a map, and while maps did not exist for an underground unexplored mine, there was still maps for the Fabelt's Pass and Ragdek had used this map with the compilation of a mapping tool to get the general locations on which parts of the earth would most likely contain the metal he was searching for.
They came across several groups of Ant Giants on their way to the next marked location but the monsters had failed to even notice or sense them as they went on their merry way. Although the group had to stop and remain still as a precaution.
After about an hour of walking and stopping to avoid monsters, they finally arrived in a cross-section of the mine that lead to different tunnels. This was the place he had marked on the map so the dwarfs quickly got to work digging near the walls.
Some would gather the ores they found in a pile at the end of the room. Others would shovel the dirt away and the rest would keep on digging. They did this in rotation for a while and would occasionally take breaks to catch their breaths as this part of the tunnel was extremely hot for some reason.
Rumble, Rumble, Rumble...
The vibration of the entire tunnel came suddenly and the dwarves panicked. This was not a man-made tunnel so the structure should be a lot sturdier than the ones that had been created by the dwarves in the Dwarven continent.
They hastily ran to the corner of the wall and aside from Ragdek's Tritanium pickaxe, the group had left all their tools behind as they huddled together and activated the magic item that camouflage them. Making it harder for anyone that was not actively looking for them to notice them.
Suddenly—
Two figures suddenly burst through one of the tunnels and without even slowing down ones, they dashed through another tunnel with one pulling on the arms of the other.
Although they hadn't gotten a good look at the figures, they were currently in the demon continent and judging by the bat-like wings on the first figure. Those were most likely demons or something similar.
"I thought this place was unexplored."
Gerl Whispered, however, before the group could even make heads or tails on what had just happened, the vibration of the tunnel intensified and that was when the group realized, that the earlier two figures must've been running away from something.
Just as that thought crossed their minds, hundreds of giant man-bat-like creatures suddenly burst through the tunnel the earlier two had first exited from and they flew chaotically after them.
However, the moment the Night terrors had entered their Field of vision. Tears poured down their eyes as their bodies shivered uncontrollably. Their minds were filled with terrifying images of the nightmarish monsters.
This was the effects of the Terror that passively surrounded those frightening monsters. The reason for their names which did not describe their species.
°Fear Inducement°
Lucky for the group, the monsters didn't seem to be interested in them at all as they all flapped their bat wings after the first two figures. One of the dwarves seem to have wet their pants but the others did not even notice it as they were all still crouched down shivering in terror even after the monsters had left for a while now.
"Ragdek, w-what w-was t..that... You didn't say anything like that will be here."
"Y...Yeah, we can't... handle this place I'd those things are here... We need to leave."
Ragdek hesitated only for a moment as he knew the value of their lives for his selfish dreams. "Y-you're right, let's pack up and leave. We should just head back to the human continent and hire adventurers to find time metals we need."
The group nodded in agreement but they still stayed unmoving. It took them a while before they finally got the courage to move again.
However—
The moment they stood back up, a sudden wave of pressure swept over them. It was a force the likes of which they had never experienced before and their minds could not even resist it for a single second and their vision went blank. Most of them even lost control of their bowel movements as they collapsed to the ground in their camouflaged state.
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