Supreme Monarch

The group finally got serious after a while of teasing Dohel as they began to search for any large concentrations of gold or other minerals in the tunnel. Something like a Gold vein which would be a step up from the gold ores they had scattered all over the place.

Everyone aside from Larut, Tyler, and Nadine was busy working in the tunnel while Larut was tasked with the job of keeping watch in case of an approach of any other monsters from the cave.

To Tyler's surprise, or .maybe he was only surprise because he had failed to think about something like this but, the group had brought along with them mining tools. They all currently wore headgear with magic lights attached to it that were not too bright but highlighted the rare minerals in the rocks, and they also now held pickaxes in their hands as they worked to further expand the tunnel.

Those were the typical miner's gear that Tyler knew from earth, so he hadn't expected to see this group wearing them, although theirs seem to have some magic effects. The only thing they were missing now were the overalls. Tyler thought the twins looked funny with the large oversized metallic hat on their head but wouldn't say anything, the helmet wasn't magic so it didn't adjust to fit them but was firmly secured on their heads with a chin strap.

The pickaxe seemed to be a magic item albeit a low-grade magic although it seemed to be quite effective as the group rapidly dug further into the tunnel more easily than the ants had been able to. They found traces of gold the further they went and occasionally came across large chunks but nothing more beyond that. 

While they were making decent progress, it was not enough. If they wanted to make enough money from this mine to cover their original expenses and more, they would need to find a gold vein soon or would have to head back out of this tunnel and head further down into the cave to the original gold mine.

They were able to find scattered bits of gold in the rock and after shattering the many ores they found, they had been able to extract some actual gold from them simply by using a variation of the panning method with the aid of magic which made it a lot easier and faster to extract pure gold from gold ores.

They did their best to minimize the amount of noise their digging generated as they dug further into the tunnel. For the next few hours, Tyler and Nadine watched the group dig around in the dirt for gold in utter boredom.

Although he had used the time wisely and kept practicing his Mana control by using passive spells that generally had no visible effects, the entire tunnel was still beginning to make him claustrophobic. Well, it may have just been a residue trait from having been asleep in such a place for a long time and the Placate spell had quickly gotten rid of it.

During the few hours the party had been busy in the tunnel, a few more Ant Giants had marched in their direction and the moment they had been informed by Larut, Nadine had immediately jumped at the opportunity to do something and went out to handle them herself. With the 'silence' spell cast on her, her attacks would not make any noise or attract the attention of other creatures within the mine.

Advertisements

Although she had run headfirst into a horde of monsters, Tyler wasn't even a little bit worried about her as she had proven capable of taking care of herself without any issues. With him having nothing to do, he simply had to stand there and watch. Fortunately for him, something finally changed the moment he heard a subdued bang and the cracking of rocks.

*Crack! 

As Dohel's pickaxe struck the hard Rocky wall before him, the wall gave in to the force and cracked. Seeing something on the other side of the wall, Dohel began to continuously strike the spot non stop, and slowly shattered it, revealing another large tunnel on the other side.

The massive tunnel didn't seem to have been made naturally but seems to have been dug by large monsters perhaps more of the Ant Giants. However, that was not what caught the attention of the group at the moment as their eyes all simultaneously followed a line of glimmering yellowish metal as it moved along the walls of the tunnel in curves like some kind of vein. 

Yes, this was indeed a Gold vein that seemed to lead further into the dark tunnel where a higher concentration of gold would most likely be found.

However, before anyone could even celebrate what they had found, something instantly pounced on Dohel who was standing at the front of the group and had been distracted by the line of literally pure gold.

Being an experienced veteran Hunter though, he could react instinctively and quickly raised his pickaxe in an attempt to block whatever was about to strike. The others were a tad slower but still responded to the events the was rapidly unfolding quickly. Dropping their mining gears and preparing to fight with Larut running from behind raising his crossbow as he aimed at whatever it was that had just assaulted Dohel.

Raising his Pickaxe in the air as a way to defend himself may have seemed like a good idea at the time but unfortunately, he was not dealing with a weak beast as the low-grade magic item in his hands that was not meant for a fight and did not have enough durability to withstand an attack from a monster was quickly sliced right through by some type of blade that continued on its trajectory and stabbed into Dohel's shoulders.

*Ack!

Dohel was about to scream in pain but bit his tongue to keep his focus as he desperately tried to struggle with the monster that had something lodged in his shoulder, throwing punches and trying to get it off him. However, looking at it now as the light of his headgear slightly illuminated parts of its body, the monster's legs were numerous and before he knew it, thin white threats suddenly began to wrap around him taking his legs off the ground.

Apparently, this was some kind of spider monster with a pale white exoskeleton, a humanoid torso, and long thin arms that had sharp claws. Its legs were also long and thin with the end as sharp as a blade, one of which was lodged to Dohel's shoulder.

"Lesser Djieien."

The others frowned the moment they heard Larut's words. Lesser Djieien were vicious spider monsters also known as Blood spiders as they had an inkling for blood and could also use skills of that nature. They were also high-tiered Intermediate class monsters.

Seeing the monster about to string Dohel up with its threads, Larut quickly fired a few Arrows to gets the monster of their leader before he was completely caught in the spider's web. Lesser Djieien could drain energy from anyone trapped in their webs so it was a disaster if Dohel got caught.

Whoosh!

The arrows cut through the air at breakneck speed and although none of them were enchanted, Larut had used several skills simultaneously so they had several effects on them and now had more penetrating power that could even pierce through an armored tank.

Sensing the danger like some kind of discounted man spider, the monster leaped back into the tunnel and was about to escape even though it would be leaving an almost captured prey behind.

This shows the group the level of intelligence this monster possessed and how much of a bad idea it was to let it escape and hide in the darkness. There were a few Lesser Djieien that could use stealth skills and that would be a nightmare for them since they had heard that certain monsters could hold grudges against Hunters for decades.

They needed to stop and exterminate it immediately. However, the monster was too fast and they had all hesitated to follow it into the dark where it would hold the absolute advantage.

However—

Bang! Boom!

It had happened in an instant...

While most would expect this from Lix, none of the five had expected to see the young beast girl known as Lilith react so quickly. 

While it was unknown to the party what exactly she had done. Tyler had seen it clearly. The girl had simultaneously used the Haste spell and also activated a skill the moment the monster had attacked Dohel. She then chased it down before anyone could react and as a beastman with the racial trait of Darkvision, the monster had no advantage over her.

Attaching the two halves of her Bo staff back into one, she sent the massive spider flying and crashing back into the ground. 

"Twin Magic, Lightning."

After sending the monster's massive frame flying, Nadine didn't waste time as the moment her feet touched the ground, she immediately cast a spell to follow up with her attack.

Two streaks of silvery-white lightning shot out from her outstretched fingertips and traveled through the air in breakneck speed striking at the monster who suddenly attached its web to the roof and dodged the attack.

For it to be able to recover so quickly from her first blow showed how strong this spider monster was. Its eyes suddenly glowed red and Nadine's body instantly grew sluggish.

—Blood Skill- Blood wound.

The group we're still in a state of panic and alertness as they glared at the monster perched up on the roof of the tunnel when it suddenly used a skill that had slowed down Nadine. The monster also seemed surprised, perhaps it had thought the skill should have killed its enemy but she had almost resisted it.

Advertisements

Without wasting any more time the Lesser Djieien dashed in the opposite direction into the tunnel. Anne quickly tried to stall it by casting a fireball spell but the beast was too fast and easily avoided the attack even without turning its head.

Kylyra— although she could not completely see in the dark even though she was a succubus— had decided to also chase after the fleeing monster in the stead of the sluggish Nadine while Larut and Aine tried to free Dohel from the sturdy and sticky threads that bound him while Anne healed his bleeding shoulder.

Tyler calmly watched the situation unfold thinking Dohel must have been a magnet for attracting troubles seeing as he was always the center of any of their troubles. He sighed internally... This was the reason he had not been overly confident of being a bodyguard as he had failed to protect Dohel from the sudden attack of the Blood Spider.

He should have stopped Dohel the moment he had seen the crack on the wall as they could not predict what would be at the other side. His Magic Sense had also been in a wack since he entered the mine. It was of the lowest level and Tyler didn't even know how to boost its effectiveness seeing as the shit was always on.

'I am still lacking even now... Well, No matter, still, I should probably make up for that blunder shouldn't l?'