TOP SECRET: Adventures in the Dark Continent

"Keep walking!! We need to be quick !!! We have to get to the crystal mines before night comes!!" A burly man shouted. He was leading a large group of people down the road.

The group was walking down the road towards a crystal mine in the region near Crystal City. Despite being close, the trip takes about five days.

There was no village or city near the mine because there was no suitable place to build. Thus, the only way to reach the mines traveling by road.

To increase travel speed, the group had to use horses and carriages. Only the richest have carriages while the poorest have a horse. Overall, everyone had efficient ways to reach the crystal mines.

The total number of people within the group was almost a thousand and was composed of nobles and commoners. The nobles only needed to collect the crystals and take it back, the commoners were the guards to protect the train and miners to explore the mines.

They were all above level 51, otherwise, they cannot leave the city because of the system restriction. Only those who pass the Wall Challenge are allowed to leave at higher levels.

That is, people were forced to level out if they wanted to leave the cities to do something.

In some carriage, we can see that there were designs on the sides and the flags. These carriages belong to the noble families of Crystal City and the other cities.

Crystal mines belong to the kingdom. To explore the mines, noble families pay a large fee to the government in exchange for exploring these mines.

In addition to paying fees, noble families also need to pay to hire people to explore the mines, hire security guards to protect the miners during the round trip, the return is always the most dangerous because there can be many thieves and assassins.

On all trips back there are thieves to try to steal the crystals. Fortunately, nobles had ways to escape with the crystals safely. However, not everyone wanted to use this method because it is very expensive.

Looking out of the crowd, we can see a young man wearing a mask and casual clothes riding a horse. He was Liu Yang.

Before leaving the city to venture and level, Liu Yang saw a recruitment poster to be miners and guards to protect a convoy that would go to the crystal mines.

The poster caught Liu Yang's attention because it was written that the place was full of dangers with dangerous creatures. This is what he was needing at the moment, to fight dangerous creatures to level.

Unlike normal creatures on the roads, the creatures inside the crystal mines were in rank 8, this is equivalent to a level 140 person, but it is much more powerful than a person of the same level. A creature of rank 8 can fight five people group at the same time, each people in level 140.

Since Liu Yang doesn't know how to use digging a crystal mine, he could only join as a mercenary to protect miners.

The nobles had their own bodyguards, so they didn't have to worry about their safety. The problem is miners who are ordinary people at level 51 or slightly above and have no way to protect themselves against powerful rank 8 creatures.

The group's trip had already taken about five days, they were almost arriving at the crystal mines.

Liu Yang became friends with some people, they were like him, who decided to join the train as mercenaries and others as miners.

Some were for the money paid by the nobles and others want to level up to become stronger. Overall, everyone had different reasons for being there.

During the journey, hundreds of creatures attacked the convoy on the way, but all were quickly defeated by the mercenaries. 

A small part of the mercenaries have been doing this work for several years, so they know what kind of creatures they will encounter along the way.

The vast majority of people on the train were newbies like Liu Yang.

…

"We are almost there in the mines, let's accelerate !!! We need to arrive before night, otherwise, we will miss another night" The big man shouted at the people in the back. He is in charge of leading the convoy to the mines.

The burly man belongs to one of the five most powerful noble families in Crystal City, because of that, he acts like an arrogant king in front of everyone.

But it was not excessive because on the convoy there were also members of the other five noble families. The only thing he can do is scream and do nothing about it.

"Look !!! That is the flag of the city !!!! We are already getting close to the mines !!!" The burly man screamed and pointed up.

Everyone looked towards the appointed place. A white flag with blue stripes was seen.

On the flag, there was a drawing of a sword-shaped crystal drawn. This is the symbol of Crystal City.

"Krall, activate the location spell. The group in the mines will know that we are coming." The burly man spoke to the person behind him.

"Yes, master" The person named Krall was a middle-aged man dressed in butler clothes. Despite his ordinary, old appearance, he was quite powerful.

Wiiiiiiiii !!!!! Boooooooooom !!!!!!

Krall fired someone in the air and exploded. It looked like he let out some kind of fireworks or magic that simulates one.

Seconds after Krall made his move, the other side did the same.

Wiiiiiii !!! Booooooooooom !!!

The other side showed that they already know the location of the group that was arriving.

"Let's continue!!! They already know that we are here !!"

The train traveled at top speed for the last two kilometers.

Some minutes later…

A great mountain appears before everyone's eyes. The mountain was white in color with several colored sparkles scattered on all sides. These sparkles are from the crystals stuck in the mountain, they have not been removed because it is a type of night sign.

Around the mountainside, there are several cabins with people looking everywhere. These cabins are for the guards who watch the mountain to see if there is any danger approaching or not.

At the foot of the mountain, a large group of people was pacing while holding weapons.

A large group of soldiers patrols the various entrances to the mines. Some small buildings were built on the site so the nobles stayed, but it was not enough to create a place to have a transport stone or array.

"You finally arrived" A young man appeared in front of the train and greeted. He had an arrogant look and a noble aura.

"Briff, how is the mine situation?" The burly man asked.

"The situation is the same as always." Briff responded casually.

"I see… All of you, enter the mines !!! There is no time for rest !!!" The burly man shouted at the people behind him.

Miners and mercenaries started to enter the mine entrances.