Rangers Endgame

Unlike their second dungeon raid, lamps were strategically placed along the mine shaft's rigid walls, providing orange artificial lighting. The lights would periodically flicker, plunging small areas of the shaft into a momentary darkness. That combined with the occasional decaying support beam and loose rocks echoing in the distance gave the narrow corridor an ominous vibe. The temperature gradually dropped the further they went.

"Creepy..." Touma muttered.

"You'll be fine, bud," Bo reassured over his shoulder.

To make the most of their time, the clan had done some research on the mine while waiting for Yakeru's group.

According to the locals, the men of the village used the mine to gather coal and iron. Traders would often swing by the village to offer their goods and in return, they'd receive minerals from the mine. However, the gas combined with small tremors has rendered the mine unfit to work in, hence why it's been evacuated.

Some speculated that an ancient relic was responsible for the air pollution. However, after interviewing the miners, they'd come to the conclusion no one had dug up any relics. Others theorized that the mine had reached geysers which in turn leaked gas into the shaft.

The monsters in the inner rim were considered the weakest compared to the mid and outer rims. So once again, they ruled out the possibility of monsters powerful enough to cause the very earth to tremble. Since this was a manmade cave, the likelihood of encountering monsters to begin with was minuscule anyway.

Continuing further, they could spot various mining equipment scattered along the ground implying that the miners left in a hurry. The deeper they went, the more abundant iron ore and coal seemed to be. Since the mine belonged to the villagers, they weren't granted permission to reap any of the valuables they came across. This was the main reason why so many rangers chose to ignore this mission since a large chunk of revenue would be gone.

Eventually, the group arrived at a clearing. The chamber was about twenty meters wide with abandoned carts filled with coal and iron ore scattered along the floor.

𝘙𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦...

Another tremor shook the mine, only this time it was stronger since they were no longer on the surface. Pebbles dropped from above, prompting them to shield their heads instinctively. The lamps shook and flickered more sporadically as the rangers stumbled a bit. Hiroto glanced back at Haruto.

"You're up," he commanded.

Haruto nodded before resting the bottom of his staff on the uneven stone floor. Moments after imbuing his conduit, a soft wave of radiance pulsated outwards in all directions. Each pulse he emitted revealed faint vibrating specks of amber in the air. They resembled sparks from metal clashing with metal.

They stood there momentarily as the conjurer was in deep concentration, his eyes screwed shut. Yakeru remembered him saying he'd map the seismic activity, but he wasn't expecting it to entail something of this fashion. It was like standing in a colony of fireflies. The casual looks of the other clan members indicated they were quite used to seeing this spectacle.

After a few more moments, the quake had finally subsided and Haruto's pulses ceased. He quickly searched his back pocket, pulled out a small notebook and pen, and began scribbling.

"Well?" Hiroto asked, looking back at him.

"It's no good," Haruto sighed, shutting his book and slipping it back into his pocket. "I have a vague idea of where it's coming from but we need to go further inside to pinpoint it."

"What about the gas?"

"It's already made its way into this room. It's not exactly filled with the stuff, but I did detect traces of it," he turned to the rest of the group. "It'll only get more polluted from this point forward so make sure you keep your pendants handy. If you lose it, you're dead."

Yakeru swallowed his saliva, as did Kenji and Touma.

"Well then, let's keep moving," Hiroto ordered.

The group pressed on past the first room and into another narrow hall just wide enough for four people. Small boulders occasionally blocked their path so they'd have to climb over them one at a time but otherwise, they didn't struggle too much. Occasionally, they'd stop to take a breather, Haruto sensing their surroundings as they did so.

Though everyone's attention was focused on the mission at hand, something had been tugging at the corner of Touma's mind since they entered the shaft. He caught up to Bo who was ahead of him and asked,

"Hey, so what happened?"

"What do you mean?" He raised a confused eyebrow.

"You know..." He glanced over at Fuyumi who was already making distance. "With her."

"Oh, her?" Bo raised two fingers. "There are two types of women: Those who like to chase and those who like to be chased. In this case, it's the latter."

"Really? Because it looked like she ignored you." He unintentionally rubbed salt in the wound, Bo practically doubling over from his jab.

"Oh, quiet you! Trust me, she's just playing hard to get."

"Is that how it is?"

"Yes, it is."

They continued their trudge, climbing over and squeezing through debris before coming across another open room with quite a dilemma. The entire time, they were traveling down one path but now this room had split it into four. Hiroto briefly considered splitting up but that would easily spell disaster if another quake were to happen. Since they were deeper inside, the tremors would be stronger meaning he needed to keep everyone in one place to protect them from falling rubble. He glanced back at Touma.

"Do your thing, youngster."

Touma responded with a nod as he lifted his staff. It glowed vibrantly before multiple orbs materialized around him. His eyes shined like headlights before the orbs shot down each cavern.

"Dead end...no...not that one either..." He muttered to himself, his amber-colored eyes darting back and forth.

After some time had passed, his lips curled into a small smile before his expression dropped slightly. His staff had lost its glow and his eyes returned to their natural brown color. He turned to Hiroto with concern in his eyes.

"Something the matter?" The tank asked.

"Well...I found the right path but..."

"Yes?" He raised a confused eyebrow.

Touma hesitated for a moment before sharing what he saw.

"It could've been my imagination but...I could've sworn I spotted movement too."

Everyone looked at Touma with a mix of concern and annoyance. Perhaps because they knew that the mine was evacuated already so it'd be impossible for anyone to still be alive down here with the polluted air.

"Are you sure it wasn't just some loose rocks shifting? We've been feeling tremors for a while now." Alek questioned with slight irritation in his voice, not wanting to entertain the idea that there could be something down there waiting for them.

"I'm positive. They weren't rocks falling from the ceiling or anything like that. They were slithering across the ground," his voice had a tinge of worry as saying it aloud gave him goosebumps. "The orb I sent dissipated before I could get a good look."

"Monsters then?" Riku suggested.

"That's impossible," Kenji answered, looking down the dim hall. "The tremors would've scared them away. Even if there were monsters here, they can't survive in this gas."

As the group began to speculate, Hiroto cupped his chin in thought before reaching a decision.

"Alright. We'll take an hour break. If you need to fill your bellies, do it now. Afterward, we'll continue on."

Everyone nodded in agreement and went to various corners of the room. Some pulled out canteens of water and alcohol. Others started with the lunches they had packed prior. Alek knelt beside an exhausted Haruto, his breaths becoming heavier. From the moment they entered the shaft to now, he had done most of the heavy lifting, measuring the strength of the quakes relative to their position, locating their origin, keeping tabs on the air pollution...

He was exhausting his radiance faster than anyone there. Alek noticed this and hovered his wand over his worn-out comrade. Orbs of light materialized and floated down. As soon as they merged with him, his breathing stabilized more.

Yakeru observed from the opposite side of the room as he munched on his sandwich. The scene reminded him of a certain healer he'd met relatively recently. Touma sat close by, popping open a bottle of water. His hand shook ever so slightly but enough to make droplets flick out of the bottle.

"Are you okay?" Yakeru asked.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I'll be fine," he made a poor attempt to shrug off the question. "Just...a little concerned about what I saw and how we'd deal with it, you know? A-And the tremors. What if it's not just a simple earthquake?"

Yakeru listened to his venting teammate until it was his turn to speak. He said in a soft tone,

"I get it. It's the fear of the unknown."

"Yeah..." Touma glanced over at Bo who took confident strides up to the aloof Fuyumi.

She was just finishing a fruit she'd brought with her. He had a profile view of her that he could only describe as breathtaking as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Though she didn't look up, she must've sensed the handsome swordsman was about to shoot his shot again because a subtle sigh slipped from her mouth.

He'd convinced himself that their last interaction was merely a fluke and he'd get a word out of her this time. He preemptively prepared his pickup line and opened his mouth but before he could say a word, she'd already gathered her things and walked away. Once again, he froze in place, amazed by her audacity.

'Again?!' His eye twitched with irritation.

A small smile formed on Touma's face watching the comedic scene.

"How long have you two known each other?" Yakeru asked curiously and to get the kid's mind off his worries.

"You mean Bo? We've been friends since I joined the clan and he kinda sees me as his little brother. As you can tell, I can be a bit shy and unsure. That's why I admire him because he's the total opposite." His smile faltered.

"Wipe that frown off your face, youngster."

Despite his size, the pot-bellied Hiroto managed to sneak up beside them with a deck of cards in hand.

"It'll do you no good to drown yourself in uncertainty." He smiled warmly, flashing his deck. "Now how about a game of Jo-ku?"