Chapter 118-120

Chapter 118

There are few things that I can describe as well as the stupor I seem to be in at the moment. The fact that this legendary figure just offered me entrance like this... just because I have some mining background, feels incredible to me. Apparently, Rafnov is an even more legendary figure than King Baalrek, but that means that someone like him should have made this incredibly difficult for me. Instead, we just had a little chat, he took a liking to me, and now I'm staring at an invitation to one of the most coveted Dungeon Secret Rooms I could find.

"Can I ask one last question?" I say.

"Of course."

"Were you someone who helped people?"

I hear the voice falter for a moment before laughing with the most crystalline laughter I've heard in my entire life.

"Is that your question? Haha! You're such a precious character, Jacob. You're asking if I was good? I wasn't a Knight if that's what you're asking."

"No, I'm asking whether you used your powers for good. You mentioned creating some abominations. I wouldn't want to accept a legacy from someone like, let's say, belonging to the Cult of Asmodeus."

"No, Jacob. I'm not part of any Cult. But... your question..."

The voice goes still and then I see a blinding light appearing in front of me and slowly taking a weird shape, almost like a cross with no top.

"Oh," I say, as the light turns into a pickaxe.

"You're welcome to enter. And this, consider this a little gift from me. It's nothing mythic. It's a good pickaxe that will serve you until we meet again."

I look at the pickaxe. It's made of rather grainy, rough wood and what looks like scrap metal.

"Don't let appearances fool you, Jacob."

"Sorry," I say, grabbing the pickaxe.

"Now, let me pull you all in. Good luck with the tests. I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors. Oh, before I forget."

Once again I feel the weird pressure in my soul and then I hear the high-pitched voice of King Baalrek reappear.

"--I WAS THE GREATEST KING MY RACE HAS SEEN YOU CAN'T KEEP--"

"Sorry," the voice of Rafnov says, "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, friend. But you're not a miner and I wanted to talk to one. Now, goodbye."

As the voice disappears, the circular stone portal flashes brighter and brighter until I feel an immense suction force pulling me toward it.

I turn my face up and see several people being pulled into the pond. It's the other Champions.

*

Once the blinding light disappears from our sight, I look around to find myself and every other Champion drenched in water and in several states of disarray while lying on the pavement of a cave.

But it's not just your normal cave.

There are many crystals jutting off the walls and, in the very middle of the cave, there's a pedestal with a giant rock.

In my right hand I'm clutching the scrappy pickaxe.

"What the hell just happened?!" Sabrina Margrave asks, taking a strand of algae out of her hair.

"Are we in?!" Zibrek asks frantically. "Is this the Secret Room?! Is this from Rafnov's?! You gained entrance?!"

"Yeah," I reply, massaging my neck. "I spoke to a soul fragment and passed the test. We've all gained entrance."

"Welcome to the first trial. To pass, you must break the rock into its individual ore fragments without damaging them and examine them. Once you do, you'll gain entrance to the second room. You can absorb the necessary Skill Crystals beside the pedestal if you haven't learned the basic Skills already."

"Is that Rafnov's voice?" Vyrrak asks.

"It must be," Asterion replies.

"It is," I say. "Or at least it's the same voice that I heard from the soul fragment."

"Now what?" Iskara asks. "Who's taking this test?"

Everyone turns to look at me and the pickaxe in my hand.

"Oh, right. I don't know how many of you remember, but I used to be a miner. The reason Rafnov's allowed us to enter is the fact that he said that I have mining Skills. And I don't mean any great capabilities, I just absorbed several Skill Crystals related to mining."

"Case's closed, then," Kaelric says, walking closer to the pedestal. "I could cut into this, but I don't really have a good grasp of where the ore is."

I look at the giant rock and I can feel my Minor Mineral Sense giving me all the information I need about it.

When I get the feedback back, I frown and walk closer, thinking I got something wrong.

This can't be.

I do it again once I'm touching the rock and I also double-check with the Grimoire to make sure I'm not making things up.

"Huh, this rock only has iron and bronze."

I take a look at the Skill Crystals and I see it's Inferior Mineral Sense (Iron) and Early Pickaxe Mastery (Iron).

This is for actual beginners. Even with my meager mining experience... this is way too easy.

I raise the pickaxe above my head.

"WAIT!" I almost trip and slam my face into the rock when the shout pierces the air.

"What?" I turn toward Zibrek, who's fiddling with her goggles. "Are you sure? This is a very important trial, Jacob. Please, don't screw it up. Let me take a look and--"

"It's... I'm sure," I say, flabbergasted. "Just have some faith in me, please. This is just the first room."

I turn and this time I give a few hits with the pickaxe until I've excavated all the ore.

"This is iron devoid of any Mana. Same for this and this. This bronze has traces of Mana. This one doesn't," I say out loud.

For a moment, everyone in the room just stares at me and then around, waiting for anything. Yet, it takes a few more moments before the cave's chamber starts trembling and a door opens on the other side.

"Congratulations! You pass with flying colors! You've incredible mining instincts!"

How low are Rafnov's standards for his legacy if this is passing with flying colors.

When we walk into the second room, Boomgar pats me on the shoulder.

"Dwarves are famous for mining, lad, but I never picked it up. My pa' wasn't happy about it. But the only way I ever loved to dig was by making things blow up. That's fun. Getting all dusty and dirty in a mine? Meh. But yeah, you've got the chops of a miner. Dogged, stubborn, and a bit dirty."

"Is this supposed to be a compliment?" I frown.

"Dwarves enjoy dirt," Zibrek says with a wrinkled nose.

"A hardworking man's gotta get dirty," Boomgar nods wisely.

"You don't need to roll in dirt like a pig," Zibrek shoots back.

"Stop bickering," I tell the two as I look inside the second cave. "Also, are those crystals valuable?"

"The crystals in the chamber are decorative and are meant as lighting. Trying to remove them will be punished."

"And that's the answer," I say, sighing. "Alright, what's the second test?"

"For the second trial, you must burrow half a meter inside a rock wall."

I look around, expecting it to be some Mana-infused rock that will be super hard to break but then I see a rocky wall at the center of the room, like a giant slab of stone. I walk close to it and place a hand on it, then also inspect it with the Grimoire.

Beside the platform there are two Skills, Iron Grip and Minor Strength.

"This is pretty funny," I say out loud.

"Why's that?" Iskara asks, getting close.

"These are exactly the Skills I used to have back then. Iron Grip. Minor Strength. They're... so common."

I smile with almost melancholia. It's been a while since I've thought about the mines. There's something about seeing Skills I was acquainted with for years and of which I celebrate even the smallest levelup that makes me almost tear up a little.

"By the way, where did you get that?" Iskara frowns. "That pickaxe looks like it's about to fall apart."

"Don't worry about it," I say, cracking my neck and readying the first swing.

When I swing, this time, putting some real strength behind it. I can feel the muscle-memory kicking in, as if I had never left the mines, as if my sustenance still hinged on whether or not I could hit my daily quota.

The first hit takes out a huge chunk of rock and in less than a minute, thanks to my Skills and Attributes, I manage to put quite the hole into the rocky wall.

"Congratulations! You pass the test with flying colors! Oh my, your mastery over the Skills is incredible!"

You know, it's pretty refreshing to have such an encouraging person teaching me, I say internally toward King Baalrek.

I'd be cheery too if I was a divine being or as close as you can get to it.

You sound jealous? Don't worry, I'm not going to replace you, King Baalrek.

I can feel King Baalrek blistering at that, but I ignore it.

The chamber trembles again and a third door opens.

"If it's all this easy," Sabrina says, "we're going to get to the end of it so fast."

"Please, don't say that," I groan.

"Why?" Sabrina frowns.

"Miners' superstition," I say. "Every time someone says that a tunnel has never collapsed, it always ends up collapsing very soon."

"Perhaps that happens because tunnels that haven't collapsed are now more likely to collapse," Iskara says.

"Nope. Luck. You all are very unlucky. In fact, don't get too close and don't jinx it for me."

But when I enter the third room and I feel a scalding heatwave hit me, I groan.

"Too late, apparently."

Chapter 119

"You will have to prove that you can reliably fight monsters while mining! Mines are often infested with natural monsters despite not having a Dungeon. That is because the Mana in the ores attracts or even spawns monsters. If you have a party, have your guardians defend you while you complete the task!"

"The task consists in extracting the ore from the molten stone while making sure you don't get burned!"

I look inside the chamber and feel the sweltering heat coming from it as we slowly walk into it. Everyone's a bit wary.

There are six pools of lava that form off these trickles alongside the wall's cracks and gather in those pools.

Slowly, six figures emerge from the pools.

[Magma Golem - Level 300]

"Interesting," Orrivane says, and then sends six bolts of Void Magic which turn each golem to dark, cold stone as their core are easily pierced by the Void Mage's attacks. "Huh, they seem to take a while to regenerate."

After Orrivane's attack, the monsters are not reappearing immediately. More cores appear in the pools and the golems are slowly reforming around them. Orrivane tries launching an attack against the cores but a barrier flickers into existence and naturally blocks them.

"Well, lad, what you say you start working?" Boomgar says, wiping some sweat off his forehead. "My tits are getting hot in here. Get cracking those stones."

I look toward the pedestal at the center of the room and see that it's got blazing hot, half-molten stones in it.

I walk toward it and see two Skill Crystals on minor pedestals beside it.

These ones I don't have.

Minor Fire Resistance (Bronze - Support Skill)

"Oh."

Minor Fire Resistance is a Skill that I could see some miners look for. In this vast world, several mines are close to magma chambers just like these ones. Of course, you're not hunted by Lava Golems that reform continuously in this way--that's a bit overkill on Rafnov's part--but you still need some degree of Fire Resistance in order to work in such mine shafts.

Would you like to absorb Minor Fire Resistance?

"Yeah, sure."

You have absorbed Minor Fire Resistance.

Minor Fire Resistance (Bronze - Support Skill)

Effect: You're slightly more resistant to fire.

It doesn't sound that impressive at all, but who knows. Rafnov definitely knows more than I do about mining. I trust his judgment.

As soon as I finish absorbing the Skill I then look at the other one.

[Shard Scatter (Bronze - Defensive Skill)]

"Shard Scatter?" I mutter.

I knew about Minor Fire Resistance. Even Pyromancers have it. But Shard Scatter? I have never heard of this Skill in my entire life.

Would you like to absorb Shard Scatter?

"I guess?"

Once again, I must trust Rafnov's knowledge.

You have absorbed Shard Scatter.

Shard Scatter (Bronze - Defensive Skill)

Effect: Redirect the objects like debris generated by striking stone.

"I guess that when you're dealing with molten stone, you don't want that to get splashed to you," I mutter to myself.

I am already quite resistant to fire, though, thanks to my Attributes and my Class. The Infernal Architect Class makes me naturally more resistant to fire. But I guess that the combo of Minor Fire Resistance and Shard Scatter could still be useful.

Plus, with both being Bronze Skills, I don't have any problem maxing them out.

I focus inwardly on Heavenly Intuition and I run both Skills through the Grimoire.

Grimoire Extraordinaire: Minor Fire Resistance Lv. 1 contains 7 distinct flaws.

Mana draw: 0.8 MP each heartbeat.

Effect: reduces fire damage by a 1.15 factor in current form.

First flaw listed:

Mana is routed through the Deep Gut veins instead of the Surface Lung veins, causing the fire-repellent mana to pool uselessly inside the stomach. Fire lingers on the skin without dispersing properly.

Recommended vein group: Surface Lung – the branching veins wrapping across the ribs and collarbone.

Recommended hand: Left hand, index and middle finger.

I adjust my channeling, forcing the mana along the green-marked lines glowing over the phantom diagram. The Skill shifts. The suffocating heat pressing on my chest feels lighter, like I just stepped back from the forge instead of standing inside it.

Ding.

Minor Fire Resistance Lv. 1 → Lv. 8

Fire damage reduction: x1.2

“That’s more like it.”

I start doing the same for Shard Scatter and, soon, thanks to Heavenly Intuition, I'm staring at this.

Minor Fire Resistance Lv. 77 > 100 (Bronze)

Shard Scatter Lv. 88 > 100 (Bronze)

It took no longer than half an hour.

"Lad?! Progress?!" Boomgar has stripped down to his underwear to the great displeasure of everybody else. "What?" He asks, looking around, almost offended. "I'm hot-blooded! I do much well in winter!"

"You're just fat," Zibrek says, displeased.

"And you're... green!" Boomgar says. "And... short!"

"You're shorter than me!" Zibrek seems to actually take offense at the remark about her height for reasons that genuinely elude me.

They're both pretty short.

I start ignoring the chatter in the chamber while Orrivane, still yawning, casually destroys another batch of Lava Golems. Void Magic is truly terrifying and well-deserving of its name as the strongest Affinity there is.

I turn toward the molten stone and, with the pickaxe that was gifted to me by Rafnov, I start hacking at the blazing rocks. Shard Scatter is pretty useful since now I can easily predict the angle at which I must strike in order for me to avoid getting splashed with fragments of molten rock.

Also, I must admit that Minor Fire Resistance is doing exactly what it promised.

With it being Level one-hundred, I can barely feel the scorching heat that was bothering when I first entered this chamber.

In moments, I clear up some pieces of silver from the molten rock without one single drop of molten rock splashing onto me.

"Congratulations, aspiring miner! You did an excellent job! You've passed the test!"

Suddenly, the pools of magma cool off, the temperature in the room goes down noticeably until there's a fresh breeze which makes the half-naked Boomgar shiver and sneeze. The chamber trembles and then another opening appears in front of us.

The ground beneath us stills, and the cooled magma cracks apart into dry flakes. Orrivane stretches his arms, unimpressed, while Boomgar curses as he scrambles to put his shirt back on. Zibrek looks smug about it.

I take a breath and walk forward first.

“Looks like this one’s worse,” I mutter.

The air inside the next cavern feels heavier, not only hot but sharp, biting. My tongue goes dry at once, as though the Mana itself is scraping against my skin. A deep pit dominates the middle of the room, and inside it, chunks of ore float lazily in midair above a roiling whirl of flame.

"You must mine ore in any condition, my aspiring apprentice! Crack open these ones while resisting the bite of the flames! You can either learn a stronger Fire Resistance Skill or try and dodge them! Good luck!"

I look at the floating pieces of rock and I rejoice that, at the very least, the trial is pretty straightforward. It's about mining some flying stones. It should be relatively easy to accomplish something like that. But what caught my curiosity is the fact that, for the first time since I arrived in here, I have a choice.

Rafnov's soul fragment, or whatever is talking in this Secret Room of the Tomb of Fate, clearly said that I can either learn the Skill Crystal's Skill or try and dodge the flames. But I can already see the catch in a statement like this.

Let's assume for a moment that I was to decide not to learn a better Fire Resistance Skill, right? Ok, what happens later, when perhaps there's no way for me to dodge the flames? I can't focus on splitting rocks and also focus on not being burned alive at the same time. Perhaps I could do something like that in a room like this, but not in the later ones. And if there were higher types of Skill Crystals, me missing the next evolution step and jumping to the highest would make my Fire Resistance weaker than what it could have been.

But I see the point of this trial.

This wasn't meant for someone like me. I have the Grimoire, a Rainbow Skill which makes mastering Skills much easier than it has any right of being. Yet, if it was anyone else here, having to learn even just a Bronze Skill on the spot might take an entire day. What Rafnov started doing in this very room is to test the patience of his apprentices.

Having been in the mines myself, I can tell you that greed and impatience have killed many. So many discovered or dug up new shafts that would lead to, supposedly, great riches. So many just wanted to find a way to reach their quota faster during the day in order to gain one hour or two of free time to spend at the tavern or the brothel. But the thing is, if you rush things underground, you'll only live so long: it's only a matter of time before a shaft is found out to be unstable, just a matter of striking the wrong wall before everything comes crashing down on your head or a gas leak poisons you to death.

This kind of experience is what makes me realize that Rafnov started playing tricks here. He wants to see if I am impatience, if I choose a shortcut that here would just get me a few licks of fire, but later on would guarantee I get killed.

So, I walk toward the pit and take a look at the two Skill Crystals on the small pedestals right beside it.

Fire Resistance (Silver - Support Skill)

As expected, the first Skill Crystal beside the pit is just a normal Fire Resistance. This is the natural evolution of Minor Fire Resistance, just one Rank up. If someone masters Skills in succession and in the right order, the next ones are stronger than they would normally be if you didn't master the previous step.

This is the kind of thing every noble is taught since they're kids but that most commoners don't really care about.

What surprises me, however, is the second Skill.

"Oh, Rafnov," I mutter, "this is..."

Chapter 120

Strike Rhythm (Silver - Offensive Skill)

Would you like to absorb Strike Rhythm?

"Yes!"

You have absorbed Strike Rhythm.

Strike Rhythm (Silver - Offensive Skill)

Effect: Your strikes acquire more power as you chain the attacks in order to create weaknesses.

King Baalrek, I say to the Infernal in my soul.

Yes, Cloud?

Strike Rhythm. Is this what I think it is?

What do you mean?

When I took the Champion's test, you had me tap the barrier in order to create a flaw, right? So that the rhythm would disrupt the Mana. I suppose that when you were alive, you had a similar Skill?

No. I never had any Skill that did that. It was just my knowledge. It was never something I used in battle outside of breaking down barriers. But I was strong enough that I mostly shattered them through brute force. Why?

Could I be wrong, then? I think to myself.

Just... nothing.

My hypothesis is pretty simple at the moment, as I pick up both Skills and, with the Grimoire and Heavenly Intuition, I slowly max them out.

Rafnov was a Godlike being that even King Baalrek respected. Yet, the Infernal never mentioned how powerful he might have been in battle. While his focus must have mostly been in mining, he must have had enough power to defend himself, surely. Otherwise, he might have been killed by just about anyone.

Plus, even if he belonged to a crafter's Class, how could have he not acquired incredible power? Swinging a pickaxe is not something you only do against a rock. In fact, whenever someone murdered another miner back home, the main tool they used...

I look at the pickaxe in my hand and then at the Skills I have learned.

"Even Shard Scatter..."

I turn toward the other Champions, but I feel a bit ashamed of asking.

I'll test it out later. Let's just finish the test for now.

*

"It's an interesting trial," Asterion says, seeing Jacob getting up after absorbing the Skills and meditating. They had already seen the young man do the same several times. He was probably trying to get as many early levels as possible. "But I don't get why the rocks are floating."

"Striking an object that is mid-air is harder," Vyrrak comments from the right side of the Highblood. "You should know that."

"I do," Asterion replies, not offended in the least by the jab from the Dragonkin. "But why would a miner need to strike floating objects? I would understand if this was training for an axeman, perhaps. But a miner?"

Vyrrak falls silent for a moment, considering the implication of what Asterion had just said.

There is, indeed, no need for a miner to be able to chain blows like Jacob was currently doing.

Vyrrak narrows his eyes as he sees the pickaxe glowing as Jacob channels Mana into it. Then, he sees the human bounce the pickaxe between the rocks, slowly chipping them apart with just enough force to shave rock off and not completely destroy them. The sound is closer to a musical instrument than what he has heard in mines.

Both witness Jacob getting more and more confident as he slowly takes the rocks apart. The flames that buffet him don't even make him blink, almost as if he had already mastered the Skill Crystal he just absorbed.

Sooner than they realize, he's done and he steps out of the pit.

"Congratulations! You passed this test as well! You showed incredible skill and judgment! Move onto the next test or rest for a while!"

A table riddled with all kinds of food and several bed cots appear as the current cave turns into a mix of an inn and a dormroom.

They all stop to eat for a moment while Jacob stares at the next room with a pensive face.

*

I keep going trial by trial.

The next one is in a room that trembles as if there's a constant earthquake in it.

There, I find two more Skill Crystals, one is called Fault Line Instinct and the other is called Stonefoot.

The chore is to hammer at the walls--no pits, no pedestals--and to make sure I'm striking in parts where the stone is solid and won't cause a collapse. I have to admit the trial became quite hardcore since the voice seemed to imply that if I fail to strike at the right place, the entire place might fall on our head.

But the two Skills I've just learned are more than just interesting.

Stonefoot is a Silver Skill that allows me to better balance myself even with the ground shifting and trembling non-stop. Fault Line Instinct, instead, seems very much mining-only oriented and basically allows me to inject Mana into the walls and feel where the weaknesses of the walls might lay. It somehow overlaps with the Grimoire in terms of utility with the walls, but in an opposite way. The Grimoire could tell me where not to strike by highlighting the flaws, whereas Fault Line Instinct doesn't just tell me where not to strike, but gives me a much better sense about the order I can follow in striking stone. I can start by carving out the stronger sections and make even the most dangerous walls secure by gradually carving the parts that were sustained by them. This way, I'm able to reach pretty much any possible vein and carve paths in walls without having to worry about everything crashing down on me at the first mistake.

And so it continues, with me learning more and more Skills that are, at least on a superficial level, meant for miners, but that, at the same time, feel like they could be used for something else.

By the end of the second day we spent in the Secret Room, I've started accruing Gold Ranked Skills and we're all resting because the fight that we had to just sustain almost drained us all. Plus, having to max out Gold Ranked Skills, it's now taking me longer and longer to clear a room.

Even though Rafnov's Secret Room started with the most basic and easiest Skills to learn, I'm slowly getting harder and harder challenges.

*

Outside the Dungeon, an Infernal man clad in black robes looks at the entrance of the Tomb of Fate.

There's a cold look in his eyes and his fingertips blaze with power that would make even Princess Iskara do a double-take.

A black, polished stone is held in one of his hands.

"I've just gotten here. Malrik and Toran have failed. Toran is dead. Malrik was taken away by Academy officials. There were two Intermediate Diamond Rankers guarding the place."

The Infernal looks down at two bodies splattered across the ground in a gory scene and then at his own pristine robes.

"Are they dealt with, my friend?" A deep resonant voice comes from the other side.

"Yes, master. I did take care of them. They're both dead. I'm about to enter, now."

The voice on the other side takes a few beats to respond.

"Bring me the Fake Champion intact. And the Margrave girl. The others, restrain them or kill them if they're causing trouble."

"Yes, master."

Feeling some hesitation in the Infernal man, the voice said, "you can deal with the Princess whatever way you prefer, Azrakel. Your history with her is yours to take to an end. Do not fear my retribution."

"Thanks, master. I will not disappoint you, master."