"Can't they give us a rest? We just got *back* from that Nightmare Village mission," The girl, Annie, complained moodily.
"That was a week ago. Do you have to whine so much?" Sky shook his head in disapproval, furthering her annoyance. He, along with the five members of his Squad—Squad Salvia—were tasked with the mission of accompanying their Research Group into a new mine they had discovered, alongside the Ivy Squad.
They went with the hopes that they would discover something that would give them an edge in the war. New high quality Element Ore, Ruins with weapons that could be shaped up, something entirely new. Whatever it was, they were excited.
Even Sara's gloominess levels had gone down albeit minutely.
Currently, they were progressing through the thick fields out in the sun, moving into a small forest area.
"I'm just saying. Our squads have never had this many missions consecutively. We mostly just loitered around, going on a serious mission once or twice a couple months. Until he showed," She retorted, turning to Raten ahead of her, completely unaware.
"I guess you're right. But the bigger question is- who taught you the word, 'consecutively'." He smirked, dodging the mock punch she had thrown at his face.
A hand rose through the crowd of heads, gaining their attention. Standing ahead of the group were two figures of high standing in the Heart, being Vice-Captains. They all came to a halt. The many discussions among them also dissipated, one by one.
The blonde-haired man -no less than twenty-five years old- armed with a shield and spear on his back dropped his limb after they quieted down. Although not completely as the Torrich Prince had to smack one of them over the head. "Ow, what the hell, Sky-"
"Vice Captain Kent's about to say something, idiot." After a half-audible grumble, he went silent.
Kent parted his lips. "This is where we will ~find the newly discovered ~mine," He spoke rhythmically, something they had come to know as being a unique attribute of his for whatever reason. But no one had made a jest of him as they held him with just as much regard as the other Heart officials.
Even if he wasn't, he carried himself in such a way that Raten already respected him before learning of his rank.
"Everyone, stay with the group! We don't want to lose anyone," The other captain said with a more vibrant, enthusiastic tone. She was the brown-haired, twenty-one year old woman wielding a hammer with two stacked heads, otherwise known as Vice-Captain Ally.
"I don't get it. I can't see or feel anything." Raten was just as confused as the rest of them, the whole group having coming to a halt in front of an unusually wide tree.
Ally heard and smiled. "That's because it's an old one." She extended her hand, bent down and felt the ground beneath her. "It's been hidden."
The ground shifted to her will, the tree sliding from it's original position and revealed a wide, deep hole in the ground. She picked up a rock and threw it down the hole, listening for it's landing. "Wow, that's deep. Didn't even hear it touch the bottom. Well, based on what I felt, we'll all need tou use our climbing gear so suit yourself up with a partner."
The group equipped themselves with the gear they would use to scale down. Kent, after making sure they were all set to go pulled out a Nova Crystal and threw it down. Instead of plummeting, it floated and served as a source of light bright enough for everyone to see.
They tied the ropes down to solid stone rods created by Ally before plunging down. The hole was at least thirty metres in terms of width, giving them all enough space for movement.
The person who had decided to make themselves Raten's partner without caring about what the other thought was none other than Sara. "Hey."
"Uh, hey," he replied just as monotonously but was moderately surprised when she had asked something else.
"Watch out for anything that looks dangerous, it probably is. Underground abandoned mines like these are filled to the brim with Taikon Beasts so we have to keep our guard up!" Ally sounded to them.
"Whoa!" Nalia had placed her footing on a brittle rock, almost losing her balance but Ace, her partner was right there to catch her.
"Easy there, Nalia."
"Thanks!" She replied timidly.
Meanwhile, Annie climbed with Katie. "Hey, I know I asked before but are you sure you're up for this mission?"
"Of course. You are, and you went through the same thing I did. I'm glad you convinced me to not let that stop me."
"Just don't push yourself, okay?"
"Promise." Katie extended a pinky finger and the Fire Mage locked it with hers, observing a micro-expression of hurt on her face.
After a long hour of climbing, they finally reached a rough flooring that they could stand on. The light that had followed them all the way down displayed to them three seperate cave entrances.
Ally touched the ground, utilizing her Magic Power. "This way." She pointed at the one on the left and they proceeded. Screeching sounds reverberated and bounced off the cave walls, prompting them to duck as a swarm of bats went past them, originating from the other end.
"AH!" A Researcher jumped atop Ace's back after feeling something attempt to crawl up their leg. Annie ignited her palm, firing a small blast of fire that turned the worm snake into ash.
Seriously.
Raten scoffed.
They continued but all they could see up ahead were rocks. No ancient debris or abandoned mineshafts in sight. Reaching a certain point, they stopped before a gulf that would cause their deaths if they proceeded further. Fortunately, there was a higher flooring that they could get to.
Sara reached for a grappling hook in the bag she was carrying when she noticed that-
"Raten! Where are you going?" Sara's voice went up an octave, showing her concern as he headed in a different direction.
Unaware of this, the rest of the group progressed to the higher flooring. The rock formations spread around the ground ahead of them were bulky, hard and particularly pointy stalagmites. Before they continued, the Vice Captain attempted morphing them. 'Huh? I can't change them. They must be made mostly out of frozen water, right?' She thought about destroying them herself but decided not to, afraid that she might generate excessive noise. "Watch your step, everyone!"
They tip-toed, carefully selecting their path. "Weird. Something's off."
Ace's brow arched at the girl's remark. "What do you mean, Annie? What is it?"
"There's a vacuum. A certain *lack* of something. Negative energy, perhaps?"
"What are you on about now? The only-"
"Shushh, Sky. Your elder is speaking." Her riposte caused his eyebrow to twitch but he decided against replying. She sounded serious about she was saying. Well, about as serious as Annie gets, he thought. "That's it!"
She snapped her fingers in realization. "Where's Raten?" She caught the Vice Captains' attention.
"Where are they?" Ally asked, realizing Sara was gone as well. "What happened?" But nobody could come up with an answer.
"They may be under ~attack. We have to go ~back." Kent proposed but they were met with only a solid wall when they turned around.
"What the heck? But we just came from this way. It's like-"
"The walls are moving." Florian interrupted, garnering everyone's attention. "Looks like we're being played... by a Geomander."
They gasped, a chill crawling up their spines at the thought that there was a formidable Taikon Beast with them underground.
"Dum... Dum... DUMMM!" Annie imitated a suspense sound, earning a facepalm from the Torrich Prince.
_ _ _
Beginning of Mining Expedition Arc