Chapter 143: Inside the Mine


    As the sky darkened further, the campsite was filled with a chilly feeling of destion. There was nobody to bury since Adrian absorbed the soldier''s body.


    Adrian sat down to recover energy while Jun watched the entrance of the mines, waiting for someone.


    Earlier, ady asked for help right after running out of the mines. He didn''t know whether to believe her and then suddenly, Edward informed them that a group of soldiers wasing up from the hill. He became alert and more suspicious of thedy. To make sure that she isn''t an enemy, he told her that they would only help if she finds aplete map of the mines. Jun doesn''t care whether what she ims was real; her father being trapped and needs help, or whether she was an enemy in disguise.


    If she gives him a map of the mines, he would absolutely help her once he verified its value. Gaining ess to the mines was one of the reasons he agreed toe here. He used the excuse to help people but he still had other priorities. People always have a side trip inside their main tripwhether nned or not. That''s just how humans are.


    After his demands, he was expecting her to sneak towards the main office since files regarding the map should be stored there. However, she defied logic and ran back into the mines, which actually saved her life. If she chose to go towards the main office, she would then encounter the army and might be mistaken as one of the enemies. She could be taken in as hostage or get killed right of the bat.


    Edward showed up on the distance holding an electricmplight. She could be seen following behind him. Further behind was Nik, who supported Bartolome, and the four remaining death ves.


    Edward arrived in a few seconds, delight apparent on his face. He decided to lead everyone here despite not knowing the situation here. The only thing that he knew wasthat if their group could handle those people, it was guaranteed that Jun and Adrian could do so as well.


    "I''m really happy that everyone''s safe,"Edward rejoiced as he stood beside Jun. He noticed the people on the ground and shone some light on them. Everybody from his group felt shocked since they recognize those people!


    Nik felt anger rising inside him as he stared at Lieutenant Cedric and his officers. He was somewhat close with the Lieutenant since Jun always used him as his messenger whenever he has an order for the police force. And the Lieutenant would oftene to him whenever he wants to say something important to Jun.


    "You''re a part of this?" Nik ground his teeth as he red at Lieutenant Cedric. It was a question that wasn''t really a question. Nik knew full well as to why would the man be here, but his mind was trying to deny it.


    Lieutenant Cedric looked at him, then said while lowering his head: "I was forced too..."


    At the same time, Jun ran when he saw the suspiciousdy running on the entrance of the mine. She was being chased by a dozen pairs of red eyes. On her hand was a piece of long metal rod that she probably picked up for self-defense. Jun quickly rescued her and dealt with the closest rats that continued following her. As he was fighting off thoserge rats, a sh of light came from behind the group and ten new rats appeared.


    Jun was surprised with the increase but calmly sent them away with one strike on their bodies. Every time he hits one, it would fly away and die. Its body would then disintegrate into glittering stardust.


    If it was the first time he saw a body disappear without being looted, he would be shocked, but it wasn''t.He calmly led the woman outside. After they got out of the main entrance, he noticed that no rats followed just like from the cemetery.


    "Are you okay?" said Jun.


    "I don''t know..." she replied while taking huge breaths. Afterward, she stood straight and finally noticed the bunch of people closing on them.


    "The mine is the same as the cemetery. Monsters don''te out and they respawn," said Jun to his people, then he faced Angelica. "If we want to go in, we need to be quick. Your "father" would be overrun if we keep on dallying."


    Hearing his advise, Angelica raised her hand and a ck vortex, which signifies whether a person has ess to the system, appeared.


    "You already leveled up?" said Jun, a bit surprised.


    "Is it that obvious?" Angelica replied. She pulled something out from the vortex and spread it on the ground. It was the mine''s map.


    "My father and I were power-leveling here for thest few weeks. There are three floors and we just cleared the second floor yesterday. On the first and seconds floors, there were only groups of them. They might be weak but once you kill one of them, they would be enraged and every nearby rat would run after you. The third floor needs us to use the lift, which would bring us down here. My father is at the Leisure Room, it''s a small crevice expanded into a room."


    "Mines have resting areas?" Jun dumbfoundedly said.


    Angelica stared at Jun as if he was an idiot. "The third floor was a naturally formed cavern. Why do you think we need a lift to go down?"


    Jun smiled wryly. <em>How would I know that?</em>


    Angelica ignored him and continued her exnation, "The problem was, my father was in the room when hundreds of them found us. I was looking around the area and couldn''t help him. H-he told me to go up as he blocked the opening with furnitures. He''s trapped there and I couldn''t help him!"


    Angelica suddenly started crying while staring at the map. Some of her tears were dropping on the piece of paper, making the wet areas soggy.


    Jun doesn''t care about her story, but he appreciated the extra information about the area.


    As promised, he led everyone down to the mines to help her. Its still not proven whether she was lying or not, but at this moment, there was no reason for her to do so. Atleast Jun couldn''t think of one.


    They traveled in two rows to keep the line short and utilize the wide space of the mines. The ceilings were high and were well supported by columns. The mine was like a maze as the routes increased the further they went inside. It was only thanks to the map that they weren''t lost.


    Along the way, they fought withrge rats and gained some experience points. The further they went in, they noticed some unique patch of stones and gemstones on the walls and ceilings of the mineshaft. The patches of stones have ck color while the gemstones had a purple color.


    "What are these?" said Edward as he admired the weird patch of stones. She on the other hand stared at the purple gemstones.


    "The purple gem is called Papaingite. Father said it can rx one''s mind if you grind it into dust. He also tried mining those patch of ck stones but couldn''t even nick it. It''s too tough."


    The group reached the end of the first floor ording to the map. It couldn''t really be called a floor but more likelyyers of the mine. A slope appeared on the end of the route and they had no choice but to go down.


    The slope wasn''t that inclined, but for safety reasons, handrails were ced on the walls. They traveled downwards and arrived at the secondyer of the mine. Compared to the firstyer, the secondyer of the mine was slightly


    The area glowed vividly thanks to blue gems etched at the walls. The gems were at least a few meters from each other, clearly illuminating the area. Each one etched on the wall with no particr pattern.


    "Father said that these gems weren''t here when they mined this area. This is called Titalerite, it has light properties and is phosphorous. Please don''t try to extract it."


    Following the map, Angelica led everyone forward. Jun was bing skeptical since he hadn''t seen things that he was expecting to see. The main reason as to why he agreed to help. He wanted to scout the area while having an experienced guide. Just as he was feeling anxious, Angelica hurried her footsteps. She practically ran and quickly took the next turn.


    Everyone followed after her and finally saw the lift she was talking about. The lift was an old modelmonly seen on movies. She opened the gate and entered hurriedly causing the lift to rattle.


    "Aren''t you guysing in?" Angelica asked slightly confused as to why no one was getting on.


    "Is it safe?" Edward couldn''t help but ask.


    "It''s safe! It may be old but that''s one of the reasons you should trust it." replied Angelica.


    "I don''t think that''s how things work..."


    Edward was still mulling it over when Jun rode the lift. She pushed him from the back while calling him a scaredy-cat. When Adrian and She rode the lift, she closed the gate and pressed some buttons.


    "Only five people at a time," Angelica said with a smile. The people left behind felt troubled since they knew nothing about operating old mechanical tools. As if she can read minds, Angelica looked up and shouted as the lift slowly go down. "The buttons are simple, one goes up and one goes down! Easy right?!"