Chapter 235 : Chapter 235
Chapter 235. Exploring the Mine
Just as the sun rose, two pairs of boots stepped into the dust-filled mine site, each step kicking up yellow clouds of dust.
Walking at the front, Fulan immediately saw the somewhat chaotic scene before her.
It looked as though a battle had just taken place. The entire site was filled with traces left behind by fighting.
Skeleton bones and bone weapons were scattered all over the ground. Quite a few skeletons’ main bodies lay on the earth, marked with blue scorch traces.
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell at once what had happened here:
Someone had attacked these skeletons while they were trying to retreat, taking advantage of the moment when the sunlight had just appeared and begun scorching the undead, and had killed part of them here.
At that moment, Anna, who was behind Fulan, deliberately raised her voice and said in a somewhat puzzled tone,
“Ah?! What happened here? Why are there other people coming here too? Aren’t they afraid of the undead?”
Anna deliberately widened her mouth to show her surprise, while Fulan merely cast her a sidelong glance and said,
“If there are people, then there are people. My mission is only to confirm that the undead creature is dead. If those people kill it for me, then that works out perfectly.”
“Let’s go down and follow them.”
Anna looked at Fulan and called out to stop her.
“Um... shouldn’t we be a little more careful on the way down? What if those people attack us?”
“And the number of undead here does not seem right either. Why are there so many undead corpses up here? Judging from the marks on them, they were all First-Tier Skeletons.”
“The undead creature here does not seem right at all!”
Fulan turned to look at Anna, drew the longsword at her waist, and said,
“You’re right. We should be more careful.” She put extra emphasis on the words “more careful.”
Then she walked in front and stepped directly into the pitch-black mine.
Anna followed behind Fulan, unease and tension written across her face, and also stepped into the mine.
The mine was completely dark. Fulan used 【Light Prayer】, a spell she had not used in quite some time, and infused it with only the tiniest bit of Mental Power.
The sphere of light emitted only a faint glow, barely illuminating objects within about three meters. Beyond that, everything remained pitch-black.
The moment Fulan stepped into the mine, she felt a strange sensation, one she had never experienced before.
Even she could not describe it properly. It was as though she lacked the organ needed to perceive that sensation. It lingered in her mind the entire time, yet she could not find its source.
Fulan summoned her panel and examined it carefully, but found nothing unusual. Even so, that sensation still lingered around her, and as she advanced, it only grew stronger.
Fulan shook her head, pushed that indescribable feeling slightly to the back of her mind, and began carefully listening to the sounds inside the mine.
From the moment she stepped inside, her extremely high Physique and Mental Power allowed her to hear faint noises coming from deeper within the mine, along with slight vibrations in the ground.
Judging from the traces she had seen earlier, those sounds should belong to the team that had just cleared out the skeletons outside and was now locked in fierce battle deeper inside.
Fulan infused a trace of Mental Power into her longsword, slightly activating the angel rune on it so that the blade gave off a faint glow in the darkness.
As the two of them continued onward, even Anna behind her could clearly hear the sounds of battle from ahead.
She called out to stop Fulan and showed a troubled expression.
“Um, I think the situation is a little off. You know, I’m a Ranger. I can sense the condition of enemies ahead.”
“I can sense at least ten or more First-Tier Skeleton undead signatures up ahead. Isn’t that a little wrong?!”
In the dim light, Fulan’s lips curved slightly upward as she said to Anna,
“Then what should we do? The target is right ahead.”
Anna’s eyes lit up at once, and she immediately said to Fulan,
“I think we should go back out first and wait outside...”
Seeing that Fulan was about to speak, Anna immediately continued,
“I’m not saying we should give up on the target. It’s just that the situation inside is far too complicated now.”
“Think about it. Wasn’t your mission originally just to eliminate a single undead creature? But the current situation has clearly gone far beyond what the mission described, hasn’t it?”
“I think the Alliance’s battle mages shouldn’t be like mercenaries. When they encounter difficulties far beyond the mission description, they should have reinforcements, right? There’s no need to charge in headfirst.”
As she spoke, Anna looked at Fulan with hopeful eyes, then continued,
“And I think that team ahead can’t hold out much longer either. There are only two of them. There’s no way they can withstand the attacks of all those undead creatures.”
Fulan lowered her head as though thinking. After a while, she looked back up and said to Anna,
“The situation is still unclear. Let’s go forward and take a look first. If it really is as bad as you say, then I’ll call for Alliance reinforcements.”
“I have a way to directly call for the Alliance’s long-range support. Don’t worry. If we run into danger, I’ll definitely call for help immediately.”
Fulan had a magical device given to her by Elise, one whose function was to connect with the magical device on the Northern Society’s side.
Using a special operating method, that device would regularly send her location back to the Northern Society, and Fulan also had to use a special method every day to confirm that she was still safe.
This device was an upgraded version of the ones ordinary battle mages used while carrying out missions. Their version only required confirmation once every three days.
With this thing in her possession, Elise had barely dared to let her go out alone.
Of course, Fulan really could directly call for support from the Northern Society’s Battle Mage Corps. That was a privilege Elise had given her.
But it was still too early to talk about that. Fulan tightened her grip on her longsword and continued forward.
Anna stood there blankly for a moment, then let out a soft sigh and followed after her.
The two of them no longer spoke along the way. Both of them knew that in a situation like this, it was best not to make any sound at all.
After all, launching a sneak attack during battle carried a considerable advantage.
Once the sounds of battle grew louder, Fulan even took the initiative to dim the light sphere further, lest the enemy discover them.
After turning a corner, the two of them both saw that, at the entrance to a passage farther ahead, seven skeletons stood with bone weapons in hand, their backs facing them, seemingly blocking the way and preventing whoever was inside from coming out.
The sight sent Anna’s emotions surging. She was just about to grab Fulan’s hand, pull her back, and persuade her to hurry and call for reinforcements.
But to her surprise, in the blink of an eye, Fulan had already silently crept close to those seven skeletons, looking as though she was about to attack at any moment.
Seeing this, Anna could not dare make a sound to warn her. She could only suppress the turmoil in her heart and carefully move forward as well.