"OH! Fuck!" was the only thing Oliver could express as he fell.

He thought that maybe he would see his whole life pass before his eyes or even that his mind would black out before he hit the ground.

Unfortunately, our imagination isn't always connected to reality. He fell for less than a fraction of a second. The impact made him expel all the air from his lungs, and the pain in his back made him spend a few seconds trying to recover.

Luckily, he had his armor activated, which protected his head from the fall.

‘It still hurts like hell!’ he complained in his mind.

"Oliver?" Alan shouted upon seeing the cloud of rocks and ice. "Oliver?!"

He wanted to respond but was still recovering.

"H-Here!" he said.

"Whew. Looks like he's okay," Alan calmed down.

Isabela and Katherine were still sprawled on the ground, recovering from the jump.

Oliver slowly stood up and looked upward. The hole was still hard to see, but gradually, the dust settled, and he could see Alan's face.

The two boys waved happily that he wasn't dead.

Isabela and Katherine walked to the opening and began to observe the damage done.

"Does anyone have any rope?" Katherine asked.

"Maybe in the supply bag?" Isabela replied.

Alan opened his bag and found some canteens, dried food, and water, but no rope.

"Nothing in mine, maybe yours," he responded.

Each of them had a kit slightly different from the others but no ropes.

"We could try calling one of the captains," Isabela suggested. She looked at her gauntlet and pointed to the ground, reporting a trapped student.

+1 Point - Cave discovered ⭐️

Rescue request sent. Please wait in line. (5 requests ahead)

"Maybe it'll take a while," she commented. "There are still five people ahead of us."

Oliver tried to look around, trying to figure out where he was. He had fallen into a second level of the cave, something like an antechamber with two paths ahead.

"Can't you fly with Oliver?" Alan asked Isabela.

"No, my power isn't that strong yet," she explained. "I can only apply it to myself and for a short period."

"Guys, down here, there's another path; there must be some other exit around," Oliver shouted.

"We could just jump down and join him; at least we keep scoring points," Alan suggested.

"But then the captain would have more people to rescue," Isabela commented.

"I don't think we'll have time to decide that," Katherine pointed out.

Raaakk!

She could see the first claw of a Goblin breaking through the ice that blocked the corridor.

"If we don't go down now, we need to run and abandon him," she explained. "I've already made my decision."

She took two steps back, sprinted, and jumped into the hole. In a few seconds, she hit the ground and rolled to lessen the impact; even so, she could feel the pain spreading through her legs.

Oliver, who was looking around the cave, only heard the sound of the impact echoing off the walls.

"Fu—" The girl bit her lips to avoid uttering a cuss. Her eyes filled with tears, but she wanted to keep her composure.

Alan and Isabela watched everything from above, still surprised that she had jumped. However, as soon as she recovered on the ground, they could hear more shrieking from the Goblins. Where before there was only the arm of one creature, now there was the head of one and several others digging through the ice.

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The two stood up, making the same decision, and jumped. Like Katherine, they soon discovered how bad that jump was. However, none of them intended to hold back their screams.

"FUCKING HELL!" Alan and Isabela shouted upon hitting the ground.

Oliver approached the others just in time to see the result of their falls; looking up, he saw that the first Goblins had already broken through the ice wall. However, none of them seemed willing to jump or descend into the hole.

"Shit! Why are there Goblins here?!"

"Who drew their attention?"

"Run, there's another exit ahead!"

He could hear the shouts of Damian's group as they returned to the crossroads.

‘Now, this problem is yours. It's not settled yet, but at least you won't have this exam so easy,’ the boy thought.

As soon as the group recovered, they could resume looking around and exploring the cave.

"I found two paths leading out of this chamber; it seems both haven't been explored yet," Oliver explained, pointing to the paths ahead.

Alan and Isabela were still getting up when Katherine was already walking toward the fork.

"But which one should we follow?" the girl asked.

"According to the map, the right side would lead back to the exam area, while the left, depending on the distance, takes us outside the allowed area," Oliver explained.

He showed the gauntlet to the girl, who agreed with the path. Soon, the four moved on.

"We're getting points," Alan noted. "We really are the first ones here."

The group walked a few more minutes until they found another chamber. This one was enormous, much larger than the Goblins' lair. But what mainly caught their attention was what was on the other side of the chamber—there seemed to be excavation equipment scattered about.

Near the equipment, various broken stones and rocks were scattered along with several holes in shallow excavations.

"Did we walk far enough to enter one of the mines?" Isabela wondered.

"Impossible. The mines are in the mountain area; we're still south of the city," Oliver explained.

The four also noticed that the chamber was much hotter than any other place, to the point that there was no more ice or snow on the ground, only black rocks.

They walked carefully to the other side of the chamber. The tools looked like manual excavation tools, but their sizes were strange.

"Could they be for Mechas?" Oliver asked the others.

"No way. Mechas need bigger tools than these, and mini-Mechas aren't used for excavation," Alan commented.

While Alan, Oliver, and Isabela analyzed the materials scattered on the ground, Katherine kept moving forward, going to the end of the chamber and observing what was beyond the corridor to the left. She suddenly froze; her heart started to beat faster, and excessive adrenaline prevented her from reacting.

She deactivated the armor under her face, trying to breathe. Upon seeing her state, the three started to worry.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked.

"Shhhhh!" was all she could utter. Katherine's hands trembled, but her face best showed her emotion; she was pale with fear, tears streaming continuously from her eyes.

Oliver didn't know what was happening. He walked over to her, pulling her back to the group. When she finally moved from her spot, it was his turn to look at what was beyond the chamber.

There was a second, even larger chamber; however, besides the usual black stone floor, rivers of lava cut through the hall, with a few built bridges for movement. But the most frightening thing was beyond the lava rivers.

There were two large tower-like structures made of stone and metal with gigantic doors. However, the main problem stood right at the entrance of the structures. Two tall creatures with tusks protruding from their mouths, each holding a hammer almost the size of their bodies. Gray orks guarded the place.

"Shit," Oliver whispered.

He could understand why the girl had despaired. Seeing an Ork is like facing humanity's greatest fear, especially for those who saw and lived through the war. Actual killing machines were just over a hundred meters away.

Oliver returned to the group. He held Katherine's shoulders, giving her time to breathe and calm down.

Isabela and Alan went after Oliver to see the scene before them. They also returned pale, though not to Katherine's extent.

"Are you okay?" Oliver asked Katherine.

She nodded while wiping away her tears. "Yes, yes. Sorry."

"It's all right," he tried to reassure her.

"I've seen several of them in classes; even some have tried to infiltrate Mars. But never so close," she explained. "At least not since the last wave."

Oliver understood there must be more than just a common fear of Orks. However, it wasn't the time to think about that.

"W-what are we going to do?" Alan asked, stammering.

"We have no way back. There's no way to climb up; we can try the other path. However, if Orks made these caves, there's a chance we'll find more of them," Oliver commented.

"Made by Ork?" Isabela questioned.

"I'm not sure, but it's quite possible. They were certainly digging something around here," he explained, pointing to the tools. "Perhaps the same thing MechaCorp is interested in."

"Maybe we can alert the captains and move up the priority list?" Alan suggested.

"Maybe. It doesn't hurt to try," Oliver replied.

Alan walked back to the entrance of the second chamber, pointed his gauntlet, and selected 'report anomaly.'

+30 Points - Ork found ⭐️

Rescue request sent

⚠️ [ERROR] No communication received [ERROR] ⚠️

"Fuck! We're without contact."