I woke up normally, without the assistance of the bird/alarm clock that I'd come to hate but also expect. I poked my head out of the door and looked around. I didn't see anyone up and about and the sun had just emerged, coming back around from its trip to the other side of the planet.

So I clearly woke up a bit early today. I bet Ben will come to get me when it's time for breakfast so I don't have to worry about missing that. I'll just play around with some Runes. I should explore the Sound Rune more. Making a really low sound should be fun. I'll have to make sure it's at a low volume though or I could wake everyone up and destroy my eardrums at the same time.

I picked up a stick that was lying near the door where I was standing.

This should work. It reminds me of the flying stick I made a while back. I've progressed so far since then.

I thought "Rune Programming" to open the programming interface and then went to work. I quickly finished the program with a simple Parameter Rune and of course a Sound Rune. I made sure to make the volume rather low and made the duration about a second.

Then I ran the program and heard... nothing.

Oh. It must be too low for the human ear to hear. I'll bring it up a bit.

It was the exact opposite of the high-pitched sound I'd used to basically incapacitate that gang in Blackbridge, being that it was the lowest sound I'd ever heard. It sounded very low but I knew it was a side effect of the sound being so close to the end of the audible noise that I could hear.

Then I heard a knock on the door.

Ah, that must be Ben. I expected him to come based on how we've been treated so far but it is still so nice of him to do this. Although I feel like he might be acting so accommodatingly due to probably knowing that Scorpion sent me.

I grabbed the stick and put it in my pocket.

Better safe than sorry. I might need it at some point. It's not that big of a stick anyway so I can easily carry it around easily enough. The last thing I made with a Sound Rune came in handy so I bet this will too!

When I opened the door I saw Ben standing there smiling.

Just as expected.

"Good morning Ben!"

"Morning Jameson sir! I'm here to take you and your friends to breakfast or the offer from yesterday is still on the table."

"Hmm. Well, I'd like to go to the Dining Hall again. Maybe I'll take you up on your offer some other time when I'm feeling unreasonably lazy."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Well, I'll be here for you whenever that happens."

"Glad to hear it!", I said grinning, stepping outside while making sure to close the door behind me.

I don't want any critters getting inside while I'm away. Although I bet Ben would've closed it had I left it open. It's no sweat off my back though so it wouldn't make much sense to make him waste his time closing my door.

"So should we go get your friends now?", Ben asked me.

"Yes that would be great!", I responded.

So we walked to Dob and Lob's houses. Ben knocked on their doors and they stepped out.

"Okay, you guys ready for breakfast now?"

"Yup! Thanks, Ben!"

Dob and Lob gave Ben a thumbs up.

"Alright then. Follow me", said Ben turning and starting to walk towards the Dining Hall.

Breakfast was great. The food was served buffet style just like last night's dinner. To my delight, the mango-like fruits that I loved were also served at breakfast. I took two which caused me to feel slightly guilty but the taste of the fruit instantly took away my guilt.

Ah, that hits the spot. So juicy. So mango-y.

So after an amazing breakfast, I asked Ben to take me to the mine so I could make sure that everything was working properly and efficiently. I decided to leave Dob and Lob behind though because I wanted them to have some fun around the village instead of coming along with me and having a boring day.

As we walked I asked Ben some questions about the mine.

"So when was the mine first constructed?"

"That... well we don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the tunnels themselves were here before we settled here. We have no idea how they got there. We just found it one day and saw that it had multiple veins of iron in it. We found it a bit weird that whoever had made the tunnels hadn't mined the iron but we didn't want to pass up on it."

Could it be a dungeon? This could be bad.

"Ben. This is important. Do the tunnels look unnatural? Like too perfect."

"No, but we've never actually fully explored it so who knows? Speaking of exploring it we're going to have to send down some people soon. We actually have a team that should be heading down later today. We're hoping that they find some more veins that we can mine. Otherwise, we'd lose our main source of income."

Ok good so it's probably not a dungeon since the walls aren't unnatural like the Goblin Dungeon was. Those walls were far too uniform and smooth to be natural although I guess it depends on whether you consider dungeons natural or not.

We then chatted a bit more about other things unrelated to the mines. Before I knew it we were standing in front of the mine. I heard the clangs of pickaxes hitting stone and ore and people were bringing out carts filled with what I assumed to be iron ore, their clothes, and faces covered in dust from working in the mine.

I don't remember seeing people covered in dust at the Dining Hall last night. They must change their clothes before heading there.

I watched the carts to see where they went and I saw the tracks lead into a big building that sat close to the mine's entrance. I knew that was the place the ore was being stored because the carts entered full and came out empty, ready to go back to the mines and be filled again.

Ben noticed me watching the carts.

"Ah well as you can see we run like a well-oiled machine here."

"Well, I haven't seen everything yet. I'd like to talk to the miners and see if there's anything they think can be improved. I'd also like to check out the working condition. I don't think I'll have anything to say about it considering the happiness of your people but it couldn't hurt to check right?"

"Of course. I'll get some for you."

Normally I would've agreed and let Ben choose but the way that he'd seemed to want me out of here as quick as possible made me question that decision.

"If it's all the same to you I'd like to just go in and talk to some as I look around. It'd save us both some time."

"Ok then. Be careful not to stand too close to anyone that's mining or you might get some stone chips in your eyes."

"Thanks, I'll be careful."