Friday, April 26th, 2069

“—we don’t want juror twelve, but neither will Mr. Varnish. So, that just leaves a few others who could swing either way. Do you think the Social Media hopefuls will be for or against you due to the sudden surge of success?” Mrs. Stovall whispered.

“I don’t know. From my perspective I love a good success story but do harbor some bitterness when it’s just someone flaunting their sexuality.”

“So, people of the opposite sex are probably out,” Mrs. Stovall marked the box with two ‘x’es to convey the two young women who both had some minor success with social media. I frowned at her interpretation of the words until I realized she was somewhat right. Whenever I felt bitter about blatant sexuality use it was from women.

Thanks to Mental Fortitude giving me some context, I realized something further. The reason behind it was because I was never going to be able to duplicate what they were doing. So, I wasn’t bitter at their success but at success that had a road map I couldn’t duplicate.

Interesting. That thought brought me to another.

“I’m not sure,” I began, also in a whisper. “With how much publicity this trial is going to get, thanks to Sparkle they might actually be on our side?” It was tough to think about the fourteen jurors, the way Mrs. Stovall seemed to want me to, but surely if they gained some online clout from being included?

“While you might be right, that also creates a swing,” Mrs. Stovall whispered back. “Based on what will be better for followers they could go against the grain or flow to stand out. But with a closed door trial they may mess up and reveal something they shouldn’t—which would garner a mistrial. So, Varnish may remove them for us?” She changed the x’s to question marks.

With raised eyebrows I nodded. Those were points I hadn’t considered but could immediately see. That was a very popular tactic of successful Swift stars. If you were the voice of ‘dissent’ then you were guaranteed to attract like-minded people. However, it was a very dangerous game. Since, if you were in the vast minority of the opinion, you also burned a huge portion of potential followers, and sometimes even current ones.

“We would like to excuse Juror twelve and eight,” Mrs. Stovall said as she stood up. I guess she’d fallen on not counting on Mr. Varnish to remove the two young women. I guessed a mistrial only favored the person who was losing—which hopefully wouldn't be us.

As she hoped, Mr. Varnish removed Juror two, but also removed three others that included one we really liked. Well, one that Mrs. Stovall really liked.

It went back and forth like that, with the opposing councils questioning the new jurors, until the final fourteen were assembled. By that point I was so turned around on who we liked and disliked that the ones up there all looked like snakes in the grass to me. Mrs. Stovall’s look of annoyance didn’t help much.

Why was she annoyed? My guess was that it was the massive amount of wealth on display from the other side. They had four people at the table with laptops and four others sitting directly behind them in the seats, not seeming to give any direction but passing folders over at request. On our side, there were just three people. John, the assistant or paralegal, Mrs. Stovall, and me.

Still, this was just the beginning of the trial that Mrs. Stovall claimed could stretch as long as a month, depending on what Mr. Varnish had up his sleeve. Part of that was because we assumed he would attempt to extend it—since he had greater resources. Another part was because we suspected dirty tricks.

The other reason was that the court would take weekends off. Which was good for our budding Mining business. It had been a work-week since the decision was made and we had our first contract which would likely stretch out over the weekend.

It actually started this afternoon, since today would only be Juror selection.

There was one big problem with that though…

Unfortunately, Sparkle Legion wasn’t going to be able to pull off a miracle until we at least had some footage of the new company. They’d released three other videos, which depicted the firing and then Phoenix-like rise from the ashes, of starting our own Mining company, but we’d discovered that wasn’t enough for a big Guild to take note—at least, not yet.

The Guild we took our first contract from was D-rank, which my father and Jarred assured us wasn’t good.

* * *

Watching the members of Mirage gear up, was like watching a thirty-year old crime movie. It was both impressive and surreal, as they efficiently velcroed themselves into armor, strapped on harnesses, and began loading themselves up from the trunks of their impressively expensive looking cars.

Still, no matter how impressive the cars were, they didn’t compare to the ATV’s of Lynx and Snowbird. This Portal was in the center of a public park and from rumor, only contained Lizardmen, which meant it was F to E rank. That would also be the reason why Mirage was allowed to tackle it. Lizardmen weren’t exactly known for being bullet-proof. In fact, each Lizardkin alone wouldn’t amount to more than an awakened child. The complication with fighting them was that each one did possess a Skill, and they fought in groups.

With the chaotic nature of Skill distribution, you just didn’t know what you would get. Either way, according to Mirage the Dungeon had been cleared and at the farming stage—so, we could enter and handle the Ores and Minerals. My father walked back to our quiet group.

A quick look around told me that we were all nervous, including him.

“Echo-five, says that the mine is nearly atop the entrance, so we won’t have to make much of a trek. I think he’s wanting us to bring more gear in, since the haul won’t be bad,” my dad stated as he pulled even with our small circle. He shrugged and motioned to the five Pickaxes that were either being held in hands or leaning against the cars. “It isn’t like we have more tools, though.”

Dave’s head fell and he stared at the ground as his face flushed red. I winced as I noticed most of the others mirrored at least a few signs of his embarrassment. I wished Smegma was here—maybe I could buy a few things—no he only sold the Pickaxes.

“Guys,” I said slowly, giving myself time to think of what to say next. “Smegma doesn’t sell anything other than these Pickaxes, which tells me that his Sect didn’t think they needed wedges and sledges or anything else, really. Let’s be confident and blow the Mirage Guild away!”

That perked up Willa and my dad at least. Jarred and Dave, on the other hand, refused to meet anyone’s eyes. I knew the reason for Dave’s worry. He had never Mined before and didn’t feel like he fit in. Jarred was a total mystery, though. He probably had as much experience as the other two—so, maybe he had used better tools in the past?

Then I saw his shabby beat up Pickaxe in comparison to mine and the others, and winced at myself. It was one stage above driftwood, thanks to him only getting a few days in with P-cubed. I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Ours all looked like that to start too. Plus, Dave’s is worse.”

Dave looked at his mace like Pickaxe with a frown. “Yeah, why is mine beat into nothing more than a morningstar?”

“I’ll have you know that Pick is a hero. It helped smite a Golem,” I mumbled.

“Smite? You mean pummel, surely,” Dave retorted, some of his normal cheer returning. My father gave a muted laugh but saw what I was attempting and hiked a thumb over his shoulder to two other groups in the parking lot.

“The Gardeners and Cleaners say they’ve worked with Mirage before. According to them, they are one of the best militarized Guilds out there. Echo-five only has a communication Skill and a Mana Pool, so they don’t rely on a single-Skilled guild leader for their reputation. Even watching them suit up is impressive, compared to what Jarred and I did.”

Jarred chuckled then. “You mean when we ‘smote’ the monsters with hails of gunfire ?”

“Don’t forget our copious use of grenades,” my dad added. The joking really helped lighten the mood and we entered the Portal in high spirits. The Portal was a dark green, like thick algae on top of a dying lake. It was a color I hadn’t seen before, and wondered where we were headed. Smegma would probably know.

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I checked my Mental Universe and clicked my tongue—the Classes’ Skill looked like it was formed, or at least, had stopped growing. What was keeping the Demon? For that matter, what was keeping my Classes’ sub-Skill from activating?

We passed through the Portal and arrived on the other side in ankle-deep sludge. My first thought was that it was mud, but I quickly changed that descriptor because of the color and smell. I bent down and touched it. Slimy, and thick, but definitely not dirt mixed with water. I turned my hand into a cup and pulled some of it up to examine. The water surrounding the green was clear, possibly even drinkable—after a thorough boiling. It just was so filled with algae that it took on the same consistency.

“Oh, come on,” Dave complained as he lifted one foot and then the other out of the water. “These were white work boots,” he added at everyone’s look. He got no pity from the others who were all wearing worn mining gear with nearly ruined work boots. Truly, if mine didn’t have ETM41 in the toe and sole they’d probably be in multiple pieces. Our company, currently unnamed, didn’t have the funds to purchase new gear for the five of us just yet—plus I was holding out hope there might be some in the Demonic Vault Shop.

“This way,” a group of five heavily armed and nearly identical looking men said as they waded to us. Each one carried a weapon that was clearly mass produced, but just as clearly made from Portal Ore. Which likely meant that the bullets inside were also of harder material than simple Earthly metals.

My father took the lead, and the trip was extremely short as Echo-Five had said. The only reason I hadn’t seen the rocky hill rising out of the sludge from the entrance was because it was behind the Portal as well as multiple petrified trees. The step from the sludge to dry land felt amazing. But the climb out of the sludge and up the steep slope to an entrance made me glad we didn’t have bags of sledges and wedges to lug up.

I turned on my three-dimensional camera and then took Sparkle Legion’s high-grade Lightstone, currently on loan, out of my pocket. Placing it in the holster, I entered the cave. To my surprise, it wasn’t truly necessary and I hurried to shut the stone off. The walls glowed with a smooth, verdant light.

The source? Thick banks of glowing moss.

I moved closer and studied the stuff. It was like a carpet, but despite the amount, it looked familiar. I reached out a hand and felt the same texture as the slimy algae outside. Except this one was dry and clearly growing larger. I hurried to catch up to the Mirage Hunters when I realized they had continued moving as I stopped to take in the sights.

My dad nodded at me as I jogged up beside him. “Since we only have the two good Lightstones, this is kind of nice.”

“We’ll all probably be in a single chamber though,” I responded.

My dad shook his head. “Nah, this Portal’s pretty small. So, the caverns—” he cut off as we entered the first ‘cavern’. What he had been about to say was evident. It was more of a widening in the tunnel than a true cavern.

In that widening space, Crystals carpeted only the floor, and while the walls held a few—they were only poking through between large patches of moss. In fact, I should have already noted another difference in the mine. The hallways, which in other Portal’s had been covered with Crystals, were entirely clear of them.

“One of you here,” one of the heavily armed men said.

We all looked at Dave, since he was the newest, but at his confused expression I recalled he hadn’t Mined before. With a voice I’d worked on for social media I confidentially said, “Okay, we’ve got a Specialist trainee here. What do you think about leaving a second guard here with us for a short while? I’ll show our new Specialist the ropes and then move to catch up.”

The man who spoke and I assumed was the leader, motioned at a subordinate with a hand. “Jack, you escort the cocky kid. The rest of us will head further in.”

I guess my ‘confident’ voice needed some work. Willa and my dad held snickers back with the help of hands, even as Jarred chuckled out loud, and mouthed ‘cocky kid’ at me.

‘Family’, I thought. Pretty soon the group was around a bend and out of site. I turned to Dave. “Okay, so I’ve placed my ‘repair mark’ on your Pickaxe—so all you’ve got to do is shard, Dave. The more you do, the more the Pick will repair. Once it’s repaired enough for the business end to become roughly pointy, I motioned at my own, try targeting a few stems.”

I saw the two Mirage members look at each other and hurried to continue. “The Pick will repair faster if you mine whole Crystals. The more it repairs the more Ore—” I paused then realizing that with the thick moss on the walls unadorned with crystals, we couldn’t see what Ores were hidden underneath them.

Thankfully, my Mining Skill identified at least one in the room. I nodded to myself and then hid the way I cut off speaking by continuing to say. “I guess the first lesson I should teach you is how to clear a place to stand.”

That was the first lesson taught to me, after all. Within five minutes I’d shown Dave how to clear a place to stand, and with a single swing of my Pick, also demonstrated where to find the stem in the lettuce-like lattice Mana Crystals.

Dave looked like he wanted to protest me leaving still, but the impatience and disappointment on the faces of the two men convinced him to just try his best. I heard his next swing as me and Jack moved through the tunnel the others went down.

We passed Willa in the next ‘cavern’ and then Jarred, before we arrived at one with my father. He had just finished clearing a space to stand and motioned me over. “You take this one,” he said. “I’ll head in deeper.”

I shook my head. If anyone should head deeper, it was me. I had an unlocked Stat, and—“You will stay here or we might as well just cancel this company business right now!” My dad said sternly. It felt a lot like I was a child throwing a tantrum in that moment. One where my parents would threaten to turn the car around if I didn’t stop.

Rolling my eyes, I responded, “Yes, dad.”

Sure, I might have made it dramatic, but it got a chuckle from Jack and my father’s Guild Guard—so, I figured it was worth it. Plus, I hadn’t yet told anyone but Dave about my unlocked Stat.

When my dad started walking, his guard—the leader of the Mirage’s group down here, followed and I took up the already cleared spot. My first swing produced another full Crystal, and I heard a grunt from Jack. After another four swings and four stems hit, Jack whistled. I’d noticed a while back that with the addition of the Strength Stat I could power through the rock easier. Plus my new pickaxe seemed to reduce the need for additional force.

“I didn’t really believe you were actually a Specialist,” he said after the noise of appreciation. “But you’re just as fast at taking them out whole as others are at sharding. Mind if I take a video to show Echo?”

I shrugged. That could only bring us some additional notoriety, surely. I kept working and had soon cleared my way to one wall. I hadn’t sharded a single Crystal and I could tell from Jack behind me that he was becoming more and more excited by that prospect. “Are the others as good as you?”

“They have way more experience, but are also more likely to stick to the contract. So they’ll probably just shard.”

“Husk, really?” Jack said, and then looked up and down the tunnels that led out of the small cavern. “You good here on your own for like ten minutes?” He asked.

My nod seemed to release him and he hurried up the way we had come first. I hoped he was about to negotiate on our behalf, but suspected he was going to tell the others to aim for full Crystals with no thought to increasing our cut. Either way, it worked for me. I was left unattended. I bent down and placed as many full Crystals as I dared into my Necklace of Holding.

By the time Jack returned, I had cleared more than half of the room, all of them full Crystals. He looked at the spoils greedily and then pointed angrily behind himself. “You go tell the others to stop sharding dammit.”

I shook my head emphatically. “Listen, I’m just a worker. You should go chat with the boss.”

My motion down the deeper tunnel released Jack again, and he took off. I smiled. This was going the way we hoped it would. My dad would likely ask to talk to Echo-five and hopefully negotiate as much as five percent more out of the man. If not, I’d also start sharding.

With low rank Crystals, it was always a quantity versus quality debate. Large Guilds like Lynx and SnowBirds simply expected as much Sharded as the ‘normie’ miners could do—when they were in Low-rank mines. That and a few ores. This way, the Hunting Team could move on to the next Portal. Maybe it would have a higher Ranked Mine, Garden or Monsters…

“Holy shit!” A familiar Demon’s voice gasped. It was immediately followed by the noise of a sucking breath and then an exaggerated inhalation. “How long was I husking gone?”

I spun to find Smegma gasping in lungful’s of air that I was pretty certain he didn’t need. I raised an eyebrow but hurriedly said, “Make yourself invisible if you aren’t already. Someone’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Smegma nodded but stayed doubled over, seeming to almost be in pain. I wondered again just how real the creature was. The fact that he breathed and was clearly in pain, spoke to him being more alive than he claimed. Sure, he couldn’t interact with our Plane but that didn’t mean he wasn’t alive in another, right?

[You were gone a week,] I thought to the Demon. [I was starting to wonder what was taking so long.]

“I was putting together a massive puzzle again! With sharp edges! Other than that, no husking clue,” he answered, his voice filled with clear frustration. His breathing did begin to come under control as I kept working. Before his reappearance, I was hoping to have finished this small chamber by the time my minder returned.

Thankfully, Smegma didn’t continue speaking and instead stared down the tunnel Jack had recently rushed down.

My dad soon strode into view with a large smile. “I’m going to head up and negotiate with Echo-five. Can you finish my chamber after yours—sharding only!—until I get back.” He morphed his grin into a grimace before my eyes and studied the room, seeming disappointed. I got the hint and looked to the ground ashamedly. “I’ve told you before that we stick to the contract, son.”

“Yes, sir,” I answered, and schooled my features to try and not smile.

“I’ll be back soon—I hope,” my dad said.

Jack switched out with the leader of the group as my minder, and I frowned until I realized that the video of me mining was on his phone. I switched from full Crystals to sharding and thought I saw a disappointed frown cross the new minder’s face under his half mask.

However, that could have been my imagination.