They started their return journey when the old demon returned. The plants seemed to cower from the demon, seemingly scared of him for some unknown reason. Alan made note of this chose to stay on his guard the entire time. The demon told them his name during their trip back. Ajax, a name given to him due to his unnaturally powerful ability to manipulate the earth, a skill he possessed since the moment of his birth.

The sun had sunk by the time they reached their destination, the darkness making the rainforest all the more dangerous. The darkness set in quickly due to the canopy blocking most light even during the day, and allowing close to no light reach the floor during night. The moon could also do little, having already become a crescent and only to decline further.

Ajax looked at the two after Alan explained the task to him, both clearly tired, "You two should sleep for now. I will start to dig. It will be done before you wake up." His words didn't carry any sense of doubt, confident in his abilities.

Alan relaxed slightly on being reassured the long trip would have some good results at the end. Crystal had already found a dry patch with a lot of fallen leaves by the time Alan made his final preparations. She gathered the leaves to create a small area fit to sleep, just big enough for her small body however. Alan climbed onto a low hanging branch of the tree nearby and made himself comfortable to be able to sleep. He made sure that his leg stuck in a gap in the tree's trunk, to make sure he wouldn't fall down while asleep.

Ajax continued to dig for an hour or two, making no sound in the process. Surprisingly, he reached halfway in just that small amount of time, and close to no exhaustion. Stopping his work he went to where Crystal slept, assessing her with cold eyes. "Will have to make do with what is there." Ajax mumbled under his breath.

Hovering his hand over face for a short moment he evaluated her condition, the moonlight falling in the area around her as if the canopy moved away so it could pass through. Being satisfied with his assessment, he closed Crystal's mouth shut with his hand while she slept. She woke up instantly and attempted to scream out in fear, which she found herself unable to do. She started swinging her arms and legs as she realised the situation, attempting to get away but making no progress.

Using his other hand to grab her hands he pinned her to the ground, making certain she couldn't do anything. He noticed the tears rolling off her ears, bright and shining in the little moonlight that fell on her face. Realising the moonlight on the ground appeared to be far less than just a moment ago, he turned around. Before he could fully turn a kick to his chest sent him flying. Slamming into a tree he fell onto the ground, blood flowing out of his mouth as he felt his broken ribs stabbing into his insides.

Alan sat beside Crystal, holding her in his arms and gently caressing her hair to calm her down. Her sobbing slowed down in just a few moments, right before Alan turned to Ajax. His cold eyes fixed onto Ajax, showing no sign of mercy. Feeling a tearing pain in his heart Ajax got back up and bolted through the forest cover, attempting to reach closer to his house.

He sprinted as fast as he could through the forest, wildly bashing away anything that blocked his path using his earth manipulation. He tripped out of nowhere, a searing pain followed by a numbness creeping up his right leg. Turning around he stared at the knife lodged in his leg, and the figure that threw it slowly walking towards him. He attempted to get back up, but Alan appeared right in front of him as soon as he did. A punch sent Ajax crashing through a thick tree.

Alan pulled out two short swords and sat down beside Ajax, staring right into his bulging eyes. "You are very lucky that she is still crying so I have to go back quickly. Unfortunately, you won't be able to suffer as much as you should." He stabbed Ajax's two eyes with the two swords right, blood spurting out of them, a brownish-red in color. "This is why you shouldn't play with ancient magic you don't understand. A spell for power in exchange for constant decaying from the inside, targeting the life energy of a creature in simple terms. No wonder you went after a child instead of me."

By the time Alan finished Ajax's could already not be differentiated from the surroundings, the plants having decayed as they were contaminated by the blood. It only affects the ones who consume it, I suppose being absorbed by roots counts. Luckily he chose to run and not fight. If that poisoned dagger didn't land this would've been much harder. I better wash off the blood before going back. He sighed as he inspected his clothes, covered in blood splatter everywhere.

He returned to Crystal, finding her sitting on the ground, hugging her knees and still sobbing. After calming her down he laid her on the ground to sleep, sitting against the tree just beside her to keep away any dangers. He also slowly drifted to sleep though far from peaceful. Now, he needed to figure out another way to reach his objective.

I can figure out something with ease. He sighed, looking up at the morning light that fell through the canopy, lighting up the tunnel Ajax dug last night. Her safety takes priority here, although I don't understand why I am so attached to someone I just met. Well, the me from a year ago would have abandoned or sacrificed anyone to fulfil his objective, so I suppose that's an improvement from the past.

After Crystal woke up and the two ate some of the berries and fruits she picked up from the forest, they started towards the abandoned mining site in hopes for finding the explosives supposedly left behind. The journey happened to be a lot less dangerous than the previous one. No plants attempting to eat them, or so they thought, not for long though.

When Crystal stepped on a stack of leaves near a tree, something wrapped itself around her leg and pulled her up with great force. Before she could react she found herself already wrapped, completely helpless, and right by the jaws of a massive serpent. A Snare-trap Python, a constrictor snake that uses it's vine-like tail to snatch up prey, and then squeezes them till they suffocate or their internal organs are crushed. Crystal, while big enough to not be prey for normal snakes, just so happened to be the right size for a snake this size.

The snake started to slowly tighten its grip around her, squeezing her. It assessed her condition, nearing it's jaws as her struggling slowly died down. Just then, a throwing knife stabbed the snake's neck, causing it to drop Crystal. Instantly after the throwing knife hit, before the snake could do anything else, Alan appeared right in front of it with a greatsword in hand. He sliced the snake in half along with the tree, landing back down harmlessly right beside Crystal.

He put her down and patted her on her head for a few seconds before grabbing her left ear gently, just enough for it to not be too painful. "Don't walk too far from me. Don't touch anything without asking me. Don't go ahead of me. Don't leave my hand until I tell you to." He ordered her in a stern voice while tugging lightly at her ear, somewhat tired of her ill luck.

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She made a whimpering sound when he pulled her ear a bit harder, clearly in slight pain. Releasing her ear he placed his hand in front of her, signaling her to hold it. She held it as they continued ahead, having to walk fast or run at times to keep up with Alan's longer strides. He also moved a bit faster now, not having to worry about her getting left behind or attacked anymore.

It didn't take them long to come across the mining site, easily recognisable by the large hole in the ground, a couple hundred meters wide, with two buildings and a sort of elevator on one side on the surface. It seemed very deep, and dark enough that they weren't able to see it's bottom, not even Crystal's eyes being of any help in this case.

Not liking the ominous appearance of the mine they chose to search through the buildings first. The first building they entered looked like a tool shed, fairly small but large enough to store a decent amount of equipment. If they were to find any explosives, Alan knew it would definitely be in there.

He could tell from just a look at the other building that it happened to be more of a resting place, not for storing tools. It also seemed much tidier on the outside than the shed, although both seemed to be fairly well maintained. While the building consisted of brick walls, the shed seemed to be made entirely of wood, with both wood and metal scraps acting as the roof.

When they entered the shed Alan knew at once even if he found anything it wouldn't be usable. The shed felt slightly wet inside, and the tools that were there also looked completely covered in rust to the point of no repair. One might even believe they were built of rust to begin with, but such tools wouldn't be of any use.

He let go of Crystal's hand and signaled her to stand in the center of the room, away from the walls and anything else that could be dangerous. He moved boxes and threw around tools, checking if anything useful remained in there despite the conditions. In the end, his guess turned out to be right. There were crates of explosives, but they were ruined by the rain. The gunpowder appeared to have been completely washed out, and the dynamites were also wet.

He threw some boxes and tools in frustration, composing himself as he glanced at Crystal covering her eyes and peeking through the gaps in her fingers. He ordered Crystal to stand outside and wait. A moment after exiting a shed she heard a loud sound from behind, followed by a strong gust of wind that came from behind her. When she turned around she found the shed to have disappeared into thin air.

As a tiny piece of wood fell in the distance she looked up, staring at the shower of wooden and metal pieces. Grabbing her collar Alan dragged Crystal to the corner of the mine, gesturing her to wait there. He returned with a fairly big log and threw it down the center of the giant hole. Crystal crouched down and looked over the edge, confused and curious. Alan listened hard for a sound but didn't hear anything for several seconds.

Noticing Crystal's ears move from the corner of his eye he poked her ear. "What did you hear?" She turned around and looked at him, thinking. "Right, can't talk. Can you imitate or recreate the sound you heard?"

Just as he asked she made a pop sound with her mouth. "It popped?" He questioned in bewilderment. She shook her head before getting up and looking around. Picking a tiny scrap of wood she dropped it in a puddle nearby. "It fell into some water, huh?"

She again moved her head, nodding before shaking it. He gave her a confused look, not understanding what he got wrong. She got up again and found a long, thin stick. She dipped the stick in the small puddle and started pushing it down. It kept going deeper and deeper until nearly the entire stick submerged under the small puddle, despite the stick being twice her height.

"So it fell in very deep water?" She nodded at him with a smile on her face. "That's surprising. I would expect them to have stopped mining if all they found happened to be deep water." He paused and thought for a moment. "How many seconds did it take to fall?"

She counted on her hands and showed him six. "Six seconds? Around a hundred and seventy metres then." He thought for a moment, pondering over his options. "Pretty deep then, no need for us to go in there. Also, while we are here, I would like to check everything I can."

Getting up the two walked around the hole to the elevator that lowered stuff into the mine. The rope of the elevator seemed to be broken, barely any of it hanging below the elevator. He figured it worked using a motor that used magic, which also seemed to have rusted entirely. The elevator itself also creaked loudly when Alan stepped on it, though it didn't make any sound when Crystal went in. It seemed to made of mostly wood, only the frame and some rods being made of iron, which also appeared to be covered in rust.

"From the looks of it, the rope rot over time and snapped. Being exposed to the rain the motor and framework also rusted, it's unusable as well at this point. Even the floor doesn't seem very stable." He analyzed the situation, speaking half to himself, though Crystal still seemed to be paying attention. "Let's go check out the last building."

They walked over to the other building, greyish-white walls lining the corridors on the inside with green vine patterns and orange flowers at places, alongside a yellowish-brown floor. Alan easily noticed five doors right after entering, a few of them open. The signs above the doors stated the room's purpose. 'Sleeping quarters', 'Restrooms', 'Showers', 'Necessary equipment' and 'The Lord's Cabin'.

They skipped over the 'Restrooms' and 'Shower', knowing nothing of use would be kept in those. The 'Sleeping Quarters' didn't have anything useful either, comprising of many closely placed beds and empty drawers. It only contained a bracelet with five diamonds embedded in it.

A hair clip in the shape of a butterfly, and made of gold. The many small pink diamonds embedded in it formed the shape of a four petalled flower. As Crystal seemed to like it he allowed her to keep it, being quite certain she liked every shiny object.

In the 'Necessary Equipments' there were pickaxes and other mining equipment, which he didn't find to be necessary. They checked the 'The Lord's Cabin' last, hoping to find something worth the effort. They found nothing other than documents in there, a disappointment to both. Two of the documents turned out be very important however as Alan flipped through them.

It mentioned shifting all explosives inside the mine so they won't be ruined by the constant and sudden showers of the rainforest. The other talked about leaving the site with all the explosives and tools, both above and underground. Based off the documents, he figure there were equal chances of both as they were dated only a day apart.

Having found explosives in the shed earlier, he believed the possibility of finding more in the mine to be quite high. He decided to take a last look through the documents, making sure he did not miss any other information. They were mostly about import of tools and other goods, and the export of ores and crystals. After he felt certain that he checked everything, he prepared to leave.

Crystal, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to reach something in a cabinet. He didn't plan on giving her another shiny thing, deciding to simply drag her away if it happened to be something of the sort. He looked inside to find it to be completely empty, no sign of anything other than a thick layer of dust. Only at first however. As Crystal attempted to reach her hand inside, he noticed what looked to be well camouflaged handle. He pulled it, opening the hidden door and revealing the treasure behind.

Contradictory to his expectations of it being a vault for gold and jewels, it happened to be containing nothing but a bow. It lay there, wrapped in cloth, restricting him from assessing its condition at a glance. Crystal tried to reach towards the bow, being far too short to reach far enough to even grab the handle, let alone the bow.

Lifting the bow he briefly applied pressure on it, ascertaining it to be made of metal, a light one at that. He handed it to Crystal, finding it to be taller than her on a closer comparison. "You know you can be very ominous sometimes, right? Knowing so much but knowing nothing at the same time."

She simply tilted her head at him, her usual confused expression. I guess her senses are just that much sharper than even mine. He sighed as he closed the cabinet. Still, being oblivious enough to fall for simple traps, but still being aware enough to spot this handle and that Sand-claw Shrew. I do wonder just how much potential you have.

He gestured her to follow, leading the way out of the building to get back to their main objective.