We passed through a few cleared tunnels and rooms to reach a large, open mining area. By the strewn and broken equipment, the massive wood supports that had thousands of names carved into them, and a wide glittering copper vein peeking out of a rough stone wall, I could see this place had a rich history. Our footsteps echoed through the area.

As we crossed the room, the pink mushrooms glowed brighter the more noise we made. While they had always done that, it was just more noticeable to see a cavern light up at the speed of sound.

Val walked up to the copper vein. “I used to hear stories about this from some old retired miners my da was friends with.”

“They must have been very down to earth,” Murr said. I elbowed him and he sent me a sheepish smile.

Fortunately, Val didn’t seem to notice Murr’s joke. “They were. They called it the never-ending copper of Balrock’s Mine. But copper isn’t all that rare nowadays. Actually, there is a bit too much of it around, making it near-worthless.”

“Pennies,” I said.

Kron kicked my toe for that bad joke.

He must have used aura to get through my armor because it stung a bit. I grimaced but held in the hiss of pain I wanted to let out. Then I kicked him back… and bruised my foot.

He smirked at me and pointed to his face while mouthing the word golem.

Dude! A healer wasn’t supposed to be this tough!

“If it’s worthless, then why mine it?” Murr asked.

Val grinned. “Well, I happen to like mining copper. It’s a good metal. Severely undervalued.”

I’d say. Once I used it for copper pipes in skyscrapers, I was positive the price of it will climb as high as the buildings I plan to design. Which seemed pointless to a society that could make water from thin air using the Condense Fresh Water spell, but mana was still precious to children, non-combatants, and races that couldn’t use much of it. Having a natural source of water would be a blessing for them. Well, maybe I could think of something I could do for them now. According to my character sheet, I had the Architect job and knowledge from my past life. I should find some way to use it, even if my top priority was leveling non-stop.

“But, aside from just generally liking the metal, you can find mana-infused Azurite and Malachite as you go. These gems are useful in forging low-level magic items. Things us... down-to-earth, folk can use.” He smirked at Murr like he’d one-upped him. And honestly, Val’s version was better.

Still a terrible joke.

“Time to mine the endless copper. You three get ready. The noise might bring monsters and if I die, I’ll haunt your dreams till your ashes turn to diamonds.”

He took off his shirt, pulled out his pickaxe, and yelled, “Hey-oh!” before slamming the point into the stone. The clatter echoed through the cavern.

The pink mushrooms brightened once again.

We put our backs to Val.

“You think anything will come?” I asked.

“Think about it,” Murr said, “Dungeons have monsters, but it’s not like they don’t have instincts. If enough of these creatures have died to people making this sound, then there’s a chance they’ll run away from us and not toward us.”

“So, you’re saying that the only monsters coming near us will be those that ate the people mining?”

Both Kron and Murr looked at me, faces grim. Then we silently turned to face the dark cavern and its shrooms that glowed bright pink to the beat of the pickaxe.

We stayed silent for a solid minute, till I said. “Well, it’s not like anything will arrive right away.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

And that was when we heard it: a repetitive clack that mimicked Val’s rhythm. And it came closer.

The two turned to me and pointed. “You jinx!”

“Why?” Murr asked.

I winced and took out my swords. “Hey, I wouldn’t do it on purpose.”

The catfolk rogue sighed. “Well, standing here is boring, anyway.” He smirked.

“Better bored than dead,” Kron said.

A massive crab burst into the cavern, going through a non-load-bearing wall like a giant glass pitcher filled with Kool-aid. It had one large claw with small sharp spikes along its surface. The other claw was smooth and looked faster as it snapped in irritation.

What even is this thing?

It turned and glared at Val with red eyes.

Well, shit.

I activated my taunt. “HEY! I’M OVER HERE, YOU OVERSIZED CRAB CAKE!”

“Why are your insults always so—” Kron cut off because he had to dodge away from a sharp and vicious-looking leg that almost came down on his head as it jerked to face me.

“Weird,” Murr finished for him, then seemed to disappear behind one of the massive wood pillars helping to keep the cavern ceiling up.

It stared at me for a few seconds as if trying to figure out why a little can of meat was yelling at it. Fortunately, it was enough time that I could use my game sight on it.

Large Obsidian Crab Mid-Boss - Rank K - Lvl. 9

Crustacean-type.

Skills/Abilities/Spells: Claw Slam, Bubbles, Murder Steps.

Notes: This Large Obsidian Crab is very old but not very bright. You could even say that it’s as bright as black glass. It has gotten lucky and eaten many adventurers over the years to get so large. It lives and stays deep inside Balrock’s Mine, mostly spawning babies. Lizard-dogs are its food source, usually brought to it by its children. This monster likes shiny things and gets angry when someone takes them away from it.

Okay, I could handle Claw Slam and I figured Bubbles wasn’t much, but what the hell was Murder Steps?! Because if that was what it sounded like...

“Hey, Murr. I hope you don’t mind if we out-level you because I think I’m going to need to use the shocker by the end of this fight.” I dodged a claw and ducked under a leg. “If we’re going to make it out of this alive.”

The catfolk rogue darted out from behind the pillar long enough to send several black balls from his slingshot over toward the crab’s eyes. Several missed and created puffy clouds along the floor. The ones that hit covered the crab’s red eyes with voluminous dust. “Don’t underestimate your DPS. I’m almost level 8, anyway.”

I grinned as he ran behind the crab, gaze darting this way and that, searching for vulnerabilities. His face became more and more frustrated until he scowled like a wet cat.

“This is ridiculous! Aside from its eyes, this mid-boss has no weak points.”

“It’s a crab, what did you expect?!” There was a reason nature kept turning things into crabs. They were near perfect. Sadly, they weren’t exactly pretty.

The monster turned toward Murr’s voice at first before it recognized mine as the one who insulted it.

A cone of bubbles shot at me. Not knowing what they could do, I jumped back and tried to lead the crab in a direction away from Miner Val.

And speaking of the non-combatant, he had stopped swinging. With a yelp, he ran into a rocky alcove and hid inside. There must have been magic involved because he vanished entirely.

Well, that made things easier.

The bubbles, after initially flying toward me, started floating in various directions. They honestly didn’t seem any more dangerous than something a kid—

Boom! One burst into flames on contact with the floor. My ears rang, but it was like a humming ring that lingered. Was this how you got tinnitus? Because I was pretty sure—

Suddenly, the rest of the bubbles exploded nearly simultaneously. My world lifted a few inches and came down as the shockwave sent me sliding back several feet. Ow. Warm liquid leaked from my ears. Probably blood. But the more immediate issue was breathing. Why couldn’t I get enough air?

Murr stumbled out of his hiding place behind the surprisingly sturdy wooden pillar. His hands pressed against his human ears while cat ears flattened. He said something to Kron, but I could only hear ringing.

Life magic surrounded Kron’s feet as he raised a glowing hand into the air with a spell circle surrounding it. Then it condensed into a ball, which he threw onto me.

The magic landed on my head and my hearing was restored immediately. Next, the damage done to my lungs healed. I could finally breathe again!

Of course, the crab had to attack right at that moment. I tried to use Dangerous Dodge, but I was a second too late and sidestepped directly into its grasp. The giant claw grabbed onto my new helmet and squeezed. I jerked from side to side, using a large portion of my aura-enhanced strength. It didn’t even budge. Its other claw zipped toward me, about to slice me in half. Since I didn’t want to die, I slid out of my helm and jumped back. I felt the breeze on my face as the attack missed.

Since I wasn’t there, the monster tried to crush my new armor. It failed miserably.

Ha! That was from the gods! It could try, but it wouldn’t—

It tossed my invisible helm to the other side of the room. It landed in the middle of a massive pile of wood and debris, causing it to collapse with a loud crash. That would take hours to find!

“Noooo! I just got that!”