We spent the rest of the morning clearing out the first floor of the mine. Once we reached the steps that would lead us to the lower level, we decided to stop. There hadn’t been many monsters left, but there had been enough to get Murr to level 9 and that was enough for the day.
There had been no sign that the Obsidian Crab from yesterday had returned to this level. Chances were, the first floor was safe to mine in. So, we brought Val over. As soon as he laid eyes on the room again, he pursed his lips in controlled fury. “I still can’t believe that…” He sighed. “If that crab comes back, I hope you make it suffer before you kill it.”
While I had no love for monsters, I wasn’t going to extend their suffering just to get revenge. Monsters were the enemies of everyone on Faeruled. They needed to die but they were still living beings that deserved a clean death. That was why I’d given those small red crabs a chance to escape when it would have been easier to attack them while they were still in the mine cart.
The purple-haired dwarf brought out a harness, rope, hammer, and pitons with a grin. “I also remembered to grab my gear so we can retrieve that helmet of yours.”
“Thank you!”
He helped me into the gear. Knowing how to climb was essential for an adventurer, and especially for Elves who lived in giant trees. Everyone at the hold learned how to use climbing gear. However, the crash course he gave me was appreciated, as hammering a piton into stone was harder than doing it in a tree. I had to find the right crack and make sure it was solid enough to hold my weight.
The floor in that area had almost entirely disappeared. At most, there was an inch-wide ledge and a few sections here and there where it was as wide as six inches. But it was enough of a foothold that climbing across the ledge would be easier
Val, Kron, and Murr held my rope and gave slack as I cautiously worked my way across the chasm. A quarter of the way through my toes were aching and my hands hurt with the strength I clung to the wall.
I reached an area where the ledge was thinnest and made the mistake of looking down. There was nothing but darkness with occasional hints of glowing pink. As an elf who lived in massive trees, I was not afraid of heights. However, seeing a pitch-black cave so deep my dark vision couldn’t reach the bottom was not the same as being high up in a forest surrounded by stars and birds. Where nets were strung between trees to catch anyone who accidentally fell. My mother often talked about some of the larger Elven cities that weren’t on the frontier. There, children walked around wearing rings of Soft Fall while adults developed ways to avoid taking damage when falling from the highest tree. Even non-combatants.
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This cavern was cold and damp. There was no wind to improve breathing. Us Elves were not creatures that liked to live underground… Well, maybe dark elves did, but they were on a different continent so...
“You can do it!” Murr yelled.
“Hush. You’re calling every monster down there and telling them we’re here,” Val said.
“As if they don’t already know,” he said, “Sam’s hammering can be heard all throughout the cave.”
I hammered in another piton and winced. The sound seemed louder now that I thought about being stealthy about it.
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This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
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After hammering in a few more pitons, I reached the other side. Although it was stone, it did not feel stable enough. This side was also only a dozen feet across and completely covered in various mining trash and debris.
Let’s see. My helmet ended up in… that pile, around ten feet from my climbing wall. I pointed to a bulging pile of debris and made my way over to it, while keeping the rope tied to my harness. I started picking through the pile, throwing pieces of debris off the cliff one at a time, hoping to come across an area that looked like an invisible ball was there.
On the other side of the hole, Val and my party tied their end to one of the massive stone pillars and double-checked that the rope would hold all of their weight before going about their business. I guess they realized that it was going to take me forever to find my damned invisible helmet in this metaphorical haystack.
It wasn’t like I had a giant magnet to help me find this pin… or did I? The gear was soul bound. That had to mean something. I closed my eyes and thought about the helmet, the description, how I received it, and how it connected to my soul.
I felt… a color? A warmth? It was a little farther into the pile, closer to the wall. I carefully made my way over, removed the debris that had landed on top of it, and picked it up. A bit of dust had settled on it, turning it from a handsome crystalline helm into looking like dirty glass.
“Woot! I found it!” I held it up and turned. That was when I tripped on a piece of loose timber and slammed into the tall debris pile. The helmet slipped out of my grasp and bounced downward toward the hole.
Fuck that!
I slid on my stomach down the pile, my armor acted as a crude sled. Just as it bounced off the edge of the hole. This wasn’t the end! Just a little more. I flung out my arms, reaching for it with both hands. Finally, I caught it… and then I flew off the side of the hole.
While feeling weightless, I quickly stored my helmet in my inventory and grabbed the rope with my gauntleted hands. I dropped. My harness jerked as the rope became taut, swinging me toward the wall. I managed to get my feet in front of me, landing awkwardly with them flat on the stone surface.
“Good save,” Murr said.
I sat there for a moment, and let my equipment hold my weight. Once I’d recovered, I started climbing up the rope. When I reached the foot-wide ledge I pulled myself up.
Of course, that was when the swarm of little red crabs decided to pour out from a crack in the wall.
“Hurry! Climb!” Murr said.
“Don’t have to tell me that!”
Even these spider-like crabs wouldn’t be able to cross the gap here. Not with only an inch of footing in some places.
I sidestepped like mad, trying to move closer to the main area. As soon as I reached the thin ledge, I slowed down for my safety. I was l confident that they wouldn’t be able to follow; after all, it was such a tiny ledge… And they started scuttling up the wall like damn spiders as if gravity didn’t mean a thing!
“They’re gonna get you if you don’t hurry!” Murr said.
“Don’t stop! I’ll heal any damage they do to you, so just get here as soon as you can!” Kron said.
Today was not my day.
“You know,” Murr said, “I think that those crabs were attracted to the vibrations when Sam hammered in those pitons.”
As I shuffled forward and yelled, “That’s not helping! Ow!” My foot hurt. When I glanced down, one of the little red guys had reached my shoe and pinched me. I kicked it away. It flew into the dark hole with a high-pitched squeal.
That was when the rest of the crabs swarmed all over me. They pinched my armor, tried to get in between my plate and chain mail, and did the tiniest amounts of damage from their little auras all over my body. The worst part was that their little aura attacks felt like fire-ant bites.
I reached the other side and immediately rolled on the ground. A few of the crustaceans fell off, but some held on.
“Sam, as your healer, I’m sorry to inform you of this, but you have an infestation of crabs. I’m afraid I can’t heal you until they’re taken care of.”
Murr snorted.
“That’s not funny! This hurts!”
“If you’re able to complain, you’ll live.”
“Relax. I got your back,” the rogue said. “Hold your breath.” Right as I did so, something hit my chest plate and exploded into a cloud of pink dust.
I closed my eyes and counted. When I felt all the claws release me, I jumped to my feet and jogged in the direction I heard Kron. Someone grabbed my shoulder, pulling me to a stop, and a cool life energy rolled over the burning areas where the crabs had pinched me.
I opened my eyes to see Murr and Kron grinning.
Kron patted my shoulder. “See, I knew you’d live!”
I pulled out the two pickax shafts and gently bonked them on their foreheads.
They grimaced and rubbed where I’d touched them, feigning injury.
“Hey. Is that how you thank the only rogue with the balls to remove your infestation?” He rolled a very round pink shot in-between his fingers like they were gold coins.
“Don’t hit the healer.”
“It’s called bonk. And it was deserved.”
“Then don’t bonk the healer!”
I pointed to the swarm. “They’re only asleep. Let’s kill them before they infest both of you too,” I grinned, then I started a game of whack-a-crab with my two shafts. Since they were all asleep, my attacks were super effective.