The little area inside the tunnel we chose was getting wider by the time.

Clang! Clank! Clang! Clank!

I was slowly eating the rocky wall in front of me.

Trying to set the right rhythm, a slow but steady pace. Each swing of the pick added would increase your fatigue, proceeding with a high tempo will only deplete your stamina earlier.

Newbies would often try harder to get a better pay, even overcoming their limits. Only to get a measly pay of 1 or 2 [coin]s at most. The hard earned extra coins ended mostly in the [Inspector]'s wallet.

The result would mainly be in you getting more tired and hungry. I was like that too during my first week of work.

Trying to rest more was also not an option. 1 or 2 minutes of pause every 10 minutes was the deadline of most captains. More than this and you would get warned. After three warnings the [Inspector] would know about it, leaving you with no pay at the end of the session.

What? Skipping work and getting fired? No one will deny this decision of yours. First your

ID card will get revoked, you'll lose the little shack that was granted to you. Then homeless, you'll sooner or later die of hunger.

After about two hours of working, we had to start placing pebbles of fustum on the ceiling and walls of the space we created digging. This will stabilize and hold on the dirt and rocks that could falls upon us. At least for long enough and until we decide to pass on the next tunnel.

We really can't expand the tunnels by ourselves.

Since they have been created and expanded with nano-enhanced fustum, and they can hold on for a very long period of time.

With the passing of time I could sense it, we were being observed. I turned myself to verify my impression.

Then I saw them, lots of them. Pairs of luminescent small green eyes. They were the riekrats. Time to move on the next tunnel. With more and more getting near us, the possibility of attracting a dangerous creature will increase.

[A couple of hours before]

"Stodran, how did it go?" a powerful voice resounded in my ears.

"M-Master, he refused to give me his ID card" I said, a little apologetic.

"I see, he's gotten more prudent down there. I wish I could have gotten him earlier." the voice responded.

"Yes, Master Dacid, I think that he may have some hidden assets that your uncle gifted him. If not why would he be so attentive?" I tried to appease him.

"One year. That's the time I had to plead the mines [Supervisor] to assign me his team. I even contacted a veteran to help you. Get him to me without alarming the other three. You can kill the other if you must, it would be better if I could torture him personally though" said Dacid, with a hint of frustration and annoyance.

"I will capture them both alive for you to play with. Rest assured." I said, encouraging myself, capturing two newbies won't be that hard.

The difficult part was lying only on distracting the other three. Even so because we were sure one was a pawn sent by the [supervisor] of the mines.

"You better do, I didn't gift you a [tool] to lazy around." said Dacid hinting for a possible punishment I should try to avoid.

[Back to the normal storyline]

We just came out of the third tunnel. I'm not starting to fell tired yet. My muscles are just a bit sore.

I'm a little thirsty too, but us celidres are able to live up to two days without drinking. It's said that our specie was native of the deserts.

The team stopped in the middle of the circular space.

"I know of a better place we could go to get at least 1 more [coin] each. Its a bit more risky since it's an open space. But the ores quality is also greatest. With enough luck you could also hit jackpot" Said the veteran, interrupting the silence of the cave.

"I-Is that jackpot? I mean… Teslum?" Asked one of the two common looking miners. His face couldn't hide his eagerness.

"Indeed, exactly Teslum, as you all know it's a mineral capable of containing nano-dust."

responded the veteran.

"I don't really want to take such risks only to see this so called jackpot going into the [inspector]'s wallet" I said with a hint of annoyance. Did they really think the [Inspector] would distribute the [coin]s equally.

"Indeed, there's no such thing as free meal. Seasoned miners like you should know it best" Added Inea.

The one previously excited started to murmur with the rest of his group.

Did he try to scam us?

What is the captain thinking?

Should we go for it?

You could hear them just by looking at their expressions. Fear, for it could be a trap. But at the same time time anticipation, what if he had a way to get these coin? Wasn't he an experienced miner, maybe even a veteran?.

"You are right. To be rookies you sure are cautious. But at the same time too inexperienced to know. There is indeed a way." said the captain.

After a small pause he added "He is a veteran after all".

Piqued our attention we all looked towards the now supposed veteran.

"I'll be sure to explain you. I am indeed a veteran. To solve our little problem I'll use a [tool], it's called the [Clown's patronage]."

Said the celidre, before taking out of his little bag a carefully folded sheet of paper. Once opened it had a lot gibberish written in strange characters. Only one word was comprehensible, and it was exactly teslum.

"With this [tool] once a month I can convert one type of ore into [coins]. It's very limited about the duration too, two hours is the time limit, after that I'll need to wait another month. But I think it's worth it if the ore is very rare." Announced the veteran, a little proud of his speech.

Soon after he continued saying "As you said, there is no such thing as free, in case you find the teslum I will take 20% of the earnings for me. Captain included."

Saying this the member's uneasiness, myself included, dropped a little. If he didn't bargain some extra [coin]s for himself wouldn't it be too strange?

He is even offering the location of the ores.

But in the end what about it, I clearly won't try and come back on the fifth floor to get more.

Until now the team has been lucky, and we didn't stay for extended periods of time in the same place. Maybe lady luck was smiling on us, for once.

All the other miners seemed to be thinking the same, even Inea who wanted to save up [coin]s for his sister.

"All right seems like you guys have decided already. Davos spoke about it to me beforehand. So I knew and I agree too, the damn [Inspector] won't get our precious [coins], you have my word" Said the captain with a mischievous smile.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Waiting for any questions or complains the captain waited a couple of minutes.

"Good, let's go then." told us before gesturing to Davos to lead the way.

After walking for about one hour in the dark we arrived in the right place, we tried to stay low profile without making stops during the march, trying to avoid dangerous encounters.

All in all it is indeed a bit strange that our team members never lost themselves during the dwelling in the mines. Or that the veteran could lead us so smoothly.

Even that we all arrived down to the fifth floor without problems.

Well that's the only perk, even if it's not an official one, that all the miners have inside the mines. A really strong sense of orientation.

It is still not equally strong inside the mines. The more close you are to the main tunnel the stronger it gets. You can even try to force it if you are really lost far away. Even if succeeding you'll end up with an headache for days.

We created a new formation to stay more compacted. With me and Inea on the left flank, the captain and veteran in the centre, the two other celidres on the right flank and the enidian on the rear.

I must admit that exploiting his emotions to watch our assess was indeed a cunning move.

But at the same time, it avoided all chances of backstabbing.

We advanced deeper in the space, after about 250 meters we stopped and started digging on the wall on the left side.

All the team was entitled to participate apart from the two celidres who watched out for eventual threads.

Now, with the body occupied on doing its taxing work, almost desperate to find some teslum, my was starting to ponder. I looked a bit around me to be at least more aware of the space we were in.

We were inside a long conic cavity. It opened up to what seemed to be an underground canyon.

You could notice it because on the mid section of the canyon wall could be seen luminescent like objects, not too many but still a sufficient amount to be noticed.

Probably they were the flora that the riekrats couldn't reach and eat.

You could imagine the situation as a "T". The vertical segment represented the space we were in and the horizontal one was the canyon. About the distance between the space and the canyon floor, I cannot say, it was too dark to see. But I can certainly say I would die if falling down.

Like this two more rounds were me and Inea exchanged role with the two plain looking miners passed.

I got lucky and found a little piece of teslum. I can't wait to see the [coin]s it will worth me.

I don't think I'm the only one to have found it. Now the motive that drove the veteran to proposing his plan sounds more believable. He will get quite a few [coin]s once we get out.

Anyway all the mining is always taxing for the body. I was distracted in my thoughts until what I hoped to actually never happen actually occurred.

RROOOOOARRRR!!

Towering over 7 meters of eight, a huge enraged beast appeared. Red bloodshot like eyes were looking at us. The creature was already less then ten meters from our group.

Its slit pupils seemed to be penetrating me, prying into my secrets.

Its massive jaw opened letting us flabbergasted in front of the two rows of razor sharp teeths.

Deep black fur forming a long mane around its neck. But the rest of its body was covered in light brown scales. It had four legs that ended each with a set of four long white claws.

BOOM!

The beast that was towering before us, now landed on its four rushing towards the two common looking miners. They mined the turn before and now had to watch out while we mined.

"C-Captaaaaaaaaain! The Button! Quickly!"

Screamed one of them. But to our surprise neither the captain nor the veteran could be find anywere.

What the hell were they doing? Could it be that they already escaped with a [tool]?.

SNAP!

The jaw of the reptilian like beast jerked out to one of the two miners, his half upper body all eaten in one go.

The lower half dropped dead on the floor. Motionless legs and fresh intestines now free to fall.

A light red pool of blood was slowly forming.

I've been paralysed with fear and shock, hard conditions were like butter and bread here in the mines. Nonetheless extreme violence was very rare, and in my life I've never seen death so close to my very own eyes.

The second celidre was clearly pained by the death of his comrade. He didn't stay still like the other one. He started running towards the exit of the space in fear.

"Ahhhh try to catch me you whore! And if you do try what about the other three. You wouldn't let them go, would you?"

Said him, with an almost crazed expression on his face.

Dumping the monster to us and running away. I would have done the same if I didn't see how fast it devoured the other miner.

Maybe he was right and the beast couldn't catch you in long distances. But now we were still too close to it, outrunning the beast now? Basically suicide.

And again, with an instantaneous movement the creature leaped and snapped on the running foe.

Eating his head and part of the torso this time, the rest of the body fell on the hard rock, lifeless.

The beast has gotten farther from us leaving us a moment to breath.

"You two follow me, I'll save you!" Said the enidian, moving his left arms gesturing to follow him.

"Inea! Snap out of it or you'll end their same way." I urged my friend.

Without waiting for a response I grabbed his wrist and started running, tailing behind the enidian.

"Uff ….Uff … Uff"

Already tired from all the mining this run depleted my energies.

"I will distract the beast, you guys have to jump down the slope, trust me"

Said the four armed humanoid, pointing out the canyon a few meters behind us.

Meanwhile the massive beast was approaching us. Confirming my previous opinion, this monster was extremely quick in close combat, especially its jaw.

But speaking about long distances it would be much slower.

The beast finally cornered us, but just as it was time to proceed with the plan a strange sight occurred before our eyes.

Five black clothed humanoid figures emerged from the darkness around us. Their target was the monster.

As it saw the new presences appearing, its huge jaw jerked out. Followed by the enormous body that quickly turned and leaped, trying to eat the pests that interrupted its meal.

The beast couldn't eat anything this time, as a big blue shield spread before the figures. Blocking the attack.

Then the humanoids divided, two of the remained in front of the beast while the other three spread out, flanking the monster.

The three that went towards the flanks took out a pair of daggers each. They had a blue glowing halo around them, indicating that they were nano-enhanced weapons.

In simile fashion the two that remained on the rear took out, apparently from thin air, two long swords.

The big reptile not caring about the bugs flanking him from the side, moved to annihilate the pests so daringly near its long jaw.

Suddenly the teeth of the beast started to glow of a faint blue seemingly empowering them.

Clang!

With a rapid motion the neck of the beast leaped forward again, hitting on the swordsman that protected himself in time with his sword.

Even so, a few seconds later he could be seen smashed against the space's wall.

The other swordsman clenched his teeth, but still holding on his position.

As the beast prepared for another attack…

RROOAARRR!

It started screaming in pain as one of the "bugs" that flanked him sneaked over it piercing his eyes with his daggers.

As they saw the monster paralysed from extreme pain. The other two figures that were waiting for this moment leaped and bored their daggers into the neck of the beast.

This part was cover by its mane, and clearly its most vulnerable part was.

ROOOOAR!

Leaving his last breath the beast mastered all his strength, blinded he followed its instincts, he jerked out its massive jaw for the last time.

Biting one of the two figure that pierced its neck the monster stopped moving and collapsed on the floor.

Before even uttering a word I saw the enidian falling on his legs, a sword tore into his torso, piercing the heart.

Even without turning around, the four armed figure threw an object to my position, uttering his last words "The [Insp-" but was silenced buy a blade that cut through his mouth.

"Don't spill the beans you bastard. Otherwise my master won't be happy." Said the figure before revealing its face.

"Y-You! You are that smuggler! What the hell!" Completely shocked I couldn't understand the situation.

"Indeed it's me. Annoying little pest, if you gave me your ID card at that time it would have been much easier." Said him with a wide smile .

"Playing so hard to get, did your uncle gift you something so precious? Hurry up, follow us, he wants to toy with you"continued the smuggler before starting to laugh.

"hahahahaha-" Recognising this voice I started to understand.

"Stodran right? You were our captain. That means… The [Inspector]!" I interrupted him.

"Correct newbie. You're not totally dumb, but still way too naive. You should have expected something.

Did you really think our team was so lucky to not encounter a single beast after hours of mining?.

Even more months ago, did you really think a smuggler would basically gift monster meat to a rookie like you?." said him leaving me totally shocked.

I've been too naive, this world, this [System] praise only strength, the weaker you are the more vigilant you should be.

"Now now maintain that face for my master, that's what he likes the most khekhekhe". Said him smiling brightly.

At that moment I noticed something. Before during our speech I was only focusing on him and not on the environment around us. Rocks of various size, from pebbles to those as big as melons, were falling from the ceiling of the space.

The aftermath of the fight with the beast was showing before us. In minutes at most, the space was likely to collapse.

Noticing this too, the smuggler took out a small little box with a red button on top of it.

I could easily recognise it, the emergency device.

In less than 10 seconds the culprit behind all this would arrive, facing him I would have no chance at all. I would doubt even killing myself at that point.

The difference between those who could wield nano-energy and those who couldn't was that big.

Not only because the could enhance their bodies with nano-energy, but mostly because they had access to the [System].

Without thinking twice I quickly grabbed the pendant like object thrown by the enidian.

Fully trusting their compassionate nature. I grasped Inea by the waist and leaped into the abyss spreading behind us.

"NOOOO! Crazy bastard! What have you done!"

I could hear the screams of the smuggler, anger and fear mixed together and channeled through his mouth.

Maybe until now he didn't expect an extreme choice such as this from me. More likely his thoughts were blinded by the happiness of fulfilling his duty.

He should have notice the strange behaviour of the enidian too.

Seeing us falling down the expression of the smuggler got darker and darker.

In a last attempt to vent his anger he threw a blue glowing dagger towards our position.

"Nooooo!" I could hear Inea screaming.

Then it went all black. Pure darkness before my eyes. Unable to hear or see anything, I lost my consciousness.