Eyes in the Stone
Despite the depth of the mine, sounds from the surface could be heard. The silent village of Drosven Hollow was in turmoil.
The bare rock enveloping Kaen in the tunnel seemed to live and breathe. Between fractures in the rock, tiny shards of mana sprouted brightly.
Kaen kept walking forward, trying to map the mine in his mind. He and Riven knew the area perfectly; mines held no secrets for them. For that very reason, he knew he could not return to the surface; the guards would capture him for sure.
He had to emerge outside the village, beyond the boundaries of Drosven Hollow.
Kaen had an idea, a distant memory.
Beneath the "Mining City" where hundreds of miners collected mana crystals for the Conclave daily, was an old, abandoned mining level.
He did not remember the name of the place but recalled someone describing it as a labyrinth of collapsed tunnels, broken bridges, rotting scaffolding, and blind shafts. If that place had an exit, it would be his only escape route.
There was no way out of the Mining City that didn't lead to Drosven Hollow.
"Where was it? Where the hell was it?"
Kaen stopped again and clutched his head in his hands. He closed his eyes and tried to remember.
Months earlier, he and his brother Riven had discovered access to the place behind a collapsed cistern.
He went back and forth, changing his route several times, until the old cistern suddenly appeared before his eyes, illuminated by the faint light of nearby mana crystals.
No one was in the mine that day. Work seemed to have come to a standstill because of the executions in the square. The guards could easily move through the mine tunnels without the miners in the way. Their arrival was only a matter of time.
A few meters from the cistern, a bag of tools could barely be seen. Next to the bag was a rusty pickaxe left there by one of the miners.
Without thinking too much, Kaen searched through the bag. He grabbed anything that might be useful: a fusil, a short rope, an unlit torch, and, of course, the pickaxe.
He lit the torch with the fusil and looked around. Within seconds, he had slipped behind the cistern and entered a narrow crevice between two large boulders.
The deepest darkness enveloped him. He had just entered the abandoned part of the mine.
The smells and noises he had heard just before were suddenly gone. It seemed that no other living thing had passed through there for decades.
With his hand clenched on the pickaxe and his flashlight pointed forward, he began walking down a narrow path on a steep slope, looking for an escape route.
His knowledge of the mine ended exactly from that cistern onward. Neither he nor Riven had ever gone that deep.
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[Mana Density Nearby: VERY LOW]
[Low level of oxigen in the area – risk of Hypoxia]
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As always, the Void System interface appeared before Kaen on time. "Mana density?" he thought aloud. "It must be the mana crystals around me. I don't think there are any other living beings in this godforsaken place" he continued.
"Give me more information. Where does the mana you sense come from?"
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[Apologies, but to sense mana flowing in the environment, you must first unlock the following skill:]
[Null Sense – Cost: 5 FoM]
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Kaen nodded. His Fragments of Mana were insufficient for the upgrade. All of the basic skills for his Resonance level required a minimum of five FoM.
Lost in thought, Kaen continued walking, descending deeper and deeper. He groped his way through narrow tunnels and closed or landslide-blocked roads, avoiding falling off a cliff several times. Exhausted, he stopped in a wider area of the mine just after a tunnel where there was enough oxygen for him to catch his breath.
He wedged his torch between two rocks, sat on the ground, and rested. With his head against the rock, he continued to look around. Beyond the light of his torch, almost nothing was visible. Tiny mana crystals shone like faint stars on the ceiling of the cave.
He recalled all that he had experienced. He thought back to his family. It had lasted too short. He thought back to his brother. During all the years spent without their parents, he and Riven had always been alone and had only been able to rely on each other. Like all Nullborn, his life had been one of constant suffering without goals or aspirations.
Kaen clenched his fists. He could not die; he could not let go. He had to fight; he had to destroy the source of all the Nullborn's pain: magic.
Exuding anger, Kaen fell into a deep sleep, having no more strength left in his body.
He slept for hours until a sound caught his attention.
"Crack."
Kaen opened his eyes wide; his torch was about to go out.
"Fuck!"
He grabbed the flint and looked around, trying to light the torch as fast as he could.
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[WARNING]
[Hostile presence getting closer]
[Mana Density Nearby: Low]
[Recommended action: engage fight]
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"Fighting? Fight against..."
Before he could finish the sentence, Kaen raised his torch and stood frozen, his gaze fixed ahead.
Dozens of small blue eyes were looking at him from the wall of the tunnel from which he had come. The color of those eyes was identical to that of the mana crystals.
The light from the flashlight soon illuminated the tunnel, revealing the tiny beings that had invaded it. Resembling scorpions, but as big as cats, these strange creatures had six or eight legs and a stone-like carapace that wrapped around the upper part of their bodies and ended in a large, dagger-like quill.
Their heads resembled those of insects, with small arms protruding from their mouths, which revealed several rows of teeth. Their small, round eyes, which were dense with mana, were placed on either side of their heads.
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[WARNING]
[Hostile presence getting closer]
[Mana Density Nearby: Low]
[Recommended action: engage fight]
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The warning message flashed in Kaen's field of vision again.
"What the hell are they? Go away! Go away!" Kaen shouted, shaking his torch toward the tunnel to scare the strange magical beasts away.
Some of the insects squealed in fear and backed away. Another stepped forward and threatened Kaen with their stingers.
"Fuck! Fuck!" Kaen exclaimed again as two scorpions lunged toward him, leaping from the rock face.
Stepping back, Kaen hit one of them with the torch. It fell to the ground, still lit. As soon as the torch hit the ground, Kaen struck the other scorpion with the pickaxe. The rusty tip of the pickaxe struck the scorpion under its carapace, piercing and killing it instantly.
A copious amount of black liquid leaked from the scorpion's body, dripping onto the flashlight and extinguishing it with a "tzz."
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[Obtained: +1 Fragment of Mana]
[Fragments of Mana: 5]
[New Abilities available]
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Kaen remained motionless as the body of the magical creature he had just killed slid to the ground at his feet. Without the torch to illuminate the area, the monsters' eyes began to twitch and move back and forth along the sides of the rock walls. The monsters were afraid of light; without it, they would have surrounded Kaen.
"Bloooorgh!"
They emitted a high-pitched, disgusting cry in unison. There were dozens of them!
"Oh, fuck..." Kaen sighed. Like lightning, he turned and began to run in the opposite direction. A chase into the deepest darkness of the mine had just begun, and Kaen was the prey.