Leaving the town, they set out on the dirt road leading to the forest.
Quentin naturally led the way, with Logan half a step behind him.
Tessa slipped to the flank, while Kami and Bai Xuan took up positions slightly behind the center.
“Stay close,” Kami said, glancing at Bai Xuan with her usual smile. “The healer’s safety is paramount. Don’t get too far from me.”
Bai Xuan nodded, tightening his grip on his staff.
He tried to strike up a conversation with Tessa, who was not far away. “Do you handle these kinds of commissions often?”
Tessa seemed surprised that he would take the initiative to speak and was momentarily stunned.
She shot a quick glance at Quentin and Kami ahead before whispering back, “…Yes, clearing missions are quite common.”
After speaking, she pursed her lips and sped up by two steps, putting some distance between them as she focused intently on the roadside bushes.
Bai Xuan stopped asking questions.
He walked in silence, observing the movements of this temporary team.
Aside from necessary hand signals and brief commands, they barely communicated with each other.
Quentin would occasionally stop and crouch to examine the ground, while Logan stood guard with his shield by his side.
Kami always stayed near Bai Xuan, but her gaze rarely truly relaxed; she was constantly scanning the surroundings, her eyes occasionally drifting back to him.
The deeper they went into the forest, the quieter it became.
The chirping of birds and insects grew sparse until they were almost inaudible, leaving only the rustling of wind through the treetops and the crunching of dry leaves under their feet.
“It’s a bit too quiet,” Quentin suddenly spoke up in a low voice from the front.
He crouched down, pushing aside the grass to reveal trampled soil and several drag marks underneath.
“Maybe some powerful predator came to this part of the forest and scared all the small creatures away.”
Kami walked up to take a look, her tone light. “Or maybe this group of goblins just moved in and hasn’t started making a ruckus yet.”
Quentin didn’t respond. He stood up, patted the dirt off his hands, and continued forward.
The entrance to the Old Mine appeared at the base of a rocky slope.
The wooden headframe had long since rotted and collapsed, leaving only a dark, gaping hole that looked like a wound slashed into the earth.
Scattered near the entrance were fragments of bone, tattered rags, and several iron tools so rusted they were unrecognizable.
A scent mixed with the smell of mold and a faint, fishy stench wafted out from within.
There were no screeches, no sentries—only a dead silence.
Tessa glided near the entrance like a shadow, tilting her head to listen, then twitched her nose to sniff carefully.
She retreated to the team and whispered to Quentin, “No movement inside. The smell… it’s wrong. It doesn’t smell like a living nest should.”
Quentin stared at the entrance for a few seconds before raising his right hand and making a few concise gestures.
Logan immediately unslung his shield and held it in front of him, standing by Quentin’s side.
Quentin looked at Kami and Bai Xuan. “Logan and I will go in first. Tessa, left flank. Kami, you and him…”
His gaze swept over Bai Xuan. “…Stay in the middle. Maintain your distance and watch the rear and overhead.”
Kami gave an understanding gesture with a smile and casually pulled Bai Xuan’s arm, bringing him closer to her.
“Let’s go, little brother. Don’t fall behind.”
It was even darker inside than out, with only a few rays of light slanting in from the entrance.
The passage was rough, with obvious claw marks and signs of widening on the rock walls.
More remains were scattered underfoot; some bones were still fresh, with bits of meat hanging from them.
The fishy, metallic smell of blood and the scent of mold grew stronger, overpowering everything else.
Bai Xuan noticed that in some corners of the rock walls and low-lying areas on the ground, the rock surface was covered with a layer of dark, slippery substance, like some kind of sickly moss.
After going about twenty or thirty meters deep, a hollow echo came from ahead, and the light seemed to brighten slightly.
Quentin made a gesture, and the team stopped.
He leaned out, using Logan’s shield as cover, and cautiously peered forward.
A moment later, he pulled back, gave the others the signal to prepare for battle, and pointed to his eyes to indicate a significant number of enemies. Then, he silently drew his longsword.
Logan took a deep breath, his shield protecting most of his body.
Two slender daggers appeared in Tessa’s hands.
Kami remained in front and to the side of Bai Xuan, her hand gripping the hilt of the dagger behind her waist.
Quentin was the first to charge out, and Logan followed closely with a low growl.
The battle erupted instantly.
Before them was a small natural cave.
Over twenty goblins with dark green skin and short, ugly statures were gathered listlessly around a slightly elevated stone platform in the center of the cave.
Their eyes were dull and their movements sluggish; they were even half a beat slow to react to the sudden intruders.
Only the great goblin by the platform, who was significantly larger than the others, let out a garbled roar after a moment of daze and grabbed a thick wooden club leaning against the stone.
On the stone platform, animal remains were scattered in a messy pile.
Above these remains sat a black crystal about the size of a chicken egg.
The faint light in the cave hit its surface, but instead of reflecting, it seemed to be sucked inside.
Looking closely, there seemed to be extremely faint mist slowly swirling inside the crystal.
Bai Xuan’s gaze was firmly drawn to that crystal.
Almost simultaneously, information surfaced in his vision:
【Spirit Soul Crystal: Sealing core, ritual medium for opening a certain place】.
But his thoughts were quickly pulled back by the battle.
Quentin’s sword was fast, piercing the throats of two goblins in an instant.
Logan was like a moving wall, using his shield to violently knock over a goblin trying to pounce on him, his battleaxe following close behind.
Tessa’s figure drifted along the edges, the cold light of her daggers flashing as goblins fell one by one, clutching their necks or sides.
The battle was going more smoothly than imagined.
These goblins were practically waiting to be slaughtered.
“Bai Xuan! Logan!” Kami’s voice rang out, calmly indicating the healing target.
Bai Xuan immediately focused his attention on Logan, who was parrying a club attack with his shield.
The mercenary’s arm had been slashed by a wooden splinter on the club, and blood was seeping out.
Bai Xuan raised his metal staff and focused his mind. The soft golden light of 【Holy Light Catalyst】 lit up at the head of the staff and fell toward Logan’s wound from a distance.
The golden light seeped in.
“Urgh—!” Logan’s burly body shuddered violently, and an suppressed groan of agony escaped from deep within his throat.
The muscles in his arm tensed instantly, and veins bulged on his forehead as he nearly lost his grip on his shield.
He snapped his head around to glare at Bai Xuan, his eyes red with a mixture of pain-induced rage and disbelief.
“Damn it! You… what the hell kind of healing is this?!”
Beside him, Quentin cut down a goblin in front of him and took a moment to glance over. He frowned slightly but said nothing, continuing to face another enemy.
“Oh my,” Kami’s voice rang out with a hint of amusement.
She was right beside Bai Xuan and saw everything clearly. “Our Healer has a rather unique set of skills. Just bear with it, Logan. As long as it works.”
Her tone was light, even somewhat mockingly indifferent.
Logan gritted his teeth and fiercely turned back, venting his anger on the goblins as he swung his battleaxe even more violently.
The battle quickly became one-sided.
Goblins fell one after another.
Seeing things were going south, the great goblin didn't charge at the enemies.
Instead, it roared and turned around, throwing its arms open to pounce toward the stone platform in an attempt to grab the crystal.
Rate on N.U.
