The sound of pickaxes striking stone echoed through the cavern. Blaze and the other guards had set up some lamps to illuminate the area and assist the miners.
But it wasn't entirely necessary. As the miners ventured deeper into the cavern, a blue glow enveloped everything around them.
The mana stones shimmered with a bluish hue. The vein of mana crystals glowed just as intensely, illuminating the entire cavern.
It was beautiful. Thyr and the other miners had seen mana stone veins before, but these were far larger and radiated a much more intense light.
Blaze seemed thrilled by the sight. Thyr heard him whispering to another guard.
"We can skim some of these for ourselves—this'll fetch a massive price! The quality is so high, we'll need less to rebuild the barrier, so there'll be plenty left over for us."
Thyr wasn't surprised. It was obvious they'd skim mana stones from this mission for their own pockets. That kind of corruption happened at every level of society.
He simply ignored it and kept digging, collecting the mana stones and placing them in the sack tied to his back.
Each miner claimed a section of the cavern to work. That way they could cover a larger area. Splitting up was the most efficient approach.
Memphis stayed close to Thyr. The two exchanged glances from time to time but didn't talk much. The guards were watching, and they didn't tolerate idle chatter.
The hours dragged on. Thyr paused to rest for only a few minutes before returning to the grind.
They needed to extract as many mana stones as possible. Rest was a luxury he couldn't afford.
Sweat poured down his body, soaking his clothes. A mess, considering Thyr hadn't bathed in quite some time.
He glanced to the side and saw Memphis leaning against the wall.
"You okay?" Thyr asked, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing attention.
"Just having a little trouble breathing. Need to catch my breath. Don't worry."
Memphis wasn't young like most of the miners. That made it much harder for him to keep mining nonstop for so long.
"If you need anything, just tell me," Thyr said.
Eighteen hours of collecting ore, venturing deeper into the cavern with each trip.
Thyr returned to the surface multiple times with his sack full of mana stones, dumping them into the carriages parked at the camp.
The other miners did the same. Only after countless hours of labor were they finally allowed to rest.
They gathered at the camp to eat and sleep. But they didn't sit with the guards. The miners were relegated to a separate corner, treated like animals who couldn't mingle with Blaze and his men.
They even had to cook their own food over a campfire. Blaze at least provided the ingredients—not out of kindness, but because the miners needed to eat if they were going to have the energy to collect more mana stones.
Memphis was visibly exhausted. The old man was barely holding up after mining for eighteen hours straight. Yet despite every hardship, he remained steadfast, giving everything he had for his family.
Thyr admired him greatly.
They slept for six hours on makeshift beds on the ground before the guards woke them. Thyr ached all over from mining for so many hours and from sleeping on the hard floor.
Memphis was in bad shape too, his back giving him trouble. Thyr went over and helped him to his feet.
"Wake up, idiots! You have mana stones to collect!"
The guard walked through the camp, kicking each miner until they got up. Everyone rose quickly—lingering wouldn't end well for them.
Once again, they returned to the cavern to continue mining. They were already deep underground, and things started to get strange.
While mining, Thyr broke off a piece of the mana crystal vein and noticed something liquid seeping out.
It was a blue fluid—like pure mana. Memphis was nearby, and when he saw Thyr thinking about touching it, he yanked him back by the arm.
"Careful, kid," Memphis warned. "That's raw, unrefined mana. Touching it could burn your hand off."
"Unrefined mana? But why is this here?" Thyr asked.
In all his time mining in Greyrock, he had never seen anything like it.
"No... this isn't good. From what I know, this only appears in places with extremely high mana density. If this were a normal mine, this shouldn't be happening."
Thyr was intrigued. He wasn't the only one noticing strange things. The other miners were seeing the liquid seeping out too.
Blaze warned all the miners not to touch it. He was visibly excited by the discovery.
"This is excellent," he said. "It means there are even more mana stones deeper in this cavern. We have to keep going."
By that point, they had collected nearly all the accessible mana stones. The cavern had reached its end.
Blaze was unsatisfied—especially after seeing that liquid. He knew there was something beyond, something deeper in that cavern.
With that thought, he decided to use his magic to destroy some of the cavern walls.
He channeled his mana and struck the stone wall at the end of the mine. An explosion erupted, blowing a hole where he'd aimed.
The entire cavern shook. A wave of dust and debris filled the air. The miners scrambled back.
When the dust settled, they saw what lay beyond the hole. Not mineral veins—massive mana crystals! Enormous ones.
Blaze began laughing like a madman.
"We're rich! Rich! You idiots, get in there and mine!"
Thyr was closest to the opening and moved first. But the moment he stepped inside, the entire cavern began to tremble—unnaturally.
Rocks started falling, crushing some of the miners. Thyr gasped and screamed.
"Mr. Memphis, run!"
Thyr turned to face the other miners, and that's when he saw Blaze knocking everyone aside.
"Fuck!" Blaze roared. "Get out of the way, you worms! This whole place is coming down!"
Blaze activated his Phoenix Wings and flew out of the cavern, shoving miners aside in his escape. The other guards fled too.
With mana in their bodies, they were much faster—they made it out before everything collapsed.
But Thyr and the other miners? They had no chance. Thyr watched a boulder crash down on Memphis, crushing his legs.
"Memphis!!" Thyr screamed, tears streaming down his face.
Memphis, in his final moments, whispered, "Kid... you were like a son to me. If you make it out of this... please tell my family I tried."
Thyr scrambled to escape the cavern, but as he moved, the ground beneath his feet gave way—and he plummeted into a dark abyss.