Cave Exploration for the First Time in a While

"Cough, cough... Is everyone still alive?"

"I-I'm alive..."

"Yes, somehow."

"I feel like I've been turned into laundry. This is wonderful."

"That was scary!"

While brushing smoky dust from myself, I checked on my companions. Iris was staggering around, but Toji apparently still had enough energy to make sarcastic remarks. Naturally, everyone reacts differently to plummeting at high speed.

Although we had been ambushed and crashed, somehow everyone had survived—well, everyone except one of us. Who had died, you ask? Why, none other than me.

Realizing that we wouldn't evade the attack in time, I charged into the fireball of my own accord, figuring that I could be resurrected once anyway. As a result, I was killed instantly by the explosion, while Cal and the others were blown away by the blast and slammed into the ground. I had already swapped in a spare head.

"Whiiine..."

"You two saved us. We owe you our lives."

"I'll treat you now."

"Thanks, Mikero."

Cal had shielded the others from the direct impact of the explosion. Using his wings skillfully, he pulled Iris and Toji, who had been on his back, down against his belly. He then hauled up Mikero, who had been hanging from one of his legs, and fell onto his back while holding all four of them. Cal was seriously injured, just like me, but if he hadn't been there, the other three besides Mikero would have died from the fall.

While Mikero treated Cal and me, I checked our current location. According to the map information, we seemed to be in the 'Spearrock Fortune Mine.' I thought we hadn't entered it yet, but apparently the explosion had blown us all the way here.

I still wasn't sure whether this could be called a blessing in disguise. We hadn't gradually advanced from the foot of the mountain; we had merely made an emergency landing because of an accident. This could even be right in the middle of a monster's lair. If we took our time, it could turn into a catastrophe!

"Gyaoooooooooooooooo!"

"...We can hear that Dragon's voice all the way over here."

"Toji, as I was about to say earlier, that wasn't a Dragon. It was a Wyvern."

A Dragon is a Race with four legs, horns, and wings. Some species apparently have vestigial wings, but the important point is that the creature's forelegs have become wings. The rest is the same, but it is different from a Dragon.

According to a book I read in the 'Dragon Holy Land,' its true identity was apparently a Wyvern. It was a descendant of a bird monster that had acquired 【Dragon Factor】. Perhaps because its ancestors had been birds, many individuals had feathers, and their aerial mobility was said to rival even that of Wind-attribute Dragons.

We had fought a Tarasque before, but we had picked up bones there beforehand. Among them had been the bones of a Lesser Fire Dragon.

This was merely my own speculation, but perhaps the Lesser Fire Dragon and the Wyvern had fought there and killed each other. I suspected that the individual that ate those remains had become the special individual known as a Tarasque, possessing 【Dragon Factor】.

If my speculation was correct, that Wyvern, which had blown away Cal—who was stronger than a Lesser Fire Dragon—with a single attack, must have been a very high level. It would probably be nearly impossible for us to defeat it right now. Even after raising our levels and improving our equipment, we should gather plenty of information before attempting it.

"No, this isn't the time to worry about minor differences between Races. We don't know when that Wyvern might find us. Let's look for somewhere safe."

"Then what about that cave over there? It's close, and Cal-chan should be able to get inside."

Iris pointed with one of her tentacles toward a cave in the mountainside, a short distance up from where we had crashed. It seemed to have been formed by large rocks fitting together, and we could probably hide there even if someone looked down from above. I thought it was a good idea as well. We immediately headed over.

After reaching the cave entrance, we decided to rest for a while. We hadn't even had a proper battle yet, but Cal had nearly died, and I had actually died once. Everyone else was mentally exhausted from falling from such a great height. We needed some time to calm down.

"Ugh... Good grief. We've gotten off to a terrible start, but if we try to fly home recklessly, we'll just repeat what happened earlier. And if we walk down the mountain, we'll still have to deal with threats from above. Whew, this is quite a predicament."

"You can get home with your magic, can't you?"

"For some reason, I can't use the Base Teleport used to return home."

Toji's point was perfectly reasonable. With my 【Spacetime Magic】, I could return to our base together with my companions. However, a problem had arisen.

When I tried to enter standby mode, wanting to reassure myself that we could return at any time, the words 'Currently Unavailable' appeared in my field of vision for no apparent reason. I could use my other 【Spacetime Magic】 spells, but only the magic intended for escape was unavailable. It was so baffling that I could do nothing but laugh! Damn it all!

"Huh? Is this...? Hiyah! Just as I thought!"

While I was clutching my head, Iris noticed something, took out a pickaxe, and struck the wall. Several stones fell to the ground. She picked them up and then shouted loudly.

"What's up?"

"This is a Mining Point!"

"Mining... You mean a place where we can obtain ore?"

Mining Points were locations in the field where one could obtain metal ore, rough gemstones, and similar materials. The types and quantities of metal obtained varied by point, and what would drop was determined by a set probability for each point.

Anyone could mine, but possessing the specialized Skill provided bonuses to the quality of the ore, the quantity of the drops, and the appearance rate of rare drops. I dredged up the information Iris had taught me from the depths of my memory. But what did that have to do with our current situation?

"You can tell with 【Appraisal】!"

"Oh, is that so? Then..."

I accepted the ore Iris thrust toward me and Appraised the item as instructed. The result was as follows.

――――――――――

Spacetime Ore Quality: Good Rarity: S (Special Grade)

A rock containing metal and spacetime-attribute magic. Its concentration is high.

It possesses enough magic to affect the surrounding spacetime attribute.

It should prove useful in crafting items related to the spacetime attribute.

――――――――――

"It possesses enough magic to affect the surrounding spacetime attribute...? I see. This ore is interfering with my magic."

It seemed that this ore was creating a Magic Jammer limited to the 【Spacetime Attribute】. Rare items were always welcome, but given our current situation, I couldn't feel happy about it at all.

"Moreover, this ore seems to be an ordinary drop item."

"Does that mean every rock around here is interfering with 【Spacetime Attribute】?"

"Then teleportation obviously won't work. We'll have to walk."

As Toji had said, walking home was probably our only option. However, considering the threat in the sky, we couldn't carelessly leave the cave we were in. What, then, were we supposed to do? There could only be one answer.

"We don't know what awaits us, but it seems we have no choice except to proceed deeper into the cave."

"This is kind of nostalgic."

"It's my first time. During the war event, we used an anthill rather than a cave."

"Me too!"

"Exploring a cave? Aside from a villain's hideout, this is my first time."

This was the first time I had explored a cave since fighting the Lesser Small Naga. Iris was nostalgic about it as well. Toji and Wool had once used a giant anthill as a base during the event, but that hadn't been a natural cave like this one, so it apparently didn't count.

Mikero was the most experienced among us when it came to exploring caves. He had been searching for the Vetus Floating Island, but his appearance frightened ordinary residents. As a result, he attacked a nearby villain's hideout and intimidated its occupants into giving him information.

In the end, he hadn't obtained any particularly useful information and had reached the island only by chance, after encountering a storm... Regardless, he had plenty of experience with caves. We would have to rely on him.

After all that, we stepped into the cave. According to the map, this place was called 'Spearrock Fortune Mine—Interior.' It was inside the mountain, certainly, but they could have provided a slightly more specific description.

We still didn't know where we were, but since the path was straight, there was no danger of getting lost. Since we were monsters, we all possessed the 【Night Vision】 Skill, so we didn't need any light at all. Besides, the interior of the cave was brighter than I had expected.

The reason was the ore. There were countless Mining Points inside the cave, and in addition to Spacetime Ore, ore of every attribute could drop from them. Among those was light-attribute ore, which was glowing.

Light-attribute ore seemed to be mixed into rocks outside the Mining Points as well. The cave sparkled here and there, creating a fantastical sight. It served as natural lighting, illuminating the cave like lanterns in a mine.

"Oh, I got an ore with 'Excellent' quality!"

"This place is a treasure trove of materials! I'm so glad we came!"

We proceeded slowly through the cave, making sure not to miss any Mining Points. With so many of them available, there was no way we could simply pass them by.

As for how Mining Points worked, each one could be used a set number of times by anyone, regardless of whether they possessed the specialized Skill. After a certain amount of time passed, it became usable again. Given enough time, one could obtain an unlimited amount of ore.

However, if the surrounding environment changed drastically, the location of a Mining Point could change, or it could even disappear altogether. Changing the terrain without proper knowledge could lead to an irreversible disaster. We would have to proceed carefully with our plans to rebuild our base.

"Everyone's finished mining, right? Then let's move on. Mikero, Cal, I'm counting on you."

"Leave it to us."

"Gwooo!"

As we advanced through the cave, Cal and Mikero took the lead. Cal had the best defense and vitality among our current members, while Mikero could make use of his experience walking through caves.

After walking for a while through an area without any Mining Points, the floating Mikero came to a sudden stop. Something seemed to have caught his attention. He twisted his tentacles, each tipped with an eyeball, as though observing his surroundings.

"Hmm-hmm, this terrain is dangerous. In my experience... Just as I thought. Everyone, we have enemies."

"Grrrrrrr...!"

No matter how beautiful a place was, monsters would appear as long as it was a field. Immediately after Mikero and Cal warned us, six lizards fell from above. We instantly readied our weapons and prepared to fight back.