Mines

Going back in time, almost 24 hours before Lucas and Asa's training, a team of 5 men and 2 women were walking peacefully through a devastated plain, which was previously used as a vegetable growing area, the already scorching sun made it difficult to group expedition, but no one seemed to care. Two of these men were deformed mutants, one of them had only half of his head attached to his neck, from his nose up there was nothing, his appearance very well reminiscent of ancient Greek statues. His skin was also unique, it had a dark brown tone full of cracks all over the place, softening his unique appearance. The other deformed mutant was more 'common', his mutation only affects his hands, they lost all human characteristics, there were no more fingers or visible human skin, everything was replaced or hidden by shiny white hair, it was not possible to see what there was under those hairs.

This was one of only two exploration teams that the camp led by Felipe had. Of the seven people on the team, three were still in training, two women and one man not deformed. This was the first time for these recruits outside the camp, so their mission was simple, they just had to explore this plain normally, see if there were any survivors, if the land was still good for planting and so on. They chatted and exchanged ideas with each other totally relaxed, unfortunately this didn't last long.

Walking through the partially destroyed field, the leader of the group, Luciano, who was neither fat nor thin, dark and using a stick as a weapon, suddenly noticed a peculiarity of the terrain. The land around it was yellowish as a whole, and the dry straw accentuated this color, however, a few meters away, a black spot with an area of ​​about 10m² caused a great contrast in the terrain, being easily detected.

"Stopped the conversation! Look ahead, there's something strange, get ready." So he decided to investigate the reason for the different coloring on the ground.

The group obeyed the command and everyone looked at the terrain, the recruits were very nervous, after all, in their first field mission something strange appeared, leaving them to analyze.

"Fred, do you feel something?" Luciano asked the hairy-handed mutant, who in turn, even hesitantly, pointed both arms to the black area ahead, closed his eyes and waited for his mutation to act. A few seconds later, his white fur stiffened, getting stiff and sharp. For Fred, his conscience received a lot of information about the environment, most of them useless, however he also knew part of the situation in that dark area.

"Sir, I only understand part of what happened there, it seems that there is something very wrong with the terrain. I couldn't feel it too much, but I'm sure there's something really big below ground." He responded hesitantly, despite guaranteeing the presence of something huge.

Luciano touched his chin, he had to decide whether to explore the terrain or not, after all, there were 3 recruits in the team and it was their first mission. There was a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, every casualty on the team would be his fault, so he had to take the matter seriously.

While he was in deep thought, one of the two other undeformed and experienced mutants came close and said a few words in his ear. After listening to the suggestion carefully, he decided.

"Stay tuned! Let's see what's there." In an authoritative voice, he decided on the team's next mission.

The group then moved on, heading towards the dark spot. The three recruits were very tense, but their veterans said some motivating phrases and eased the tension. So, they approached the black terrain and when looking closer, they noticed that there was black grass growing and even though it had that color, everyone could see that it was full of vitality. This was frightening, the entire surrounding area was ravaged by war, at most only a few weeds and sparse cacti survived, however, there was a black stain on this arid land, totally breaking the existing harmony.

"Well, the most obvious explanation for this might be underground, just like Fred said, but let's see if we can find something before we start digging." Luciano ordered, he and his group began to check the terrain in search of a plausible explanation for this unusual event, but even after a few minutes of searching, nothing around seemed to be the explanation, so the excavation began.

Of the 7 present, only 3 had mutations that allowed them to dig the ground faster, while the others had to use their hands or stones that were around. Evidently, digging that area was not easy, even with 7 people and 3 of them using their mutation to speed up the process, 4 hours had to pass for the first sign of the reason for the terrain abnormality to appear.

Luiza, one of the recruits, was the one who found the first evidence, she used her own hands to dig, since her mutation didn't help her in this matter and there were no objects around to help her. She managed to dig an area of ​​30 cm² to a depth of 1 meter in those four hours when suddenly her nails touched something hard and smooth.

Her first thought was that a rock was preventing her from continuing, but after trying to control her to pull it, she saw that the problem wasn't that.

"Lucian! Here!" Immediately, she called the team leader to look into the matter, he was one of those who could use her mutation for the dig. Hearing the call and listening to Luiza, he started to dig the said place, for that he reactivated his mutation, his arms began to transform at a surprisingly fast speed, passing from human hands to a square and flat shape, resembling a shovel made of flesh and bone.

He started his digging, but as hard as he hit the ground, the solid material didn't break, nor did Luciano find its edges to try to pull it. So, he ordered everyone to help him expand the hole Luiza had dug. Thus, the entire black area was excavated to reveal all the resistant material, the process took more than 12 hours to complete.

The result of their actions surprised them, it was not a stone as they thought, but a transparent crystal with an irregular surface, the distance to ground level varied according to the location, which in some parts only 30 centimeters were enough to reach. at the surface, while others needed meters, another striking feature was the refraction of light, which prevented you from seeing what was on the other side of this crystal. But this did not take away the determination of the team, its leader promptly said:

"Let's rest, then we'll break this!"

After the well deserved rest after these long hours, they resumed their task of digging and investigating the mineral. However, the task proved far more difficult than they thought, even after hours of everyone concentrating on breaking or at least cracking a single square meter, not even a scratch was left.

"My God! What is it?" One of the men in the group asked.

"I have no idea, but if we can take it back, Jefferson will be very happy." Luciano replied.

Everyone was already tired, they spent hours on end trying to break this crystal, but they didn't have any favorable results. But unexpectedly, as if it were a miracle, the situation changed. One of the deformed mutants, in a gesture of giving up, sat on the crystal using his hands for support, and at that same moment this mineral gained liquid properties, making all those present, which were on top of it, sink, falling directly into its bowels, not only they sank, and the roof collapsed, leaving the passage free to enter and exit.

The event was very sudden and no one could do anything to stop it or prepare for it. The drop didn't last long, just 2 meters separated the bottom of the hole from the surface. As he fell to the ground, still a little disoriented and confused, Luciano promptly looked around, looking first for anything that might be in danger. However, his eyes were far from finding anything hostile, in fact it would be difficult for him to see anything else in his life that was as beautiful as that.

The cave was dark, you could barely see its insides, but a far more beautiful view filled everyone's vision. Where the cave walls were supposed to be, bright spots of light covered it, resembling the starry sky. Neither the team leader nor his group could control themselves by observing this glow, they all went towards it and touched it, their own instincts and subconscious craved it, and finally learned what this glow was about, or at least part of it. of the reason.

What appeared to be the stars on the wall was actually the reflection of sunlight coming from the entrance. Upon touching the 'wall', the group realized that it was actually several crystals stuck to the wall, reflecting the light, which gave the impression of a starry sky. All of these crystals were black, having a smooth surface that gave them an appearance very similar to rare crystals like jade and uncut diamond, the only difference being the color of the mineral. However, this was not only what they discovered after touching the wall, the moment their fingers, or hair, came into contact with the black mineral, their consciences sounded an alarm, it was not one of danger, but one of euphoria or joy.

The eyes of each darkened, however, their excitement did not disappear, their bodies began to tremble involuntarily, their muscles tightened, it seemed that everyone had suffered paralysis. Fortunately, the sensation didn't last long, after a few seconds the first to drop the crystal was Marcos, the deformed mutant with only half his head attached to his neck and brown skin. As soon as he released the crystal, his legs lost strength, his knees buckled and his arms went limp. Unsurprisingly, his body collapsed to the floor, and the crystal broke free of the wall, its color, once black, now devoid of hue, transforming into a totally transparent crystal, much like a diamond.

Following Marcos, Luciano was next, he had the same side effects of the touch, the only difference was that he had eyes, which in turn, unlike his powerless body, emit a light of satisfaction, excitement and euphoria, like if a weight was lifted off your back after long periods. One by one, they all fell to the ground and their crystals, now transparent, broke free from the wall, all of this group of mutants were captivated by the 'hallucinating' effect of this crystal.

Fortunately, this feeling of weakness didn't last long, just a few seconds later their bodies regained the energy they had and even passed that mark. Each one stood up and noticed, with a confused expression, but happy to see the wave of energy passing through their body. None of them felt as strong and full of vitality as they did now.

Unfortunately, they didn't have time to analyze the effects of this unknown crystal, as they each felt an overwhelming aura coming from outside the cave. Luciano, like a good team leader, quickly took the forefront of the situation and without saying a word, ran in front of the group, heading towards the hole from which they fell and even with the strong pressure coming from outside, he turned his arms into hooks and jumped, securing them firmly to the ground.

He climbed out of the hole and was finally able to observe the source of the strong pressure he felt, and his vision met the expectations generated, as a large group of mutated hedgehogs were surrounding the entrance to the crystal mine.