Abandoned Mines

--- Golden Bird Harbor ---

The place was pretty large with all the wooden and stone houses built around. And on the shorelines of the Nix River, there were boats with varying sizes docked on the ports built around.

While the locals in this place were busy with their daily life doing their work, Jay and co. was currently inside a tavern talking with a muscular guy with a bandana on his head.

"Young masters, the winds are a bit strong today, are you sure you still want to head out?" The muscular guy asked Jay and co.

"Yeah. Just take us somewhere at the middle of the river." Jay said to the muscular guy.

"Alright then. If the young master insists. Come on."

...

The muscular guy led Jay and co. to his large fishing boat. It was currently docked on the port and a few other people were loading some stuff on it.

"Men, hurry up. The young masters here wants to head out." The muscular guy shouted and the men loading the stuff on his boat saluted him before shouting happily in unison.

...

After that, Jay and co. stepped onto the boat while the muscular guy and his crew did what they had to do.

"Guys, before we do this, I first have to tell you about the things you need to worry about inside the abandoned mines." Jay said as he gathered the team around him.

"Don't worry. If it is just some monsters, we can easily kick their ass." Abby said with a cute smile on her face.

"Okay... but anyways, the abandoned mines have 5 different sections which all lead to a hidden boss. And in each of the five sections, there is a lord ranked monster waiting at the end. So I advise you guys to make sure not to disturb these lord ranked monsters for the meantime since the five of us cannot deal with it at the moment and as long as you find a blue-colored pebble in the mines later on, grab as much as you can." Jay said with a serious tone since he did not want accidents to happen.

"Jay, is there some kind of clue within the mines if we are near a lord ranked monster? A large door perhaps?" Roselia asked since she wanted to be sure.

"It's more of a steel gate rather than a door." Jay replied.

Then just as they finished up with their discussion, the crew of the fishing boat started rowing and they finally started moving.

...

A few moments later...

"Damn it... CAPTAIN! The winds are too strong and the boat might go under if we keep pressing on!" One of crew members shouted as the wind kept on hitting the boat really hard.

"Young masters, I am afraid this is as far as we can take you!" The captain shouted out since the wind was really too strong.

Since this was the case, Jay handed over a bag of gold coins to the captain. After that, he gathered the team around him and told them to dive into the river.

"Don't worry. I will use a spell later on to make swimming and diving easier." Jay said as he first dived down together with Nuggets. But sadly, the moment Jay dived down the river, Nuggets was blown away by the strong wind and due to some reasons, Nuggets just floated in the water and did not sink down.

Bawk Bawk!!!

Just as Nuggets was panicking on what she needs to do, a wind barrier was suddenly placed around her and she started sinking down the water.

Bawk???

Of course, this wind barrier was the Lunar Wind Armor skill that Jay used.

"Come on guys, let's dive in." Bloody Harvest said as he held Roselia's hand and both of them dived at the same time.

"Wait for me. Abby, let's go!" Annie exclaimed, but then, she realized that she was the only one in their team left in the boat.

"Umm..." Not having any other choice, she jumped off the boat as well and dived down the river.

...

-- Underwater, Nix River --

"Make sure to follow closely. And if you guys have any spells that can light up our surroundings, now might be the right time to use it." Jay said as he led the team deeper into the water. And to make sure they did not need to resurface for air and to make diving easier, Jay covered everyone with Lunar Wind Armor.

"Wow. It feels as if we are flying underwater. It feels so weird." Roselia exclaimed as they went deeper and deeper but she did not feel the water around her. Instead, it was just a windy sensation from the Lunar Wind Armor.

"I wonder how strong Jay got?" Bloody Harvest said softly.

...

After a few hours of moving around on the riverbed, Jay finally stumbled upon the entrance of the abandoned mines. It was a large circular area that was filled with corals, seaweeds, and some harmless aquatic creatures.

Bawk Bawk!!! ("Wow. So pretty.") Nuggets exclaimed as she saw the things around.

"You guys tell me after you are done sightseeing." Jay said since he knew that there was an illusion spell in place that hid the entrance in the circular area.

After a few seconds later...

"Jay, we can proceed now. We've had our fill of sightseeing." Abby said happily while she held on some pink corals she picked up.

"Alright then." Jay was not sure if he should tell Abby that the corals she was holding will disappear a few seconds later, so he just went on and deactivated the illusion spell.

Jay took out the crossbow, Azure Storm, and fired it a few times at the circular area. Then after a few random hits, the illusion spell disappeared and revealed a small entrance-looking cave.

"Let's go." Jay said as he stored Azure Storm back on the storage orb and led everyone inside. As for Abby...

"No! My precious!" Abby exclaimed and sighed. She spent so much time picking up those pink corals and to actually think they were just an illusion...

...

-- Underwater Abandoned Mines --

Jay and co. were currently in the entrance area of the mines. In front of them were 5 smaller entrances that were labeled with I, II, III, IV, and V.

As for how their surroundings looked like, it just looked like any other mining shafts. Wood and steel railings to support the ceilings and walls to make sure the mines won't collapse, some empty minecarts, and rusty mining tools.

"Alright. To make most of our time, we will all split up and head in each of the mine's sections. Also remember the stuff I told you guys at the boat earlier!" Jay said in a serious tone.

"Jay... what about me? I do not have any way to fight monsters if I encounter them since I am just a cleric..." Annie immediately spoke up since if they really split up then that means she had to go alone. She did not really worry about the monsters since she can just endlessly heal herself due to her spells and the potions she had with her, but she did not really have any kind of spells used for fighting.

"Let's see..." Jay also realized this problem and just as he was about to abandon the idea of letting Annie explore a mine section on her own...

Bawk Bawk!!! ("Jay, let me go with her! I can beat those monsters up!")

Nuggets jumped off from Jay's shoulder and flapped her wings happily.

"Oh? Alright then." Jay smiled at Nuggets and agreed to her request.

"Let's go." Jay said as he went inside the entrance of Section III.

"Roselia, I'm heading over the first section. See ya." Bloody Harvest said as he went inside the entrance of Section I.

As for the rest of them, Roselia entered Section V, Abby entered Section II, and as for Annie and Nuggets, they entered Section IV.

...

-- Abandoned Mines, Section III --

"Shit... what's wrong with me..." Jay said nervously and face palmed himself.

"I picked the easiest route to clear out... oh well..." If the others knew of this, who knows what they would do to Jay.

"If I remember correctly, the most annoying route is section II. Well, I hope whoever entered there can deal with it."

After this thought, Jay proceeded further into the mines.