The Third Level

The tight space within the azure vein was quickly filled by Jack and the party as they scurried through with as much speed possible. It wasn't the fastest way to enter the third level, but it was the easiest and offered the stealthiest passage in the entire mine.

The order of the line was Maynard, Brunar, Jack, Slivia, Troni, and Rydel. Occasionally parts of the vein were obstructed or filled with earth, forcing Maynard to act and clear the way. Though it was nice to have some short breaks in the larger openings, it would waste too much MP for Maynard to do that too often, let alone carve out the entire vein.

Whenever Maynard would cut through the vein, there were always a few azure clusters that escaped the destruction of Maynard's attacks but were still forced off the walls. Jack and the other young adventurers would scramble to pick them up and store them away before continuing.

Sometimes if they weren't paying too much attention, they would get snagged on the crystals. The neighboring adventurers would help unhook any cloaks, hair, or clothes from the crystals, letting everyone move forward freely.

"Jack."

Hearing the whisper from behind him, Jack responded, "What is it Slivia?"

"Umm…" Slivia hesitated before she spoke her mind. "If the second level was so dangerous, won't the third level be even more…"

"Yeah, it'll be more dangerous." Jack finished her sentence for her. "But don't worry, we'll be fine. All we have to do is sneak past the outposts. After that, we'll have the advantage and surprise attack the goblin city. Then, we can fight on our terms."

"But what if we can't sneak past the outposts? My other party never made it to the city walls before we were surrounded," said Slivia with a dull look in her eyes.

Jack peeked behind him to notice the disbelief in her eyes. "Hey, we're from the Adventurers Association. They chose for us to act, meaning the association trusts the strength of this party and thinks we'll be able to handle it. Do you trust the association's judgment?"

"Yeah…" answered Slivia. She blinked a few times as she looked up to see Jack staring back at her.

"Then don't worry so much. Besides, didn't you already level up and reach lv. 13 too?" said Jack, trying to lift her spirits further.

"You knew?" Slivia felt a little better when she remembered that, but she was startled that Jack was able to tell. Since people could only recognize another person's level if it at least five levels above their own, Slivia felt some of her former thoughts had been confirmed. "You've leveled up that much?"

Jack smiled and said, "I'm almost lv. 10 now, and we'll see how far I can get by the time this is all over. You should almost be lv. 14 now, so I'm sure you'll be at least lv. 15 by the end. Then you can finally join the association."

Slivia finally smiled and replied, "Thanks, Jack." Suddenly, Slivia held up a hand towards Jack, "Jack, you—"

"You don't need to thank me." Jack cut her off, trying to play it cool as his head collided with a protruding azure crystal. He had been walking forward while constantly looking back to Slivia, so Jack had overlooked the crystal that hit the back of his head.

As he tried to recover his cool, Slivia laughed heartily along with the rest of the party. "Thanks, Jack, I feel much better now."

"Glad I could help," said Jack, quickly turning forward to hide his embarrassed face.

"We should be nearing the third level soon. Be ready for when we finally breakthrough." Rydel warned everyone.

"Yeah, make sure ya don't get in the way. Who knows what's going on down there?" Maynard added.

Everyone refocused and set their sights ahead, keeping their chuckles to themselves. Maynard had to cut through the passage twice before anyone else spoke.

"I'm stuck," said Slivia. That part of the vein was extra tight and was difficult for everyone to squeeze through. Slivia was wedged in by her well-endowed chest, plus her cloak was snagged at waist height. "Help, please."

Jack looked back with some red on his cheeks. Seeing her chest pressed against the wall didn't leave much to the imagination as her clothes were tightly wrapped around her. "I don't think I can be of much help."

Behind her, Troni got a good look at her. His eyes lingered around her waist, admiring the view. He said, "One second, I think I see the problem."

"Okay, but hurry," said Slivia, obviously embarrassed to be in such a situation. Then, she felt something poke her from behind. She wasn't able to turn her head, so she yelled, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Your cloak got snagged by a crystal, I'm just getting it off." Troni's voice was calm and emotionless, but a smile shone on his face as he took his time with the cloak.

After a few more pokes, Slivia felt her waist become free and she wriggled out of the tight space. She glanced at the now expressionless Troni and grunted, "Let's go."

Not daring to anger her further, Jack pressed forward and caught up to Maynard with Slivia in tow. Troni chuckled as he stepped forward, caught off guard by the quiet voice from behind him.

"You're more scheming than I thought."

Rushing to the rest of the party, Troni left Rydel behind without an answer. Rydel shook his head and let out a long sigh. He then moved ahead, not returning to the subject.

After another half an hour of travel, Maynard and Rydel were sure they should've hit the third level already. "Pay attention everyone; we may have to change our trajectory."

"What?" asked Brunar.

"If the vein doesn't reach the third level and branches off in a different direction, then we'll have to carve a path to connect to the third level. It's best if we don't waste Maynard's MP, but we may not have another choice," answered Rydel.

Maynard nodded and said, 'If we don't connect within another ten minutes, then I'll start carving out a new path. Rydel, start trying to figure out what direction I'll need to go.'

'You got it.' As Rydel answered, Maynard and the party pushed forward with determination, hoping they would be lucky and reach the third level with ease.

Against their wishes, ten minutes passed by easy enough. Under the direction of Rydel, who held a hand against the wall and activated one of his skills, Maynard struck upward and to the left. A new path quickly opened up and Maynard swiped his swords a few times to carve out some footholds.

"Follow me, but don't ya dare get too close," Maynard joked as he jumped into the opening.

Maynard continued to extend the opening while the rest of the party climbed along the footholds he provided and paid close attention to the powerful strikes of the samurai. Jack spoke mentally, 'Any guesses as to what part of the third level we'll be in?'

'I'm not sure, to be honest,' replied Rydel. 'Hopefully near the outer regions of the third level; the closer to the city, the more likely we are to be discovered.'

'Let's hurry up and see for ourselves,' said Maynard as he made a final push. The earth was cleared, leaving only an opening in its place.

The party hurried out of the tunnel and into the third level, but they were shocked by what they discovered.

There were no azure crystals in sight, only darkness. Maynard and Rydel didn't know what to think while Brunar and Troni were following along with their master's surprise. Still, in the residual glow from their manmade tunnel, Jack turned to Slivia and asked, "Was it like this when your other party came through?"

She shook her head and slowly stammered, "No-not at all. There were always dark regions, but-but we never saw this."

"Everyone, hurry," said Rydel as he ran into the darkness with his kari crystal lit.

The others followed him like they had on the previous levels but were distracted by unexpected circumstances. Brunar spoke up, "What do we—"

"Quiet." Rydel interrupted him.

"But—"

"I said—" Rydel tried to shush the young samurai but out of the darkness an arrow flew into Brunar's right shoulder. Taking charge, Rydel commanded, "Everyone, we've been discovered! Prepare to fight!"

"But how? No one knew about that vein?" asked Slivia, startled and afraid.

"It was the light from the tunnel." It was Jack that explained the sudden ambush. "The goblins can sense heat, but they're not completely blind either. Normally, such low light wouldn't be easy for them to see or follow, but when that's the only source of light it's like setting off a beacon that we've arrived."

"Yup," Rydel agreed as he nocked two arrows with his bow drawn and ready to fire.

"Well, these are probably just from an outpost or two. With some light, we should be able to handle them. Brunar and Troni, keep those two safe. Ya know the drill." Maynard had both swords drawn. Knowing that his MP wasn't even half its max, he wouldn't be able to go all out without knowing the strength and numbers of their enemies.

Jack sighed and looked at Bowser on his shoulder. The fox pup was still resting, undisturbed by their running and shouting. Jack put Bowser in one of his cloak's large inside pockets and prepared for battle while everyone got into formation.