Slowly, his body relaxed. His shoulders slumped, and the tension in his spine released as his heart rate steadily dropped. The sound of blood rushing through his ears finally abated, and the frantic fight came into focus.

  He’d been caught off guard, walking right up to the elemental like he had nothing to be afraid of. If he’d known what it was, he would’ve never gotten that close. He only lost the lantern after it beat him like a drum, but if he’d stayed back, he could’ve seen where he was walking and hit it from a distance. The fact that it appeared behind him meant it could either merge with the walls or disguise itself, so he’d need to always be on guard.

  Considering it was an iron elemental, there was probably ore in its body that would be useful in the forge. Everything Veil’s End had would either need to be purchased through the mirror or built by hand, and with how expensive the basic gear was, they would save a lot of merit if he learned how to make a few things himself.

  A mine full of elementals could be invaluable for both merit and levels. He just needed to get smart about fighting them.

  Harvey made sure his clothes didn’t look too disheveled before walking to the general store. He didn’t want anyone to see him and start asking questions, not until he had a better idea of the potential benefits the mine offered. He grabbed a second lantern and hesitated before buying another health and essence potion for 500 merit each. It nearly bankrupted him, leaving only 343 merit left to his name, but having the lifeline was worth the cost.

  He slotted the potions in his belt and rushed back to the mine. With the lamp in front, he probed the darkness and made his way to the minecart. His heart beat quickened, and it felt like every rock in the wall was watching him. His body told him to run, but figuring out if the elemental came with useful ore was too important.

  Leaning into the minecart, the rust-covered wheels groaned to life. They rolled heavily, but he made steady progress until the crunch of gravel on the tracks nearly derailed the entire thing. He jumped at the sound, turning wildly to look for its source until he saw scars in the wall that were different from the pockmarks of pickaxe work all around him.

  Chunks of stone dislodged by his bolts were strewn on the floor, covering the tracks and stopping the wheels from going further. Understanding the source of the screech helped calm him down, but the damage to his psyche had been done. He took the lantern and picked his way forward another 15 feet before coming across a pile of stone colored differently than the tunnel around him.

  Instead of the charcoal gray rock of the mountain, these stones were streaked with reddish-brown. He took another look around, making sure nothing had appeared in the tunnel before setting the lantern down and picking up one of the rocks. It was heavy, weighing at least 6 pounds, and roughly the size of a softball. He’d never seen iron ore before, but the kill notification was a good hint.

  He walked the chunk back to the minecart and gingerly set it at the bottom, taking the extra effort not to announce his presence to any other elementals with the sound of their dead friend echoing off a metal sheet. He repeated the process 20 times over. Most of the chunks were smaller than the first and not all of the elemental’s mass was made up of ore, but it had been larger than most men.

  He was intrigued to feel a strange energy emanating from 3 smaller pieces near the center of the pile, and ecstatic to find a tiny gem among the debris. Holding it close to the lamp, he saw a cloudy gray crystal cut into the shape of a diamond. It was too perfect, almost like someone had used a laser to carve a D8 out of glass. Even more energy leaked from it, so he put it into his pocket before moving the rest of the ore to the cart and pushing his way out of the tunnel.

  Finally back in the light, he blew out the lantern and inspected his haul. He guessed he’d gained around 50 pounds of ore from one elemental. He picked up one of the pieces radiating power, and felt a weak pull in his mind like he had when he first inspected his wand. With a thought, a window appeared.

  Essence Infused Iron Ore | G Grade

  Iron Ore successfully infused with Essence by a Lesser Iron Elemental.

  Where the other chunks were a mix of ore and stone, this one was almost exclusively metal and felt much denser.

  Everywhere he looked, Essence showed up. It powered his skills. Every kill told him he’d gained more, but never said how much. He thought about the kill notification, and was surprised when it sprang back into view.

  You have slain Level 6 - Lesser Iron Elemental. Essence Gained. 681 Merit Earned

  Merit was money, Essence must be experience. If Essence made him stronger, who’s to say it wasn’t the same for elementals? Was there a difference between the Essence he used to power his skills and what leveled him up?

  The System had called it the foundation of existence, but that didn’t do much to clarify exactly what it did.

  Too many questions swam in his head, but he was excited to have a puzzle take his mind off the second near-death beating he’d gotten in as many days.

  He plucked the other two essence-infused stones and carried them to a crate of shovels near the back door of the forge, nestling them in the bottom corner. The presence of powerful elementals in the mine was reason enough for Gary to muscle his way in, but if he knew about the infused ore, Harvey doubted he’d get time in the forge again.

  Maybe they had just gotten off to a rough start, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. He seemed like the type more interested in personal power than helping the group survive, and if he monopolized the elementals and demanded payment for the ore, the outpost’s strategic resource could turn into an environmental hostage situation.

  He fished the gem from his pocket, and the second it touched his hand, the same mental nudge let him bring up its own screen. He wondered for a moment why the same hadn’t happened in the tunnel, but he ignored it for now. He hadn’t been in any state of mind to be worrying about item descriptions at the time anyway.

  Lesser Iron Elemental Core | G Grade

  The heart of a lesser iron elemental killed early in the refinement process. Unstable

  Does unstable mean it’ll break down? Or blow up? He had no idea, so he placed it in the crate just in case he was carrying a bomb in his pocket. In any case, the screen calling it the elemental’s heart meant he had a target to aim for the next time he fought one.

  He would need to kill a lot more if he wanted to maintain a decent leveling speed, and now that he knew there was ore to be found in the mine, saving up for the Blacksmithing For Idiots, Morons, and You book in the store was a bigger priority.

  He was reluctant to dive back in so soon and decided he would need a better light solution before he made his second attempt. If he was going to fight more elementals and potentially mine ore from the walls, he would need both hands clear. Keeping a lantern out of harm’s way was too risky.

  He looked between the lantern and the minecart. If he could just hang the lamp from it somehow, it could be his base of operations that moved with him as he trundled through the mine. There wasn’t an easy way to attach it, but he did have a pile of wood and old rope in the general store. Didn’t he?

  Thinking of the pile of wood reminded him that he was supposed to keep the fire lit, and he ran over. It had almost completely burned down, but the coals were still hot enough to easily get a blaze going again.

  He took a long, thick branch around 7 feet long and carried it to the minecart, jamming it down into a corner and piling ore around to keep it standing. Then he took a blunt chisel and cut a length of rope from the supplies he’d gathered. Tying one end around the handle of the lantern and the other around the branch, he created a makeshift lightpost for himself. It wasn’t pretty, but it worked.

  Stepping into the forge, he retrieved what was left of his water jug, grabbed two pickaxes, and loaded up his minecart for a second journey into the depths. He hesitated for a moment where the daylight ended. The forest was alive with rustling leaves and the sounds of beasts. The tunnel was silent, a void of light and sound waiting to invite him to the underworld. Squaring his shoulders, he pushed forward.

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  The lamp hanging just above head height cast a warm glow all around him. He could see clearly for around 10 feet, and then caught glimpses of another 15 feet or so of shapes and shadows. It wasn’t optimal, but the tunnel was long and narrow, meaning his main concerns were either in front of or behind him.

  His intense focus on the darkness made him forget about the rock blocking the rails, and he nearly toppled into the minecart when it crunched to a halt. The lantern swung precariously, but didn’t come crashing down. Luckily, nobody was around to hear his shriek, and after confirming he hadn’t summoned any elementals, he cleared the tracks.

  He kept a slow pace, the grind of metal wheels on aging rails echoing down the long tunnel. Each step forward shrank the orb of light from the cave mouth behind him, until the gentle slope deeper into the mountain made it disappear completely.

  If he lost his lantern now, he’d be blind.

  His hands were shaking, and his breath grew raspy as his chest tightened, but hints of color began appearing around him. Most were thin, like someone had painted the gray stone a murky brown using a child’s watercolor set. He thought he may have found what he was looking for, but none were large enough to start chipping away at the walls just yet.

  Far ahead, the pitch black tunnel began to brighten. Slowly at first, the murky blue color of the deep ocean, instead of the black void of space. The closer he got, the brighter it grew. He wondered if the mine was actually a tunnel to the other side of the mountain, and the minecart was used for removing rock instead of ore.

  A dim steel-blue glow permeated the air, revealing the shadow of uneven rock jutting from the walls. The light came from glowing crystals embedded in the rock, not shining bright enough to see clearly, but enough to move around. The deeper he went, the larger they got. Tiny specks shining like stars in a distant night sky quickly grew to golf ball-sized stones as the tunnel opened into a massive cavern.

  The minecart came to a halt when the rails abruptly ended, but Harvey was too busy looking around in awe to care. It was like being inside a geode, crystals covering the walls and floor all around, casting everything in an eerie glow.

  The ceiling was at least 150 feet above, and stalactites hung down like the Sword of Damocles waiting to fall on his head. He didn’t see any elementals staggering towards him, but he did see a dented minecart toppled beside the tracks, stained red with long dried blood. Copies of his own tools were scattered around it: a pickaxe, a shovel, and a shattered lantern.

  Someone else had come down here and never made it out.

  He needed to explore, but was hesitant to leave the light of the minecart. He could easily carry the lantern with him, but any surprises like last time could leave him stuck with no way to see his path out of here. Small piles of stone were outlined in the distance, half-buried among dense patches of crystals. At first glance, they looked like collapsed stalactites, though something about the way the rocks were stacked made him uneasy. Leaning against his own minecart, he debated what to do next.

  The safest thing to do would be to wait for Julian and Hannah to return so he could come with backup. The elementals were strong, but so was Julian. The problem was that they were already busy and would probably need to spend most of their time back in camp either helping new survivors they brought back or resting before heading out again.

  He could go ask Gabe, but couldn’t trust him not to run off with the light, and that was a death sentence in a place like this.

  He kneeled down and brushed one of the crystals embedded in the ground beneath him. It was warm to the touch, like holding a cup of hot chocolate. He tried prying it up, but the stone held with an iron grip. He hoped the same mental nudge would appear when he touched it, at least telling him what the crystals were, but got nothing.

  He had the tools to chip one out, but each strike would echo a long way down here, and even though he didn’t see any elementals nearby, he had no idea how big the cave network was.

  Standing up with a silent groan, he placed his wand between his teeth and grabbed the pickaxe. He moved the minecart back into the mouth of the tunnel so he could use it as cover if he got attacked. The crystals embedded in the tunnel wall were smaller than inside the cavern, but large enough for his needs.

  Checking the cavern in front and the tunnel behind for movement, he prepared to strike. His muscles tensed as he lifted the pickaxe high above his head before bringing it down hard into the stone.

  The sharp end bounced off, bringing tiny shards of the wall out with it. The noise reverberated off the tunnel walls, echoing for a few seconds as Harvey looked around. When he saw nothing, he swung again.

  This time, he saw movement in the cavern ahead. One of the closest fallen stalactites was moving, the rubble levitating as it coalesced into a humanoid form. Deeper in, he saw vague outlines of others doing the same.

  Dropping his pickaxe loudly into the minecart, he snatched the wand from his teeth and readied himself. He glanced between the tunnel and the cavern, telling himself he was checking his flank when he really was deciding whether to run or stay and fight. The elementals stoically approached, and Harvey prepared to pull the minecart back in a fighting retreat. When it reached the edge of the lamplight, he got his first good look at the monster.

  It stood nearly 7 feet tall, with a vague shape resembling a man, made entirely of stones that orbited one another. There was a large head with no neck connecting it to the bulky torso. Two arms extended to its sides, but instead of legs, it floated over the ground on a dervish of rock. The important segments of its body were mostly made of iron, with the head and chest looking like the dense essence-infused ore he’d found earlier. Deep in its chest, surrounded by a swirl of infused ore, Harvey thought he could see its core, but the constant movement made it hard to get a clear view.

  He fired his first shot as he strained to get the heavy minecart moving up the slope. It hit the elemental’s shoulder, sending some of its mass sailing back into the cavern. It showed no emotion, except for raising its arms to block its chest, as it continued floating forward.

  Another step back, another bolt. It connected with its arms, causing a huge chunk of the less refined stone to fall away. Harvey fired over and over, carving its body like a sculptor blasting chunks off his block to expose the art underneath. But, no matter how much of its body the elemental lost, it kept moving forward.

  It had no arms left to pummel him and no teeth to bite him, but it didn’t stop.

  By this point, it had moved to the side of the minecart and was within arm's reach of Harvey. He shot point-blank at its head and noted the connection with the refined stone did cause it to stagger. It was the first real reaction he’d gotten, and signaled the elemental might not treat its entire body equally.

  He glanced at the core flashing in and out of sight, deep in the elemental’s chest. He didn’t know how he’d killed the first one. All he could see then was a silhouette, but hadn’t his shield knocked a big chunk away all at once? The elemental strode forward faster than he could tug the minecart back, so he would have to act quickly if he didn’t want to lose his light. Two more elementals had entered the tunnel, and he could feel he’d used over a third of his essence already.

  Choosing to take a risk, he covered his left shoulder with a fangbreaker shield and charged into the elemental’s chest. A crack like a gunshot rang out as the column of earth was sent flying into the tunnel wall. The force expanded out from the point of impact, briefly pulling the pieces guarding the core apart as the body flattened against the wall.

  He could almost see invisible tendrils reaching out from the core, pulling the remaining metal together like the hazy waves rising from asphalt on a blazing summer day.

  With the heart briefly exposed, he shot a mana bolt into it. The tendrils weakened, and the crystal grew darker. A final bolt made the tendrils disappear, and what remained of its body crumbled to the ground.

  He cheered as the kill notification rang in his mind, a gentle bell quiet like a whisper but forceful enough to be heard in a hurricane. A subtle warmth spread through his body, and he turned to the next elemental.

  Now, he had a game plan.

  He sent three bolts into each shoulder of the next closest elemental, dodging around the heavy minecart to get a better angle. When the arms had been mostly incapacitated, he shielded his shoulder, lunged for its chest, and sent two bolts at the exposed core. The final elemental managed to slam its head down into Harvey’s as he charged, ringing his bell and compressing his spine enough to cause him to shrink a few inches before being blasted away. The headbutt sent him to his knees, the jagged stone floor cutting painfully into his legs. He was seeing double, but shook himself awake in time to send a bolt into the core just as the elemental strained to restore its protective orbit.

  The third elemental crumbled to the ground, and he grabbed his head. The familiar exhaustion of overloading his weave joined the impact of the elemental, and he fought to stay conscious.

  The death of the other two elementals reignited the fire in his chest, molten heat spreading through his weave with a sensation both searing and rejuvenating all at once. Blazing glory shone in the tunnel as he finally reached level 6 before sinking back into the tattoos covering his body. Two screens appeared in front of him once he checked that he was safe.

  Your class, Arcanist, has reached Level 6. +1 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Wisdom, +1 Willpower, +2 Free Points

  Your race, Veilstrider, has reached Level 3. +1 to all stats

  He decided to put 1 free point into vitality and the other into willpower. Closing the screens, he began loading ore and cores into the minecart. He didn’t waste any time doing it quietly. Anything close enough to hear the rattling minecart knew he was here by now. When he’d gathered it all up, he grabbed the pickaxe and returned to the exposed crystal he’d attempted to work out of the wall.

  With a grimace, he put the pickaxe back in the minecart and instead grabbed his wand. His essence reserves were dwindling, but his bolts were stronger than any swing his lanky arms could make.

  He aimed the wand's tip at the edge of the rock and fired. Dull pain radiated through him, but a large chunk of the wall fell away. The crystal was loose, but it took a second bolt to pry it free. With a groan, he dumped it in the minecart and began pushing it up the tunnel with everything he had.

  The lantern danced as the minecart picked up speed, and he was relieved that nothing got in his way as he struggled to push the heavy ore up the slope. He had loaded at least another 150 pounds of ore, and the rusted wheels weren’t doing him any favors. When he was far enough to feel safe, he pulled out his water jug and greedily gulped it down. The experience reminded him of conditioning practices from his volleyball days, where coaches would load a sled with weights and have them push it up and down the turf. That was the strongest his legs had ever been, and with a measly 8 strength at the moment, he wasn’t sure if he was any stronger now.

  After nearly an hour of pushing, pulling, and begging, he finally stepped back into the sunlight. He fell to his knees and sat panting as he caught his breath. The crisp, cool air smelling of dying leaves was like refreshing lemonade after gasping down the dusty, stale air of the mine. Slowly, he extricated the infused ore and cores and buried them in the crate.

  The three kill notifications were still hovering at the edge of his consciousness, like the tapestry needed him to acknowledge the source of his level up.

  You have slain Level 6 - Lesser Iron Elemental. Essence Gained. 681 Merit Earned X2

  …

  You have slain Level 7 - Lesser Iron Elemental. Essence Gained. 812 Merit Earned

  Two level 6’s and one level 7 brought his total merit back to 2,517. He’d made a lot of progress, but would need to kill a lot more before he could buy the book.

  Finally, he pulled out the strange glowing crystal and was pleased to feel a nudge to identify it.

  Essence Crystal | G Grade

  Raw Essence in its most fundamental physical form

  Raw essence? There were thousands of these crystals down there. If gaining essence made you stronger, how strong could they become with these?