The Runesmith

“Hey, I think we can actually sell this thing.”

“It won’t be much but it’s better than nothing.”

A large man that took the shape of a beast was looking down at a large defeated monster that looked like a T-rex. Roland wasn’t part of the subjugation but remembered a time when this foe had almost killed him a few years ago. The man that defeated him was the druid that had transformed into some kind of mix of bear and person. He had just overpowered the monster to the point of Roland feeling bad for it, the one-sided battle ended under thirty seconds.

The beast was now down on the ground with a ripped-out throat that was torn by Braum’s clawed hands. The person Braum was talking to was Aubron the sun elf. The two for a moment looked at the body and then turned their gazes toward the porter of the group, Bernir.

“Huh? Me?”

Bernir was confused at what was happening but quickly realized what they were trying to imply. Before this could get out of hand Roland needed to put his foot down. Both of them were not here as their porters and Bernir was his assistant.

“Excuse me but we are not here to carry around your luggage, if you wish to take these monster’s parts with you, you’ll have to dismantle it yourself.”

“Dismantle, what a very Runesmith thing to say, don’t worry Master Wayland, my companions were a bit rude.”

“Hey Myrtle, wait a second…”

“Now now, Aubron we did not come here for these, just take what is in the chest and let's go, if what the noble said was correct then there will be many tier 3 monsters for us in the other dungeon, conserve your strength, we don't know what awaits us.”

“Hm… fine then…”

The other party members looked at each other and just shrugged. There was no apology towards Bernir or Roland as they just waited for him to show them the way forward. Myrtle was right considering that she did not know if a tier 3 monster could be lurking at the end. They were assured that they didn’t need to worry about this part of the journey but as the team leader she needed to take into account that things could go wrong.

Soon the group continued into the hidden chamber that opened up the corridor leading to the hidden mine. Each time he interacted with the runes to open up these passages the woman kept her eyes and senses focused. It was clear that she was trying to find out the way of opening up these paths but unless she became a rune mage or a runesmith she would be unable to. At least not with the conventional means that Roland was going with.

‘I’ll have to make some kind of remote for these entrances, I can’t guide each adventurer party there by myself every time.’

His secret was out and probably soon the other hidden entrances would be discovered. It wouldn’t be hard to create a magical device to open these pathways as he had already figured them out. It would only require him to send a signal to trigger the mechanism. This brought another problem to the forefront, however.

People will know that entrances behind runic magic existed, and they would probably go around searching for them. He might have been the only runesmith in town but this didn’t mean that there weren’t other options. Some of them were runic gadgets made by other runesmiths that were capable of detecting such hidden entrances. Now that they were discovered some people might bite the bullet and start investing in them.

There was also a possibility of discovering these through other magical means. While runic language was peculiar it wasn’t undetectable by other means. Faint traces of mana could be spotted by some people or monsters and it was also possible to brute force openings through the dungeon walls. He had been drilling holes for a while and there was a bunch of dwarves with mining skills ready to attack these potential gold mines.

‘But perhaps this won’t be such a bad thing, I won’t have to hide when going through the shortcuts, it’s already a miracle that no one had noticed me going in and out of the lava pool already. It also won't happen immediately but I wouldn't be surprised if someone figured things out after the mining area is opened.'

Roland’s ploy had somewhat worked out in the end. While he had unleashed an angry Lich on the dungeon he had somehow come on top of this whole fiasco. The only downside was his now closer engagement with Arthur Valerian. He had become his official Runesmith and perhaps something more. There were a few clauses in the contract that he needed to agree to otherwise, his life could have been in jeopardy.

That is if nothing happened to him on this half-assed expedition that Arthur and he thought up. It was a good thing that the Platinum adventurers were in on it but he would have hoped to have a few weeks to prepare before going into the belly of the beast again. Roland still wasn’t sure why his mana resonated with that Lich monster in that way. Luckily his job was not to go into the dungeon but just to install the door and then later the encampment together with Bernir.

“We are here.”

“Oh… this is really interesting…”

Myrtle’s eyes opened wide as she saw the shiny crystals illuminating the inside of the large cavern. The whole place was also radiating mana thanks to all the various Elokin’s crystals that were stuck to the walls. As a mage with a high degree of mana sense, she could tell the worth of this fuel.

“Such a mine really existed here, maybe we should have bartered more before signing that contract…”

“You think so? I told you that this was fishy! We should have taken a percentage instead of a flat rate.”

“Perhaps but… we couldn’t have known that it would be this big, I expected a tiny mine with some marginal materials, but…”

The archer and the mage seemed to be the brains of the party. They started bickering a bit after arriving here. Roland wasn’t there during the contract signing but after the comments, he was sure that Arthur had managed to not give them a percentage of the sold loot. No one could have really known what this delve into the dungeon would unearth.

It seemed that the Platinum adventurers were more concerned about minimizing their current losses than looking into the future. If they had known, they would have probably taken part of the monthly earnings of this mine as a reward instead, but perhaps Arthur would have dismissed something like that.

‘While getting this place under wraps is important, giving away so much money wouldn’t be wise. There are probably more platinum adventurers out there than places like this.”

“Let’s hope this dungeon is worth it, Runesmith, get to work!”

Roland nodded at the sun elf that was less and less cordial with him. For the time being, he would need to stomach the behavior as he was in no position to complain. Thus both he and Bernir moved in to set up the temporary encampment while the usual lone salamander was one shot by the archer’s arrow.

“How about we rest for the night, we spent many hours getting here and it will take some time to create an opening.”

“You want to take a break?”

“Hm, why not? I could use a drink.”

“Aye, we agree!”

Aubron was quickly voted down four to one as the two warrior dwarves and the druid wanted to instead drink some alcohol and eat. Their party leader was still a mage type so her stamina wasn’t up to par with the others. Bernir wasn’t quite there yet, luckily his physique had improved due to all that smithing work he did, this didn’t mean he was good at carrying heavy objects for so long. From everyone here, he was the one most affected by the heat and had to stick close to Roland that utilized a chilling spell.

“Hah, feels like we went back in time, the way the adventurers treat you like you owe them something is still the same.”

“I guess even veterans see porters this way.”

Bernir and Roland made their way to a separate spot while the team of five started going through the mining area. The two reminisced together about the good old days, for a moment the two went into the dungeon together and had their little adventures. Later on, Bernir became a full-time smith while Roland moonlighted between two jobs to keep his business afloat.

“... but we should get a move on, how about you start with the tents and I’ll get the mining gear?”

“Sure thing Boss.”

The two got a few minutes of rest before getting back to work. The tents that Bernir tended to were the same ones that he used during the expedition that ended in this mining area. If nobles and knights could spend days in them then they were good enough for a platinum adventurer party. Even though they acted important they weren’t as bad as actual nobles. Going through many tiring adventures had made them resistant and they would probably be able to sleep on these rocks on the ground if they had to.

There wasn’t much to do here in this space and only one tunnel leading to the chasm which the adventurers checked out. The time that they spent exploring was used by both Roland and Bernir to set up the encampment. What remained from his mining tools were the magical ones that he used to tunnel through the upper tunnel from his home into the dungeon. The large drill he pulled out of the spatial bag made Myrtle look over as she just couldn’t keep her eyes off the quirky designs he produced.

‘She really likes to look doesn’t she?’

Roland could feel the woman’s piercing gaze on his back. Even when they were traveling through the upper levels he could feel her glancing at the armor he was wearing. He didn’t have that much experience with people with magical classes but she reminded him of Lucille De Vere who was also an ice mage. Considering he was only working with tier 2 runes he couldn’t really offer anything that interesting for a tier 3 mage. The gear he could make for the group would be inferior to the ones that they were wearing.

‘I guess there is nothing else to do here though.’

The tents were soon set up and the five adventurers split two between each other while Bernir and Roland got the smallest one to themselves. That is after their job was finished as while the fighters rested the two started drilling a hole in the wall. First came a rough outline that was a bit smaller than what the door would be. The measurements were crucial and it was always easier to shave off a bit at the end than to wait for the dungeon to regenerate itself.

Roland only had one heavy-duty runic drill that was operational. He connected it to his runic armor which helped him control the speed and intensity. Bernir on the other hand was left with a regular pickaxe that he had some skills with. most of the time he just helped with moving away the loose rocks and dirt that was produced in the drilling. Luckily the wall wasn’t that thick and within a few hours, the opening started showing itself.

‘This would be a lot faster if I had some golems… I think we also need to get those guys in motion, never tried making the opening this big.’

“Ms. Myrtle, I think you should get ready, we are through.”

“Hoh, there really is something on the other side.”

“Yeah, it’s really a tier 3 monster and it really can’t see us at all.”

A head-sized hole was made through which the group could peek through. Instantly on the other side, they could see a skeletal monster wandering about. Bernir was quite shocked when he first saw one of the large skeletons. It was quite different from the ones that were on the upper floors.

“Boss, is it really safe?”

“Yes, don’t worry as you can see they can’t see us on the other side, take a look.”

What they were looking at was a lot bigger than the Lich that he faced. It was a monster that was as large as one of those black skeletal minions. Its bones were even thicker and in its left hand, it was lugging around a massive tower shield that looked like a door. For a moment the monster reacted to some of the rubble coming to that part of the dungeon but was now retiring. That is before it got hit in the back of its head with a rock that was thrown by Roland.

“Hey what are you doing, Runesmith?”

“Calm down and look…”

Aubron was a bit shaken by the unexpected throw that Roland performed and was quick to notch an arrow into his bow. The rest of his party also moved forward as if they expected the monster to charge through this wall. The only one that remained there without averting her gaze from the monster was their party leader.

“Fascinating, it really can’t see us and it is already turning around as if the rock never hit it to begin with.”

“I’m not sure what Lord Arthur explained but even when we uncover this wall here, the monsters won’t see us nor will they attack unless something crosses through the threshold.”

“I thought that noble was full of shit…hey Aubron, can you do it?”

“Huh? Who do you take me for Braum?, of course, I can do it.”

Roland wanted to get back to work while this group just stood guard over them. Aubron had another idea though as he raised his weapon and used the previously notched arrow to take aim. A strange glow appeared on the tip that was certainly not made up of mana particles. It was some kind of different energy that this class had access to. Roland wanted to inspect it with his runic eye but with the woman mage around, he didn’t want to show off too much as he was convinced that she would have noticed something.

Both Bernir and Roland backed away from the hole right before the attack went off. A strange high pitch noise escaped from the arrow before it turned into a slither of silver light and flew through the hole. The monster on the other side was in the process of turning around and even though it noticed that something appeared from behind it was not able to react in time.

The arrow connected with the monster’s head which instantly shattered. Right from the start, it was clear that this archer’s attack was a lot faster than his mana cannon and the power was a lot more concentrated. To his surprise, the monster’s large shield fell right after and probably if he was part of that party he would have received a prompt that the monster had been slain. It only took one precise hit from this tier 3 archer to defeat a monster like this.

While it wasn’t ready Aubron had hit its weak point that this time around had been in its head. When these undead creatures were considered these monster cores tended to pop in random locations. They were mostly inside of the rib cage or in the head, either he had been lucky or he used some type of skill to pinpoint it.

“See?”

“That was a lucky shot and you know it.”

“Lucky shot my ass, hey Runesmith hurry up and make this hole wider, I need to go get my arrow.”

The arrow that delivered the finishing blow had traveled all the way to the intersection leading out of this chamber. It actually burrowed itself quite deep into the rocks that Roland previously had trouble leaving a dent in. This was a true tier 3 party and it seemed that they would be able to clear out this dungeon. While the order was somewhat disrespectful he ignored it and nodded, with these people around he felt that even if a group of those high-level undead charged out, they would be able to handle them.

Thus the drilling continued and in around thirty minutes there was enough space for a person to make it through. The group didn’t wait for it to be enlarged even further and to Roland’s surprise, they all started going into the dungeon on the other side. He could see that there was something in their eyes. It was either the call for adventure and exploration or just greed, he wasn’t sure but the group was really motivated.

“Haha, it’s time to get rich!”

“Aye, let’s go!”

“Continue with the good work Master Runesmith, we will see you later.”

“Ah… do be careful, I have no idea what lies beyond that corner.”

If he could he would like to peek around but the door had to be shoved in place first. He would like the group to wait before continuing but not as they would listen to him. As he saw the backs of them disappearing into the corner he could only hope that they wouldn’t overdo it and get themselves killed before this venture could prosper.