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Their ride continued as they approached the Kingdom of Dwargon. Miki stayed clinched to the boy's backside through the bumps and rumbles along the road, though her own mind wandered as well. 'I don't blame him now for holding on so tight... everything this Ryuuko moves suddenly I feel like I could go flying.' she thought quietly as the landscapes changed around them, her own cloak billowing in the wind behind the mounts movements. 'Still, I don't mind having someone this dependable on my side...' she smirked while maintaining the same grip. She tried not to be a bother to this lad as they traveled in this way but couldn't help but feel comfortable and warm, even while clinging to his back in such a way.
'Keep it together, keep it together...' Kou had resorted to chanting to himself mentally, if only as a coping mechanism for the girl pressed against his back. In due time, their mount brought them through the mountain range to the gates of Dwargon, one of the major cities belonging to the Dwarf race. It was an incredible location to behold, covered in snow and surrounded by icy mountains on all sides. The Ryuuko they rode stopped before they reached a line of travelers aiming to enter the city, and the beast beneath them disappeared. Kou was in a decent enough position to land on his feet without issue, but he hadn't banished the creature willingly. "Hm. Must be one of those places that doesn't let you ride a mount in game. I wonder how that worked out here though..."
Whatever discomfort this lad had about their current seating arrangement it would go unnoticed by Miki and would eventually be alliveated as they came across the dwarven city Dwargon. Seeing this massive place, tucked into the icy mountainside was breath-taking. Miki leaned away from the lad for the first time, simply to stare up in wonder. "Sugoi!" she muttered outright. This was of course, right before their mount disappeared from beneath them. It was kind of sudden, but the girl had the reaction speed of her classes on her side and managed to fall into stride soon after her fall without any problem. "Hm, I guess it would make sense if we can't just ride mounts inside a city..." she mused as she took note of the line of travelers headed into the city. "Perhaps they just worked it out so monsters can't enter... I heard there are some high class barriers like that..." she stated without much thought. "Think we should just join the line?" she asked of him seeing as it seemed to the only way inside it wasn't really a question, as they intended to go inside regardless.
"Yeah, that would make sense. It'd especially be a problem if we were invaders bringing a leveled Ryuuko in," Kou replied to the girl's assertion. As they approached the line and Miki questioned whether Kou thought they should join it, the male Adventurer gave it some thought. In a few cities within the game, he'd seen lines similar to this one, but never were they of any importance. As such, he thought to attempt something he figured could work in this reality as well. "We might be able to cut ahead by right of being Adventurers. Those people in Eonis acknowledged us as Adventurers, so it seems to be linked pretty hard to how the game works that way. I think it's worth a shot," he said while moving ahead of the others hoping to enter Dwargon. The looks he received as he passed person by person were not all too friendly, but Kou did his best to ignore them. After all, he was more bothered by the expressions on the tavern-goers before he spent the night in Eonis with Miki. Soon, he was upon the front gate, beside the line and in front of the guards. "Hold there! Back in line!" one guard said with a spear aimed at Kou's face. "Whoa, easy! We're Adventurers. Is there any way we can gain entry by agreeing to help out around town?" asked Kou, who had both hands in the air after the guard's rather threatening movement.
Two guards exchanged glances with one another, with the most distant of the pair nodding to the other. "Adventurers, huh? Where's your passes?" asked the guard who remained in front of Kou. When asked this, the lad seemed surprised. He had no idea what an Adventurer's pass was, and there was certainly no such thing on his person. With that in mind, he looked toward Miki. "Err... any idea what he's talking about?"
It seemed her possible explanation for why they couldn't ride into the city was accepted and this was enough for Miki. Strangely though, when she asked if they should join the line, after giving it some thought, Kou chose to cut it a bit and see if they could get in a bit early. Miki followed along, to avoid getting separated, but unlike Kou she met the uncomfortable gazes of the people she passed without flinching. 'The more people we encounter... the more it seems like they don't know they are NPCs... what if they don't know they are part of a game? I mean that is a bit 'Matrix-y' but their reactions are all a bit too real for it to be a UI thing...' Miki pondered the realness of this world quite a bit, mainly because she'd been human in her other world and knew of dangers, but the more they did with the people around them, the more she began to suspect something was amiss with the idea that they'd simply been teleported into the game. The long standing game mechanics not withstanding. Before she could continue to let her mind wander with her now soured expression, she found herself standing alongside Kou who now had a spear pointed at him as he tried to explain they were adventures. She turned her eyes towards this guard and shrugged gently. "Never heard of an Adventurer's Pass before... I wouldn't even know where to get one," the girl mentioned. She'd never thought of what it would mean to move around in a place that acted as its own world, perhaps they'd get to know soon enough what all this guard meant. Still, she remained still so as not to draw too much attention to herself and tried for serene in her facial expression.
Miki had no clue what an Adventurer's Pass entailed either, leaving Kou to turn toward the guard again and shrug. "Gomen, gomen. No dice on the passes, but we're Adventurers, I swear!" he said while placing both hands on his hips and leaning his torso back slightly. The first of two guards didn't seem to appreciate these two claiming to be Adventurers without passes, but they clearly weren't in the know. "You can't call yourselves Adventurers if you aren't even in a Guild! Join a Guild and come back, or get in line like everyone else!" he demanded. At this moment, the other guard had a realization which led him to tap his companion. He was looking at these two with a twinkle in his eye, and nodded toward them just as they were being turned away. The same twinkle appeared in the more talkative guard's eye before he spoke again. "Wait... I guess we could use the help. We'll let you in this time, but I expect to see a Guild Card before you come back. Go on in," he said while shifting his spear away from Kou, clearing the way for the pair's entry. "A guild, huh? I guess that's worth looking into. Anyway, might as well get moving." With that said, Kou gave one final nod to Miki before moving on and into the city walls.
The look on Miki's face shifted back to sour when it became obvious they were being turned away simply for not being part of a guild. Such a thing seemed a bit astounding to her, because the only guild function she remembered from the game was for partying up, perhaps such a thing had a different function now that they were within the game, much like the auction house had become the black market. She stared at the man who aimed to turn them away, only to have her eyes shift to the guard who tapped him on the shoulder. She took note of the twinkle in his eye, and the one which went to the eye of the other guard, as she mentioned a change in his stance on letting them in. Apparently he thought the kingdom could use them in some way, and beyond all that he claimed he'd let them through this time on the honor that they'd be part of a guild when they came back through. "Hai!" Miki said as she moved with him into the City walls. 'That's a really weird function for a game to try and force on two players... it's a really immersive and expansive game. It literally lets you choose most things, why would being pulled into it, change the functions of it in such a way?' the girl pondered. "Hm, so do we see what kind of help the Kingdom needs, or do we just go find a blacksmith and assume we will eventually be lead to the end goal because of how these things tend to work?" she asked of Kou. Still now that she was speaking she looked around the internal part of the city with wander in her eyes. "Sugoi! This place is huge in here. And everything is so well put together!"
Kou moved into the city while glancing over his shoulder at the guards, seeming to be contemplating something quite heavily. 'Hmm...' Whatever he was thinking came to a halt when Miki spoke, bringing his attention to her immediately. When this happened, he was staring strangely at the girl for no apparent reason at all, and he answered with an unusual amount of nonchalance. "We came to the Dwarves because they're better blacksmiths than anyone else, normally. Any blacksmith who's the owner of his own shop should be able to refine Magic Crystals into Magisteel, and if they do that, there has to be a mine somewhere. If we find a smith, we find work. Find work that involves sending us to the mine, and we can collect the materials for our own stuff."
Miki looked around this place until she got the sneaking suspicion that the lad with her was looking her direction. Her eyes cut to him and she confirmed this, before he answered her inquiry with an amount of nonchalance that was a tad shocking. "Sou ka, is that what you were thinking about, Kou? I only ask because you were looking at me pretty strangely for a second there..." she mentioned. She was obviously fine with doing the grind intensive work which would be mining in order for them to get the weapons they needed. That being said, finding a shop worth working with would be a bit intense. As she looked around just this corner, she saw at least three different blacksmiths buildings peppered around. Each with obvious different things they worked on, but still it was rather surprising to see so many in such a small area. She was beginning to wonder if the dwarves didn't take their crafting a bit too seriously but she supposed they'd find out soon enough.
Attention was brought to Kou's strange moment of staring. He didn't seem very bothered by this, and in fact, he continued looking at the girl while maintaining an overall odd demeanor. "No. That... wasn't exactly what I was thinking about," he said just as casually as the words he'd spoken previously. With that, he set his eyes forward again. The occasional glance was spared in every direction along the path he led, though none of the smiths they passed were worthwhile. He continued forward in search of something very specific, and while retaining his tone, he explained this along the way. "Up here should do it. Dwarves work hard, but rich people are always lazy. The best blacksmith should be in the richest area of the city, here," he said. Along the lines of what he claimed, Kou was soon stopped in front of an elaborate blacksmith shop with very expensive-looking swords draped along the back wall. The smith was hard at work even now with all of these weapons pre-made, giving Kou the idea that there was a special order in the works at the time. "Yep. This place provides for the nobles. They need something close, something the commoners won't even think about coming to... something just for them."
Apparently the layout of the city and where they were going weren't the foremost thoughts on the lad's mind. Strangely, he made no effort to clear this up, and even continued to stare at Miki in a way that made her shift slightly under his gaze. 'What's that look all about?' she wondered her face shifting slightly. Even so, they were on the move once more, past even the first few shops and well into the middle of the city. While they moved he spoke on the matter of rich people needing their good shops nearby. She supposed she'd never considered it from such a perspective. 'Sou ka, that's what he thinks about that... I suppose he isn't really wrong, but it's a pretty crude way of thinking,' the girl pondered the lad's point. Even so they came upon this shop with ornately done things in the background while the smith within was hard at work regardless of his already high amount of stock. "This kind of reminds me of a bakery I like..." she muttered to herself. Seeing all of the pre-made items, but knowing herself and people like her usually had custom tastes in mind. "Hai, that all sounds fine, but if he's used to providing for nobles, then why would he help a pair of low level adventurers... who apparently can't even call themselves adventurers?" she asked. If it was simply a point of pride, shop owners generally chased off those who didn't seem like they could afford the services, none would expect a couple of low-ranking adventurers to be capable of buying anything. The way she saw it, they'd likely only get anything if they were implicitly looking for work, or if the craftsman really needed some extra hands.
"Because," Kou said quickly as he passed the threshold to be considered the entrance of the shop. "There's one other thing rich people like having." Without feeling the need to say another thing on the matter, Kou approached the blacksmith directly. His countenance hadn't changed at all since he first set foot in the city, but there was a great purpose in his gaze as he set it upon this brown-haired Dwarf. "You look busy. I'll get to the point. We're Adventurers looking for work, off the books. Need more Magic Crystals?" he asked, catching the eye of the smith right away. The Dwarf looked over Kou, then over Miki. "Off the books, huh? Well, off the record... I've got work for ya' in Cidna Mine. If you make it back with some good crystal, I'll pay ya' a few coins."
Kou seemed to have expected such a reaction from this Dwarf who looked at the pair as one would a disposable utensil. That was fine with him, as it was all a means to an end. "We don't want coin. We just want a few slabs of Magisteel, so how much crystal are you looking for?" asked Kou. The smith stopped his hammering for a moment to think, considering the order he had and what would be the most beneficial agreement for him, and him alone. "One slab for every fifteen crystals. That's all I'm offerin' some no-name Adventurer." With that, there was no more to be said. Kou turned away from the blacksmith, taking a moment to look toward Miki in case she had anything to add, but he was content to move on and get to work regardless.
Miki watched as the interaction unfolded. Kou's statement about something else that rich people enjoyed having made her understand immediately. More than anything, they wanted product, when they wanted it, regardless of what was required to get it. With that in mind, the blacksmith they'd gone to, was obviously willing to compromise the legality of his work, in order to get someone to go gather the materials he was looking for. "Sou ka." she muttered coming to a full understanding of what they were about to do. Somewhere in this place was something called Cidna Mine, which she could assume wasn't a very pleasant place given they could go there without needing anything in particular. And they were apparently on the hunt for crystals. She'd done this sort of work a bit in another part of the map, but she'd lucked out in the place she'd been. She didn't imagine the magic crystals would be quite as plentiful here, but she supposed that would be fine long run as long as the pair of them got everything they needed. "Hai, later, Ojii-san," she said content to follow after Kou.
Once they were on the move again she chuckled finding this whole situation rather interesting. "He just sent us to do either something dangerous, or something impossible or yes. Still, your analysis of these situations are pretty spot on," she complimented the lad content. She found his mind a rather interesting thing, and wondered what kind of person he was outside of the game.
Both Adventurers left the shop without needing another thing. Kou had seen a map of the area in the middle of the street numerous times, so he knew there was a quick reference to where this Cidna Mine was. As he moved toward one of the map boards, Miki spoke on the topic of his situation analysis. "It didn't take much. Like I said... there's something rich people like having, and everybody who's not at the very top is missing it in some way," he said, stopping his clause while stopping in front of a city map. Once he was certain which direction the mine was in, he began walking off while continuing his speech. "Rich people want more for less, and they know those who don't have as much will do more for less. For every piece of Magisteel he gets from us, he'll make hundreds of gold. I doubt it's dangerous or impossible, but think about all the other miners we'll be competing with to get those crystals. It also bugs me that he said if we make it back, though."
Miki soon found herself in front of a city map, which was apparently where Kou had been going for a reference to the spot known as Cidna Mine. Miki also looked at the map, for several seconds even while Kou spoke. As she looked at it, she got an idea of where the mine was, as well as where everything else immediately surrounding it was. Especially in reference to the shop they had to go back to, having a fairly reasonable understanding of this particular place she also walked along with the lad. She could understand what he meant about rich people wanting to get the most out of their money for the least possible expenditure. After all, one didn't keep money they made by spending it recklessly. Even son, the bits about mining which bothered him, were also the bits which bothered her, and she was glad to know she wasn't the only one bothered by the smith's cryptic words. "Yeah, I am also bothered by that... what exactly happens to people in this mine?" she questioned, her mind deep in thought. 'If it was the usual thing, I'd just assume those who went in were bad at prospecting and got themselves trapped. If there are monsters, we're adventurers and that wouldn't be so much of a problem. If the other people are a problem, same thing, but I'd rather not have to fight a person over something as minuscule as a crystal. No, it literally can't just be normal... unless its a bunch of things at once which decrease the chances,' she had this thought and decided to see it out.
Cidna Mine wasn't incredibly close to the blacksmith they'd visited, but it wasn't too far away either, and it came into view in due time. Once it did, Kou was able to react to Miki's curiosity. He could see numerous guards positioned around the mine's entrance, and only imagined there were more within. He remained in a strange way, but there was a certain gleam of anticipation in his eye. "This is... a puzzle," he claimed, having already found pieces to be fit together in addition to whatever came next. They would approach the mine without any interference from its guards, but in getting close enough to pass the group, Kou too note of how well-fitted they were for keeping trouble out of the mines.
"A puzzle?" the girl questioned. It was a strange notion, but perhaps such a way of thinking about it, would make it easier to consider. As they approached this mine, she noticed a great number of guards surrounding it, all of them seemed to be ready to fight, but did nothing to stop them from entering it. 'Strange, if they aren't here to keep people who want to work out... maybe they are there to keep something in?' the girl thought to herself. Obviously whatever pieces of this puzzle that already existed were in place and she simply didn't know what they all were, or rather she hadn't connected individual pieces as being related. But that wasn't how her mind worked anyways. Instead she was content to follow Kou inside and figure out how to find the crystals he was looking for.
"Yeah..." Kou confirmed. Still, there were a few missing elements to be found before this puzzle could be solved. Another would appear quite soon though, whether the pair knew it or not. Knowing the likelihood of the blacksmith offering them the worst of the crystals they gathered in the form of Magisteel, Kou figured their best bet would be to take the time to gather the highest-quality crystals. As such, he opted for using his Type: Mage to sense for the highest collections of Mana in the area. "I'm pinging," he announced as if he were playing the game at present. His sensing ability went outward in bursts like a sonar, and much to his expectation, it was as if they'd stumbled upon a thick shroud of Mana by walking into the mine. Still, there was a higher concentration to be found. Kou began walking deeper, but pinpointing the location of what he sought was only becoming more difficult as he stepped more into the thickness of this ambient energy. There was something quite perplexing about this. "Sou... Hard to believe there's an ore that huge that hasn't been messed with yet. This mine is too busy for that," he said, speaking as low as he could to still be heard over the sound of many pickaxes resonating through the mine.
As they began to wander into the cave, Kou seemed to have in mind how he intended to prospect for crystals. She assumed he had some sort of technique or option in mind, but strangely, what he chose to do was more useful and equally surprising to her. The term 'pinging' was used frequently on message boards for group quests when a mage was using sensory techniques. The lad had shown all the skills of a swordsman, but had typed himself a mage in his character creation. That combination was almost unheard of, and at the very least, Miki hadn't come across it while she hopped from lobby to lobby. "Sugoi! You chose 'Mage' as your type? That's really weird..." she mentioned, finding it strange but innovative. She wondered what kind of idea he had about the gameplay to choose that combination for his initial character. Still she followed along after him, deeper into the mine as he kept looking for what she assumed where high-quality crystals. "Maybe they don't know about it, the other miners might not be able to sense the magic," she hypothesized. "Or... maybe it's dangerous to get to, mining isn't historically the safest kind of work to do, and considering how magic crystals are made, maybe they are afraid to get close to it..." She whispered her statements as well, as to not be overheard. There was still something not right about this situation, and she wasn't quite sure what it was.
Into the thick of the Mana they went, and Miki went on to address Kou's choice in Type. He raised a brow while turning his head to look at her. "Is it? I don't check the meta or anything; I figured a swordmage would be pretty fun to play," he said, seeming to have become just a bit more conscious of his human existence. Moving on though, there was the matter of the dense Mana that managed to exist to such an extent in the mine. Miki had a couple of theories involving this, and the very last one spoken hit home for Kou in an interesting way. "That's the missing piece! Magic Crystals come from long-term exposure to something with strong Mana. Even if what I'm sensing is crystal, there has to be something in the mine that's..." Kou trailed off without finishing his sentence. There was but one reason for this, and it was the presence of a fully-visible and massive ore vein of crystal on the verge of becoming high-quality Magic Crystal. Around this vein was another group of guards even more heavily-armed than those at the entrance. "Oh. I get it."
It was stated by Kou that he hadn't checked the meta before choosing his character's type and class. Miki found that strange but she didn't consider it to be game breaking or anything similar. What was more interesting to her is that it didn't even line up with regular affinities. "I mean, not checking the meta is fine, but that is completely out of the box. Sword-users would think of being strong in a more direct way... warrior would have been the most sensible thing... but this is much more interesting," she mused aloud. It was strange, but as her normal self, she would have found this combination worth looking into in the lad's case. She thought him interesting enough as is, and he was proving himself to be a very different sort of person. With that in mind it was only natural for her mind to begin to wander about the lad behind the screen, so to speak.
As they moved along in conversation something in her idea list resonated with Kou. He claimed to have all the pieces now, and went on to give a minor rant which detailed the important bits. But before he was able to say exactly what he was thinking, they stumbled upon the ore vein they were looking for and it was even more heavily guarded than the front of the cave had been. 'I wonder if he was going to say there had to be someone here who the guards don't want anyone finding out about ... that seems about the right line of thought. This could be dangerous then... more dangerous than normal,' she said. And suddenly what had seemed to be their safest initial option became a tad bit more daunting. "So, how do we approach this?" she asked in a low voice. Whatever he now understood, she was sure he'd fill her in on if he could, or she'd find out soon enough.
"That's why I chose Mage. Instead of following whatever everyone else thinks is the best path, I'd rather do something different and see if I can make it better. It's more fun that way," Kou said to explain the reason behind his choice. The way he saw it, he could achieve the same - if not better - results as a Warrior Saber by making a Mage Saber. He thought of it as a simple difference between destroying everything in front of him with raw power, and doing the same thing with energy and additional effects. "When I'm like this, I feel like I made the right choice. I've got a decent grasp on all the skill I have with a sword, but then there's the tricky magic stuff added to it. It feels good."
As they were placed before heavily-armed guards and a very plentiful supply of Magic Crystals, Kou gave consideration to a few things. He had truly committed to treating this ordeal as he would a puzzle, and took many of the things he'd noticed thus far as key pieces to solving it. "Guards around open crystals that haven't been touched, guards on the outside, and enough Mana around that vein to cover my whole screen if we were playing the game normally. I think... we should..." The more he thought about the situation, the more everything pointed toward one eventuality. With this in mind, he spoke loudly enough to be heard by the guards and any nearby miners. "Meh, this is too much to deal with! I think we should just leave," he said, immediately garnering the attention of the guards, as well as some interesting frightened expressions aimed his way by the miners who heard him. The guards seemed ready to move at any moment after hearing this, but Kou was quick to speak further. "Or... actually, it'd probably be fine to do a bit of mining. This looks like a good spot, doesn't it?" he asked of Miki while looking to her with hidden intent.
Though she didn't expect him to, Kou went on to explain his choice in type and class. This simultaneously cleared up what he had in mind and what kind of personality he had, at least in Miki's eyes. She could respect the lad's moxie, and desire to try something new, travelling the unbeaten path and all of that. "Hm, I see... that's pretty cool," she said of the boy's reasoning. The more they chatted the more she could honestly say she enjoyed the lad's company.
Still there was the matter of the actual mine to get to, and as they stopped in one of the deeper reaches, it seemed that Kou was processing the area as if it was a puzzle. At the very least, there was a lot of small hints and clues to be picked up on, as miners all seemed scared when he mentioned leaving loudly enough to be heard. And the guards all seemed to be at attention for a moment until of course he mentioned staying for a while. "Hai, I guess this is as good a place to start as any~" she agreed, her scowling face taking in all that she saw in this moment. 'I wonder what kind of problem this is going to be... it seems like it will be obvious pretty soon,' stated mentally.
The second statement of Kou, combined with the affirmation by Miki, seemed to put the guards at least somewhat at ease for the moment. Kou was sure this wouldn't stop them from being viewed as a suspicious pair henceforth, but it seemed they were stuck in the mine regardless, unless they wanted to try fighting their way out against a group of guards above their level. 'Kuso. I probably could have done that better. If only there was a way to... No, wait,' he thought. If they were simply playing Age of Eternity and it somehow registered their voices as their characters', a way around this would have simply been to use the in-game private messaging system. They were Party members, so it would be assumable that they could be considered on each other's friends list if such a thing were possible here and now. Kou began staring at Miki, maintaining very direct eye contact while trying to focus a message from his mind. He would eventually succeed without realizing he'd done so, after quite a few attempts. '... No, that doesn't seem to be working. What if I just think "backslash whisper" or something? No, that'd be dumb. Hmm...'
It seemed this pair would be resolved to this situation for at least a while. 'Hm, I wonder what he will come up with next...' she questioned as her gaze soon shifted towards the lad. Rather suddenly, she found herself staring at this lad and he was staring back. 'Why is he looking at me?' she wondered within her own mind. Still she couldn't really look away, not for quite a few seconds and then she caught what she could have sworn was a thought not of her own mind. 'Backslash Whisper? Tehehehe~' a small giggle happened in this young woman's mind. She thought it was funny but she was seriously wondering why he was staring so hard, her own mind wandering would eventually lead to a similar slip of her thoughts towards the lad, as their eye contact had yet to stop, 'Is he trying to tell me something?'
Kou continued staring, and continued wondering how this could work, or if there was even a way for it to work. Shortly after his thoughts involving use of the 'whisper' command, his eyes were widened by the thoughts of Miki entering his own mind. 'Oh! There! You can hear me, right? I figured there would be some way to translate the chat box, but I wasn't sure how to make it work. I guess I just had to want my words to go to you alone.' Now that this little trick had been discovered, it would become quite useful in the future. For this exact moment though, Kou intended to use it for the sake of avoiding the guards' ears. 'So, those Magic Crystals are still growing. I think there's something on the other side of this shaft, and they're probably keeping it here. There's no other reason for them to have this mine without it being stripped bare by now. That's just one thing. The other thing is... I don't think anybody who mines things here is really going to be allowed to leave with what they get.'
Miki's eyes widened as her thoughts were apparently projected into the mind Kou. She found this an overall strange experience, but she supposed similar to his own explanation of what he'd been attempting this sort of thing made sense. 'Sou ka, I guess that would need a direct translation. Gonna take some getting used to though...' she said. It was strange, but the fun thing about chat boxes was that one was always in control and had time to think given the use of a keyboard. She could find both positives and negatives to conversations being had in a more direct way without it. Regardless of this, there seemed to be several other things on the mind of her companion, all of which seemed to summarize their current situation. 'So you think they are using this mine as a farm?' she came to her own conclusion, based on his extra bit of knowledge.
If something was making magic crystals grow here, then aside from potential danger, the only reason to be so secretive about it, was that they wanted to keep all the crystals. This was further fed by the idea that apparently no one got to leave this place. 'And also I was right, dangerous and impossible... if you aren't allowed to leave this place with magic crystals then coming here to get them is basically impossible. And getting out of here with them, will likely require either craftiness or some kind of battle I'd honestly rather avoid with these heavily armored guards...' she finished up her thoughts on this matter and wondered then what they would do. Obviously they still intended to mine, but perhaps the lad had something in mind for this, 'So, what's your plan?' she asked, willing to divert this to him. In her own head, she figured handling such a thing based on the games mechanics could be both easy or hard. Like most games there was usually a direct option, a stealth option and a neutral option. She still wasn't exactly sold on this world being the inside of the game, but if the mechanics all still existed there were many possibilities with how to handle a situation like the one they currently found themselves in.
'Yeah, but I don't think we'll need to use it a lot. It's coming in clutch right now though,' Kou replied while making sure to avoid looking at any of the guards. He wasn't so concerned with collecting the Magic Crystals and leaving just yet; the situation that seemed to be surrounding it was much more interesting to him at the moment. 'What if we don't need to leave the mine to get out? If there's something on the other side of this wall, there has to be some other way to get out. My plan... I think we should just mine this spot until we get through the other side, find whatever monster they have back there, and let it rampage in the mine while we sneak through the other side.'
'Um-hm, not making the guards suspicious is pretty clutch...' she commented knowing that it was probably the most life saving thing they had going. Beyond this, the boy's thoughts about their present situation were soon presented in a way that Miki could at least understand. In his explanation, Kou stated they should in fact, mine for the needed crystals and in the process free whatever manner of beast they were using to turn this mine into a farm. They could then use that as cover to escape through whatever this mine was attached to. 'That's a pretty good idea...' she said, though she found it to be a bit of a toss up to the other miners, she considered that they'd either also take advantage or get caught up in the carnage anyways. Their lives here were a death sentence regardless so even if a beast came rampaging through it could only be considered a partial blessing. 'Alright tell me where, and I'll start digging...' the girl said. Instead of bringing forth her weapon, she looked around the mine until she found a pick which looked something similar to a long ice pick. This would be what she used, but she had a very specific reason for choosing this particular implement.
Kou took the time in which they had this private discussion to look around the mine, keeping up appearances by this simple act. By the time Miki reached for an ice-pick, Kou had his eye set on a pickaxe of a more standard design. He moved to pick this item up and give it a few test swings, but the item chosen by Miki was something he found interesting. 'You know, I wonder why that's even in here,' he thought as a message to the girl. Either way, the way she phrased her final statement implied to Kou that her skills would be enough to meet their goal. As such, his tests swings began on the wall containing the mass of Magic Crystals. 'It's pretty dense. There's a weak point though, so I'll mark it,' he told the lass. Aloud, he had something very different to say for the sake of the guards around them. "Whew! I don't know if we're gonna be able to mine crystals this strong! This is tough!' he said, placing his strikes strategically in a circular pattern, then dotting the center of the ring, which seemed to have just a bit of give. "Yeah, nothing I can do. Wanna take a swing at it with that nail-file of yours?"
While Kou looked around and kept up appearances, Miki tossed around the ice-pick like implement within her hands. She got a feeling for its weight and thus settled into the idea that she could use it to do whatever was necessary. Kou thought this an interesting item to find in this place, but Miki was a little less surprised. 'I mean if I was planning a prison break. I'd rather have this than one of those big bulky ones to swing around...' she mentioned. This meant there was probably a rogue moving around within this place, or there had been at some other point in time. Or maybe, it was more complex than even that... Whatever the case was, she got to watch as after mentioning a weak point, Kou marked it in a manner which was obvious but likely seemed like a genuine attempt at using his pickaxe to mine. "Ano, you might want to go for something a little less vigorous if you're gonna keep trying at it..." the girl commented aloud to keep up the appearance of normal conversation. As it moved along, she looked at the mark and smiled, appearing to find something amusing about it. "Hai hai, I'll give it a go. Though if you couldn't manage anything..." she gave a casual sigh as if she thought it an impossible task.
But soon she was standing in front of the center point in the wall concentrating on it. She stared with an intensity much greater than would seem necessary before she moved the ice-pick around in her right hand. Soon after, she pulled back and something rather strange would occur. Unstoppable Spear, was the class skill given to one how specialized in lance use. As she pulled back she pushed forward with extreme precision and power, allowing her to push straight through to the crystal beneath the surface, shattering the wall at its point of weakness. This would strangely also clear out the entirety of the circle around that point, making a very clear hole as the rest of the normal rocks and dirt were pulverized by the action. It also dropped several large magic crystals of the purest quality. "What do ya' think?" she asked the lad with her as if it was the most normal thing in the world. But behind this was simply a steel wall from the best of her ability to understand it.
Kou was content to take a backseat as Miki approached the wall of crystals with her ice-pick. "I dunno, that doesn't seem like it's gonna accomplish anything..." he said nonchalantly, pausing as Miki's strike collided with the wall's point of weakness and broke through. The steel wall on the other side was an obstacle, but a bigger obstacle yet was the guards that were immediately closing in on the pair after Miki's stunt. Instead of answering the question of what he thought, Kou darted into the space Miki created, reaching out with his left hand to grab hers while avoiding the guards. At the same time, he drew his sword with his right hand. A shroud of Mana engulfed his blade as he slashed at the steel wall numerous times, carving an 'X' into it before cutting a square around said X. Four shards of the wall were taken out as a result of this speedy sword maneuver, and the guards which pursued the pair were left frightened by the fact that this occurred. It wasn't quite that they were afraid because of the two Adventurers... but they were certainly afraid of whatever creature inhabited the room they'd just entered.
It seemed that whatever was going on, there was indeed something imprisoned here. And the steel wall before them was an obstacle, but not one that Miki would have to take out herself. Her little stunt seemed to rouse the guards a bit, but as soon as they tried to give chase, her hand was grabbed by Kou. She then got to watch as the lad performed a series of sword strokes against this metal wall which resulted in its breaking. "Sugoi!" she muttered shocked by the occurance. Of course, her surprise wasn't really saved for the proper moment because after they stumbled into this cell, something strange happened.
"FINALLY!" this was the voice which came with an immense amount of mana. "Fairy Glitter!" the small voice chimed. A concentrated beam of light magic erupted from the chamber itself, serving to temporarily blind the pair who'd entered. But this light wouldn't harm them, instead it radiated outward aiming to encompass the guards in powerful light, likely maiming them in a manner most serious. If not aiming to kill them entirely. This magic was so complex that it seemed to target only those who would hinder this entity. And beyond this point, it was very specifically not hurting the two adventurers or the other miners within this place. It seemed to target only those who were nearby and foes of this creature. And what a creature it was. When the light subsided, what could be seen within the cage of steel was someone with the appearance of a very young girl with long blonde hair and a single curl atop her thick hair. She had stunning large green eyes and pale skin, and wore only clothing of the lightest white material. Beyond all of this she seemed to have two small feathered wings sticking out from her head. Upon finally seeing this young woman Miki's eyes widened, she had plenty of things to say but didn't know where to start, because of this, she simply looked to Kou as if she wanted answers. Her hands extended to the young woman before her. She expected a crazed monster, a nue, a dragon, maybe even a demon... but not, this tiny young woman.
Immediately after breaking into the hidden room, Kou was met by an excited utterance from a feminine voice. He received only the slightest glimpse of this person before a bright light filled his vision, but he could see just long enough to be perturbed. 'That's not a monster,' he thought. Over the next few moments, Kou kept his eyes shut tightly, though it didn't do much to prevent him being overtaken by the brightness of this 'Fairy Glitter' technique. "Kuso!" he said while holding his right arm over his eyes - a posture he maintained until the light dimmed. Only when this happened was he able to open his eyes slightly and properly view that which had been locked in this room. The guards were no more, and the miners that were already capable of sight were scurrying about to grab what Magic Crystals they could carry and escape the mine. Meanwhile, Kou and Miki were observing this small blonde. Miki looked to the male as if seeking some sort of answer, yet he had none to offer. "I... uhh... thanks?" was all he could manage as he, too, gazed upon this being in confusion.
This small creature had the guards who'd been watching her erased by her magic. And given this she was rather happy. In fact, she owed this pair of adventurer's quite a debt for freeing her from the confines of the steel room she'd been imprisoned in. "You both seem confused. Worry not, all will be made clear!" she said her small feet not even touching the ground as she levitated forward. "I'm Dakini and I am the Fairy Queen! It's good to meet you both... thank you for your assistance~" she gave this information freely as it was obvious this pair had no idea who or what she was. "That magic was less effective than it was normally, no need to thank me. This accursed steel box I am in is limiting me quite a bit..." she stated knowing that Fairy Glitter could have done much more than it'd been shown to do. And after this introduction she gained a strange glint in her eye as she appraised both of these individuals. Her eyes fell first to Kou and then to Miki but she was quite sure about what she was seeing. "Fairy... Queen?!" Miki repeated these words at a complete loss. "Limited by steel..." she muttered softly, Miki's entire expression shifted into the more normal thinking face which looked displeased. Now she had a whole slew of different questions. Why did the dwarves feel the need to invite the wrath of the entire Fairy Kingdom upon themselves? How did they even manage to capture the Fairy Queen who in her own mind looked to have several question marks instead of a level... what was really going on here? She was so caught up in her own thoughts she hadn't found it in herself to give a proper introduction yet. 'What kind of crazy game logic is this... competing faction objectives is a bit too much... though, usually if there is a way to betray one faction over another... there is also a way to complete both and get all prizes.'
This strange girl who'd managed to clear the guards the moment they broke in spoke with a strange pattern, which left Kou with an even more perplexed expression. "Uh-huh. Well, Dakini... dono... it's all in a day's work, I guess," he said, initially being lost as to why she would be thanking them. Considering what she managed against the guards, Kou figured she could have broken out of this prison any time she wanted, if she even had reason to be apprehended in the first place. Soon enough, she mentioned that the steel room she was in acted as a hindrance to her. "... Sou ka. Fairies have a steel allergy like Werewolves and silver? This is Magisteel without a doubt, so that had to be a pretty big deal. So... why do the Dwarves have you locked in a Magisteel cell? Were you at war?"
"I shall see to it, the pair of you are rewarded handsomely, when I return to the Fairy Forest. My saviors shall be hailed as heroes!~" said the lass known as Dakini. It seemed she had a very boisterous attitude and didn't seem to be too heavily hindered regardless of her apparent steel allergy. She seemed to be very much in good spirits regardless now that she'd been freed. Her saviors apparently wanted to know how she'd ended up locked in a Magisteel cage within the dwarven kingdom of Dwargon. "That's a pretty funny story. I was actually here on vacation. I was invited out to drink... it's one of my favorite pastime. Dwargon is known for two things... Cold Steel and Cold Ale. Only one of those is any interest to me. So here I was, having nice drinks surrounded by ambassadors and dignitaries and the next thing I know... I'm awake in a cage I can't even touch! The audacity!" she exclaimed. Whatever had happened here it was more than just a simple misunderstanding. "And we weren't at war, but just wait! I will reign down the wrath of the entire Fairy Kingdom on these Dwarves!" she claimed. Hearing this out Miki finally seemed to get herself together a bit. She began thinking about this from all possible sides and she didn't like how it seemed to be leaning. "I mean, you could do that, Dakini-sama, but you aren't a little bit curious about it? I mean... from drunk and partying, to locked in a cage is pretty extreme," the blonde haired girl offered up. Perhaps it was just her inner gamer speaking, but she'd rather not be dragged into a war between the fairies and dwarves if it was at all avoidable. Especially considering it was exactly their goal to go and start a different kind of quest altogether after they were done gathering materials.
"Handsomely rewarded, huh? Well, that's convenient," Kou said lackadaisically before tuning in to Dakini's explanation. The Fairies and Dwarves were not at war, though Dakini sought vengeance for her unjust captivity in the province of Dwargon. There had to be an ulterior motive to the Dwarves doing this, though; they certainly shouldn't need the Fairy Queen's power for Magic Crystal production unless they wanted the Magisteel weapons for something. As Kou thought about this, he remembered how busy the blacksmith in the city's wealthiest district was, and thought that was something quite out of the ordinary. "Maybe there is a better approach. I agree with Miki; the imprisonment of a queen from any place or species is ridiculous unless there's already some weird political thing going on. Maybe we could figure out why this happened for you? We're unaffiliated, so we could be like... emissaries or something? Ambassadors, maybe."
"Yesh! Handsomely! It will be one of my greatest acts!~" the young fairy queen seemed to think very highly of rewarding these two individuals. But as their conversation progressed and she explained how she'd come to be locked within the Magisteel cage of her binding, it was offered by the young girl that she should be a bit more tactful than to just start a war. Upon hearing the agreement, Miki spoke up once more, "Kou agrees. We could have small titles and try and help you two come to some sort of agreement, that won't end in a war between your people," she concluded, as if she wanted to help the fairy queen along in her thought process. Dakini looked at this pair and considered their stance. As outsiders it was obvious that they had no real stake in this aside from not getting caught up in a war. And if Dakini was being frank, she'd prefer not to ruin the makers of the best Ale on this side of the world. "Hm, a couple of young Adventurers who don't mind getting their hands dirty! I can use this..." she said a reckless gleam coming to the corner of her eye. "Alright, the pair of you can act as my Ambassadors. I'll give you the freedom to negotiate on my behalf. Make sure you don't short me though... or it will be you on the line!" said the fairy as she floated forward and out through the hole created by the pair of them. "If you find out anything pertinent bring it to the Fairy Forest. You'll be rewarded for your efforts... but if you don't return in a timely manner, let them know I will bring all of the Fairy Kingdom with me when I return!" claimed the Fairy Queen. And just like that the pair of them received yet another quest. This one of a more political nature, even as the light bent around the fairy and she disappeared in a flicker of light. "Did our gathering quests, just become a political subplot?" Miki asked, seemingly in disbelief of their current situation.