Chapter 63 Strange Spells

Chapter 63 Strange Spells
By nightfall, Marcanche's bar became the liveliest place in town, and Denver had also invited Jodie, the foreman responsible for mining the vein, to the bar. Jodie looked just like an ordinary miner, with a big beard and filthy mining clothes. He must have just finished work for the day and been dragged to the bar by Denver without having the chance to go home and change.
"How is the recent silver mine doing? Is there still any abnormality?" Gago asked.
When the mine was mentioned, Jodie's expression became gloomy, and he picked up his glass and took a sip of wine, saying, "Don't mention it, it's even more troublesome now."
"How did it become more troublesome?"
"We took a big risk and left people there at night, hoping to see what was happening. But unexpectedly..." Qiaodi sighed painfully.
"Did something happen to the night watchmen?"
"The guards we sent there said they didn't see anything. They just blinked or hesitated for a moment, and the silver veins in the mine disappeared, turning into a pile of useless slag. What's even more strange is that all the guards who came back fell ill one by one, and they are still lying in bed unable to get up," Qiaodi complained, his face full of worry. "This was supposed to be the largest and most potential vein in Makansh, but in the hands of our mining team, it turned into this... Previously, we had signed contracts with several other buyers, and now the deadline is approaching, but the production hasn't increased yet."
Then, Denver and the others made an agreement with Jodie that they would help him solve the problem with the mine and Jodie would lend them 10 pounds of secret silver.
When they walked out of Gage's house the next morning, Jodie was already waiting for them at the door. He quickly stepped forward and whispered to Cesar, "Sir Cesar, do you want me to take you to see those patients, the guards who came back from the mine? One of them just woke up this morning."
Xisi and his companions immediately went to the residence of the awakened patient. After explaining their purpose, the awakened guard introduced them to the situation at the time: "We always felt that something was secretly watching us in the mine, but when we turned to look, we couldn't see any creatures... Before losing consciousness, it seemed like something entered my body, and I felt a shiver."
After the patient guarding the house came out, the crowd whispered to each other.
"Invisible creatures? It seems that this mission is not as simple as we thought..."
"Yeah, but we have agreed to it, so we still have to go and take a look."
"Don't think too much about it, let's go to the scene and then decide."
"Are you confident? Is it dangerous? If not, forget it...” Danver also didn't want his friend to take risks for him."
“丹佛我最不喜欢你的就是这点了，”加戈生气的说道：“矮人可没有你这么胆小的。”
“丹佛先生，这不是胆小……这是关心大家，不愿大家为他冒险。”尼诺不同意加戈的看法。
“好了好了，不要吵了，我们先去现场看看再作打算，好不好？”吉尔希斯也出来打圆场，说完他便让乔迪带路。
于是，众人便跟着乔迪向玛坎什下层走去。
In the lowest part of Mackensh City is a large group of mines, where traces of the miners' work can be easily found. Wooden or stone frames support the walls and ceilings of the tunnels; at regular intervals, there are brackets for torches on the walls; continuing forward, a few people can still see rusted carts, broken and lying in dark corners, with some debris abandoned nearby.
In the cave, there was always a faint smell of decay. Jodie held the everlasting torch and slowly walked ahead, casting a soft white light on the rugged rock walls and the jumbled frames, creating twisted and eerie shadows. Sissy and Gago also took out their weapons and followed closely behind Jodie, while Nino had already blended into the shadows of the mine. The half-elf ranger firmly grasped his longbow and looked around with wide-open, alert eyes.
In the darkness, the tunnel seems to have no end, always winding and twisting ahead. It's like a pitch-black mouth that devours the courage and patience of adventurers. Joedy looked at the map in his hand and made a mark every time he passed a junction. He knew very well that getting lost in the underground mine was not a joke, even for an old miner like him who had been working in the mine for years. That's why he always carried a map, just in case. Because in a mine tunnel like the one he was in now, one wrong turn could easily lead to many more detours.
After walking for almost half a day, they finally arrived at the designated location on the map.
It looked like an ordinary cave, reinforced with stones at the entrance, just like the countless caves they had encountered during the past half day. The only difference was a prominent sign beside the entrance, with words written in Dwarven, Common, and Elven languages saying, "Danger, do not enter!"
"This is the sign left behind by our last group of miners to warn others after they evacuated..." Jordi said he would take care of the mine here.
Everyone nodded, and Sisi walked in first with a long sword in one hand and a torch in the other. Gago, Nino, and Gillhis followed Sisi one after another into the mine.
This silver mine pit slowly extends underground, with a dampness hitting the face, and there are also small puddles of dirty water on the ground. Three people walked slowly, staring into the endless darkness ahead. Gago ran to both sides of the road and lit the torches on the walls one by one.
The smell of decay inside the cave grew increasingly stronger, yet no one covered their nose. Instead, they tightly held onto their weapons, their guard never faltering. Behind them, a pair of eyes suddenly appeared in a mundane puddle, watching the departing group intently. Slowly, the image faded and disappeared, leaving only ripples on the surface of the puddle.
Xisi frowned, but he didn't turn around to investigate the anomaly. He continued to follow the two people in front of him, pretending not to have seen anything.
Before long, they arrived at a mining site in the vein. There were still many tools of miners scattered on the ground, and many black stones scattered from the tilted minecart. Nino picked up a stone and looked at it: "These are just ordinary stones, with no silver content. How did they end up in the minecart? This stuff has no mining value."
"They used to be silver ore, but now they have become like this." Gago inserted the eternal fire staff into the torch rack on the wall. "Today we will wait here and see what exactly caused this mess! Gilles, you are knowledgeable, tell me, what is the way to directly extract silver from the ore?"
The half-elf ranger shakes his head and says, "I haven't heard of such a thing..."
After thinking for a while, Cecilia says, "There shouldn't be anyone in this world who knows such a spell!"
"Why? What is the meaning of this world?" the crowd asked in confusion.
Cixi shook his head without answering this question. But he knew clearly that there were similar alchemical techniques on the Esterella continent in the past, stone people, ironclad people, golden people, diamond people... However, the majority of the mages in the Northern High Tower Alliance only understand the first two steps, and there are very few who know the methods of transforming an ironclad person into a golden person, or even a higher-level diamond person.
He knows the effect of this spell himself, but his current magic power is clearly insufficient and he cannot complete this operation at all. However, now a similar spell has appeared in the Nord continent, and he wonders if it is also like him, stranded from another world. If it is a native mage of the Nord continent, unless they are exceptionally talented, they should not have access to this alchemy spell. Given the elevated status of mages in the Nord continent, it is highly unlikely for an exceptionally talented mage to be found in the deepest mine shafts of Makansh?
At the moment, the mine was quiet and silent, and an atmosphere of unease and tension began to spread. Nino took out the snacks he had made before the trip from his backpack—a kind of soft cake made of minced meat and flour—and distributed them to the others. The dwarf rogue had prepared thoroughly for today's adventure in the mine, after all, the mine's environment was not much different from outside Fritz City. In addition to preparing a lot of snacks, he also brought four blankets and put them inside Sisi's ring.
At nightfall, in the depths of the cave, the temperature remained unchanged so it was difficult to tell when night truly arrived. If it weren't for the drowsiness slowly infecting everyone's senses, few could discern when night descended in the underground caverns. Gago leaned against a pillar that supported the mine, softly snoring; nothing could make him feel nervous as falling asleep at any moment was a skill of the brave.
Nino curled up in the corner, allowing the shadow to completely cover his figure. The half-elf ranger sat with his back against the wall, eyes closed, resting. Sisy recalled the techniques of using a two-handed sword as he sat on the ground. Old York, lacking a two-handed sword, only briefly explained the advantages and disadvantages of using a two-handed sword in combat to Sisy.
Not long after, Xisi put the twin swords in his hands back into the ring, and slowly closed his eyes...
A grayish-white shadow oozed out slowly from the cracks in the mine tunnel wall, like a white steam, gradually solidifying into the shape of a person. However, this guy's feet were still misty, floating slowly in the air. Its "hands" appeared as long and sharp claws, and its face was only a blurry mist, with only two black spots at the eye position.
A grayish-white shadow slowly approached the sleeping Sisi, extending its long arms to grab onto Sisi's body. Its sharp claws gleamed with a chilling light under the unquenchable flame.
"Ah, after following us for so long, you've finally decided to show yourself..." A gentle voice of a half-elf ranger floated out from the shadows.
(End of this chapter)