28 Changes in the Mine (2/2)
”Everything.” Jack took the lead to ask. ”Has something changed inside the mine?”Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.
Drad sighed, ”Not much has changed inside the mine. There are a lot more goblin settlements then we had anticipated, and we were ambushed after reaching the third level of the mine. We fought for a while but after it became too much, we tried to escape and used our contact crystals to call for help. But before we noticed, the exit had been clogged by high-level goblins and the crystals weren't working.”
”We only made it out because our captain gave up his life using a forbidden technique and forced a small hole in the goblins' ranks. Then we climbed back out through some of the old mineshafts instead of the main path.”
”That explains how you got out,” said Rydel. ”That also explains why you passed out on the doorstep. You've been poisoned, right?”
The clerics' eyes went wide when Rydel figured it out. ”How can you tell?”
”Simple, because I've climbed through the old mineshafts before. I know that particular azure mine very well, it's how I make a good chunk of my coin.” Rydel retrieved two small glass bottles with a purple liquid inside and tossed them to Drad and Slivia. ”That's an antidote strong enough to remove your poison. Give it a couple of days and you'll be back to normal.”
”These… We can't just take these. An antidote like this cost a few silver each,” Slivia complained as Drad downed his bottle's contents immediately.
”Then pay in information. You already know we're not gonna harm you, so just keep telling us your story and don't leave anything out,” said Rydel.
Drad flinched before Slivia answered, ”The biggest change was that there's not a single goblin settlement left on the first two levels. They've all been abandoned or relocated.”
”But Slivia, they said—”
”It's better this way,” said Slivia, not giving Drad an opportunity to say anything. ”For most of our time on the third level, we didn't find anything. But we later found a goblin city, probably made up of all the goblins from the earlier floors. After we saw the city on the horizon, we were ambushed and us two were lucky to escape after captain used his ultimate technique.”
”Was your party killed?” asked Jack.
”Our leader died letting us two through, but I'm not sure what happened to the others,” answered Slivia. ”I don't know why the contact crystals weren't working but I know there are a lot more high-leveled goblins now. The ones that surrounded us were all lv. 15 or higher, there was even a lv. 20.”
”Seriously?” Rydel was surprised. He was very familiar with that azure mine and he was sure that the highest level he'd encountered was lv. 17 and most were lv. 10 or lower. ”Are you sure? How many were there?”
”At least ten over lv. 15, at least that's how many surrounded us,” Drad spoke up, finally willing to speak openly. ”But I think there are a lot more, and there are probably some over lv. 20 too.”
”Wow, looks like I'll be doing a lot more leveling then I'd expected.” A couple of notifications from the system went off but Jack ignored them for now. That's when he noticed that he had old notifications waiting for him.
A little excited to explore the new notifications later, Jack quickly returned to the conversation. ”Other than that city, were there any other active settlements?”
”There were a couple, but now I understand that they were outposts and not settlements. That's probably how they knew we had approached the city,” said Drad.
”Then don't worry too much. Rydel here can handle any high-level goblins with ease, and I can come up with something that'll even the playing field.” Jack's eccentric smile caused the clerics to feel nervous.
”What are you going to do?” asked Drad.
Jack laughed, ”Since the goblins want to group up so much, that just makes our plans a lot easier, right captain?”
”You know it kid,” said Rydel. ”You two shouldn't worry too much, the association will step in and take care of this. Is there anything else we should know?”
Drad shook his head as Slivia began to watch Bowser finish chomping on a charred pig femur. Jack said, ”Good, then you're free to go. Thanks to your info, I'm even more excited to get inside that mine.”
The clerics started to think Jack had gone crazy, but seeing Rydel's smile, they could only assume that the hunter duo had a plan. They said goodbye to the hunter duo and Slivia waved goodbye to Bowser.
As the two closed the door behind them, Jack roared with laughter. ”Yo Captain, it looks like we'll both be leveling up this time. Just imagine the loot!” Both Jack and Rydel celebrated their future success with brundy and food till dawn.