72 Mindanium (1/2)
As soon as the Pickaxes were manufactured, the soldiers went to work. Once they found out that what they were mining would strengthen the walls, everyone got motivated. Everyone was aware that if their walls were to fall, it would, at the very least, lead to hundreds of casualties and a much more difficult defense.
”Send out the order. The ones stationed at home, besides the ones on guard duty, are to immediately investigate all the caves we've searched before. Practice extreme caution. Follow protocol. If you get too cocky, you might not even know what killed you.” Luna said. He was well aware that there were people who wanted to impress him and possibly gain a higher position. In the caves, as they are now, this can be a liability.
During the early stages, every time they would conquer more territories, they would search every nook and cranny. Especially the caves. Any RPG veteran would always check cave areas for rare items. While they did find some items, none of them were particularly that impressive.
They were also quite busy stabilizing their hold on Negros island. This was why they didn't bother rechecking them.
”Initially, we wanted to hold just these few islands. But it seems now we have to make a decision.” Sura said.
”Lady Sura is right. The more islands we own, the more we can secure these resources and whatever else may come with these new dynamics.” Elder Aran compounded on her statement while rubbing his forehead. This was a tough choice indeed.
”I think we should expand more, Luna,” Sura suggested.
”I know.” Luna acknowledged, then he explained his worries, ”But you still have to take into account, the possibility of things emerging from those caves. If that happens, will we be able to stop them when our forces are spread out too thin? Unlike dungeons in an MMORPG, I didn't notice anything that might stop creatures from going out.”
”This... I see. In our world, I was born when the war was already ongoing. Creatures you would find in dungeons were also in the outside, but I've never seen them actually come out. Then again, all the different races were constantly pushing in deeper and not giving the dungeon dwellers many chances to leave.” Elder Aran explained his reasoning.
”In our planet, the monsters mainly used dungeons as their home base, but it's not a good comparison. Our planet never went through anything that Earth is going through right now.” Sura shared her thoughts as well.
”Alright. It seems there's no sure answer just yet, so we'll have to test it out ourselves.” Luna said.
Just as they were discussing with each other, he received a message from General Leman.
”Sir.” The General was one of the few who actually didn't feel awkward by not calling him ”Lord.” As a matter of fact, he preferred it that way. That was just his personality, especially after being in his position for so long. ”We've managed to recruit most of the other Nations we've come across. There were those who refused and we left them alone as per your command. However, as per your command, when they tried to ambush our men and women for their equipment and other 'self-interests,' we retaliated by eliminating the instigators and their kin.”
”Thank you, General Leman. How much ground have you covered so far?”
”As of right now, we've reached the Municipality of Aurora. I've chosen to push forward here while Boni and Elise decided to scour Mount Malindang. They believe those things you call Agimat to exist there.”
”I see, that's fine. Have you sent a force towards Zamboanga to help deal with Maute?” Luna asked.
”We've made sure to have squads scout out the areas around Labason, Kalawit, and Ipil. Especially the main roads. Just in case they send a large force and try to catch us off-guard.” General Leman responded. He took the necessary precautions to make sure the Army doesn't suffer casualties due to them being unprepared.
”Alright. Make sure not to expand any further before securing the caves you come across. Mine what you can, and don't go further in than necessary. There might be some high-level beings in there that you all can't take on just yet.” Luna warned them again. ”Carry on, General. Elise is contacting me, they might have found something.”
Cutting off communication with General Leman, he accepted the request from Elise.
”Luna! We found something good!” Elise was ecstatic. One could tell from her current high-pitched voice.
”Good to hear from you too, Elise. Haha! What did you guys find?” Luna asked. Because of how busy everyone has been lately, the original group hasn't been together in one location.
”It's something called <Mindanium>, it's this clear crystal that looks like it holds some type of golden energy inside and apparently it can be used to upgrade weapons! We'll need Pickaxes or something to farm them, can we bother you to have some manufactured?” She asked.
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