Chapter 81: Lifeline.

Chapter 81 - Lifeline.Lee had never seen mineral veins like these before.

Shaped as roots of a tree, but gloving in the dark like a flashlight that was about to go out, they stretched along the tunnel walls for dozens of yards. But Dwafex's warning to not touch anything was valid – the cursed ones, the slaves who mined here, all had strange mutations on their bodies.

Swellings, tumors and protuberances were only minor side effects. Many had oversized limbs or exactly the opposite – one or two tiny ones. And most faces were so disfigured at some point Lee felt as if he had stepped into a horror movie.

To see everyone around crippled in one way or another was beyond depressing, and it was easy to guess that the air in the tunnel was definitely contaminated.

Fortunately they rushed through quickly and came to another area where different kind of material was mined. It was surprising how rich the underground was compared to the endless wasteland above. But when they arrived at the next grotto, it became clear that it hasn't always been this way.

Even under the weak lighting one could discern the long, gray beams arching from two sides to the very top, and it took few moments for Lee to realize the cave hall was actually inside of a giant beast's rib cage. It felt too unrealistic, though, and he tried to figure out another explanation why such large girders could be there, when the shorty broke the silence first.

"It's exactly what you think." He said, noticing the direction Lee was looking at.

Everyone, including him, had this reaction when arriving to this place for the first time.

"There are many myths regarding this place and several other that have similar remains, but undoubtedly all are somehow related to Lunax." Dwafex continued, "Some say these creatures were his pets, some say they were ancient beasts who dared to challenge the God. But no matter what – all of them are dead now."

Lee's first impulse was to joke about the beasts eating the world dry and then dying, but he held back to not antagonize his guide. He answered with a nod, and it looked like Dwafex was pleased with the response.

"It should be the time for the prayer now." The shorty said, "We'll eat afterwards."



Truth to be said, Lee was beyond spent.

Them praying now meant they had walked through the night, and he found it hard to hold back yawns. Of course, he would've loved to pass out right there on the spot, but the damn shorty's energy reserves seemed endless, and it wasn't advisable to show any sign of weakness.

After the back exercise that slightly woke Lee up, they got their bags filled and sat down to have a breakfast. Dwafex, impressed by Lee's ability to keep his mouth shut, said, "You're the best newbie I ever had, you know? I see you have questions, so ask. I'm in a good mood now."

'What are the minerals they mine? How deep underground we are? How far is it to Ashland? How many times have you gone through these tunnels to know the way? How big is the tunnel system ...' From the top of his head Lee could ask over a dozen questions, but he settled for one that potentially required the longest explanation.

"How deep exactly are the provisions kept?" He asked, "In almost all cave halls people are preparing meals, but we have walked for so long ... and I haven't noticed nor food supplies nor blobs delivered to these remote places ..."

"Who told you the provisions have to be stored somewhere deep?" Dwafex said, but his raised eyebrows hinted he was surprised, "The food is always kept near icy veins that stretch all around the world. It's the common knowledge."

"I've spent my hole life in the fortress, sorry! This is my first run, that's why I was supposed to stick with you." Lee gave a vague explanation.

He hinted at this after their first meal, and it was a reasonable story to stick with.

"Your fortress was similarly built on a spot where the icy vein reaches closer to the surface. In fact, that's how the spot to build any place is chosen." Dwafex said, "The tunnel system is large enough to inadvertently touch icy veins on countless occasions, and the storages are located exactly there."

'So there are a bunch of entrances and we might not be deep at all. We are simply somewhere underground.' Lee immediately guessed the implication, but didn't notice the shadow that crossed Dwafex's face.

The guy guessed there was something off with his young companion when they introduced themselves, but now was absolutely certain.

"What about the deep mines?" Lee asked. He decided to use the brief moment of Dwafex's generosity and milk some more information, "How deep we are going to go?"



"You'll see!" The shorty grinned, "But now we should rest. We earned it."

The discussion was over, but Lee didn't mind. He passed out in an instant, although apologizing in advance in case he overslept. The prospect of taking another nap lying on the moss seemed too irresistible.

What he didn't know was that the messengers never slept on the way – this was Dwafex's last test and Lee failed it similar to the ones before.

Dwafex waited for a while, until he was certain Lee was asleep, and got back up. Almost all messengers were chosen from his race – and Lee claiming to be one raised his suspicions right away. Afterwards with every word the guy said and with every step he took, it became more and more clear this was not a colleague.

Everyone knew messengers always went along the set route, delivering and picking up new messages to and from set contacts. In a way this was the local postal system, except both, the recipients and the senders, were the officials overlooking an object – be it mines, farms, or fortresses.

This was a respected job that wasn't given to anyone random, in addition, messengers carried a token that proved their identities.

Dwafex was certain Lee didn't have one. But he knew there was something underneath Lee's shirt that the kid handled with great care.

Most likely he had stolen something valuable and before turning him to the guards, shorty intended to confiscate the thing. That was also the reason why he brought Lee so deep in the tunnel system so the kid had no clue where to run, and Dwafex could use his messenger's token to order guards to shackle the thief for life.

Obviously the authority the token provided was questionable, but everyone here, at least the important people, knew him, thus the shorty was certain his plan was going to work.

The spot Dwafex chose to settle down was remote enough and no one could see them. He carefully crawled next to Lee, but the guy was sleeping all crawled up, like a dead bug. There was no way to inspect what he was hiding under the dirty shirt, but somehow Dwafex was unwilling to wake him up.

The guy did come from the fortress where the new generation of the vanguard was trained and certainly could overpower him one on one. While his race had an incredible endurance, physically they weren't as strong, to not speak about the lack of combat training.

It took a long time for Lee to switch positions, and it drove Dwafex crazy. He was reluctant to confront Lee directly and if things went like this, he had to run around the tunnels for one more day to set up another plausible rest. The kid wasn't a messenger, but he wasn't stupid and could get suspicious.

Fortunately Lee in his dreamworld seemed to be too comfortable to care and at some point finally turned on his back, almost inviting Dwafex over to frisk him. The latter didn't waste a moment, immediately lifted Lee's shirt and swiftly pulled out the object from under it.



It wasn't something valuable, though. At least that was Dwafex's first impression.

It looked like a wooden plaque, a bit larger than a palm, and strange symbols were written on both sides. The piece of wood was dirty and in the darkness it was hard to discern what exactly were the symbols, but it wasn't anything he had seen in his life.

"What the ..." Dwafex involuntarily blurted, and the next moment the plaque was snatched from his hands.

"Are you crazy?" Lee shouted at him.

Apparently the two words were enough to wake him up, and the usually silent Dwafex could only curse himself for the blunder. But the worst was about to come.

"Do you want us both to get killed?" Lee continued, but then lowered his voice, saying, "We can't inspect these things nor tell anyone about them!"

Dwafex's heart was racing in panic, although he expected anything but the current reaction Lee had.

"W ... what ... what is that?" He stuttered, "Wh ... who are you?"

"Shhh ... keep your voice low!" Lee whispered, "I told you, I'm a messenger! This is a message! But neither you nor I are allowed to inspect it!"

It was too obvious the shorty was suspicious of him from the very beginning. Lee had to wait so long for the coward to finally make a move, he actually almost fell asleep.

He basically had to push the plaque into Dwafex's hands who in the end gathered the courage, and snatched it from under Lee's shirt when even a toddler could've done it.

This was the lifeline Lee prepared before leaving the fortress. It was the plan b he intended to use if anyone asked about his identity before he changed the plans and left Potato hanging.