Chapter Forty-Eight: Shen Ce Mistaken for a Miner

Chapter Forty-Eight: Shen Ce Mistaken for a Miner

Shen Ce hurried toward the hot spring and knelt on one knee. The cloak covered most of his face, and with the water reflecting and shimmering, the image in the spring was not very clear. Shen Ce took off his hood and, after a careful look, could just make out that his eyes had turned purple, though the color was faint. Having grown used to his black hair and black eyes, he still found it hard to adjust to his current appearance. He recalled the High Priest’s words about the depth of eye color signifying the strength of a demon’s abilities, and he estimated that if he had been born a demon, he would certainly not be considered exceptionally gifted.

Talent was but one aspect, however; with diligent cultivation, the color would deepen over time. Shen Ce opened his attributes panel—it was just as he expected, his class was now Dark Priest, and his skills had changed considerably. Some spells, such as Light Bolt and Light Wall, now had heightened dark bonuses, but otherwise, there were no obvious differences yet.

With these adjustments, Shen Ce felt an itch to test his combat abilities. He hurled a small Light Bolt at Celesus without warning. Celesus, unfazed, calmly sidestepped, letting the bolt explode harmlessly behind him.

Shen Ce was a little disappointed to see Celesus handle his attack so easily, though it was what he had expected—he never thought such a basic trick could harm Celesus.

He approached Celesus and asked in a low voice, “Celesus, how do you think the Dark Priest’s spells compare to those of a Light Priest?” Light Bolt was one of Shen Ce’s most-used spells, a basic single-target priest attack—low mana cost, not especially powerful but highly focused.

“The duration is a bit lacking, but the casting speed is faster,” Celesus remarked, raising an eyebrow with leisurely detachment.

Shen Ce nodded in understanding. “That’s true. I noticed that when I cast Light Bolt just now. Celesus, I’ll go test the magic circle first. If something happens, I’ll private message you.”

Celesus’s lips curved in a smile, his eyes—like the finest obsidian—narrowing slightly, their depths inviting one to fall in. “All right, I’ll wait for you here.”

Shen Ce nodded once again, then strode with determination into the array. Judging by the layout, this was a medium-range teleportation circle. All teleportation arrays required demonstones to activate, and Shen Ce was glad to have a few spares left in his inventory. He placed a medium-grade demonstone at the array’s heart.

A flash of white light enveloped the array, and Shen Ce’s body began to blur. In an instant, he vanished from the circle, and the demonstone at its center disintegrated into dust.

Celesus glanced at the now-restored teleportation circle, then turned toward the hot spring. Imitating Shen Ce, he scooped up some of the spring water, a mysterious smile playing at his lips.

Shen Ce felt his body ripple, vibrating at a strange frequency. After a minute, the sensation faded, and the blinding white light disappeared. Darkness and silence surrounded him, broken only by the faint drip of water.

He instinctively gripped his amethyst staff and cast an illumination spell, lighting the area in an instant. Shen Ce’s eyes widened in amazement—he could hardly believe it. There was so much amethyst crystal here! Where he had arrived earlier, there had been only a small stone wall, but here, amethyst covered every surface of the cavern walls, and of much higher quality!

He walked forward a few steps and saw several broken iron pickaxes abandoned in the corners. Thinking back to the magic circle, Shen Ce realized this amethyst mine clearly had owners. To enter such a treasure trove and possibly leave empty-handed was a difficult feeling to describe.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps, sometimes heavy, sometimes light, approaching from deeper within the cave. Startled, Shen Ce quickly extinguished his illumination spell and pressed himself against the rock wall, raising his staff. He was far from adept at dark priest spells, but he wouldn’t mind practicing on a few intruders.

“Ugh, this lousy pickaxe—I’ve been digging all morning and barely found a thing.”

“No kidding. The durability of these iron tools is pathetic, and the chance of striking amethyst is so low. Such a waste.”

“Don’t even talk about it. If we had money, we’d buy gold pickaxes. But we’re broke, and those NPCs are like vampires—whatever amethyst we dig up, we have to turn in anyway.”

“Did you hear? Apparently, some idiot tried to keep amethyst for himself a few days back.”

“I know that story. What good did hoarding do him? He thought he was clever and high-level, but in the end, the NPCs killed him and sent him back to the beginner’s village. Pathetic, really.”

Because of the cave’s acoustics, the voices sounded oddly distorted and eerie. From their conversation, Shen Ce pieced together a vague sense of where he was. He was certain this was not the realm of light; such a lavish amethyst mine would have been widely discussed on the forums, but he had never heard of this place.

After about two minutes, several beams of white light rounded a distant corner—the group of speakers was finally approaching. Shen Ce caught a glimpse: three burly men. He hesitated, then lowered his weapon. Clearly, their grievances were aimed at the NPCs, not him. What puzzled Shen Ce was, if all the amethyst had to be handed over, why would anyone mine for the NPCs at all?

He observed the three men, each holding a bright yellow miner’s lamp and dressed in a mismatched fashion. They quickly noticed Shen Ce, whose once-pristine priest’s robe was now filthy, streaked with dust and torn in several places—he looked utterly bedraggled.

“Tsk, brother, you’re really down on your luck, aren’t you? Not even a lamp, and you’re out of pickaxes too?” The leader, a warrior clad in iron armor with a brutish face, glanced at Shen Ce, then at the broken picks scattered nearby. His eyes took on a sympathetic look. “With a build like yours, how did you even get in here?”

Only the most helpless and weak players mined alone in the amethyst caverns. Most who wanted out quickly banded together—for mutual protection and to speed up their mining.

Shen Ce’s mind buzzed. From this player’s tone, he realized most who entered this mine did so against their will. With his hood shadowing his face, he lowered his head and murmured, “I was caught and sent here.”

The mage among them, square-jawed and dressed in blue, sneered. “Who here wasn’t caught and sent in?”

“Still, a priest in the amethyst mine is rare. You must be something, brother!” the burly warrior laughed, stepping forward and reaching to clap Shen Ce on the shoulder. “How many people did you kill to get thrown in here?”

Shen Ce hated physical contact with strangers and subtly edged back, muttering, “Not many. I never expected to end up here.”

Kill people? A dark glint flashed in Shen Ce’s eyes as his mind spun—he immediately understood the true purpose of the mine. It was a punishment mine for red-named players. Those who killed too many were sent here, and the only way out was to dig for the NPCs to clear their infamy.

The armored warrior hadn’t expected Shen Ce to back away, but forced a smile. “Hey, you know the kind of people in the amethyst mine—vicious players, all of them. It’s common to snatch each other’s finds. Our group’s small, but we’ve made it this far. Why not join us? We could use a priest, and with you, we’d mine faster.”

Author’s note: (￣▽￣") The short chapter culprit flees under the shield...