Chương 10

Hunter Ellen Ellen was worried. She hadn't braved going into the cave again—as a Hunter, she was much more suited for being outside than crawling through the darkness with their only lantern. Village Ellen wasn't suited for helping her out, since the inn had been slow and they really couldn't afford another pair of boots any time soon. So she'd carefully laid pebbles and thread around the entrance of the cave.

It wasn't anything close to enough to obstruct anyone, but she'd been careful to memorize the exact layout, and she really doubted a goblin would be smart enough to pick their way carefully through, or see enough of a pattern to put things exactly back where they'd been. Yet the cave showed no signs of anything leaving. If the goblins were in there, they'd been hiding for over five days now, and that seemed unlikely. Either Village Ellen's theory about the goblins was wrong…

or there was another way out of the cave system, which was entirely possible.

"Ugh, what is that smell?" A familiar voice tugged Ellen out of her idle thoughts while she was trimming the pelt. Two Ellens were standing nearby, revealing Village Ellen—now in her normal clothes instead of the borrowed dress—standing next to the returned Adventurer Ellen. The latter was wrinkling her nose in disgust, while Village Ellen tried not to laugh. Village Ellen had seen this plenty of times.

"Squirrel brains." Hunter Ellen grinned as she turned to dunk her hands into her rinsing water, using a mostly-intact clay jar she'd found in the ruins. The sticky goop slid off her fingers with some rubbing in the water, while she explained the situation.

"I've been practicing with my sling and thrown rocks to get small game. I've mostly got the cooking part down and found a huge patch of potatoes nearby, so getting by without much help now." She flicked her fingers dry and wiped them on the pile of grass she'd prepared.

"It's going to be getting colder soon," she pointed out.

"I've been trying to figure out how to preserve pelts so we can start making our own cloaks and blankets. Buying them is expensive! I've mostly figured out how to make rawhide and could probably put together another pair of sandals now… but clothing is going to be a problem. Especially if we end up with more Ellens." The thought made Adventurer Ellen grimace, but she was already dropping her pack and handing over a wrapped bundle.

"Well, when you figure it out, I got you a bow and some arrows for hunting something bigger. I managed to get more clothes as well, but they're not much. I didn't have a lot left over after buying the bow and another bedroll." Ellen gestured at the pack after picking up the bow.

"Pick that up. I'm using this house to do the pelt preparation because it smells bad. Let's at least drop that off at the tent, in case it rains." The day was a little overcast, and while Ellen couldn't smell any dampness in the air, the winds had a way of surprising her here. The overhang she used to keep her pelts dry wouldn't shelter anything much larger.

"Right," Adventurer Ellen agreed, heaving it up again. She stumbled, and Village Ellen caught the girl and shook her head, shifting the pack to her back instead.

"You've been carrying this thing the entire way. At least let me do this for now. Really wish you'd been able to afford a new pair of boots…" Village Ellen sighed. She was still stuck in sandals, which weren't the best for hiking around the mountain.

"I work with what I have." Adventurer Ellen shrugged, then glanced back at Ellen.

"So we do have another job from the Guild. It doesn't pay well but it could help our reputation. Not sure how it'll help us get more clothes, but we'll figure something out. You've probably wandered around a little bit, think you could help map out the area before we hit the cave again? I just need to map it out." Ellen smiled.

"I do have something I think you should see. I haven't explored it yet, but let's drop our extra stuff off and the bow too. We won't need it and I haven't practiced with it yet anyway. Have you hit Level 7 yet?" Adventurer Ellen shook her head.

"Not quite, but I'm close. That's why I thought we could map out the area around the cave first. That should push me over the edge, just in case there's more dangerous stuff in the cave. Not that it will help much…" Village Ellen nodded in agreement. She had also hit Level 7, but as usual that Level provided no tangible benefit. It was widely believed that higher Levels increased survivability in some unknown manner outside of raw attributes and abilities.

Ellen couldn't blame her Adventurer self for wanting at least that much, whether true or not, given their poor track record in the cave.

"Village Ellen and I both hit that a bit ago, but I guess you've been traveling." Ellen tucked the bow under the stretched cover of the tent. It was basically just the roof of her dwelling now, tucked away in a corner of one of the most intact buildings to keep the wind away. It was next to the hearth, but she was pretty sure a family of birds or bats or something were in the chimney so she hadn't dared to try to use it yet.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Is this going to be dangerous?" Village Ellen asked with a frown.

"I can head back to the inn if it's dangerous." Ellen shook her head.

"It shouldn't be that dangerous. You'll have to be careful, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any large animals or monsters where we're going. Grab the lantern though, we'll need it. I cut the wick just yesterday and it still has half the oil, that should be plenty for a quick trip." Adventurer Ellen frowned, "I don't want to go in a cave…"

"It's not a cave." Ellen grinned.

"You'll see." Ellen gave the other two a smug smile as they examined the rotting criss-cross of boards. Village Ellen hung back with the lantern held high, casting light on the aging timbers, while Adventurer Ellen looked over the rusted nails holding the boards in place.

"Well, they're intact… barely." Adventurer Ellen stepped back and held out a hand, leading Village Ellen to pass her the sturdy walking staff she'd been using.

"How did you find it so quickly?" Ellen shrugged.

"It's not that far from Onroc, and you can kind of see where the road used to be leading up to it. My Awareness Perk is really helping out in spotting this stuff. I did have to clear a lot of brush around the entrance at first, but I didn't want to go in without the rest of you."

"I guess this is the mine… why is it boarded up?" Village Ellen's question had some trepidation in it, and the way she eyed the boards made it seem like she was ready for something to lash out and grapple her from within. Adventurer Ellen laughed.

"Probably to keep curious people from wandering in and getting lost! These boards won't hold anything really dangerous in or out, don't worry. Rats, groundhogs, something like that might be in there… I'm not sure what animals live in caves actually." She took the walking stick and wedged it in between some of the boards, giving a quick yank backward. Creaking, splintering noises filled the small and dusty mine entrance.

The boarded up section was about three yards in from the larger, timber-framed opening in the side of the mountain. The space outside had been unnaturally flat when she'd noticed it, a result of the old town making the space more accessible.

"I'm surprised something bigger hasn't moved in," Ellen muttered.

"The place has been abandoned for decades. Let's not go too far in, I'm just curious if the mine is still functional." Village Ellen shook her head.

"It's not functional without people, but as far as I've heard it should still have ore in it. And I'd bet the boards weren't always so weak. We're lucky, but it isn't that strange that nothing moved in after all that time. It's probably only been that rotted away for ten, maybe fifteen years?" Ellen pointed to some of the refuse piles at the side.

"Yeah, and it looks like a bear or something was here for a while, just using the front part of the mine for shelter. Don't worry, those are old bones. Nothing big has been here recently. I don't have Tracking, but I can tell that much." Adventurer Ellen gave one last good kick to the lowest board, cracking it back to rest against the mine wall.

"You've picked up a lot of useful skills, Hunter. I kind of feel like you two left me behind!"

"You got to go back and become the adventurer, so no complaining," Ellen countered, stepping forward and motioning for Village Ellen to follow.

"About that…" Adventurer Ellen paused for a moment.

"Our card keeps changing Level and Class. I think it is somehow picking up on all of us? It's weird, but I'm kind of relieved. That means we're all still uh… us." Ellen gave a noncommittal agreement to that. Not because she wasn't interested, but because she was busy examining the layout, and she'd given up worrying about her identity days ago. Just going a few more yards inward, the light dimmed considerably.

She could make out a drainage ditch beside her, with the mine sloping up instead of down, like she expected. The passage was also more regular than she'd envisioned, almost rectangular. Her Awareness drew her attention to little carved shelves in the wall, and she paused to run a finger over one. Soot. They were places for lamps or torches.

"How do people work in a place like this? It's so dark! Do they carry a lantern and a pickaxe?" Adventurer Ellen complained loudly from ahead, and then quieted as her voice carried echoing down the tunnel.

"These nooks are for the lights," Ellen explained.

"We probably shouldn't go too much farther. I've heard of bad air and things that can kill you without you noticing." Village Ellen stepped past, easing up next to where Adventurer Ellen stood and tucking the lantern into one of the nooks. She stood back slightly to look around, following the ancient framing of the timbers shoring up parts of the tunnel. It was still hard to make out the details in the dim light… that lantern wasn't meant for use in a nook.

"I wonder how much work it would be to get this place operating again?" Adventurer Ellen looked at the ceiling, then all around, squinting ahead into the darkness.

"I think I do see a side tunnel further ahead." Ellen felt a moment of alarm just a fraction of a second too late. Something about the support beams was bothering her… but they looked solid, even after all these years. Some parts might be rotted, and they should be replaced, but nothing looked bad in the moment. It wasn't rot though. She felt it was a bad idea as she yelled out a warning.

"GET BACK!" She was too late. Adventurer Ellen's hand tried to brace on the support beam… and went right through it. Not rotted, just hollow. Eaten away by insects ages ago, leaving just the outer surface. Ellen watched in horror as the beam disintegrated into a fine powder from the point of impact upward. Some of the beam remained, but the impact of the hand, and the weight behind it, shifted what little structure was left. She'd expected a massive tunnel collapse, but no such thing happened.

If the tunnel were that unstable, the damaged beam would have given way long ago. All that did fall was the collection of packed rocks at the corner… but that was still a deadly tumble. Ellen knew another one of them was going to die. She just didn't realize which one. Village Ellen, for all her complaints about fear and being timid, didn't hesitate to move and shove Adventurer Ellen out of the way. The latter toppled away, narrowly missed by the cascade of stone and crumbling timber.

The village girl was not so lucky.