Chương 66: Aurichalcum

"You really think so?" Christine replied to Theodore. Sure, as a healer Theodore had an advantage to getting invited to groups to clear dungeons. But she did not believe he would be that much of a desired quantity. Holy might be a rare affinity, but people with the Light affinity could still heal others and were not as hard to come by.

"Of course. I'll have you know…" Theodore started, but was cut off by Arica.

"While I'm sure we are all eager to hear about how you will beat us all to S Rank we have more pressing things to discuss. Has anyone else noticed we haven't so much as seen a Demonic Beast since the wolf pack?"

"I figured we created enough of a disturbance that everything was scared off," Ethan offered.

"Or the other beasts are all afraid of us now," Christine suggested.

"Yeah, we did pretty much own that whole wolf pack," Theodore bragged.

"You mean Damion owned them," Ethan added. When Damion heard Ethan he was momentarily distracted and tripped over a rock, causing everyone to stop. Thankfully, Damion did not fall face first, but the rock caught his attention and while the others kept talking Damion began tracing around the rock with his boot.

"We haven't seen a single Steel Claw Owl, or even any Stone Bears. We have only killed 19 Demonic Beasts," Arica interrupted again.

"All the previous runs reported between 20 and 25 Demonic Beasts. We should be almost done with the dungeon."

"Doesn't your assessment mean we should be fanning out more and searching for more valuable plants?" Ethan asked.

"Since this is just my second dungeon run this might be a stupid question, but are Demonic Beasts and plants for alchemy the only valuable things in a dungeon?" Damion asked as he continued to uncover the ever growing rock with the toe of his boot.

"Anything that you can find in our world you can find in a Breach," Arica said turning to Damion.

"Why? What are you thinking?"

"Come look at this rock," Damion said pointing down to where his boot was kicking the dirt around the rock.

"A rock?" Theodore scoffed.

"Perhaps it is more than just a rock," Ethan said as he knelt down to look at the rock. Ethan took one of his daggers and tapped it against the rock a few times. Damion took a few steps back to give Ethan more room, letting Ethan start digging around the rock with his dagger.

"I don't think this is a rock," Ethan said.

"Raw ore?" Christine said getting down on the ground with Ethan. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. After Christine and Ethan had dug around the suspected piece of ore for a few moments they quickly confirmed that it was more than just a rock. Damion and Theodore joined in the digging and they quickly uncovered what was more of a small boulder than a rock.

As Damion was trying to figure out what kind of raw ore it was, Arica poured her canteen of water over the top of the chunk of ore washing away the dirt and revealing an emerald sheen.

"Green!" Theodore exclaimed.

"Is this really a chunk of Aurichalcum?" Ethan said rubbing the ore to polish a small section.

"It appears so," Arica said.

"Well, congratulations Damion, you have probably found the most valuable item in this entire dungeon""How valuable?"

"Well, it will depend on how pure the chunk of ore is, but there is a good chance this chunk of Aurichalcum is worth a few thousand gold."

"Since we found this chunk of ore, should we go looking for other rocks on the ground? Dig around them to see if we can find more?" Ethan asked.

"No," Theodore said.

"As much as I wish it would be worth it, this is only an E Rank dungeon. Just as we haven't found any more plants, or more Demonic Beasts, the level of this Breach won't support more magical treasures."

"What do you mean?" Damion asked Theodore, but it was Ethan that answered.

"Items with magical properties, like Aurichalcum or Beese Mushrooms, absorb mana in the area to form and grow. The more ambient mana, the more treasures an area can support. With how much we have found already, there is almost no chance that the dungeon can support more."

"On to the cave and the guardian then," Arica said.

"Any idea where that might be?" Damion asked.

"We passed the entrance not too long ago, you just didn't notice," Arica told him. After Arica pulled the chunk of Aurichalcum into her personal storage, the party retraced their steps. The cave that the dungeon guardian resided in had its entrance covered by several thick bushes. Damion did away with the bushes with a couple quick slashes of his sword, giving all of them a good look at the entrance. Damion headed in first, followed by Ethan and Christine with Theodore and Arica bringing up the rear.

The passageway in the cave was barely wide enough for two of them to walk side by side and Damion realized fighting in such close quarters was not going to be easy.

"Do you all mind if I make these next few fights easy? I don't fancy trying to dodge attacks in these close quarters," Damion asked.

"I think we can afford to sacrifice some profit at this point," Arica said.

"Good. As much as I would like to maximize our profits, I think getting through this as quickly and as safely as possible should be our priority."

"I guess we can all relax and enjoy the show," Ethan said sheathing his daggers.

"Theodore, you are in for a good show." The healer just snorted at Ethan's comment and was about to retort, but when the chamber opened up into the first chamber that contained a single Stone Bear, Theodore held his tongue. Seeing only one Demonic Beast, Damion considered just fighting it, but he decided to deliver on Ethan's promise to Theodore. Damion pointed his sword at the Stone Bear and unleashed his fire pillar attack. The fire flashed across the room and struck the Stone Bear in the face.

After letting out a brief roar of pain, the Stone Bear dropped to the ground. Damion ceased his attack allowing the party to see the charred remains of the Stone Bear. In such an enclosed space the stench of burnt flesh was pretty overwhelming and Theodore had already lost his lunch.

"Wow," Ethan exclaimed as he dodged out of the path of Theodore's vomit.

"You'd think a healer would have a stronger stomach." Arica collected the charred corpse and the stench was cut down quite a bit, but Damion could not help but see a smirk on Arica's face when she looked at Theodore heaving.

"On to the second chamber then," Damion said as he moved towards the passageway at the far end of the chamber.

'Fighting with magic is so much easier.' Damion thought with a smile.

'I really can't wait to unlock my magic affinity. Then I can really clean up in dungeons.' When the party reached the next chamber Damion saw another Stone Bear in the center of the chamber. This one however, was sleeping.