No Way They'd Dig Straight Down
“No!”
I gently pushed away Camilla’s head as she lunged forward, speaking firmly.
I couldn’t trust her with the controls. She might pull something weird.
She could handle the mechanics fine, but I needed to judge the incoming info on the spot.
And for that, I had to be the one operating it.
Besides, Camilla had other tasks.
“Camilla, stuff the puppets inside the skeleton miner’s body.”
“Ehh… right here?”
“We’ve gotta infiltrate first, right? Once the puppets are in, start mapping the place.”
Back in my hunter days, I’d shove bombs into monsters and charge them ahead.
Not the soul-interference method like now, but a rougher approach—forcing joints with auxiliary parts.
No time to be picky.
Back then.
Reminds me of those monster rights activists. But… not a bad strategy, huh?
Not bad at all.
I could cram wrathfire potions or flame burst mines into that hollow torso.
Just in case.
After a moment’s thought, I strapped a flame burst mine between the skeleton miner’s ribs.
Detonate it right before control expires—should be fine.
Wrathfire potion packs a punch but’s too quiet.
So, the flashy flame burst mine it was.
If enemies show, it’ll draw their eyes.
Thud-thud-thud—
“Master! Go! Skullhead! Charge!”
Camilla, hyped all by herself.
No sense of danger at all.
She patted the skeleton miner’s skull and pointed toward the workshop.
Pop-crack-pop—
Overstuffed body making cute little noises as it shuffled slowly toward the workshop.
Worn-out pickaxe slung over its shoulder, the skeleton miner trudged on.
“Lena, keep watch around us. Camilla and I need to focus for a while. I’ll assign you two puppets.”
“Yes! Don’t worry! I’ll set up a long-range Sunogi sniper too!”
“Thanks.”
With that, I synced my vision to the skeleton miner.
Its view filled my sight.
Pop-crack-pop—
A small pit dug into a low hill, big enough for one person.
Beyond it, a wider space opened up.
A flask-shaped structure.
Undead patrolling inside.
Skeleton soldiers too… zombies and ghouls? What a mix. No other skeleton miners, though?
As the skeleton miner appeared, eyes turned its way.
But soon, they lost interest and resumed patrolling.
I scanned the surroundings.
Unlike the undead, not a great spot for humans.
Dark as hell, and… rotten puddles? That’s trouble.
No light penetrated the underground cavern.
But through the skeleton’s eyes, I could make out shapes fine.
Problem was the puddles—rotting monster corpses pooled everywhere.
Probably gas-filled…
Perfect for undead.
Not for humans.
We’d need prep before entering.
“Camilla, release the magic puppets.”
Puppets hidden in the skeleton miner’s body scattered at once.
Excluding those left at Baron Sellevan’s castle and with Lena, one soul-tracking puppet and three info-gathering ones activated simultaneously.
“Ugh… dizzy.”
Even Camilla struggled directly controlling four puppets.
But she managed anyway.
“Master! There’s more underground! Dive in?”
“Push as far as you can for now.”
“He-het, trust me! I’ll show you properly!”
Adapting fast—her words steadied too.
Still, eyes shut in focus.
Let’s scout the first floor closely.
While Camilla mapped, I toured level 1.
More underground meant they hadn’t found what they wanted here.
Magrid’s Legacy—dig straight down like idiots to find it?
No way.
Not a miner-exclusive inheritance, hidden that crudely.
Definitely some magical mechanism.
No Magrid insignia on them, so brute-forcing hidden spots.
Even the mana circuits carved into the workshop walls said as much.
Inactive now, but…
Inactive mana circuits etched along the walls.
I followed their origin for a bit.
Pop-crack?
The skeleton miner halted.
Spotted something collapsed amid the patrolling undead.
That’s…
A corpse.
Closer look confirmed it instantly.
Holy knight corpses.
Massive silver armor, copper ornaments.
Matched Camilla’s description.
One holy knight lay neatly arranged.
Fell in battle here, probably.
They came. Judging by the state…
Undead corpses piled like mountains around.
Sacrificed lives to push deeper, it seemed.
Wrong choice, though.
Shouldn’t go down.
Here it is.
Not far from the holy knight’s body.
Found the nexus where mana circuits converged.
Entrance here—yet they dug underground? Forcing entry?
Found this but couldn’t enter, so dug instead.
I didn’t need to.
“Camilla, map done?”
“Almost… ugh!”
“Camilla! You okay?”
Blood streamed from Camilla’s nose.
She looked ready to cry.
“Master… I lost another puppet on underground level 3. Please… forgive me. Don’t throw me away! I’m still useful! Please…”
Overreacting a bit.
I smiled at her.
“Won’t throw you away. No plans to, so don’t say that.”
“R-really? But I already broke two of Master’s puppets?”
“It’s fine. You’re way more important than some puppets.”
“M-Master says I’m… more important? Way more? Way more… He-hehng, the important one! Me!”
Camilla’s slumped shoulders straightened.
Her face flushed red.
Minion side effect? Facial flushing.
Time to enter. Internal situation first…
Not cozy inside.
Scouted underground level 3 so far.
Level 2: mid-to-low undead, about 100 on guard and patrol.
Level 3: multiple skeleton miners, plus 5 higher undead overseeing.
After a cleanup, this many left?
Tongue-clicking numbers.
Even after holy knights swept once.
Higher undead… tricky.
Last commander black skeleton was mid-tier.
Higher tier would be a pain.
Worst: special entity.
Detected my puppet?
Camilla’s magic puppet destroyed by it.
Seemed hyper-sensitive to presence.
Holy knights drew aggro, at least?
Camilla spotted a holy knight group on level 2.
Marked as “in combat”—but details said otherwise.
Lucky break…
Higher undead focused there.
Slip into level 1, loot Magrid’s Legacy.
Sorry, holy knights.
“Lena, Camilla. Entering soon. Hold tight.”
“Making gear? I’m ready…”
“Need something.”
“Why not just go? Want me to scout? Level 1’s easy…”
“You might be fine, but Lena and I aren’t.”
Camilla probably okay.
Poison resistance ignores most potions.
I shared abilities, but untested.
Can’t experiment on myself—prep thoroughly.
Especially for Lena.
Thought of those poison puddles.
Gas masks needed.
Searching crafting item list.
Invention Insight
Magi-tech Gas Mask blueprint discovered.
Medieval doctor’s beak mask came to mind.
Mix mana stone powder with potion, soak the beak tip—blocks poison gas.
Simple structure, easy make.
“Camilla, one mana stone.”
“Yes! Here!”
“Ooh! Heir of Magrid crafts! For Magrid’s Legacy! Raaah!”
Camilla’s focus slipping.
Lena reined her in.
Back to crafting.
Simple version’ll do.
Placed mana stone on palm, cast Tears of Purification.
Blue light bloomed from it.
Purity visibly rising.
This’ll handle poison fine.
Spread powder on cloth, applied Echo of Detox—cloth glowed softly.
Infused with purifying mana.
Issue: duration.
Seal with Engraving of Preservation…
Cast spell—subtle vibration from cloth.
Magics interfering.
Hmm… Harmonize with Guidance of Harmony?
Stolen from Stain—handy.
1-class combos might’ve warned of explosions otherwise.
Cast Guidance of Harmony—vibration settled.
Soft glow rose instead.
And the message.
Successfully crafted Harmonized Magi-tech Gas Mask.
◈ Purifies toxic gas (A-rank)
◈ Purifies contaminated air (A-rank)
◈ Purification duration: 12 hours
◈ Special: Superior comfort
◈ Special: Minimal breathing resistance
New blueprint added: Harmonized Magi-tech Gas Mask
“This should do.”
Tried it on—breathing easy.
Lightweight, no vision block, comfy.
Good enough.
Made three, handed one each.
“Amazing! This really blocks poison?”
“If it works right, yeah. Lena, if anything feels off, bail immediately. Got it?”
“Yes! Don’t worry! I won’t be a burden!”
Confident Lena.
Camilla looked grumpy.
“Master… do we have to? It’s uncomfortable…”
“Just in case. Plus, no point showing your face to those types.”
Holy knights aside, someone controlled the undead.
No appeal in flashing faces.
“Alright, entering.”
With that, we moved into the workshop.
Soon, gas mask’s effect wowed us.
“How’d the holy knights endure this?”
“Faith? That’s why they died.”
“Sad, kinda.”
Poison wasn’t ignorable.
Undead fine, but living things like me? One whiff and done.
Like ammonia to the nose—unbearable even a second.
Camilla’s complaints vanished.
Deeper in, worse than skeleton’s view.
Then—
Boom-boom-blast—
The flame burst mine detonated.
Ugh—
Clatter-clatter—
Level 1 undead eyes snapped to the explosion.
Now.
We dashed toward the mana circuit nexus.