Chapter 43 Going Deeper

The first floor of the abandoned crystal mine had been picked clean, but Bill and Suzuka were determined to find what they were looking for. They knew that the valuable crystals were deeper in the mine, and they were willing to go as deep as necessary.

As they descended to the second floor of the mine, the air grew colder and the tunnels narrower. The light from the surface grew dimmer and they were forced to rely on the light from their torches.

The second floor was different from the first. It was darker and colder, and the walls were lined with crystals of various sizes and colors. Suzuka was amazed by the beauty of the crystals, Bill didn't really care, he has seen it plenty of times.

As they walked deeper into the mine, they heard a strange noise coming from the distance. Bill and Suzuka exchanged a look and readied their weapons.

"Girl! Ready your weapon," Bill whispered. "Something up ahead"

They came across a group of aggressive golems, they were different than the passive ones they found before. They were tall and made of rock with crystals and metal sticking out of them. These golems were actively mining, digging into the walls with their crystalline hands, and extracting small chunks of crystal and metal ore.

The cave was echoing with the crunching sounds of the golems eating the raw minerals. The golems paid no mind to Bill and Suzuka as they were busy with their mining. They were completely focused on their task and did not seem to notice the intruders.

Bill and Suzuka made their way through the chamber, carefully avoiding the golems as they searched for the best crystals. They could see that the golems had already mined a lot of the walls, but there were still some areas that were untouched.

As Bill and Suzuka continued their search, they found walls lined with veins of crystal, but they were of lower quality.

"This isn't what Bill looking for," Bill said, as he examined a crystal. "I need something higher quality, bigger!"

"Yeah, these are tiny crystals. We have to keep searching," Suzuka said, as she looked around. "But hey! There's still a chance we'll find what we're looking for. I mean, we found crystals here, It's not like golems much them all".

"On that, your right, girl," Bill said, as he was looking over the cave walls.

As they searched the floor, they could feel the danger increasing. The air was getting mixed with corrupted magic, and they could hear strange noises coming from the dark. They knew they had to be careful.

"We should keep quiet," Bill whispered. "And move with the minimum conversation, the corrupted magic is showing here. We might run into some shadow ghouls."

Suzuka nodded in agreement, and they continued their search in silence. They moved cautiously, scanning the walls for high-quality crystals.

As they searched, they realized that the crystals on this floor were not of the quality they were looking for. They were disappointed, but they knew they had to keep going. They had to go lower, to the third floor.

As Bill and Suzuka descended to the third floor of the mine, they found the path to be hard and narrow. Places had collapsed, and there was a lot of debris blocking the way. The corrupted magic was not as bad as they had thought, but it was pitch black, and the torches they had could only light up a few meters in front of them. The lingering remains of corrupted magic were dispersing the light from the torches, making torches less effective.

They moved slowly and carefully, using their torches as a guide in the dark. The sound of their footsteps echoed through the mine, making it hard to be stealthy.

As they arrived at the third floor, Bill walked to the wall and hit it with a pick he had brought with him. He rustled through the pile of debris he created and picked a few small crystals.

"Girl, look," he said, as he held up the crystals. "They are not pearl and the quality is bad, but they're better than nothing. Take them and infuse some mana in them, we will get some light."

"That's great, good thinking Bill," Suzuka said, as she looked at the crystals. "These torches do not make enough light. Now we might have a chance to see where to go, at least."

Using a new source of light they searched the floor and found some more crystals of low quality, but it was not what they were looking for. As Bill and Suzuka searched the third floor of the mine, they found more and more crystals. Suzuka stashed as many as she could in her bag, knowing they would be useful to light the dark room. Bill was mining anything he deemed worth, his pick was striking the walls with a steady rhythm.

They were so focused on their task that they lost track of time and the night came. As the darkness enveloped the forest, a new danger arose. The shadow ghouls, who called this mine their den, began to stir.

But Bill and Suzuka were unaware of the coming threat. The ghouls were attracted by the noise coming from the third floor. It won't take them long before they reach the third floor where Bill and Suzuka are.

Bill and Suzuka were ready, they knew they couldn't stay there for long. They had to focus on the task they came here for, to find the big crystal.

"That should do it, we have enough crystals for now," Bill said, as he looked at the pile of crystals he harvested from the cave walls. "We need to focus on finding the big crystal."

"Agreed," Suzuka said, as she looked around. "We have to keep searching."

They searched the floor, looking for any signs of the big crystal. They knew it was here somewhere, and they were determined to find it. They moved quickly, scanning the walls for any signs of useful crystals.

As they searched deeper into the mine, Bill and Suzuka finally found the big crystal. It was hidden behind a pile of debris, and as they found it, the shadow ghouls finally closed in on them.

The ghouls were ready to attack, but Suzuka was holding a crystal that emitted enough light to stall them for a second. The bright light from the crystal prevented the ghouls from ambushing them.

The shadow ghouls were annoying creatures. They could levitate, making no footstep sound, and their bodies were made out of human corpses exposed to critical amounts of corrupted magic. They could burst into shadow-like mist before the attack lands a hit and solidify to attack, making them hard to hit with physical attacks. Physical attacks were almost useless against them.

Bill and Suzuka were completely unaware of the ghouls' presence until they felt a chill run down their spines. Suddenly, they felt a strange presence behind them. They turned around and saw the ghouls emerging from the shadows.

The ghouls were tall and thin, with elongated limbs and fingers. Their eyes glowed red in the darkness, and their mouths were open, revealing sharp teeth. They were shrouded in darkness, and their presence was eerie and spooky. They moved with fluid grace, their elongated fingers reaching out to grab at the air. The sound of their movement was like a whisper, and it sent shivers down Bill and Suzuka's spines.

As the ghouls closed in, Bill and Suzuka raised their weapons to defend themselves. But the ghouls were fast, and they seemed to be able to move through the shadows.

As the ghouls closed in, Bill and Suzuka prepared to defend themselves. Bill knew it was almost pointless to attack them with his axe and didn't bother to attack as they just turned to mist and the attack misses. But Suzuka didn't know that and stepped in for the kill.

She launched a flurry of swings with her sword, but the ghouls turned to mist and countered her on the first chance. As expected, her attacks didn't land a single hit. With no results, she took a step back and asked Bill what to do now.

"So! Bill! What are these things, I can't hit them," Suzuka said as she was stepping backward toward Bill.

"Bhaaahh! Damn shadow ghouls, that's what they are! We need to use light," Bill said, as he held up a big crystal in his hand. "Stupid girl! Read the monsterpedia for information on monsters, here, take the big crystal and infuse mana in it. This will light up the whole room we are in and then we can make a short work of them."

The ghouls were fast, but the light from the big crystal slowed them down, making it easier for Bill and Suzuka to land their attacks. As Bill and Suzuka fought the shadow ghouls, the mine began to shake and rumble. The mine was old and abandoned for a very long time, and no one was maintaining it. On top of that, the crystal golems were digging through it like mole rats, making the whole mine unstable and prone to collapse.

The ground beneath them cracked, and chunks of rock fell from the ceiling. Bill and Suzuka had to dodge and weave to avoid the falling debris, all the while fighting off the ghouls.

The ghouls seemed to be using the instability of the mine to their advantage, disappearing into the shadows and reappearing behind them. But Bill and Suzuka were quick on their feet, and they were able to keep the ghouls at bay.

As the fight raged on, the mine became more and more unstable. The ground beneath them was shaking, and the walls were cracking. Bill and Suzuka knew they had to end the fight quickly or they would be buried alive.

With a burst of energy, Bill swung his massive axe at a ghoul, but it burst into mist, and Bill buried his axe into an already unstable and cracked wall. The wall shattered and crumbled, burying the exit. Now they were trapped in the mine with the ghouls.