Overwhelming Firepower

The Khaldruun continued sleeping, its massive form hidden by layers of stone and darkness, yet its presence pressed against their senses like a physical weight, settling on their shoulders and chests alike.

Breathing felt shallow, as if the air itself resisted being drawn in. They felt a dull pressure behind their eyes, the kind that came before a headache, while their jaws tightened without them realizing it.

Every breath any one of them took felt too loud. Every movement felt like a mistake waiting to happen.

Despite their courage being buffed using rune engraving, there was still fear to be felt just being near a monster that could wipe out the town above simply by moving.

It was Durik who made the first move. His grip tightened around the pickaxe, knuckles whitening as he tested his balance.

For a long heartbeat, he remained frozen, as if reconsidering the decision altogether. Only then did the tool rise, inch by inch, before descending in a strike so careful it barely deserved to be called one.

There was not a single sound heard as his pickaxe hit, not even a single vibration.

Seeing that the others started working as well. No one dared to utter a single word and simply focused on the task at hand.

Dust drifted down with each careful strike, spiraling slowly through the faint light before settling onto armor and hair. Some of it never reached the ground, caught instead in unseen currents stirred by the Khaldruun’s breathing.

Even the stone walls seemed to sweat, moisture clinging to them in thin, glistening veins. Everyone resisted the urge to wipe their faces. Since even that felt like too much movement.

The tunnel grew inch by inch. Each fragment of orichalium was pried free with deliberate care, wrapped, and passed along without a word. They place it inside the cart, where it disappeared into some sort of separate dimensional space.

As they continued to mine, no one could get a grasp on how much time had passed. It was unclear how many minutes or hours they had been mining.

Suddenly, the ground started to shake, and the group quickly understood that this wasn’t an earthquake but something else.

Every single one of them stopped moving and glanced at the side where the giant snake-like being started moving.

Stone groaned softly, not cracking, but adjusting, as if the mountain itself were making room for something far larger than it should contain.

A deep, muffled sound followed, slow, rhythmic, like the draw of a colossal breath.

The Khaldruun’s presence surged, no longer distant, no longer passive. Even through layers of rock, its sheer mass pressed against their senses, heavy and suffocating.

The runes along their boots and clothing flared faintly, warmth spreading through their limbs as they fought to keep fear from turning into panic.

Durik’s pickaxe hovered a finger’s width from the stone, frozen mid-task. Robert’s fingers twitched, then stilled as he forcibly suppressed his mana. Bram controlled his breathing as he stared at the moving behemoth.

Sir Thalos stood unmoving, every muscle taut, as if he were bracing against an unseen tide.

A low scrape echoed through the earth—stone grinding against stone, slow and deliberate. The tunnel trembled as something immense shifted its coils, the vibration crawling up their legs and into their bones.

Dust rained down in thin sheets. Then, gradually, the pressure eased. The grinding stopped.

The mountain settled, the vibrations fading until only the furnace-like warmth and oppressive presence remained.

The Khaldruun had moved, but it had not awakened; it was similar to when one moves around in their sleep to find the optimal position.

Lucen looked at the giant snake-like monster and saw, near its tail, a large tunnel which was wider than it was. That might be the area the Khaldruun came from.

’Since this thing is considered to be a failed dragon, it might have some of a dragon’s ticks, like wanting to gather shiny objects, or valuable items, and such. There might be something hidden in that tunnel; it was made to reach this place.’

Lucen’s gamer instincts were screaming at him, loud enough to drown out common sense. There was a hidden tunnel, behind a Massive boss, then that must mean there surely was loot to be found in the tunnel behind the Khaldruun’s tail.

It was a high-risk, high-reward type of situation. Any true gamer would have immediately gone for it.

Lucen swallowed as he looked at how far the tunnel was from where they were. He started thinking.

If he asked Durik to make a tunnel towards that place, how long would it take, or if Durik even had enough materials to create support beams, or if Durik would even agree to do what he wanted?

’The only other way to get to that area is if I scale through the cavern where that monster is sleeping.’

Lucen then looked at the cavern area’s walls. With his current strength and agility, even without using any aura, he could easily scale those walls.

’Should I do it?’

Lucen closed his eyes for a brief moment.

He pictured the climb in his head, the angles of the stone, the distance between holds, the path that would keep him farthest from the Khaldruun’s coils. It was possible. Difficult, but possible.

That was the problem, just because he could didn’t mean he should.

It was just a single loose stone, a single misjudged grip, a single breath taken at the wrong moment. Any of it would be enough, and that would be the end of it.

’F*ck, I can’t do it. If it were just me, I would have done it immediately, but one mistake here and the Gurbundy and the people in it would disappear.’

With extreme regret, Lucen decided not to try it for now. There should be other chances in the future to explore that area. At least he now knew that there might be something here.

The group continued mining, unaware of the brief and silent struggle Lucen just had in that instance.

After an unknown amount of time, the group had mined every orichalium they could without waking the Khaldruun.

Once they were done, they quickly walked the way they came. Every now and then, the Khaldruun would breathe out, making the tunnel windy.

They moved as quickly as they could while pushing the cart. The group then finally exited the tunnels and arrived at Durik’s forge/home.

The same as the first time, the second time, they were sure they were out of the tunnels, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The second this happen Lucen surprisingly received a notification. [Gained a new Skill: Fear Resistance (Intermediate)]

He actually got a fear resistance skill, and it skipped beginner straight to intermediate, which just showed how much terror that Khaldruun inflicted on him and the others.

While Lucen was still looking at the new skill he got, somebody started laughing.

”Hahaha!”

Durik then gave out a hearty laugh. It was rather infectious as every one of them also started laughing. The laughter echoed through the forge, loud and unrestrained.

Once they were done laughing, Durik spoke. ”That was a good haul. With that much orichalium I could create several sets of armor.”

”Is that what you’re planning to do with it?” Lucen asked with interest.

”Aye... I plan to create a set of armor and weapons using the orichalium, and they will be my masterpieces. How about you, lad, what will you do with your share?”

”I have a thing or two I want to make with them.”

”Is that so...” Durik scratched his beard. ”Of course, you’re going to ask me to make it, since only dwarves can properly handle something like orichalium. I have not met a human smith who can do the same.”

”Then it’s a good thing you know work for me.” Lucen showed a genuine smile as he spoke.

”Heh, I guess it is, lad. I guess it is.” Durik shrugged his shoulders as he responded.

”So now that we finished with what you needed to do. Will you come back with us to Ironhold?”

”Sure, but I need to make some preparations. Give me two days to sort things out.” Durik responded as he took out the orichalium in the cart.

Durik hefted one of the wrapped chunks of orichalium, turning it slightly as the forge light caught its surface. The metal gleamed faintly. Durik looked at it for a while and then tossed it back into the pile.

”Sorting things out can start tomorrow. For now,” Durik’s voice became very serious as he gazed at them with a rather ferocious look on his face.

Lucen and the others felt the tension in the air. Sir Thalos reacted by standing slightly in front of Lucen. Bram grabbed hold of his spear, and Robert was already circulating his mana.

”I bloody need a drink.”

The second Durik said those words, all the tension built up disappeared as Lucen and the others looked at him weirdly.

”Why are you lads looking at me like that?” Durik asked, looking confused. ”It doesn’t matter, I’m going to the tavern, I need a drink.”

Durik did not wait for any response as he walked to the exit. ”Come on, you guys need to leave so that I can lock up.” Durik gestured to them to hurry up and leave.

Lucen shook his head and smiled. ’As expected of a dwarf, even after all that, all he can think about is drinking.’

The group left the forge and headed back to the Drunken Badger Tavern to once again drink all night.