Chapter 459: Da Mine Rules Part 1

Stone stood tall outside the cave entrance for a few more seconds waiting to see if there was any more questions he needed to answer before he got started on the important things. He found it best to answer all the questions someone had beforehand so that they were willing to properly listen to the full explanation when he went over the rules of the mine.

"Right then. I have a few official rules, and a few unofficially ones. I won't be telling you which is which because both are just as important as each other. The only reason some are unofficial is because I won't be taken to task for not telling them to you, or be punished if I see someone breaking them even if it's stupid. I want you to treat everything I tell you seriously. Please ASK questions if you need. While the job itself isn't dangerous for you, not really, the MINES are a much more deadly foe if you don't follow instructions. Do you both understand?"

Kat and Kamiko gave a deep nod, indicating they did understand but Stone frowned and said. "I need verbal confirmation. I ain't a drill sergeant so none of this 'Yes Sir' 'No Sir' or 'Stone Sir' shit. I'm Foreman, or Stone. Now. Do you understand?"

A "Yes!" from Kat and a "Understood Stone" from Kamiko rang out. Stone gave Kamiko a slight glare for her answer, but she smiled innocently back and he didn't want to call her out on it.

"So, first thing that you all need to know, I already mentioned. Keep your damned fire to yourself. I don't care if you use it, but it DOES NOT touch the walls. Under any circumstances. If it DOES I want you to mark the spot heavily in some way and report it. Now, that being said… it DOES NOT give you permission to actually DO it just because you know to mark it afterward. You may just set of an explosion, and we DO NOT want that, but, if mistakes happen we NEED to know. Understood?"

"Yes!" "Understood!"  rang out from Kat and Kamiko.

"Good. Next, you protect that mask with your life, not because it's valuable, but because if it breaks, you might not have one much longer. It brings in fresh air from somewhere up in the clouds so it's always fresh.  It also has a backup air filter in it if it's only damaged in a SMALL way. That being said DO NOT rely on it. The backup filter is for getting the hell out of the mines as fast as you can.

"The area you are both covering is not KNOWN to have any deadly gasses, but because of the infestation, we don't know for sure. The miners broke into a cave, and they just poured out to fill up space. The mine section should be completely safe, but the cave that we opened up might not be. If I find out you fell to some poisonous gas I will not be happy. So KEEP YOUR DAMNED MASK ON. Don't take it off for anything. If you need to take it off, leave the mine. If it breaks, leave the mine. If you start to notice something funny with the mask or the air you're getting. LEAVE THE MINE!"

Stone was a bit more authoritive with the rules about the masks, it was clear to even a blind man that while he might have heard horror stories about demonic energy causing explosions in the mines, or had it happen sometime in the distant past, he was much more directly effected by the Mask Rule and likely lost friends or family in it, but neither Succubus made move to mention this, merely replying with an ""Understood""

"Now, this next rule is a little different for you to. It is that ALL ore mined must be added to the communal minecart. A team's minecart is shared completely. Doesn't matter if you do better one day and worse another, it all goes in the cart. We want teams to trust each other, and we find it fosters better teamwork that way. This also applies to any monster corpses they find, because you DO NOT leave them in the mine.

"Now, for you both, I won't be sending you down there with a minecart. This is because you don't know how to operate one, and I don't really have any space. Even if I did, I'd have to send at least one person down with you to operate it, and that's a waste of everyone's time. They wouldn't be happy because they won't get a proper cut from their efforts either. Sadly Swarm Rats ain't exactly worth much.

"What that means however, is that I expect you to pile up the corpses every time you get into a fight. I will send people to collect them all, likely once you leave this afternoon, but I don't want them running around looking for lone rats. Put them in piles of no less then TEN for me. I don't care if there is more. Piles of ten, piles of twenty, piles of two hundred. It's all the same as long as it's MORE THEN TEN" Stone slammed his foot into the ground to emphasise the point.

""Understood STONE"" shouted the Succubi together. Kat was grinning, she felt very professional for some reason.

"NEXT RULE" shouted Stone, "This is the one that trips up the newbies the most. It's not the first thing you think of, but it's IMPORTANT. IF you hear or feel or whatever other crazy sensing ability you have tips you off to the ground shaking, you need to try and do these things IN ORDER.

"First, you grab your nearest partner. NOBODY is to be alone. Two's, Three's I DO NOT CARE but for you it should be just each other. You will HOLD THEIR HAND. I don't give a shit if that sounds like it's for when you were back in school, this is important. HOLD your partner, or partners and DO NOT LET GO. I don't care if the whole ceiling smashes into your arm, you HOLD ON to your partner.

"SECOND. You make your way towards the minecart if you can see it, or know that it is nearby. DO NOT let go when you run to the cart. If you do so, I will PERSONALLY smack you into the ground when we find you. When you get to the cart, press the LARGE RED BUTTON under the glass. SLAM through the glass, it can be replaced. This will turn the minecart's cart section over and raise it higher off the ground.

"THIRD crawl under the cart, and WAIT. If you see other people coming for the cart, make room for them but DO NOT leave to grab them unless they are alone. Then you MAY, use your own judgement but do not leave your own partner just to help them. They SHOULD HAVE A PARTNER so if you don't see one they might be and idiot.

"Finally. YOU WAIT. I don't care if the world stops shaking and everything seems fine. YOU SIT YOUR PRETTY LITTLE AS-" Stone cut off his rant, realising that unlike his normal rant where the phrase 'pretty little asses' was not applicable in the slightest, was potentially applicable here and that both of them were the same age as his a couple of his nieces.

Coughing to hide that fact. "Right er… you SIT YOUR ASS down and don't move" Stone managed to recover well, "Someone from outside will come and get you if that is at all possible. We do NOT need you trying to travel backwards only to find or cause an extra cave in. The minecarts have some food and water in a hidden compartment that has a stasis enchantment on it, so if you can keep to them we WILL find you before it runs out. Do you UNDERSTAND!"

""UNDERSTOOD STONE"" shouted the pair.

"Right, the next thing, and this is just for you really, is that if you see somebody with a hat like mine that says Team Leader on it, or find myself with my Foreman hat on it, you LISTEN. These people have years of experience in the mine like myself, and if they've come to tell you something important. Normally, you only listen to your own team leader or rarely me, but I do want it made clear that nobody will be disturbing your section of the mine unless it is IMPORTANT. Is that CLEAR?"

Kamiko and Kat shared a quick glance before they said "CRYSTAL CLEAR STONE"

Stone clicked his tongue, which sounded a lot like rocks scraping against each other, and was really hard to identify for a few seconds. Kat couldn't understand how he sounded to much like a normal human but clicking his tongue, which should just like talking mostly, sounded like two stone scarping against each other.