Chapter 22: The Mine (1)

The Mine (1)

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

We ran without knowing where we were headed. It was not a jog or a sprint, but a run that was closer to a sprint.

Everyone was drenched in sweat. Some students complained of muscle pain.

I ran for five minutes and rested for one. I felt like I was going to die, but fortunately, I didn’t.

Even though I was panting like a fish dragged out of the mud, I recovered quickly after a short rest.

“Stop.”

At exactly 11:20 a.m., Chedric stopped. Finally, we had arrived at our damnabe distant destination.

“Line up in the order you arrived.”

I was in the top 90%. Around 110th out of 127.

I quickly spotted the back of Soliette Arkne’s head. As expected, she was at the front.

“Ugh... I don’t want to live... just kill me...”

In contrast, Layla was right in front of me. She kept swaying, her face on the verge of exhaustion.

—Hey, what’s that? Looks like a mine?

—Really. We’re screwed.

At the seniors’ uproar, I looked ahead.

There was a massive rock mountain. Something ominous, damp, and dangerous, a large entrance.

“Before we start the evaluation task, let me introduce a special guest we’ve invited.”

Chedric pointed to the podium near the mine entrance. A wooden stage was connected to a red carpet.

Just then, a sedan arrived. The car paused where the red carpet began, as if waiting for something.

“Everyone, applause.”

Chedric clapped his hands. The students followed suit.

Then the car door opened, and my face stiffened.

“...Ah.”

Long arms and legs emerged from the car. A magnificent physique and a luxury fit suit to match. Blue hair slicked back and sharp, arrogant eyes.

A familiar figure. Not just to me, but to everyone here.

—Holy shit.

—He’s so handsome. What’s he like in person?

The man who elicited admiration from everyone was a direct descendant of Libra—Jade, the second son.

‘Jade Leroy Libra Geden.’

—Wow... This is my first time seeing a direct descendant of Libra.

—This is insane.

His appearance was so perfect that almost all the students were in awe.

To me, he only felt like a piece of shit, but that’s probably Libra’s genetics. There’s no flaw ‘on the surface’.

—Ah. Ah.

Standing on the stage, he did a mic test and looked around.

—Nice to meet you. I’m Jade of Libra. This mine is owned by Libra... more accurately, it’s my property.

It’s not your property, but an inheritance you’ll soon receive.

—There are non-renewable mines and renewable mines. This ‘Limto Mine’ is renewable. It has been closed for over a decade, but in one or two years, we will open the mine and produce nearly tens of thousands of tons of magical stones annually.

Jade shrugged his shoulders.

—But before that, I gladly agreed to cooperate after receiving a proposal close to a service from my alma mater, Endex, and the University Association.

The guy I haven’t seen in so long, as always, every word he says is so damn arrogant.

—Therefore, I will provide this mine as the venue for your college board assignments.

Eyes looking down at the students. I am bestowing this upon you – that kind of eyes, filled with the same damn elitist consciousness as always.

Just as I despised.

—But before that. Does anyone know how modern miners mine magical stones?

“They use machinery.”

Kain answer.

For reference, Kain is a magic stone tycoon. However, Jade doesn’t even glance at him and continues.

—”But what about before that artifact was invented?”

At this point, a bad feeling began to creep in.

—”Simple. It’s intuitive.”

He stretches out his gloved hand, and a pickaxe flies towards him, settling in his grasp.

—”This is it. This simple object.”

After all, why would we have come all the way from Endex to a magic stone mine?

Think about it, it’s simple.

—”The purpose of this task is to mine Mana Stones. In the ‘mine’, you will be able to test your own mental strength and endurance. I’ll leave the detailed explanation to the person in charge. That’s all for now.”

Having finished his speech, Jade tosses the pickaxe away. As if they had been waiting, applause broke out. It spread in no time, and I quietly look up at him.

Jade, the second son of Libra.

The eldest son, Derek, is a damn bastard.

More than anything, he values his own dignity and pride, and he’s a madman who doesn’t care about anything when it comes to ‘what he wants’.

Living for his own vanity, looking down on others...

Surely that’s the case. The most uptodate novels are published on n0velbj)n((.))co/m

“Hah.”

Something feels off.

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed. A gale rushed from behind me. My ears rang.

I quickly turned to look.

——Rumble.

“......”

The ceiling of the tunnel I had walked through had collapsed.

I looked forward again. Of course, it was a dead end.

I looked back again. The tunnel was completely blocked.

I let out a hollow laugh. I muttered, the pickaxe slung over my shoulder.

“Which son of a bitch is it?”

* * *

——Rumble.

Looking at the blocked tunnel, Asher stretched comfortably.

“Ah~ That’s refreshing. Hey, when are you going to let him out?”

“Why should I? He should find his own way out. If he’s really a bitch, he can call the rescue team.”

Kain removed his hand from the wall. Asher chuckled.

“Wow. Kain, you’re amazing. You could skip college and go straight to the draft.”

“You’re just realizing that now?”

Kain’s 「Spectrum」 is related to earth.

Usually, a human’s magic power disintegrates into mana once it’s more than 2~3 meters away from the caster’s body, unless it forms a very strong magic formula.

But not Kain.

He could extend his magical vein nearly kilometers in length through the earth’s natural mana.

Using this, Cain trailed Sion from a distance, and at the opportune moment, activated the mana spell “Earth: Collapse” to bury him.

“Are we done having fun? Can we split up now?”

Elise pulled out her pickaxe and spoke.

“Ah. Okay.”

“I guess I need to mine about 500 pieces.”

Kain and Asher dispersed in different directions.

And so, Elise was left alone. She was the only one left in the claustrophobic mine.

“Sigh.......”

She took a deep breath first.

Pointlessly, her heart pounded like crazy.

Her breathing quickened, and her chest ached as if it was being crushed.

Her hands and feet trembled. A panic that felt like the ground beneath her would give way at any moment washed over her.

Elise hated confined spaces.

She hated being alone.

To an unbearable extent.

In fact, this was her illness.

The diagnosis was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

What trauma caused it, she didn’t know. Whether she had forgotten, or it had been forgotten, or someone had erased it.

But the fact that she had been ‘trapped alone-‘ was engraved as a definite trauma in Elise, and it was still tormenting her.

“Sigh.......”

Of course, she had already prepared for such a situation.

Elise unzipped her messenger bag. She pulled out a rabbit doll and infused it with magic.

Then the rabbit perked up its ears. It even opened its mouth and spoke.

—Hello!

It was a 30,000 Ren magic formula, 「Doll Magic: Cookie」, purchased from an auction.

A work of doll magic artisan Kanna, implementing this formula implants an artificial intelligence named ‘Cookie’ into the doll.

“Mining Magic Stones is simple.”

Elise spoke to Cookie while activating her magic body.

“First, strike with the pickaxe.”

Thud—!

The pickaxe was embedded in the wall.

“Then radiate man.”

Her mana flowed into the wall. Not long after, rustle—! The entire surface disintegrated into a pile of dirt. Elise created a gust over it.

Whooosh——.

The light dust particles all dispersed, leaving only the heavy chunks of Magic Stones.

“Easy, right?”

—Hello!

The rabbit responded. Elise smiled faintly. The suffocating feeling that had choked her had disappeared before she knew it.

That’s when it happened.

——————!

A roaring sound echoed. At the same time, the ground beneath her disappeared. Her body’s balance twisted.

She didn’t even have time to react.

It was a fall.

“......Huh?”