Chapter 81
"Wow, it's really spacious."
Fred exclaimed as he looked around the cave's interior.
"So the White Magic Stones are in here?"
Even Fred, who had only ever liked magical theory research, had heard plenty about White Magic Stones.
That's how important and rare an item the White Magic Stones were, accounting for a significant portion of the Siers clan's trade income.
Fred swallowed hard.
"But…."
Kain, Anias, and Fred stopped walking at the same time.
It wasn't because a monster or something unexpected was blocking their path.
"Why are there so many forking paths?"
It was because the cave's path was as complex as a maze.
The cave itself was wide and deep overall, but the path was also complicated, making it seem that even reaching the location of the White Magic Stones would not be easy.
"And what's more, this is all downhill."
It meant that the cave wasn't just deep horizontally, but also descended downwards.
The sensation of getting farther and farther from the surface was not very pleasant.
"Did you think a Promotion Exam where you don't even have to hunt a single monster would be a piece of cake the moment you entered the cave?"
Fred sighed at Kain's words.
"...I guess you have a point."
And if those expensive White Magic Stones were so plentiful that you could trip over them near the cave entrance, the Siers clan's Head of Finances wouldn't always be tearing his hair out over financial difficulties.
"But is it okay to just go in recklessly like this?"
As they continued to choose forking paths and venture deeper without a single sign of White Magic Stones, Anias, who had been quiet, finally spoke up.
"What do you mean, recklessly? Aren't we leaving proper markers as we go?"
Kain was dropping trophies obtained from hunting monsters, like a Snow Wolf's claw, one by one on the ground every time they passed a certain distance or section.
Of course, Kain remembered the entire route he had taken, but doing this was standard procedure, and it would also make it easier for Rowen, waiting outside the cave, to find them if anything were to happen.
"That's not it…. Kain, your senses are pretty sharp, right? Can't you track the aura that the White Magic Stones emit or something?"
But for once, Kain shook his head.
"This crystal cave itself contains a dense amount of mana. Of course, White Magic Stones emit a particularly stronger aura, but…."
Kain held up a Glowstone Lamp and pointed to the walls and ceiling.
"That aura is diffusely reflected and scattered by this icy ceiling and walls, which are imbued with mana. That's why it's even harder to accurately track the exact location of their source."
"Hoo.... So you're saying we have to find them by wandering around one by one."
As Anias sighed, Kain spoke.
"Still, it's not all bad news. While it's impossible to pinpoint the direction of each individual White Magic Stone, I can at least feel when we're approaching a place where many of them are gathered."
And as if on cue, just as Kain finished speaking, the cave path seemed to widen slightly.
"Woah...!"
"Wow…."
A wide-open space appeared.
"It's even bright!"
Fred exclaimed as he looked around.
"The light emitted by the White Magic Stones themselves is reflecting off the walls, illuminating the inside more evenly."
"Wait, does that mean. Oh! That one! That one too!"
"They're all White Magic Stones?"
Anias's jaw dropped at the sight unfolding before her eyes.
"What are you all doing? Not taking out your pickaxes."
Kain had already put down his bag, taken out a pickaxe, and was striking a nearby White Magic Stone.
Kang! Kang!
The white crystal, filled with pure mana and protruding from the cave wall, fell after a few strikes of the pickaxe.
Kain held up the crystal, which emitted a pure white light, and said,
"The ones that glow this brightly are the highest quality. It would be best to mine the highest quality ones if possible."
And he added.
"Ah, and don't even think about mining them with magic. Especially if fire magic touches the root, it's highly likely to shatter."
***
Kang! Kang! Kang!
For a while, the sound of pickaxes echoed through the cave.
"Hah, hah!"
And Fred's rough breaths echoed as well.
"This, why is it so, hard to mine!"
If Kain hadn't told him in advance not to even think about mining with fire magic, Fred might have been tempted to strike the root with a Fire Needle or Fire Arrow out of sheer frustration.
Fred wiped away sweat he never thought would flow in this cold cave.
Then he turned around to see how much Kain and Anias had mined.
"No way."
Kang! Kang!
Fred was at a loss for words.
Kain had already mined almost all the White Magic Stones on one side of the wall.
"H-How…."
Then Anias, who was mining nearby, said,
"Body reinforcement. I never thought it would be helpful in a place like this, not just in combat. Seeing that makes me a bit envious. Haap!"
Kang! Kang!
Thanks to her consistent physical training recently, Anias was also swinging her pickaxe well without getting as tired as one might expect.
"......"
Fred gripped his pickaxe tightly.
'That's right. Kids ten years younger than me are working this hard, I can't just stand around like this.'
Having spent his entire life cooped up in a room studying magic, he had no muscle to speak of on his body.
Even during the journey to this ice cave, he had often rested because his stamina was lacking.
The time delayed due to resting whenever Fred's body was about to reach its limit was probably quite significant.
'But Kain never once said anything to me about it.'
He couldn't just stand by and look pathetic here either.
"Haap!"
Fred struck the White Magic Stone with all his might.
***
The results were miserable.
In the time it took Kain to mine ten White Magic Stones, Fred managed only one or two, and Anias about three.
It was fortunate that Kain wasn't mining at full speed and didn't use a mana enchantment for the reason that 'it's better to avoid direct contact between mana and White Magic Stones'; otherwise, the speed difference would have been two or three times greater.
And even though Kain had more White Magic Stones than Anias and Fred combined, he divided them into three exact portions.
"Thanks, Kain. You could have taken them all for yourself.... To share them equally like this when it's an individual assessment."
"It was just more efficient for me to mine than to wait for your sluggish pace, since we have to move to the next location together. Let's set off before more time passes."
"Haha, well, thanks anyway."
Fred laughed awkwardly and looked up at the ceiling.
"If we could mine those too, we probably wouldn't have to go any deeper.... It's a bit of a shame."
In this open, plaza-like space, many White Magic Stones were still emitting light.
However, they were out of human reach, and since they couldn't be mined with magic, they were nothing more than a pretty picture.
Then, Kain silently grabbed his pickaxe and suddenly leaped into the air.
Chwaak!
And with his pickaxe, he instantly mined a White Magic Stone embedded high on the wall and landed.
"......"
Kain held out the White Magic Stone in front of the gaping Fred.
That White Magic Stone felt as if its light was dimmer than the ones they had mined so far.
"It's possible, but as you can see, the quality drops. It's because it reacted with the mana-enchanted pickaxe."
"Aha…."
Kain put the said White Magic Stone into his own bag and said,
"And the White Magic Stones gathered in high places also serve as guides for those who come to mine them, just like how we found this place. That's another reason we don't touch them. Unless you plan to sweep up every single White Magic Stone at once and never visit here again."
White Magic Stones are naturally generated at regular intervals in the crystal caves of the snowy mountains where such highly pure mana is densely distributed.
And these crystal caves exist in a few places in the snowy mountains.
The Siers clan follows a regular cycle: after mining White Magic Stones from one crystal cave, they move to a different one next time, and so on.
This was to ensure they could mine a certain amount of newly generated White Magic Stones the next time they visited.
"So that was the reason…."
"If you understand, let's get going."
They continued forward through the path on the other side of the open space.
And just as they had found this space, they went to the next open space and mined White Magic Stones.
"Phew.... We've already filled more than half. We just need to check one or two more places, right? If we're lucky, we might finish in one."
Fred nodded in agreement with Anias's words.
"And now that we're deeper in, there are some on the cave walls too.... Though it seems better not to touch those for now."
They arrived at the next space, but unfortunately, the space itself wasn't very large, so they couldn't fill their quota all at once.
Anias mined the last White Magic Stone with her pickaxe and plopped down on the spot.
"Haaa.... It took so long just to get here, and now we have to go searching again."
Anias sighed and looked at the opposite side of the plaza.
There were three forking paths leading further down.
"Kain, since this is the last time, why don't we split up and search? We don't have much left to meet our quotas anyway, so if we find some, we can mine them right there and come back here."
Kain thought for a moment before speaking.
"That wouldn't be a problem. But you have to be sure to mark the path you took with trophies."
"Of course. And I'm just going to go straight, so there's no worry of getting lost."
"I think that's a good idea too. Rather than getting help again.... If I find a place with a lot of White Magic Stones, I'll mine them and bring them back!"
Fred also showed his enthusiasm.
Thus, they each split into the three forking paths, marking their way as they went.
Kain, who took the leftmost path, was lucky enough to discover a small chamber where high-quality White Magic Stones were gathered.
The only problem was that these high-quality White Magic Stones were all embedded in high places.
"Ice. Lock coordinates."
Kain, now separated from the other two, could use a very convenient ice magic spell.
Stepping on the ice whose coordinates he had locked, Kain collected the White Magic Stones without difficulty.
"With this, my quota is finished. I should probably give the excess amount to whoever is short."
The moment Kain put the White Magic Stones in his bag and turned to head back towards the plaza.
"......!"
Kain stopped in his tracks at the faint tremor he felt beneath his feet.
***
Rowen looked down at the Snow Wolf's claw left at the cave entrance.
"Good, they're following the standard procedure properly, just as I thought."
Rowen had been observing the disciples from a place beyond the reach of their senses and gazes.
Though he said it was beyond the reach of their senses, he wasn't actually that far away.
It was because Rowen was adept at moving while concealing his presence.
'I was curious how he would get along with Fred, but it's a relief that he seems to be handling it well on his own.'
What surprised Rowen was that Fred, who used to be so terrified in real combat that he couldn't react properly, was becoming more and more daring by the day.
In the battle with the Mutated Snow Wolves, Kain had, as expected, helped with everything, and Fred had mostly just watched.
But after that, Fred showed signs of wanting to change.
'It's hard to think he simply mustered up courage. He must have had some kind of realization.'
And that realization most likely originated from Kain.
'What a peculiar kid.'
Listening to him talk, he usually felt like someone who was far from being a good communicator.
And yet, the people who actually spent time with Kain, without exception, showed a change in a positive direction.
'Looks like everyone will pass and be promoted without a hitch this time.'
Rowen smiled faintly.
He sat down, planning to wait until they came out, and chewed on some jerky he had taken out of his bag.
"Mmm.... I'm really getting tired of jerky."
As he was taking a short break, leaning his back against the cave, Rowen suddenly felt something and stopped chewing.
"......?"
Rowen immediately closed his eyes and extended his senses to their maximum.
...Drrrrrr.
A faint vibration traveled through his leaning back, and from the ground he sat on.
And the vibration grew bigger, faster.
Kugugugu.
"...This is!"
Rowen immediately threw the jerky aside.
He tried to follow the path marked by the trophies while using Haste, but.
Kugugugugu!
"Damn it!"
The ceiling came crashing down with a roar, forcing Rowen to retreat.
Kugugugu.
"What in the world…."
Rowen, panting, stared at the collapsed, and only, entrance to the cave.
