Mage Legend
Chapter 76: Episode 19 The Ceiling

"Those are a type of purple worms. I once saw them herding a giant worm through a cave. That purple worm used its sharp teeth and the powerful corrosive ability of its saliva to carve out this tunnel for them," came a deep voice from Lynch’s arm.

"Why are they mining silver here? What are they?"

"I’m not too sure. They probably arrived about a year ago. Initially, as they were excavating here, they had nothing to do with those unfortunate gray dwarves. Until one day they discovered another group of miners digging in the same vein from a different direction. So, they started using all sorts of ambush tactics to kill the gray dwarves."

"Why didn’t you help those dwarf miners?" Nimo said softly.

"Those dwarves weren’t any good either. They were very brutal to their slave workers. I didn’t want to help them. Besides, I don’t have any offensive abilities. My touch can only give people the chills, but it’s quite handy for easily waking someone from their sleep."

"Finder, did you decide to wake me because you saw my mage robe, afraid I’d get inexplicably killed by those snake-men?" The mage looked at his left arm, and a faint ’hehe’ sound came as a response from the sleeve.

The mage smiled and refocused his attention on the path ahead.

This road was very close to the underground river and was filled with water, making it very slippery. If not careful, one could easily slip and fall into the river. Afraid of being discovered, the three dared not take out the Everlasting Torch for illumination. Without Dark Vision, Deluo had to grab tightly onto Nimo’s collar, not wanting to fall behind the dwarf.

Lynch walked at the front of the group, his eyes the best reconnaissance tool here. Originally, Finder had volunteered to scout ahead and relay information back safely, but after knowing Lynch’s eye abilities, he gladly stayed snug in the mage’s sleeve.

The tunnel began to gradually slope downwards. The underground river was no longer beside them, instead flowing through a hole to another level. With the sound of rushing water gone, only silence remained. The three carefully paced forward, keeping their breath low. The passage bent ahead, where a faint, flickering light shone through.

The mage halted, staring through the thick stone wall: there stood two snake-man guards holding spears, with numerous tiny barbs on the spear tips. If pierced by such a weapon, the resulting wound would be impossible to stitch, continuously bleeding. Even without damaging internal organs directly, one would die from the loss of blood—a truly vicious weapon. The mage gathered Deluo and Nimo around him, whispering the situation ahead. Two guards, the warrior and the mage would each take one, and Nimo would keep an eye on the surroundings.

Quietly they crept to the corner, beyond which was still silence. Recklessly stepping out without the aid of the Eye of Insight would surely alert the guards hidden in a recess on the side wall, leading to a deadly strike from the Bloodletting Spear.

Deluo gripped his double-edged sword tightly, took a deep breath, and leapt out. He didn’t even look to see where the enemy was, instead swinging downward based on the position and angle the mage had told him. Without the X-ray vision of the Eye of Insight, he relied on a trustworthy partner who had it.

Lynch moved with a swift turn, following closely behind Deluo. Stretching his right arm, his hand claw-shaped, a Lightning Energy Ball shot out, rapidly flying towards the other snake-man under the Eye of Insight’s aim.

Both snake-men, using abilities similar to camouflage, remained hidden within the stone. Being the attackers themselves, they never expected to be ambushed. Deluo never even saw what the snake-man before him looked like; he just swung down hard with his great sword. A force kicked back into his hand, filling him with joy, knowing he had hit. He pressed down harder with his wrists, sinking his weight downward. The great sword cleaved through the snake-man’s scale-covered skin, sliced through its internal bones, and violently split it in two.