Larissa laughed. “Isn’t Luna adorable?”
Ren was about to respond and Luna about to shout when the ground began to tremble.
“That’s not a lesser worm,” Taro warned, his Living Tunnel approaching the invader’s exit point.
The vibration intensified and suddenly the ground exploded before them. A worm much larger than the previous ones emerged, its four-meter-long body betraying its rank.
“A greater worm!” Min exclaimed, his snake adopting a combat stance.
“We’re at 250 meters,” Ren analyzed quickly. “This is today’s digging limit for us…”
The Greater Worm rose menacingly.
The worms have a different ranking structure than all normal beasts and though not yet a true Bronze-rank Deep Worm, its size made it nearly as strong as Taro’s living tunnel.
“All together!” Ren ordered. “Send in your beasts!”
The worm attacked. Taro used his living tunnel to create a barrier while Maria’s wolverine struck from the side. Min’s snake launched a pressurized water stream, but it barely seemed to affect the creature.
“Its rings are too hard!” Mira observed, her giant rat creating coverings to help Taro’s beetle better hold the opponent as she couldn’t damage it.
“Luna!” Ren called. “Target the joints between the ring plates!”
Luna nodded, her blush completely forgotten as her wolf merged with the shadows to attack.
Ren’s hydra used its Light claws on the joints affected by the shadow attacks, the synergy further weakening the plates.
“Now, Taro!” Ren shouted. “Crush it against the wall!”
The living tunnel charged, pushing the worm sideways for the final blow.
After a crunch, the worm collapsed, finally defeated.
“That was…” Han panted, “intense. It was… impressive how you knew exactly what to do.”
“Just basic observation,” Ren responded modestly, though his mushrooms pulsed with what might have been pride.
“And very professional,” Larissa added with a wink, making both Ren and Luna blush again.
“This is as far as we’ll go today, we can create a larger chamber and collect the deep earth and crystals that were left buried in the rock remains along the tunnel path.” Ren hurried to say, turning to hide his face.
The greater worm had been a clear signal they were near truly dangerous territory.
“Please finish covering the tunnel walls first,” Ren asked Taro.
“Why don’t we continue?” Mira asked, clearly disappointed.
“First because the mana must already be affecting some of you, and second because the next things we’ll find are deep assassins,” Ren explained. “A greater worm is as you saw easy to beat with this group, but those beasts…” he shook his head.
“…The noise and vibrations we make would inevitably attract them and although we would win they’re dangerous. We also won’t be able to dig the tunnel so easily there since the Living Tunnels of that depth create their own ones.”
♢♢♢♢
When Taro’s enormous beetle finished covering the tunnel, the group began to disperse to collect, each choosing a different area of the safe tunnel.
While everyone was distracted, Liora stealthily approached Ren.
“The day the hydra appeared down here,” she whispered, her eyes gleaming with intelligence, “I reached a similar depth and direction to where we seem to be heading. Did you make it to the end of this route somehow that day?”
Ren’s mushrooms pulsed while he considered his response. There was no point in lying here, after all, he had reached there with Julius…
“Yes,” he admitted quietly. “In fact, I want to reach the same deposit from that day.”
“Why?” Liora asked, her curiosity evidently piqued.
Ren pulled a plate from his backpack, the material glowing faintly. “It’s from that hydra,” he explained. “I need to process some crystals with pure mana for my hydra’s cultivation. I can use this plate to reflect the light from the deposit’s crystals and fill Iron-sized crystals with that pure mana.”
“But, can’t you take us if we learn the method you used that day?”
“Although I could explain… If there are too many of us it’ll be impossible to hide the distortion in the depths’ natural vibrations, it would be too dangerous to attract much attention,” Ren shook his head. “After 280 meters the tunnels become much more complex. It’s not just earth anymore, there are other living tunnels, plus assassins and deep worms. It’s better to go alone.”
“Take me with you,” Liora suddenly suggested.
“What?” Ren blinked in surprise.
“I can jump and avoid the monsters,” she explained, a small smile forming on her lips. “You must know that already.”
Ren’s mushrooms pulsed while he analyzed the proposal. It was true, he knew Liora’s capabilities. Her escape ability was impressive but…
“It’s very dangerous,” he tried to argue, but he could see the curiosity and determination in her eyes. She was just like him…
“If there’s just a few of us it should be possible, right?” Liora countered. “I just want to learn your stealth technique for having reached there with just an Iron rank spore.”
Ren sighed, his mushrooms pulsing with resignation. “It’s not so much about stealth as you think but… If you promise to follow my instructions about how to avoid attracting monsters exactly…”
“I promise,” Liora responded immediately, her smile widening.
“And no unnecessary jumps,” he added.
“Only the necessary ones,” she agreed.
“And if I say we retreat…”
“We’ll do it without argument,” she completed.
Ren’s mushrooms pulsed once more before he finally nodded. “Alright. But we’ll have to be very careful about how we plan this.”
“When do I follow?” Liora asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“When they’re done with the crystals here and move away,” Ren responded in the same tone. “While the others explore this section, we…”
“Look what I found!” Min’s voice interrupted their conversation. “This must have been a complete vein of Bronze-sized crystals, there are even some Silver-sized ones!”
Liora casually moved away from Ren, as if they had never been conspiring. Ren’s mushrooms pulsed with approval at her discretion.
“Ren!” Larissa called from another point. “Is this type of deep earth better quality?”
“Coming,” Ren responded, but before moving away, he looked at Liora one last time.
Liora nodded imperceptibly while joining Luna in gathering.
While helping the others identify valuable materials, Ren couldn’t help thinking that teaching Liora about the technique for walking with the tunnel’s rhythm could be fun.
Now he just had to make sure no one else discovered their plans. Especially a certain princess who seemed to have a special talent for uncovering secrets.