“Except,” her eyes narrowed as her crane fully manifested, “Wei is out of town today.”
“Where are you really, little trickster?”
♢♢♢♢
Lin headed toward the main entrance.
Had Ren really gone to town with no formal permission?
Lin observed the figure in the assistant’s uniform near the main entrance. The mushrooms in his hair glowed under the dawn light, though something seemed… different.
‘Got you little cheat,’ she thought while silently approaching. ‘You can’t leave without real permission, and Wei isn’t here to sign it so you are trapped in the end…’
The figure moved strangely, as if practicing what to say.
“Good morning, sir guard, I’m here to make a delivery,” he muttered to himself. “No, too formal. Uh, hi! I need to go out to… no, too casual.”
Lin smiled. It was almost adorable watching him so nervous… Not quite like…
“Trouble with the script?” she asked softly, right behind him.
The scream that followed was definitely not Ren’s.
The figure turned, revealing Taro’s terrified face. Obviously fake mushrooms were precariously attached to his hair.
“Teacher Lin!” Taro squeaked, his voice three octaves higher than normal. “What a terrible… I mean, delightful surprise!”
“Taro,” Lin crossed her arms menacingly. “What… interesting hair accessories you’ve chosen.”
“This?” Taro nervously touched the fake mushrooms. “It’s… a new fashion Ren taught me yesterday and…?”
“Where is he?”
“Who?” Taro stepped back. “Professor Wei? As you know, he’s out of town and couldn’t finish the…”
“Taro.”
“Yes?”
“Your legs are shaking.”
Taro looked down.
“Traitors,” he muttered to his legs.
“Now,” Lin smiled sweetly, “you’re going to tell me exactly what’s happening, or I’ll…”
“I can’t!” Taro nearly cried. “I promised Ren I’d distract you while he was…!” He covered his mouth with both hands.
“While he what?”
“Nothing,” Taro began sweating profusely. “He was just going to… buy flowers. Lots of flowers for you. Because he appreciates you so much for torturing… Training him 3 times every day.”
“Taro.”
“Yes?”
“You’re sweating so much the mushrooms are falling off.”
Indeed, one of the fake mushrooms slid pathetically down his forehead.
“They’re… sweaty mushrooms?”
Lin sighed. “How did he convince you?”
♢♢♢♢
The night before…
“Come on, Taro,” Ren pleaded while holding the fake mushrooms. “I just need a few hours.”
“No,” Taro crossed his arms. “Lin will kill me.”
“I’ll give you my dessert for a week.”
“Risk my life? Not even for a month of desserts.”
“I’ll help you evolve your beetle even beyond bronze, all the way to silver.”
Taro hesitated. “Really?”
“I know exactly what you need to take it even further,” Ren smiled. “Besides, Lin won’t hurt you. You’re too adorable when you’re nervous.”
“I’m not adorable,” Taro protested. “I’m intimidating.”
Min and Liu, listening from their beds, burst out laughing.
“Besides,” Ren continued, “you just have to act suspicious near the entrance. Lin will catch you, interrogate you, and by the time she’s done, I’ll be back.”
“What if she asks where you are?”
“Tell her I went to buy her flowers.”
“She’ll kill you twice when you show up.”
“Worth it,” Ren placed the fake mushrooms on Taro’s head. “So?”
Taro sighed, looking at his reflection with the mushrooms. “Fine. But this better be important.”
The next morning, long before dawn, Ren and Taro snuck out of their room. The hallways were deserted at such an early hour.
“Remember,” Ren whispered as they walked, “in the end you just need to stay near the entrance. Lin will see you, interrogate you, and by the time she’s done, I’ll be back.”
“I still don’t understand why I have to practice what to say to the guard if I’m not even going to leave.”
“Because you need to look nervous,” Ren smiled. “And that, my dear friend, doesn’t come from you naturally if you’re faking it… You are a terrible actor, but an awesome actor in the right conditions.”
“I don’t know whether to feel flattered or offended.”
In the morning…
After finishing placing the clues, they stopped at the intersection leading to the mines.
“Good luck,” Ren whispered. “And thanks.”
♢♢♢♢
The hidden tunnel Ren constantly used to dodge the guards at 100 meters remained the safest route. The mushrooms in his hair pulsed softly as he slipped through.
He often worked at 150 meters, so he knew the place fairly well now…
At 200 meters, the first change was evident.
The common worms here were twice as large, better fed by the mana density. Their tunnels formed more complex patterns, creating true gallery networks.
Past 200 meters, the greater worms began to appear. Four times larger than their lesser counterparts.
Two fusions had transformed them into true tunnel machines, their segmented bodies glowing with concentrated mana. Each now had a complete core, capable of processing the dense ambient mana.
But they were no longer the only inhabitants.
Digger beetles and very rare hunter bugs lived here too.
The mushrooms pulsed in warning when he reached 250 meters. Here the ecosystem changed dramatically.
The first deep worms appeared, beasts the size of a cart that made the lesser worms look tiny. Eight times larger.
But the most impressive began just after.
At around 275 meters, the first bronze beasts made their appearance.
The Living Tunnels, massive beetles that had evolved to turn their own bodies into mobile tunnel extensions, created gallery networks that seemed to breathe. Their shells secreted a living mineral that reinforced the walls, transforming simple tunnels into organic structures.
They weren’t mere tunnelers, they were bio-engineers, reinforcing walls with special secretions.
“Natural architects,” Ren murmured as he passed near one expanding a chamber.
The deep and greater worms acted as workers for these superior beasts, maintaining the tunnels in exchange for the beetles increasing protection.
It was a symbiotic society, the worms executing and the beetles improving.
At 300 meters, where his objective waited, the mana was already 16 times denser than that of the iron ring, the mushrooms in his hair pulsing with effort to process it.
Here…
The symbiotic society had made a complex web of living tunnels that beathed with a soft yellow tint… Like the entrails of a huge beast.
They had to make it…
Because something else inhabited these depths.
Here, a bronze beasts line reigned supreme:
The mushrooms pulsed in warning when Ren detected the first trace: claw marks on the walls, so fine they seemed carved with diamond. Knowledge flowed revealing fragments about a new species: the Deep Assassins.