Fate Online: Shadow

"Another troublesome day" Michael mumbled as he ran towards their campsite.

"A few more days and I'll be finally out of here"

Thinking out loud, Michael had those positive thoughts while returning to the campground. He was already tired of looking at the same scenery and people every morning and at the same time, he was also worried about his progress in the game, especially the village under his rule since his time playing the game while on the island is very limited.

Though the continuous presence of the Flame Rose Guild at the Snow Village at least slightly ease his worries as he didn't need to worry about the safety of the village since he couldn't really rely on that Frost Dragon living inside the village to help if the village gets raided again.

His worries are unfounded though as the village has been able to survive by itself even before he discovered it.

Michael is just being a worry wart because of boredom on the island since humans of today wouldn't really know how to live their life for even a day without the comfort of technology today.

Like who would even want to go back to the time of the Medieval Age.

Fate Online, Nevareth Continent, Forest of Despair.

"Finally, after running around all day yesterday. I finally found one"

[Abandoned Mine (S)]

A small mine that has been sitting abandoned for many years. Mining ores can only be left up to your luck since the ore vein has long since dried up.

Be careful of monsters inside.

Reading the description floating before her, Solitary Tempest only said the following words, "Well…at least I managed to find one"

Looking around her surroundings, Solitary Tempest immediately made her way inside the mine while mumbling to herself, "I should explore it quickly and see if I can set up an ambush inside before that annoying thief catches up to me"

"And since when did the game produce such an abnormal player?"

While saying those words out loud, Solitary Tempest disappeared inside the Mine.

[You have entered the Abandoned Mine (S)]

"No rewards? I was even looking forward to it. Seems like there's another skillful player around here that's able to traverse this deep inside the forest"

During the first time Shadow had to cross the Forest of Despair, he also had met a lot of powerful monsters and monster tribes along the way that he had to circle around just to avoid confronting them, and the most notable of those monsters was when the Elder Dragon residing in the forest had started chasing after him like he was some kind of a criminal.

Though technically, he is indeed a criminal, the most wanted kind.

A few minutes later, a familiar sneaky figure from before arrived before the mouth of the Abandoned Mine.

"Her tracks end here, did she go inside? There's nothing noteworthy inside this place though, I even wasted an entire day exploring this place with only a few monsters inside. Though it suddenly makes me wonder if there's a deeper secret of this place since she came all the way here?"

"Not like I care though, I just want to kill her and redeem the bounty on her head and take back the title as the Number One Player in the gaming community since she had already overstayed her welcome and she needs to go. So this time, I'll take back what's mine"

Leaving behind those words full of chilling intent, he slowly disappeared inside the Abandoned Mine with a back screaming of determination!

Just you wait, Solitary Tempest! This time around, I will be number one and step all over your head!

*****

[Jenny: Where are you? I thought we're gonna play together today?]

While walking through the tunnel road, Solitary Tempest's attention quickly turned towards her friends message that popped up beside her, "[I just found an Abandoned Mine and currently exploring it]"

[An abandoned mine? Is it a dungeon?]

Warily watching on the road ahead, Solitary Tempest answered, "[Let's hope so since it would be a waste if it's really just an Abandoned Mine and I can't even mine the most ordinary ore]"

[Then I'll do some simple quests around the camp then, so hurry up and finish exploring it. I wanna play with you later]

Seeing some weird lights ahead, Solitary Tempest quickened her pace until it turned into a full sprint, and moments later, he arrived before the mouth of a large cavern…

"[You do that, just don't stray too far from the army camp since I have a lot of enemies that have gathered here starting yesterday and are trying to find and kill me. After all, they might hold you hostage to get to me]"

[You really shouldn't have joined Michael's Guild. It wasn't even that long when their guild was created but it had already made many enemies and now you're also being hounded by a lot of them! If it wasn't because they also have allied guilds with them, then they would become this game's number enemy!]

"[Yeah, yeah, anyway, I gotta go Jen, I'll see you later!]"

Solitary Tempest just smiled soon after that, as she also understands Jenny's frustrations. Indeed, she also had a lot of enemies back then and it wasn't the first time she was hunted down, but her joining The Revenant's Guild had doubled or maybe even tripled those numbers!

If it wasn't because she was a skilled player and she tends to travel to more dangerous places, then she would have died hundreds of times already from always getting surrounded and worse, getting spawn camped soon after!

"Aren't these..Luminous Crystals? Was this place abandoned in a hurry and they didn't even bother extracting these things?" Solitary Mumbled to herself as she slowly made her way in the center of the brightly lit cavern that's coming from the crystals protruding from the earth in every corner of the cavern.

[Luminous Crystals]

A somewhat rare ore that miraculously emits light in the dark, and the bigger they are, the brighter the light they emit. They are very fragile so they must be handled with care when being extracted.

As the description had mentioned, they are very rare crystals as their purpose is similar to light bulbs in the real world, and due to the usefulness of their properties along with their rarity, only royalties and nobles or rich people can afford them.

"Though not as expensive as Mithril, they are still valuable. It seems this place has some story since they just left these valuable ores behind"

"Found you"

Hearing the sudden voice like a whisper behind her, Solitary Tempest's heart grew cold before she abruptly spun her body around and kicked at the space behind her!

Bam!

[You were attacked! You have been forced out of your stealth!]

[You have received 337 damage!]

The moment her attack landed, all she knew was that her kick connected to something hard but soft at the same time. Following that, she saw the sudden appearance of a familiar figure materializing at the spot she attacked while that person was sent reeling backwards for a few meters from the force of her kick.

"It's you..again"

"Hehehe, I'm not that easy to get rid off"