Dwargon

[Apollymi]

Miki soon found herself in front of a city map, which was apparently where Kou had been going for a reference to the spot known as Cidna Mine. Miki also looked at the map, for several seconds even while Kou spoke. As she looked at it, she got an idea of where the mine was, as well as where everything else immediately surrounding it was. Especially in reference to the shop they had to go back to, having a fairly reasonable understanding of this particular place she also walked along with the lad. She could understand what he meant about rich people wanting to get the most out of their money for the least possible expenditure. After all, one didn't keep money they made by spending it recklessly. Even son, the bits about mining which bothered him, were also the bits which bothered her, and she was glad to know she wasn't the only one bothered by the smith's cryptic words. "Yeah, I am also bothered by that... what exactly happens to people in this mine?" she questioned, her mind deep in thought. 'If it was the usual thing, I'd just assume those who went in were bad at prospecting and got themselves trapped. If there are monsters, we're adventurers and that wouldn't be so much of a problem. If the other people are a problem, same thing, but I'd rather not have to fight a person over something as minuscule as a crystal. No, it literally can't just be normal... unless its a bunch of things at once which decrease the chances,' she had this thought and decided to see it out.

[Bloodedge]

Cidna Mine wasn't incredibly close to the blacksmith they'd visited, but it wasn't too far away either, and it came into view in due time. Once it did, Kou was able to react to Miki's curiosity. He could see numerous guards positioned around the mine's entrance, and only imagined there were more within. He remained in a strange way, but there was a certain gleam of anticipation in his eye. "This is... a puzzle," he claimed, having already found pieces to be fit together in addition to whatever came next. They would approach the mine without any interference from its guards, but in getting close enough to pass the group, Kou too note of how well-fitted they were for keeping trouble out of the mines.

[Apollymi]

"A puzzle?" the girl questioned. It was a strange notion, but perhaps such a way of thinking about it, would make it easier to consider. As they approached this mine, she noticed a great number of guards surrounding it, all of them seemed to be ready to fight, but did nothing to stop them from entering it. 'Strange, if they aren't here to keep people who want to work out... maybe they are there to keep something in?' the girl thought to herself. Obviously whatever pieces of this puzzle that already existed were in place and she simply didn't know what they all were, or rather she hadn't connected individual pieces as being related. But that wasn't how her mind worked anyways. Instead she was content to follow Kou inside and figure out how to find the crystals he was looking for.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah..." Kou confirmed. Still, there were a few missing elements to be found before this puzzle could be solved. Another would appear quite soon though, whether the pair knew it or not. Knowing the likelihood of the blacksmith offering them the worst of the crystals they gathered in the form of Magisteel, Kou figured their best bet would be to take the time to gather the highest-quality crystals. As such, he opted for using his Type: Mage to sense for the highest collections of Mana in the area. "I'm pinging," he announced as if he were playing the game at present. His sensing ability went outward in bursts like a sonar, and much to his expectation, it was as if they'd stumbled upon a thick shroud of Mana by walking into the mine. Still, there was a higher concentration to be found. Kou began walking deeper, but pinpointing the location of what he sought was only becoming more difficult as he stepped more into the thickness of this ambient energy. There was something quite perplexing about this. "Sou... Hard to believe there's an ore that huge that hasn't been messed with yet. This mine is too busy for that," he said, speaking as low as he could to still be heard over the sound of many pickaxes resonating through the mine.

[Apollymi]

As they began to wander into the cave, Kou seemed to have in mind how he intended to prospect for crystals. She assumed he had some sort of technique or option in mind, but strangely, what he chose to do was more useful and equally surprising to her. The term 'pinging' was used frequently on message boards for group quests when a mage was using sensory techniques. The lad had shown all the skills of a swordsman, but had typed himself a mage in his character creation. That combination was almost unheard of, and at the very least, Miki hadn't come across it while she hopped from lobby to lobby. "Sugoi! You chose 'Mage' as your type? That's really weird..." she mentioned, finding it strange but innovative. She wondered what kind of idea he had about the gameplay to choose that combination for his initial character. Still she followed along after him, deeper into the mine as he kept looking for what she assumed where high-quality crystals. "Maybe they don't know about it, the other miners might not be able to sense the magic," she hypothesized. "Or... maybe it's dangerous to get to, mining isn't historically the safest kind of work to do, and considering how magic crystals are made, maybe they are afraid to get close to it..." She whispered her statements as well, as to not be overheard. There was still something not right about this situation, and she wasn't quite sure what it was.

[Bloodedge]

Into the thick of the Mana they went, and Miki went on to address Kou's choice in Type. He raised a brow while turning his head to look at her. "Is it? I don't check the meta or anything; I figured a swordmage would be pretty fun to play," he said, seeming to have become just a bit more conscious of his human existence. Moving on though, there was the matter of the dense Mana that managed to exist to such an extent in the mine. Miki had a couple of theories involving this, and the very last one spoken hit home for Kou in an interesting way. "That's the missing piece! Magic Crystals come from long-term exposure to something with strong Mana. Even if what I'm sensing is crystal, there has to be something in the mine that's..." Kou trailed off without finishing his sentence. There was but one reason for this, and it was the presence of a fully-visible and massive ore vein of crystal on the verge of becoming high-quality Magic Crystal. Around this vein was another group of guards even more heavily-armed than those at the entrance. "Oh. I get it."

[Apollymi]

It was stated by Kou that he hadn't checked the meta before choosing his character's type and class. Miki found that strange but she didn't consider it to be game breaking or anything similar. What was more interesting to her is that it didn't even line up with regular affinities. "I mean, not checking the meta is fine, but that is completely out of the box. Sword-users would think of being strong in a more direct way... warrior would have been the most sensible thing... but this is much more interesting," she mused aloud. It was strange, but as her normal self, she would have found this combination worth looking into in the lad's case. She thought him interesting enough as is, and he was proving himself to be a very different sort of person. With that in mind it was only natural for her mind to begin to wander about the lad behind the screen, so to speak.

As they moved along in conversation something in her idea list resonated with Kou. He claimed to have all the pieces now, and went on to give a minor rant which detailed the important bits. But before he was able to say exactly what he was thinking, they stumbled upon the ore vein they were looking for and it was even more heavily guarded than the front of the cave had been. 'I wonder if he was going to say there had to be someone here who the guards don't want anyone finding out about ... that seems about the right line of thought. This could be dangerous then... more dangerous than normal,' she said. And suddenly what had seemed to be their safest initial option became a tad bit more daunting. "So, how do we approach this?" she asked in a low voice. Whatever he now understood, she was sure he'd fill her in on if he could, or she'd find out soon enough.

[Bloodedge]

"That's why I chose Mage. Instead of following whatever everyone else thinks is the best path, I'd rather do something different and see if I can make it better. It's more fun that way," Kou said to explain the reason behind his choice. The way he saw it, he could achieve the same - if not better - results as a Warrior Saber by making a Mage Saber. He thought of it as a simple difference between destroying everything in front of him with raw power, and doing the same thing with energy and additional effects. "When I'm like this, I feel like I made the right choice. I've got a decent grasp on all the skill I have with a sword, but then there's the tricky magic stuff added to it. It feels good."

As they were placed before heavily-armed guards and a very plentiful supply of Magic Crystals, Kou gave consideration to a few things. He had truly committed to treating this ordeal as he would a puzzle, and took many of the things he'd noticed thus far as key pieces to solving it. "Guards around open crystals that haven't been touched, guards on the outside, and enough Mana around that vein to cover my whole screen if we were playing the game normally. I think... we should..." The more he thought about the situation, the more everything pointed toward one eventuality. With this in mind, he spoke loudly enough to be heard by the guards and any nearby miners. "Meh, this is too much to deal with! I think we should just leave," he said, immediately garnering the attention of the guards, as well as some interesting frightened expressions aimed his way by the miners who heard him. The guards seemed ready to move at any moment after hearing this, but Kou was quick to speak further. "Or... actually, it'd probably be fine to do a bit of mining. This looks like a good spot, doesn't it?" he asked of Miki while looking to her with hidden intent.

[Apollymi]

Though she didn't expect him to, Kou went on to explain his choice in type and class. This simultaneously cleared up what he had in mind and what kind of personality he had, at least in Miki's eyes. She could respect the lad's moxie, and desire to try something new, travelling the unbeaten path and all of that. "Hm, I see... that's pretty cool," she said of the boy's reasoning. The more they chatted the more she could honestly say she enjoyed the lad's company.

Still there was the matter of the actual mine to get to, and as they stopped in one of the deeper reaches, it seemed that Kou was processing the area as if it was a puzzle. At the very least, there was a lot of small hints and clues to be picked up on, as miners all seemed scared when he mentioned leaving loudly enough to be heard. And the guards all seemed to be at attention for a moment until of course he mentioned staying for a while. "Hai, I guess this is as good a place to start as any~" she agreed, her scowling face taking in all that she saw in this moment. 'I wonder what kind of problem this is going to be... it seems like it will be obvious pretty soon,' stated mentally.

[Bloodedge]

The second statement of Kou, combined with the affirmation by Miki, seemed to put the guards at least somewhat at ease for the moment. Kou was sure this wouldn't stop them from being viewed as a suspicious pair henceforth, but it seemed they were stuck in the mine regardless, unless they wanted to try fighting their way out against a group of guards above their level. 'Kuso. I probably could have done that better. If only there was a way to... No, wait,' he thought. If they were simply playing Age of Eternity and it somehow registered their voices as their characters', a way around this would have simply been to use the in-game private messaging system. They were Party members, so it would be assumable that they could be considered on each other's friends list if such a thing were possible here and now. Kou began staring at Miki, maintaining very direct eye contact while trying to focus a message from his mind. He would eventually succeed without realizing he'd done so, after quite a few attempts. '... No, that doesn't seem to be working. What if I just think "backslash whisper" or something? No, that'd be dumb. Hmm...'

[Apollymi]

It seemed this pair would be resolved to this situation for at least a while. 'Hm, I wonder what he will come up with next...' she questioned as her gaze soon shifted towards the lad. Rather suddenly, she found herself staring at this lad and he was staring back. 'Why is he looking at me?' she wondered within her own mind. Still she couldn't really look away, not for quite a few seconds and then she caught what she could have sworn was a thought not of her own mind. 'Backslash Whisper? Tehehehe~' a small giggle happened in this young woman's mind. She thought it was funny but she was seriously wondering why he was staring so hard, her own mind wandering would eventually lead to a similar slip of her thoughts towards the lad, as their eye contact had yet to stop, 'Is he trying to tell me something?'

[Bloodedge]

Kou continued staring, and continued wondering how this could work, or if there was even a way for it to work. Shortly after his thoughts involving use of the 'whisper' command, his eyes were widened by the thoughts of Miki entering his own mind. 'Oh! There! You can hear me, right? I figured there would be some way to translate the chat box, but I wasn't sure how to make it work. I guess I just had to want my words to go to you alone.' Now that this little trick had been discovered, it would become quite useful in the future. For this exact moment though, Kou intended to use it for the sake of avoiding the guards' ears. 'So, those Magic Crystals are still growing. I think there's something on the other side of this shaft, and they're probably keeping it here. There's no other reason for them to have this mine without it being stripped bare by now. That's just one thing. The other thing is... I don't think anybody who mines things here is really going to be allowed to leave with what they get.'

[Apollymi]

Miki's eyes widened as her thoughts were apparently projected into the mind Kou. She found this an overall strange experience, but she supposed similar to his own explanation of what he'd been attempting this sort of thing made sense. 'Sou ka, I guess that would need a direct translation. Gonna take some getting used to though...' she said. It was strange, but the fun thing about chat boxes was that one was always in control and had time to think given the use of a keyboard. She could find both positives and negatives to conversations being had in a more direct way without it. Regardless of this, there seemed to be several other things on the mind of her companion, all of which seemed to summarize their current situation. 'So you think they are using this mine as a farm?' she came to her own conclusion, based on his extra bit of knowledge.

If something was making magic crystals grow here, then aside from potential danger, the only reason to be so secretive about it, was that they wanted to keep all the crystals. This was further fed by the idea that apparently no one got to leave this place. 'And also I was right, dangerous and impossible... if you aren't allowed to leave this place with magic crystals then coming here to get them is basically impossible. And getting out of here with them, will likely require either craftiness or some kind of battle I'd honestly rather avoid with these heavily armored guards...' she finished up her thoughts on this matter and wondered then what they would do. Obviously they still intended to mine, but perhaps the lad had something in mind for this, 'So, what's your plan?' she asked, willing to divert this to him. In her own head, she figured handling such a thing based on the games mechanics could be both easy or hard. Like most games there was usually a direct option, a stealth option and a neutral option. She still wasn't exactly sold on this world being the inside of the game, but if the mechanics all still existed there were many possibilities with how to handle a situation like the one they currently found themselves in.

[Bloodedge]

'Yeah, but I don't think we'll need to use it a lot. It's coming in clutch right now though,' Kou replied while making sure to avoid looking at any of the guards. He wasn't so concerned with collecting the Magic Crystals and leaving just yet; the situation that seemed to be surrounding it was much more interesting to him at the moment. 'What if we don't need to leave the mine to get out? If there's something on the other side of this wall, there has to be some other way to get out. My plan... I think we should just mine this spot until we get through the other side, find whatever monster they have back there, and let it rampage in the mine while we sneak through the other side.'

[Apollymi]

'Um-hm, not making the guards suspicious is pretty clutch...' she commented knowing that it was probably the most life saving thing they had going. Beyond this, the boy's thoughts about their present situation were soon presented in a way that Miki could at least understand. In his explanation, Kou stated they should in fact, mine for the needed crystals and in the process free whatever manner of beast they were using to turn this mine into a farm. They could then use that as cover to escape through whatever this mine was attached to. 'That's a pretty good idea...' she said, though she found it to be a bit of a toss up to the other miners, she considered that they'd either also take advantage or get caught up in the carnage anyways. Their lives here were a death sentence regardless so even if a beast came rampaging through it could only be considered a partial blessing. 'Alright tell me where, and I'll start digging...' the girl said. Instead of bringing forth her weapon, she looked around the mine until she found a pick which looked something similar to a long ice pick. This would be what she used, but she had a very specific reason for choosing this particular implement.