CHAPTER 40: MINING EXPLORATION.

"Lady Seraphina, ten soldiers. As you requested."

A man, buffed with muscles the size of Seraphina’s head, stood right in front of her, his eyes bulging with respect and adoration. The man was also wearing a red uniform and helmet, different from the yellow uniform the ten men behind him had on.

With her head tilted to the side, Seraphina counted the employees with her eyes to make sure they were all present.

"Are they all from your faction? Project manager?" she asked, her tone serious, different from the one she always has when speaking with Dorian.

She was more grounded and professional. Almost like an entirely new person.

"Yes, ma’am, they are all from my team," the project manager replied with haste. "They are well skilled in mapping and exploring tunnels. They will prove useful for the young lord."

"They better be. I don’t want him to feel any type of disappointment from this. So please, do a thorough check and make sure they indeed can do this." Seraphina pointed at the man, though calmly.

The project manager was confused, as this was the first time she had ever been this cautious.

"Y-yes, ma’am."

He turned around; he looked at the workers, mumbling words back and forth at each other for a good minute.

Before long, the project manager had his focus back on Seraphina.

"My men are ready."

Seraphina kept her hard gaze on the team for a while, clearly still having some doubts. Then again, it wasn’t like she had many options; the other teams were working on the remaining project.

"Fine. Let’s go," she turned around, about to walk away.

Until suddenly, she halted and slowly looked at them, her eyes darkened with resolve.

"If you so much as do anything to embarrass me in front of Lord Dorian, I’ll cut off your dicks."

"Yes...ma’am."

They all replied collectively, their voice etched with concern and fear, the same expression plastered on their faces.

"Good. Now let’s go. Lord Dorian is waiting."

...

Still standing at the front of the mining hole, Dorian had his hand on his jaw, deep in thought.

Maria, who stood next to him, was staring into the pit as well, but her logic was very distinctive from his.

Still keeping her eyes locked in front, she asked,

"Are you sure this is a smart thing to do, my lord? Even if you want to explore the mining hole, I am still against you following the team." Her words came from a place of worry: "Seraphina and I can do this and report to you when you’re done."

"Trust me, I’d rather not do this either. However, it will cost me more work if you get stranded in there walking around in circles." Dorian sighed, "The hole here probably stretches far beyond the forest, and who knows where, we need to map it out and figure out where the giant ventilation fans can be placed."

"Ventilation?" Maria raised her brow.

"Don’t worry about that." Dorian looked at her. "What you should be worrying about is if you’re in good shape to come along, is that sword even going to do anything for you in a fight?" he pointed at the sword strapped around Maria’s waist.

Even after the fight with Jordan, she refused to change the sword, despite the fact it had been broken in half.

"Yes."

"Yes, my ass! It’s freaking broken!" Dorian yelled, "Why do you intend to use a broken sword anyway? Your father is literally a blacksmith. He can make you a better one with dragon iron ores."

Maria was quiet for a while.

"It’s a good sword for me."

"That’s not! - ah, you know what? Forget it!" He turned to the front, and then he spoke again.

"Listen, if we run into trouble down there, when I give the signal, I want you to take the workers out of here and run, got it?"

"My duty is to protect you. I can’t—"

"That wasn’t a request, Maria; it’s an order." Dorian sighed, "I can take care of myself. I can lead people to death; they are my responsibility, my life isn’t any more precious than theirs."

The serious yet warm expression on his face tempted Maria to beg him to stay behind once more.

That was until Seraphina showed herself.

"My lord, I have arrived with ten capable workers." Seraphina leaned to the side, her arms gesturing to the men with a big smile. "As you requested, they are strong, sturdy, and loyal to you."

’When the hell did I ask for them to be loyal,’ he gave a deadpan look.

With that out of the way, he read the workers one by one, their stats flashing before his eyes.

[Roauna-

Special ability: Strength.]

[Owen.

Special ability- Survival.]

One by one the notifications flooded his view.

’Good, they look like they can hold their own long enough to escape danger at the very least.’

Step!

Dorian moved forward a bit.

"I am sorry to call you here so untimely, but I am sure you know, we are currently running out of dragon ores we have been able to get from the little space we could explore in the mine.

Which means, in order for us to get more resources, we would have to go further into the mine and make it comfortable for mining. Right now, there are three major issues we are most likely to face on this task."

Dorian raised one finger.

The workers all paid attention.

"One, due to it being in an underground environment, closed off with tainted dragon mana, the air has been polluted; too much exposure to this toxic air can lead to death or self-mutation."

A loud gasp rippled through the small crowd.

"For now we have a temporary way to survive for a few hours during our exploration."

Dorian stretched forth his hand, conjuring multiple small round air balls, each one pulsing with mana.

"Using this, and a bit of your mana to maintain it, you will be able to protect yourself for a good while, at least up until you run out of mana."

His initial plan was to have them all wear a mask, but that could only get them so far in. Thanks to his advanced capability with elemental magic, he was able to make something useful for the journey.

He slowly pushed the ball towards them, all ten air balls hovering above each worker’s palm.

"As long as you keep it on your hand and supply it with needed mana, it will continue to push the toxic air away. If any of you run out of mana, pair up with someone, and you will both be escorted out, as the person will need to use more mana to maintain."

Seeing the motivated looks on their faces, Dorian moved on.

"Get ready for the second." He scowled. "Up inside the mining hole, there are monsters that are different from the normal ones you are accustomed to. Because they are unknown, it makes them more frightening than any we do know. The moment we spot any kind of monster, do not engage; your priority should be to leave there at once, as a group. We are most likely to run into special ranks."