Exploring Technology in a Wizard World

Not far to the northwest of Shambala Town, there is a small hill with an iron mine. It is neither small nor large, merely medium in scale.

Similar mines can be found in the vicinity of Shambala Town, numbering around dozens. This mine being the thirteenth to be exploited, is thus named No.13 Mine.

The owner of No.13 Mine is named Waltz, a classy name, though he is, in reality, a nouveau riche.

Under him, over a hundred miners are employed to extract ore, typically mining during the day and resting at night. The main reason stems from the mine being located on a narrow mountaintop, with storage warehouses not large enough. If it operated in shifts around the clock like bigger mines, the warehouses would soon overflow. This is also to prevent depleting the mine too quickly and to ensure a steady output.

However, daytime mining operations don't mean the mine is deserted at night.

The miners do leave for Shambala Town for rest and entertainment, but the guards become busy.

Employed by the mine, the guards vigilantly patrol the site, frequently searching the shafts, holding their breath to listen for sounds. On one level, to prevent potential thieves from stealing ore from the warehouses, and on another, to stop competitors from covertly tunneling during the quiet of night to excavate ore.

Among all the guards, the highest-ranking was a man named Hua Nuo.

Around twenty years old, slightly unkempt, not particularly strong, his build tall and thin, his complexion pale and somewhat frail.

The reason for his elevated status among the guards was simple—Mine Owner Waltz was his maternal uncle, who placed considerable importance on him.

Hua Nuo didn't disappoint his uncle Waltz's expectations, diligently protecting the entire mine, earning much respect from the guards for his immense responsibility.

...

As night descended, No.13 Mine lay in silence.

After patrolling the entire site with fellow guards, Hua Nuo found nothing amiss and grew a tad relaxed. The other guards turned and headed for the resting quarters, while Hua Nuo, who initially followed, stopped when passing the newly excavated shaft.

With a thought, Hua Nuo sent his companions back to the quarters and walked straight into the newly dug mine.

The new shaft, compared to the old ones, lacked attention to many details like reinforcing unstable areas, clearing small stones, or repairing the ground.

Hua Nuo planned to take another round, jot down issues he found, and inform his mine-owner uncle later to prevent any accidents.

"Tap, tap, tap…"

Hua Nuo stepped into the mineshaft, holding a torch for light, making his way over the floor's pits, avoiding the precariously hung stones above, charting most of the course, with a firm idea in mind. Just about to leave, he suddenly heard a "rustling" sound emanate from the depths of the shaft.

"Hmm?" Hua Nuo swiftly spun around, thrusting the torch toward the source of the sound, seeing nothing, yet the sound persisted. With some vigilance, he called out, "Who?! Who's there?!"

No response came.

Frowning, Hua Nuo treaded deeper into the shaft, going further in until stopping at a corner.

He realized the sound seemed to be coming from inside the rockwall of the shaft.

"Inside the rockwall? Could I have heard wrong?"

Hua Nuo uncertainly pressed himself against the rock wall, straining to hear.

As soon as he leaned in, the wall couldn't bear the force and crumbled, bursting open with a "crash," revealing a hidden tunnel within, the earlier "rustling" sound emanating clearly from it.

This!

Hua Nuo was momentarily taken aback and in the next moment shone the torch into the hidden tunnel, instantly forming a suspicion: Someone was stealing ore!

Indeed, someone was stealing ore!

There must have been a secret tunnel. Sneaking in to extract ore, thus the situation he faced. The "rustling" he heard was presumably the sound of unauthorized ore mining.

Damn it!

With this suspicion, Hua Nuo was suddenly filled with rage, drawing the dagger from his belt, stepping into the hidden tunnel, intent on discovering who dared to be so audacious.

"Tap, tap, tap…"

Hua Nuo briskly walked inside the hidden tunnel, covering a distance of over a hundred meters in one go.

Instead of encountering a miner stealing ore, he met several pairs of oil-green eyes glowing from the darkness, paired with a foul stench of rotting corpses wafting over him.

Hua Nuo was startled.

The "oil-green eyes" in the darkness had been feeding on a corpse, but halted in unison, fixing their gaze on him.

"Gulp!"

Hua Nuo swallowed hard, watching the "oil-green eyes" slowly approach him, his body growing stiff.

Not knowing what they were, he recalled a recent rumor circulating in Shambala Town.

The rumor spoke of a small mine, where, during excavation, they accidentally drilled too deep and opened a passage to the legendary Abyss, unleashing the Demon within.

The freed Demon was ferocious, killing upon sight. Many miners had inexplicably lost their lives.

"Demons…" Hua Nuo murmured, his voice trembling, his entire body shaking.

The approaching "oil-green eyes" in the darkness drove his tension to the extreme, a surge of inexplicable rage emerged, a manifestation of his intense survival instinct under immense fear.

"Whoosh!"

The closest pair of "oil-green eyes" leapt towards him like a Black Shadow.

"Ah!"

Hua Nuo screamed, swinging his torch feverishly at the approaching figure.

With a "crack," the torch was swatted away; several sharp presences slashed towards his chest as if intending to disembowel him.

In the brink of life and death, Hua Nuo gritted his teeth, his right hand clutching his sole weapon—a dagger, meeting the threat head-on.

"Screech!"

The sound of clashing metal erupted, sparks flying in the darkness.

Hua Nuo arduously blocked the fatal assault but could do nothing against the overwhelming force that followed, getting knocked back with a "bang."

"Thud!"

Hua Nuo hit the ground, clawing back to his feet; his entire body ached. The skin of his hand split open, and his dagger was nowhere to be seen.

Most despairing, the "oil-green eyes" in the pitch darkness seemed undeterred, approaching again.

"Is it truly a Demon?"

Hua Nuo, void of the courage to resist, seeing no chance of repelling successfully, cast an apprehensive glance at the "oil-green eyes," turning to stumble towards the shaft's exit.

As he fled, the "oil-green eyes" behind him pursued with even greater speed, rushing forward with a "whoosh whoosh whoosh."

...

Just over three minutes later.

"Ah! Ah! Don't kill me!"

Covered in blood, Hua Nuo screamed out loud, managing to make it meters from the shaft's exit, frantically charging outside as if seeing a glimmer of Hope.

Just then, a pair of "oil-green eyes" from behind dashed forward like they'd had enough playing, slamming him down with a "whack," its sharp teeth effortlessly ripping open his throat.

"Splash—"

A torrent of blood gushed out of his body, his eyes widened, convulsing a few times before succumbing.

The moonlight outside poured in, revealing the figure behind the "oil-green eyes" that slew Hua Nuo—it was shockingly a rat.

However, compared to ordinary rats, it seemed to have undergone some mutation, its body considerably larger, akin to a Hound, oil-green eyes perpetually shifting, exuding rare cunning and ferocity.

The mutated rat, after effortlessly killing Hua Nuo, licked his blood, then raised its head to look outside.

At the rest hut of the mine outside, the door abruptly opened, a guard, who vaguely heard Hua Nuo's cries, stepped out, scanning the surroundings in search of the sound's origin.

Trimmed bushes rustled as the commotion from its companions' rapid approach intensified, followed by their collective charge out of the cave, beginning a slaughter.

That night was blood-soaked.

The unforeseen incident of that night was black and horrifying.

...