Riley pressed toward the miner, sidestepping a harsh swing of his pickaxe. The rusted tip slammed into the cavern wall at his side, shattering a swathe of stone. His counter was swift, jamming the tip of his staff into one of the miner’s eyes. He groaned and recoiled, ichorous black puss erupting down the side of his face from a cluster of burst pustules.

  He seized on the opening and whipped his blade outward, shaving the miners head from his shoulders in a single stroke. He stood in place, staggering about, and then thudded lifelessly onto the ground.

  Grimacing, he stepped around the outpouring blood as dark, sticky blood poured from the neck stump. “This is gross every time. At least the Essence is nice.” He bought up his menu, checking on the amount of Essence he had accrued since leaving Myron’s Pike. Barrowmen, corrupted miners, and a few unremarkable monsters who had gotten in the way on the road.

  6600 Essence total. Not bad, but he wanted more.

  He pressed deeper into the tunnel, guided solely by the torches that had been hewn into the wall sconces. The miners had at least been through in their safety before the tragedy befell them, each stretch of the mine decently lit and the structural supports had gone mostly untouched by the prior violence.

  The tunnel opened out into an expansive cavern, where great tracts of the wall had been cleared away with a concentrated effort on the part of the miner. A few of the corrupted individuals paces back and forth, heedless of the corpses of their cohorts rotting at their feet. Most of them were the same as the other miners he had killed, but he did spy two unique figures in the group.

  The first was slightly larger than the others, his face and upper arms wreathed in a network of pulsing black tumours that completely obscured what had once been his head. In his left arm he carried a makeshift cudgel of jagged stone.

  The second was a miner who had a red cloak draped over his shoulders. A gemstone, like a piece of noxium, was lodged in his forehead. He, surprisingly, carried no weapon.

  Riley shrugged and raised his staff, unleashing a cloud of Blinding Mist into the chamber just as the monsters took notice of him. He rushed the nearest miner, whipping his shotel downward and cleaving the creature’s face in two.

  For Aqar’Ghul!

  Mesquard rushed from Riley’s robe and darted across the foggy ground. He made for one blinded miner who was staggering Riley’s way, clambered up his body, and set about biting chunks of his flesh from his throat.

  Riley braced with his shotel as a pickaxe swung his way, the impact striking the smoking metal and unleashing a spray of sparks. He was shunted backward, gasping from the shock that raced up his shoulder. In that moment, a great chunk of stone whizzed his way and only narrowly missed striking him in the head.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  He looked through the mist, toward the cloaked miner. Sparks of purple light pulsed from the gem in his brow, as chunks of rock were lifted from the ground at his feet.

  “A mining wizard?” Riley asked in disbelief.

  The miner, still half-blind, groaned and swung his pick at Rileys head. The plague wizard rolled away, wincing at the sound of stone shattering at his side. His shotel thudded into the miner’s ribs, slicing clean through a bed of malformed black flesh. Another stone whizzed his way, forcing him to jump back before he could finish the miner off.

  While Mesquard kept the third miner occupied, darting from point to point and gnawing on chunks of his flesh before he could be killed, Riley turned his focus to the mining wizard. His mist was already fading, the other three monsters turning their focus on Riley.

  He wouldn’t be able to do much while that bastard was taking potshots at him.

  The other mutated miner let out a horrible groaning howl, the noise sending a tremor racing through the ground. He rushed at Riley and swung his club downward, set to crush Riley like a gnat. The wizard jumped away from the incoming club, the blow shattering a great chunk of the ground. A gale whipped outward from the point of impact, clinging Riley into the nearest wall. The blow shook him from end to end, an ache radiating through his bones.

  He grunted and recovered quickly, breaking into a sprint to dodge more rocks as they hurtled his way. Riley whipped his shotel outward, slicing the head off a nearby miner as he raced toward the mining wizard. More projectiles whizzed past him, only barely missing.

  Riley was only a few meters from the mining wizard, well aware that the largest of the miners was plodding toward him, when his target lifted his hands and took aim.

  Darkness swirled around the cloaked figure’s arms, rising up like hissing smoke. A pulse of darkness exploded from his palms, sending a great wave of power through the ground. The rocky surface exploded under Riley’s feet like a landmine. He struck the ceiling, bounced off it, and rolled to a halt a modest distance from the mining wizard.

  A pained groan rose in Riley’s throat, echoing through his mask. “Oh... fuck...” he groaned. He tried to rise but found his body would not obey him. White hot flashes of pain tore up through his legs, and he could faintly feel blood oozing through a myriad of cuts and wounds. He fumbled with numb, lifeless fingers, trying to grab for his shard to no avail.

  “Shit, shit,” he huffed, his whole body shaking.

  Thick, plodding footsteps echoed his way. The overgrown miner smacked one of his allies aside as if he were no more than an irritating speck. He raised his rocky club overhead and brought it down with a terrifying rush of speed.

  DEATH.

  Riley blinked, suddenly finding himself in the middle of the abandoned mining colony. A chill wind washed over him, quickly drawing him back to reality.

  He sighed and shook his head. “Been a while since that happened.” A shudder raced through his body. “Nope, still not used to it...” A strange, chilling numbness rolled through his limbs. It took him a long time to work up the energy to move again, his body racked with anxiety. The thought of going back the way he came, facing those bastards only to die again... Riley's feet felt like leaden weights.

  “A person afflicted by Rot, using magic so freely. It is not entirely unheard of, but to find someone with such power in an area this remote. That’s rather odd.” Arubis, as usual, had appeared behind him without warning. Her face was set in a look of deep contemplation, her eyebrows knit tight.

  “And a total pain,” Riley said. He considered his options. He could go and get Kim’s help, but now all his Essence was stuck in that overgrown bastard, and if Kim killed him... Well, levelling would take a lot more time, as he'd be starting from scratch.

  And he did fully intend on catching up with her.

  Riley grit his teeth and pressed on.

  Keep moving forward, he told himself. That was all he could do.