Tunnel Rat

Chapter 44: Grinding

The dwarven pick bit into the rock wall as Milo worked his way to another chunk of ore. Experimenting with a regular pick had shown him how superior the old dwarven pick was. It cut through the stone easily, especially if he kept it sharp using one of the abilities off his ring. The enchantment was probably intended for weapons, but it worked just fine on his tools as well. Several more chunks of rock were removed and he could get at the small deposit of Deep Copper. As always, he was ready in case a copperhead appeared. The little snakes could appear and latch onto your hand quite quickly. Their poison could do quite a bit of damage if you were bitten several times. This was a smaller seam of ore, so he didn't have to worry about a Vein Lurker.

Copper had a different feel than the rock that made up most of the mines. Regular copper ore had a hazy green to its look, and Deep Copper a darker green. The richer the ore, the less he could sense it, but he was able to 'see' the ore against the backdrop of the rock. A large seam of ore was pretty obvious. There were areas of rock infused with copper, and then nuggets or strands of purer ore that he could tell were 'not rock'.

Deep Iron had a much 'heavier' feel to it than copper. At one point Milo had felt a long, thin piece of 'heavy-not-rock' in the wall and mined several feet to get to it. It turned out to be a four-foot-long drill that had been hammered into the rock from another nearby shaft, and left for some reason. He put the sturdy tool into his stash to sell to the guild.

Milo had been mining steadily for five days now, clearing out the area of Deep Copper before he moved on. He was curious about the end of the tunnel with it's stairway blocked by rubble. But he needed to increase his mining skills and repay the guild for the cost of the ore bags before he made another trip up top. He fell into a regular cycle of mine, sleep and do his work in Section E, study in Arcane Library, and then return to mining.

Being attacked by a copperhead was always a possibility as he mined areas of Deep Copper. He was getting a feel for the little elementals. A large amount of copper ore faded away as they materialized. This often gave him a warning before they attacked. He had killed 7 of them in five days of mining and earned 9 core skill points. Each one had dropped a chunk of pure Deep Copper, and two had dropped fangs. With how scarce those seemed to be, he expected they would sell well.

He was steadily getting mining experience which was also raising his STR. When he wasn't mining, he was learning more about Bonecasting in his library, or studying automated repair systems in his home in the pipe works.

His studies were raising his Rune Lore and Bone Carving. Cichol was helping him understand more about creating constructs from bone. He worked in Section E was finding new ways to construct his repair systems and keep things running. There were some synergies between the two that he found ironic. And of course, while he wasn't quite 'mining' the abandoned sections of the habitat, his salvaging of old machinery was certainly coming close.

His stomach rumbled, and he felt itchy and annoyed. It had been like this all morning. He reached into his pack and pulled out the large chunk of cheese he had selected for today. Jethro had recommended it as one of the best. Co-incidentally, it was made by their family. He'd called it a 'fresh and tasty cheese'. It had turned out to be soft and a bit bland. It melted easily and went well with crackers, but it didn't seem to fill him up as much. Some cheeses were obviously better than others for taste, nourishment, and satisfying his cravings for a tasty snack. He downed the last of the chunk, and got back to work. Maybe he'd finish this vein and then head back early. He needed a break and some better food before logging out. And he missed George. His little lizard did a great job of guarding him and keeping his camp bug free. The little guy deserved some play time.

His annoyance at the mediocre cheese fueled his swings as he drove the pick into the rock wall and dug towards the ore vein. As he got closer, he could see that is was a big one, and had some nice chunks of pure ore. After ten minutes of breaking rock and making a large enough hole to keep digging a large chunk fell away and rolled onto his tail causing considerable pain. That woke him up. Massaging his bruised tail, he moved the loose rock aside and looked at the copper ore he had revealed. The greenish ore had long thin strands of pure copper running through it.

Before his eyes the ore moved. The strands of copper ore thickened and twisted together. Copper ore turned liquid and the pure copper left the rock behind to join the strands. Then like a river it flowed away, leaving behind an empty cavity where the ore had been. Milo quickly looked inside and saw a bright green glow coming from a large twisting ball of copper that revealed itself to be a massive coiled snake

The ball looked to be nearly eight feet across and the body of the snake more than a foot thick. Milo did the math and didn't like the answer of a copperhead over 200 feet long. How much ore had been in that deposit? And now it had all turned into something that probably ate rat-kin whole. As if hearing his thoughts, a large reptilian head appeared above the coiled body of the snake. Two eyes of solid jade stared into his. He felt rooted to the spot for a moment as the snake quickly started unwinding and heading in his direction.

He stumbled backwards as the snake rammed its head on the opening. Stone cracked and Milo recovered his senses. Two skulls flew through the opening, quickly followed by two more. From inside the small cave where the creature had formed came multiple explosions. Dust and stone flew from the opening.

You have injured Hammerhead Constrictor Queen with several spells.

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen takes 130 damage -50 damage from armor mitigation = 80 damage

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen takes 150 damage -50 damage from armor mitigation = 100 damage

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen takes 120 damage -50 damage from armor mitigation = 70 damage

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen takes 130 damage -50 damage from armor mitigation = 80 damage

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen has been slightly injured 1670/2000

Milo had intended to try and use his spells to weaken and then kill the copperhead while it was trapped in the cave. He abandoned that plan and ran in a panic as true to its name the snake rammed the opening and made a bigger doorway to come after him.

The last two weeks had been busy ones for Milo. He had expanded the dwarven diggings, adding cross tunnels and connections as he went after small pockets of ore he could see in the rocks. He intended to use that against the snake. He purposely run away from the drop down to his camp. The snake followed. For something that had just been created it was darn quick. After about fifty feet Milo took a left turn and the snake rammed into the wall before turning to follow. He had gained a few feet.

With a bit of a lead, Milo thought he'd risk going down the drop. If the snake followed, he'd just keep going. If it didn't, he'd hide out for a bit and see what happened. Did elementals stay around? Or did they turn back into ore? Milo took two more left turns and headed back to the main tunnel. A problem arose. There was a snake already there.

He revised his math. Less volume went into the snake’s back end and it's tail, but that meant it was probably over 300 feet in length and part of it was still exiting it's cave. He'd have to leap over it. His first jump took him to the top of the wall and he rebounded to dive over the snake near the ceiling.

Hammerhead Constrictor Queen hits you for 50 points of damage. You are stunned for 2 seconds.

As Milo had leaped, the head on one end of the snake saw what was happening and used her other end slam him into the ceiling, stunning him briefly. He came to his senses as a thick copper coil looped around him and began squeezing. He struggled, but he didn't have the STR to get loose before another coil was around him. To his credit, the queen was surprised at how long he lasted without breath his lungs and how difficult it was to crush his bones. The last thing Milo remembered was a huge, unhinged jaw coming closer to him.

You have died. You did not lose any experience or skills due to death. You won't always be so lucky. You will respawn at your base in 12 hours. Have a great day.

Milo spent the 12 hours working on projects and making plans in his head. The new clog eaters were working out great. They were far superior to the older ones. He ordered another dozen of the machines in different sizes. Some as small as 2". With this fleet of clog-hunting mechanical warriors he could get everything flowing smoothly for the first time in decades.

There were several other machines made by the same corporation. One was just diagnostics. It roamed pipes, taking a continuous stream of x-rays and photos and noting damage to the pipes. The other new machines could scrape away rust and patch bad areas before they leaked. There was even a system that would coat the entire network with a new layer of very hard, frictionless plastic. He was having cost estimates done for his section while disguising it as a request from a chemical factory in Switzerland.

He also spent quite a bit of time looking up details on constrictor snakes and the tensile strength of copper. Then he ran a few simulations. Satisfied with the results he took time to memorize details and refine the plan. Finally satisfied, he sat back chewing on a piece of 40-year-old Wisconsin cheddar. The cheese was sharp and crumbly, but almost melted in his mouth. The crystals that formed in the aging process gave it a slight crunch.

He took a last look at his diagrams before logging back in. "I hope you know; this means war."

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