The Convergence of All Magics

After dispatching the saber-toothed tiger, Amelia's gaze settled on Kael's trio, lingering particularly on Finn. After a long pause, her crystalline voice rang out—clear and cool as mountain springwater, carrying an otherworldly resonance. "Finn Warrens? Fifth-level combatant from Flamecrest Academy's first year?"

The question sent Finn into a flustered frenzy. Flexing his biceps ostentatiously, the muscular youth declared, "The Amelia Silverwind knows my name? Your humble servant indeed! Loyal, hardworking, currently single and actively—"

Kael buried his face in his palm while Griffin took three deliberate steps backward, muttering, "We don't claim him."

Ignoring the buffoon, Kael executed a formal knight's salute. "Our apologies for the intrusion, Lady Silverwind. We accepted an adventurer's guild commission for this beast's fangs. If you've no need for them..."

"Take them." Amelia's blade flashed as frost-tinged combat aura cleanly severed the saber fangs, which she tossed to Kael before he could mention compensation.

"Such peerless generosity! Truly the model of—" Finn's renewed fawning was cut short by Kael's murderous glare.

Though robbed of their hard-earned hunt, the trio had technically completed their mission. As Griffin suggested retreating, Kael suddenly froze—a peculiar magic fluctuation pulsed from the mine shaft's depths.

Amelia's brows knitted slightly, her limpid eyes suddenly sharpening like twin blades.

Finn followed their locked gazes toward the cavern entrance. "What? Ratlings hosting a tea party in there?"

"Magical resonance," Kael murmured. "Something's concealed within."

"Treasure?!" The word transformed Griffin and Finn into wide-eyed adolescents. The musclebound fool charged forward before the sentence finished. "Last one in licks cave slime!"

As the brothers disappeared into the shadows, Kael hesitated—until Amelia swept past him, moonlight hair flaring as she entered the darkness without backward glance.

Darkness consumed the tunnel, yet oppressive heat thickened with every step. The labyrinthine passages branched like arteries beneath the mountain, their moisture-slick walls glistening faintly under Kael and Griffin's hovering light orbs. Even at full intensity, the magical illumination barely pierced ten meters ahead - beyond lay shadows dense enough to chew.

Eight gaping subsidiary tunnels yawned before them. Finn scratched his head. "Ant colony's wet dream, this place."

Kael ran fingertips over striated stone, tracing mineral veins glowing faintly beneath his touch. "Not ordinary bedrock," he murmured. "These patterns... there's resonance metal here."

"Resonance what-now?" Griffin squinted at unremarkable walls.

"Earthspire Alloy! Or maybe Starfall Adamant!" Finn's eyes transformed into gold-coin replicas, slack-jawed imagination clearly conjuring treasure hoards.

Amelia's gaze sharpened. The ice-princess warrior remained silent, yet her slight forward lean betrayed interest.

Following nearly invisible crystalline threads in the stone, Kael's boot suddenly scuffed against something - a hairline metallic gleam winked from the floor. Without hesitation, he plunged into the leftmost tunnel.

"Since when's our mage a geomancer?" Griffin hissed as they followed.

"Since memorizing every ore diagram in the Tome of Eternal Codex," Kael replied absently, light orb bobbing ahead. Truthfully, the ancient text's knowledge now burned behind his eyes like live coals - mineral densities, resonance frequencies, even the faint musk of tellurium deposits.

The air grew viscous with earth magic. Suddenly Amelia's sword hissed from its scabbard, its blade catching reflections from ahead - the tunnel walls now pulsed with faint topaz luminescence.

They emerged into a cathedral-sized cavern.

Veins of molten gold seemed frozen mid-flow across every surface. Kael's breath caught - not at the spectacle, but at the intricate dance of energies. "Earthspire Alloy," he confirmed. "Self-reinforcing lattice structure. A gauntlet's worth could turn dragonfire."

Amelia nodded curtly, though her eyes betrayed awe. Even Finn momentarily forgot greed, tracing a reverent finger over glowing metal. "Enough here to armor a battalion..."

"Five full suits," Kael calculated automatically. "But the true prize lies deeper."

Griffin frowned. "Deeper than literal mountains of priceless—"

"Symbiotic crystallization." Kael's voice dropped to a whisper. "Where Earthspire concentrates, elemental paradoxes form. Stellar Diamonds. Void Sapphires. The Codex mentions..." He stopped himself, but not before Amelia's head snapped toward him.

Finn whooped, charging further in. "Move over, peasant ore! Finn Warrens deserves gemstones that—"

His boot plunged through a false crust.

As the idiot's screams echoed from sudden depths, Kael sighed. "Or trapped voids. The Codex definitely mentioned those too."