NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Home, sweet home.
After several hours of rest, Milo moved through the rockfall and into the main mushroom cave. Behind him, a swarm of small beetles was swarming the carcass of the mantis and stripping it of flesh. That seemed right to Milo. Beetles ate the mantis, and the mantis ate the beetles. It was a good reminder that most things would probably eat him as well.
The first cave was quiet. He carefully moved through it, making sure not to step on any of the sporelings. Where Cronk had emerged, there was a large hole in the ground. Curious, Milo looked in. Mixed in the soft earth were bones, skulls, and bits of old armor and weapons. If Cronk had caught him, that's where Milo would have ended up, as fertilizer. He climbed down and rooted around, finding all manner of old bones and a half dozen skulls. He set aside the bones that were usable to take with him. The weapons and armor were rusted and bent except for two items. One was a small dagger, and the other was a short-handled shovel. A rotted pouch held some coins: 7 coppers, two silvers, and one gold. The gold coin had the face of a stern, bearded dwarf on it, wearing a crown. It seemed Cronk was more generous than Milo had given him credit for originally. He thanked the giant myconid and the unknown victims murdered by him and climbed out of the hole. Two small sporelings were looking at him. He carefully stepped around them and left them staring down into the Cronk-sized hole.
He found the entrance to the mines and carefully started exploring. What he was looking for was a good spot to set up a camp. There were several reasons for this. The first was just time. He couldn't be running back to Shadowport or even to Harry's to sleep and eat. Too much time wasted. The second was if he understood things correctly; once he made a camp and slept and ate here, he could designate it as his respawn point. No one planned on dying, but if he did, he'd rather not have a long walk and climb in his underwear back to his tombstone.
This is why he had bought a tent. Having a tent and a campfire made a campsite. If he had a campsite, he could summon a guard lizard to guard him with his ring. And if he died, he'd show respawn at his camp after a certain amount of downtime. He also wanted a place to store bones, ore, and machine parts he might find. His stash only held so much, and right now, most of the space held cheese.
This area of mine seemed to have been heavily explored. The main tunnel was about 7 feet wide and a similar height, with cross tunnels every 50 feet or so. These went 50 to 100 feet into the soft rock and earth. The cross tunnels were barely big enough for a man or miner to keep digging. Rarely over 3 feet wide and 6 feet tall. If they found any sign of ore, the area was further dug out. There was evidence that, at one time, there had been rails put down, but they must have reused them. Only rotted timbers remained on the floor.
The main tunnel went about 200 yards and abruptly ended in a crack in the earth. The crevasse extended downward past where Milo could see and went both right and left. A wooden platform hung from long cables that went up and up until the darkness obscured them. Gently, Milo tugged on a cable, and it didn't budge. He tested the two he could reach and then carefully stepped onto the platform, ready to leap back if it started to move. But nothing happened. The platform and cables were in good condition. There must be some machinery up top that would move the platform up and down. It reminded Milo of the big drops in the habitat.
Only one way to find out how high up the crevasse went and what was up there. Milo started to climb. In the real world, this would be difficult for Milo, even with his augmented limbs to help. Here it was easier. He had the climb skill, along with a light body strengthened by cheese and claws and tail to help him keep his grip on the cable. His feet were much better than a human’s. His long toes could grip better, and his flexible feet could curve around or bend back. He climbed upwards over a hundred feet with no problem and was only slightly winded after two hundred feet. He saw a small alcove, like the start of a mineshaft, and decided to take a break. It was a little tricky to swing into it, but he managed with only a small slip, catching himself and dislodging a few rocks down into the crevasse.
The opening was only about five feet square and showed signs of being dug with a pick. It ended after 40 feet, widening to a ten-by-ten area. Part of the wall here was worked stone and slightly damp. Putting his ear to the stone, he could hear rushing water. The dwarves must have decided to start a side tunnel but hit an underground stream. He laughed when he saw they had even installed a small spigot. Turning it, cold water trickled out into a basin. Someone had been thorough in his work.
This was a perfect spot! It reminded Milo of some of his favorite hiding spots in the habitat. It was hard to get to, and no one had a reason to come here. No one would see any light unless they were looking straight in, and even then, a blanket over the opening would stop that.
Summoning his Smuggler's Stash, he pulled out the tent and tossed it to one side. He was delighted to use his magic ring to set up the tent. Next was the fondue pot with the small magical fire underneath it. Finally, he summoned the guard lizard. The two-foot-long, blue and gold reptile looked at him and then walked around the perimeter of the camp, snatching up small bugs with its tongue as it went. Satisfied that the boundaries of the camp were secure, the lizard settled down to watch the entry tunnel. If anything moved into it, it would make loud croaking noises with its throat pouch until Milo was roused. Harry had been right; this was the best magic ring ever!
After a hearty meal of melted cheese and stale bread, Milo laid down in his tent to take a nap and set his respawn point.
Setting respawn point. This will take four hours.
Options:
1) Pretend to sleep while you play on the data network.
2) Actually sleep; it will do you a world of good.
3) Log out and let your body sleep. Slightly dangerous as something might eat you. And then you would respawn, get eaten, respawn… you get the idea. Hardly ever happens to anyone. I don't know where they even came up with the term 'Death loop.’
Milo trusted his faithful lizard. He'd take the chance and log out, leaving his body to nap while he got work done in Section E. At the very least, he had to see what Kaminski was doing.