The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Spawn of Secrets

Read chapter 2 of The Crack In Heaven [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] by Adamus_Auguste on NovelPedia.

Chapter 2: Spawn of Secrets Kael waited between coal-filled wheelbarrows, the two thugs flanking him. No miners around. Only the quartermaster, an aged man with grizzled hair and a wizened nose, spoke with Brannick. A coin flashed in the cold air and vanished into a pouch. Then, Brannick returned. Kael followed his gaze through the steam to the clock tower. It was seven P.M. "Five hours before night shift. Make every minute count." Flanked by the two thugs, Kael stepped into the mines. Barely a few steps in, darkness robbed him of his sight instantly. But worse was the air. It was heavy with dust outside. Here? He breathed frozen fire about to ignite in his lungs. His knees buckled, and he went down, sweating, shaking. The place felt alive, like he'd been swallowed and was waiting in the dark of something's gut. How did his father work here until this horror took him? How could the other miners... A candle. He needed to see. Just as the fear closed his throat, two green lights pierced the dark. He snapped his gaze towards the glow. The thugs held their open burlap bags in one hand, a glass tube of fluorescent liquid in the other. "Let me remind you all: no torches, no fire, no matter what," Brannick said without slowing down. His voice was as unenthusiastic as it had been in the bar, which made his next words all the more horrifying. "Unless you want to lose your arm before you can blow us up. Keep moving." Kael stumbled after the two gulping thugs, his eyes wide. Gases and coal dust couldn't just strangle them; one spark, and they would take them all. The tubes' light at least let him see enough of the metal planks reinforcing the walls and the treacherous grooves in the floor to follow. From the broad entrance, he descended a ladder made colder by winter. Several tunnels sprawled in front of them. Brannick took none of them. Instead, he shoved a crate filled with pickaxes aside as if it were empty. Then, he removed a dark piece of cloth hiding a narrow tunnel. Kael crawled inside, Brannick at the lead, a thug before him, the other behind. Gravel washed his patched shirt, hands, and face in soot. The deeper he went, the more questions he didn't want to think about tore at his determination. Will the tunnel hold? How is Brannick so strong, and why does his cloak never move? This silence is the worst... The crawl lasted an eternity—or perhaps an hour—before the tunnel opened enough to stand. Another stretch of that suffocating silence, and they reached their destination. Stone gave way to an underground lake that reflected the glass tube lights in a deeper shade of green. No, it wasn't their lights. The water itself was a shade of green so deep, it almost turned purple. And he had to go down there to slip into the mysterious passage Garrick sent him to explore? Beside him, the muffled sounds of leather on stone drew his gaze. The thugs emptied their bags, while Brannick observed them from beneath his hood. They tied two common swords at their belts and twanged the ties of bows to test them. Bundles of arrows littered the ground, but what made Kael grip the junk flower in his pocket was the leather suit and thick glass helmet. They were too well prepared. They expected a battle. Against what? Would he have to... The dagger tucked behind his back seared his skin as he broke the silence. "What's in the water?" Before he could understand what happened, Brannick gripped him by the collar. In a heartbeat, he was hauled off the ground, forced to peer into the darkness of the man's hood. "Listen, brat. Spawn of The Quiet Hand, or something worse. Doesn't matter what it is. It'll come for you, not us. Never look at it. Not for a second. The passage. That's all you look at." Brannick flung Kael beside the suit. "As long as you lose it, we'll keep it busy until your return. Now put it on and get to work." On his butt, Kael remained frozen for a moment. A spawn? Did the monsters parents used to frighten children into behaving actually exis