The Crimson Dragon Chapter 99

The entrance to the mine was rather large, and there were even tracks which led into the darkness. Beside the entrance was a flipped minecart which had evidently been derailed. Claudius looked over the smattering of ores on the ground and noticed that some of them shone with a green light. "Is this a copper mine?" He then noticed some red and yellow lights as well. "Is this also an iron mine?" The mineshaft went fairly deep into the ground, but it wasn't nearly as structurally complex as the mines found on Earth because of magic. Only in places where the natural magical energy was disrupted were there wood or steel supports to be found.

The adventurers used an Everburning Torch. It wasn't too expensive, and was the best choice given the current situation. However, there were also a lot of people with either night vision or darkvision. The halfling in Claudius's team had darkvision, and while it wasn't as good as a dark elf's, it was definitely better than a human's. Claudius himself had both darkvision and actual eyes, but his senses were much more complex because they were shared. He could use his ears to "see" ahead of him or use his eyes to "hear" things around him. Basically, he was like a bat or a rattlesnake, except he could also sense the flow of air or heat.

EN: Eyes to hear? Excuse me? 

TN: Night Vision is  when someone can see further at night with the same light source and darkvision is  when someone can see in the dark with no light source, or something along those lines. Basically darkvision > night vision.

As expected of a melee-based adventurer, Claudius was at the front of the group. There was also a thief at the front who was being guarded by a pack of adventurers. A priest and a paladin tried to cast protection-based divine arts on Claudius, but he turned them down and said, "I think your divine arts will be more useful elsewhere. Anything other than skeletons is a waste." However, the truth was that divine arts, whether they were buffs or debuffs, had no effect on Claudius.

Claudius wore chainmail armor and a pullover underneath it. He didn't bother wearing a pauldron because he didn't need it. In fact, even the chainmail was unnecessary given that his skin was literally made of dragon scales. It turned out that there wasn't any point in this charade though, because most people knew that barbarians could use the coc.o.o.n skill even if had Claudius forgotten.  For things that Claudius is interested in, like fighting, he really was a genius. In other things though he really was naïve and average.

Claudius's chainmail was made of refined mithril, and as such was very valuable. However, it looked just like normal chainmail. Without trying it on, there would be no way to tell the difference. In his hands, Claudius held a short sword. This is because of the limited s.p.a.ce in the mine. If he were using his greatsword instead, then both friend and foe would have been caught up in his attacks.

Claudius never really bothered to test out his combat skills and whether he could control his weapons because he was always too lazy. However, when he gently swung his short sword to find its center of gravity and to try and control it, he realized that he must have been a martial arts genius because he was instantly able to use it. "Qiao Feng's martial G.o.d is here", Claudius said to himself in Chinese.

TN: I'm a.s.suming Qiao Feng is a proper noun here. Maybe it's a reference to Demi-G.o.ds and Semi-Devils?

Using his darkvision, Claudius saw something moving deep in the mines. The others only heard something hard hitting the ground, while those with better eyesight also saw a faint red glow in the darkness - they were flames burning in the eye sockets of skeletons. In fact, the number of flames was increasing, and the noises were getting louder. "Hey, where did all these skeletons come from? Is the boss an evil demon or something? Or is it that the miners here don't care whether their slaves live or die? Do they just toss the dead bodies in a hole or something?" Claudius watched the continuous stream of skeletons appearing and estimated that there must be at least 100 of them.

More people noticed the skeletons thanks to the Everburning torches, and even though there were more than 100 of them, these 20 or so adventures weren't scared at all. The topography of the tunnels meant that these skeletons could only approach the adventures in a single-file so it would be easy to defeat them. The only concern was whether the group would be flanked through the side tunnels or backstabbed by any skeletons behind them, both of which would lead to the group being overpowered. As for the strength of the skeletons, both the warriors and paladins treated it like no big deal. Half of the yellow-boned skeletons didn't even have any weapons, while the other half had what could only be considered as rusty iron bits. All things considered these skeletons couldn't even be considered a proper enemy. They were just bits of bone to be cleaned up.

Claudius didn't even bother infusing his sword with his energy, and simply half-heartedly swung it around. In his hand, the sword was like an iron rod that was used to smash the oncoming skeleton's skull and spine. The other warriors did the same because it was much more efficient to crush them with something blunt like a s.h.i.+eld than to cut them with a sword. These skeletons were so weak that the paladins and priests didn't even need to use exorcism-based divine arts. Needless to say, everyone was in a good mood. No matter how you looked at it, instantly taking out over 100 skeletons in one go was a good thing. Some of the weaker adventurers could even head back outside to declare their victory and collect the rewards.

For Claudius, killing these skeletons was like breathing breathing, but he thought it was a bit strange that there were so many skeletons to begin with. Did so many miners die here that they didn't even bother retrieving the bodies so they could be given a proper burial at home? Did the miners like mining in a graveyard? While Claudius thought about this, he continued smas.h.i.+ng in the skulls of the skeletons around him. However, stronger enemies quickly presented themselves.

A new type of skeleton appeared, and while they looked the same as the last batch, the weapons they held were anything but. They had swords, s.h.i.+elds, and even spears. Moreover, while these weapons were a little beat up, they weren't the same as the rusty bits of sc.r.a.p the last group used. The new skeletons also more fluid movements, and they were almost as strong as the average adult human. None of this was a problem for Claudius, but it did call into question his theory of where these skeletons were coming from. If the first group were from dead miners, then his theory could still hold up. After all, this mine has been around for hundreds of years - it's not unreasonable for there to be one or two dead bodies which weren't retrieved. However, this new group had weapons. Did a squad of soldiers die here as well or something? They couldn't have just materialized out of thin air.

"Wait, no", Claudius realized. "They definitely can materialize out of thin air. As long as the right things are communicated, and a stable connection is formed…" Due to the inheritance ceremony Claudius had knowledge about a wealth of subjects, including the fact that places where a large number of people have died may sp.a.w.n monsters like these skeletons.

TN: If you're looking to sp.a.w.n some skeletons, what Claudius really says is "just communicate some of the right places and form a stable pa.s.sageway". Make of that what you will, future necromancer

"I wonder what exactly those guys dug up?" Claudius was a bit curious, but he was more interested in the monsters that will sp.a.w.n later, and whether they'd be any fun. 

EN: We got a new TL for this series! His name is sam. You can come say hi in the discord