Tunnel Rat

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 of 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 damage him any longer, but their fangs still hurt. They always found a tender spot to latch onto. 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 had a darker green. The richer the ore seam, the easier it was to see and know where to mine.

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 its stairway blocked by rubble but held off exploring that way. He had a good area to work with here, and 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. If he opened up a new area, it might contain monsters he had to fight or interesting areas to explore. He was restraining his curiosity until he paid off his debt. He fell into a regular cycle of mining, sleeping while doing his work in Section E, studying in Arcane Library, and then returning 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 always gave him a warning before they attacked. He had killed 7 of them in five days of mining and earned nine enhancement 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 the runes he could carve into bones and create better spells. His work in Section E was a constant quest to find 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. Coincidentally, it was made by their family. He'd called it a 'fresh and tasty cheese.' But 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 Georgie. His little lizard did a great job of guarding him and keeping his camp bug free. The little guy deserved some playtime.

His annoyance at the mediocre cheese fueled his swings as he drove the pick into the rock wall and dug toward the ore vein. As he got closer, he could see that it 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 reach the vein, 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 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 transformed into a massive coiled snake.

The ball looked to be nearly eight feet across, and the body of the snake was 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 ratkin 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.

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He stumbled backward as the snake rammed its head into the opening. Stone cracked, and Milo recovered his senses, attacking it with his spells. 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 7670/8,000

Milo had intended to 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 ran 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 its tail, but that meant it was probably over 300 feet in length, and part of it was still exiting its 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 of the snake saw what was happening and used her other end to 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 strength to get loose before another coil was around him. To his credit, the queen was surprised at how long he lasted without breathing 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 will respawn at your base in 12 hours. Have a great day.

Milo came out of his pod, frustrated and wanting revenge. Also, very intrigued by the sheer size of the elemental. It must contain tons of pure ore and be worth dozens of points! While part of his mind was on his work, the other half was thinking about how to construct a proper snake trap.

He 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. This time he’d be the one doing the hunting.

                    

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