Soul Caller 1 - Chapter 35 (Patreon)

He was currently living in the manastone mine, which was exactly what the prospectors were after. Whether it was Vale's group or not didn't matter. Additionally, he knew that as soon as the mine was explored, they would discover the rushing river deep underground. In Merrick's heart, a flare of anger rose against the idea of the prospectors finding the mine and the river. Though he didn't believe that they were his in any sense, he also had no desire for the prospectors to own them, and from the way Vale and the others had talked about the mine, Merrick knew that if they found it, they would strip every last mana stone from it, likely destroying the peaceful canyon where he had spent the winter in the process. That thought irked him to no end, and in a flash, he decided he wouldn't stand for it.

He could feel the stinging in his cheeks where the dark marks of his blood oath seemed to radiate a faint crimson. If Vale was with the prospectors, he would die. Of that, Merrick was certain. Unbidden, ideas began to emerge in Merrick's head, detailing wild, crazy plans only to be discarded one by one. Most of them involved himself throwing everything he had at the prospectors, but a frontal assault was tantamount to suicide, as they would have more men and more rifles than he. However, he was not without his advantages. First of all, he knew that they were here, and they likely had no idea of his presence. Furthermore, he had a nearly limitless supply of manastones. Even Vale had only carried two of the precious stones with him, using them as sparingly as possible. And he knew for a fact that both Evan and Dugan hadn't carried any spares. Merrick was sitting on a literal treasure trove of them, which would allow him to fight long after the prospectors' weapons were exhausted.

And finally, he knew exactly what they were looking for. The manastone mine was a massive draw, and if Vale had told them where it was, or better yet, was with them, it provided the perfect place for an ambush. As he thought it through, Merrick's lips slowly curled up to reveal his sharp canines in a savage grin. Gone was the plan of heading into the mountains to scout the way for his trip back to the Sky Mountain tribe, and in its place, a new plan emerged. Merrick got to work swiftly. He had no idea how far away the prospectors were, but if he could hear the ringing echo of a mana rifle, it probably wasn't more than a day's travel. Knowing that he didn't have much time, he returned to his camp, and took up everything that was important, packing it tightly. Much he left behind, knowing he wouldn't be able to carry it.

He also took as many manastones as he could, packing nearly two hundred into a tight bundle while leaving the bulk of them in the long tunnel that led to the underground river. He moved another hundred manastones to the entrance of the mine. In his memories of the Warrior's tactics was one particularly vicious idea that he could use here. Manastones were an incredibly stable source of concentrated mana, making them largely safe to handle, but when subjected to extreme heat, they had a tendency to explode, producing massive gouts of flame and roiling energy.

With careful fingers, Merrick began planting the manastones that he had brought in the mouth of the cave, hiding them under a thin layer of dirt. More were pressed into the walls where they were covered so they wouldn't gleam in the light. He had to be careful with his placement, as he didn’t want to accidentally set off a chain reaction that would ignite the whole mine, and after two hours of work, the majority of the stones were scattered in the mine's entrance. A few more were scattered deeper into the tunnel, though he made sure to leave a significant distance between the last of the manastones and the cave's main entrance.

Once his trap was set, he climbed up into the small tunnel and blocked it off with a few big rocks, trying to hide it as well as possible. Once done, he filled up his flasks from the glowing water in his basin and retreated, heading to the boulders from which he normally hunted. There he scouted a path into the canyon, establishing a trail that led toward the steep ascent further down the canyon wall. After familiarizing himself with the path, he returned to the boulders and set up to wait. It took some adjustment of where the stones were placed, but by moving a few of the stones he was able to lie down in the midst of the boulders with clear sight down the gorge toward the cavern opening. It was here that he stayed, barely moving as time ticked by. He had set jerky out beside him for when he got hungry, and he remained there, quietly waiting.

Hours passed, and soon night fell. There was no sign of the prospectors, but Merrick didn't care. It was unlikely that they would travel at night, and so, getting up, he retreated half a mile to a small grove of trees where he set up camp for the night. A tiny smokeless fire warded off the springtime chill, and after catching a few hours of sleep, he returned to the nest of boulders, bedding down once again as he waited for the sun to rise. All day he waited, keeping a sharp eye on the approach that the prospectors would have to take if they wanted to come down into the canyon. Still, he saw no one, but Merrick didn't worry. He knew what he had heard, knew the report of the manatech rifle, and knew it meant that the prospectors were on their way. Retreating again to his camp, he spent some time meditating before falling into a deep sleep.

He awoke two hours before dawn and quietly packed up his camp. He had a feeling that today would be the day. Returning to his place among the boulders, he arranged his pack to be easy to grab and sat quietly, waiting for dawn to arrive. Two hours after the sun had risen over the edge of the canyon, he saw a faint movement in the distance, and a grim smile leapt to his lips. The prospectors had arrived. It took some time for them to wind their way down the long slope into the canyon, and as he watched he counted fifteen of them.

Unfortunately, even at a distance none of them looked like Vale, and it was with disappointment that he watched them get closer. The young, dark-haired prospector was absent from the group, but ultimately that didn't matter to Merrick. He was not about to let any prospectors get their hands on the manastone mine. Leading the prospectors was a heavy-set man with long brown hair braided down his back and a thick beard carrying a heavy pack. The rest of the prospectors who were with him looked tough, their faces worn by the wind and weather. They were all similarly weighed down and armed with rifles, causing Merrick to be happy that he had not chosen to try a direct attack. As it was, a fight against them would be difficult, and from the way they continued to look around as they approached the entrance to the mine, it was clear that they were on guard.

Watching as they angled close to the wall of the canyon while heading straight for the mine, it was clear that they had been given detailed directions. And when they stopped just short of the gorge, and began to point at it, he knew that his instinct was right. After gathering  for some discussion, a few of the men began to pitch their tents and set up their camp as the leader and a few others entered the gorge, sliding down the steep walls to look at the entrance. Merrick was only 300 feet away, bedded down in the nest of boulders, his rifle trained on the entrance. He didn't look directly at the men, for fear that one of them might sense his gaze, and instead kept his eyes on the entrance of the cave. He remembered how sharp Evan had been from having spent a long time in the wilderness, and these men reminded him of the dead prospector.

The leader of the prospectors peered into the cave, crouching to get a better look. The others seemed eager to go in, but he shook his head, as if telling them to wait, and began to scramble back up the side of the hill, the side of the gorge, returning to his camp. The other prospectors held a quick discussion, their words too faint for Merrick to hear, and then began to walk inside. Frowning, Merrick considered his options. He had been hoping to catch more of the prospectors in the cave, but it was clear that that wasn't going to be possible. He was afraid, also, of waiting too long and being discovered by the sharp-eyed leader, who gave him a distinct feeling of danger, the same sort of danger that Merrick had felt when faced with the jaguar or the giant wolf. One wrong move, and he'd end up dead.

Deciding not to chance it, Merrick waited until the three prospectors had ducked into the cave before letting out his breath and squeezing off his shot. The crack of the rifle sent the prospectors in the camp scrambling, and a moment later they were thrown from their feet as a tremendous explosion tore through the side of the mountain. Merrick's shot had landed perfectly on a group of manastones that he had shoved into the walls, the intense heat of the attack tearing through them and releasing the great power they contained. The explosion set off a chain reaction, blasting apart the stones he had buried in the floor and walls of the tunnel entrance, tearing through stone and dirt with such force that it fractured the canyon cliff all the way up.

As the prospectors in the camp staggered to their feet, the entire side of the canyon wall came crashing down, burying the mine's tunnel under hundreds of tons of stone and dirt. Stabilizing himself as the earth shook, Merrick quickly backed up, making his way out of the nest of boulders and down along the path he had selected beforehand, grabbing his bag as he ran. Despite being burdened by the heavy pack, Merrick moved swiftly down the hill and across the fields, wanting to get out of sight before anybody came to inspect the boulders. He didn't know whether any of the other prospectors had seen the direction of his shot, but he wasn't about to wait and find out. They would be busy dealing with the aftermath of the cave-in while Merrick made his way up to the top of the canyon wall. From there, he would set up in his new position, waiting for them, waiting to launch a new ambush if they tried to leave their camp.

[Ding! Eighteen experience points.]

Opening up the notification, he saw that he had received six experience points for each of the three prospectors killed in the blast, and since each one was listed by name, he was able to determine that what he suspected was true. For beings with true intelligence, he would get the full amount of experience based on how strong they were in comparison to him. When he had killed Dugan in the cave, the prospector had been a good bit stronger than he was, but now, after growing to the third level, the prospectors were granting him less experience points.

Thanks to his Land Strider skill, he moved swiftly through the forest, unhindered by the rough terrain, and in only an hour and a half he had made it all the way up to the top of the canyon wall. He had ranged out significantly further than he normally would have, not wanting to get spotted by the prospectors, and as he doubled back along the canyon wall, he caught sight of them far below. Their camp was in shambles, most of it crushed by falling rocks, and the twelve remaining prospectors were standing at the edge of the gorge, staring at the fallen stone.

Casting about for a good place to set up, Merrick crawled to the edge of the canyon wall where he had a good line of sight down the long rise that led to the canyon floor below. There he waited, chewing slowly on a piece of jerky as the prospectors continued to speak. After nearly an hour, the prospectors salvaged what they could from their camp and gathered up once again. Merrick had seen a few of the prospectors head to the nest of boulders, no doubt looking for him, but he knew it was unlikely they would find anything there. His stealth skill not only allowed him to move quietly and remain virtually unseen, but also helped him avoid leaving tracks, and he had taken special care to make sure not to disturb the ground at his vantage point, not wanting to give them a chance to track him.

From where he lay on the edge of the canyon, Merrick watched the tiny figures as time ticked by. The sun was rising high in the sky and sweat beaded on his skin but he didn’t move. Down below, the prospectors gathered up once more and under the direction of their leader, they split into two groups. One of the groups began to head along the canyon wall towards the path leading to where Merrick lay, while the leader of the prospectors and a few others headed out further into the canyon. Unsure what was going on, Merrick frowned. The target he really wanted to get was the bearded leader who gave him such a sense of danger, but once again, it was clear that that wasn't going to be possible.

The prospectors coming toward Merrick were carrying most of the camp supplies they had recovered and their pace wasn’t quick so Merrick had to wait for almost an hour while the prospectors came closer. They eventually started up the steep path that led to the top of the canyon wall, walking in a single file line. Overhead, a hawk let out a sharp screech, announcing his presence to the world as Merrick drew a bead on the prospector in the front of the line. He waited until they were only a hundred feet away before he let out his breath and pressed the manastone, unleashing a shot that tore through the lead prospector's chest, killing him instantly and sending his body tumbling back down the slope.