Ep. 886 Back to the Island Part 8 (Patreon)

It doesn't take me more than an hour to hunt the six eels, but during that time the lava rises. At the current rate, the cavern will be filled in around six hours or so. I am not sure what will happen once the cavern is full, but it will probably be violent.

While I am not too worried about my safety, I am worried the lava tubes might collapse. That would make mining for gems in the time I have practically impossible. Once I realize that, I stop hunting eels and head back to the lava tube I was working on.

The condition of the tube is pretty bad, there are cracks everywhere, especially the ceiling. It makes me nervous, but it is not enough to overwhelm my desire for gems. I return to where I found the big gem, shapeshift into an elf, and go back to mining.

I am on a much tighter time frame now so I focus completely on mining gems. Not thinking about other things, my mining speed is quite a bit faster than before. It only takes me about a half of an hour to finish off this lava tube and head for the next one.

The next tube only has normal gems with nothing unusual and it takes me an hour to clear it. During this time there are several rumbles from below that shake the lava tube. Each time there is a rumble I freeze and just hope the tube will not collapse.

As soon as the rumbling ends I go right back to mining and when the tube is cleared I rush to the next one. I plan to mine right up until the volcano erupts, or whatever is going to happen. It is dangerous, but that is how badly I want gems, maybe I am turning into a dragon.

However, whatever the reason might be, I won't stop mining the gems. About halfway through the next tube I find something that makes me glad that I didn't give up. It is another vein of the mana rich silver, which I happily mine out completely.

Due to mining the silver this tube takes me a little over two hours to clear. This whole time the rumbles have been getting more frequent, stronger, and lasting longer. It is looking like things are not going to end when the chamber below fills up.

The pressure under this place must have been building up for a long time. Otherwise it would have spent itself already, but I have no way of knowing how much is left. For all I know when the volcano erupts it could cover the entire island in magma.

After clearing the entire tube I fly down the shaft to take a look at the chamber. Originally I thought it would take six hours to fill, but not even four have passed and it is almost full. There isn't even enough room for me to fly around outside of the shaft.

After seeing that I quickly fly back up and head to the next lava tube to resume mining. At this rate I might not even have enough time to finish this tube, but I intend to try. Not quite an hour later a rumble starts, but unlike the others this one doesn't end.

This is finally enough to make me give up on getting more gems and flee this place. After all, getting buried alive is totally not something I am willing to go through. I might be able to escape, but I might not and that is not the way I want to die.

However, before I can do anything a wall of lava comes rushing through the tube and washes me away. Luckily, this tube is one that connects to the surface, so the lava carries me outside. When the tube ends the lava throws me up into the sky, so I spread my wings and fly.

As I spiral up into the sky I find myself having to dodge rocks and magma. The main shaft is erupting and everywhere I look all I see is fire and destruction. Since all the lava tubes are probably filled with lava now, my mining is over.

From the looks of it, this island is going to be mostly destroyed at the least. Already there are very few places that aren't burning and they probably won't last long. Whatever dinosaurs managed to survive the zombies will probably die from the fire and smoke.

Hopefully there are other islands with dinosaurs on them, because this one is doomed. Not wanting to watch anymore, I turn and fly towards the northwest. As soon as I spot another island I land and open a gate to the main continent.

When I exit the gate I am in another area that is completely covered by clouds. This area is a lot darker and has a creepy atmosphere, it is the undead city. I am just outside of the city, but I have no idea where Bones might be, so I yell his name.

My voice is quite powerful and my shout echoes throughout the undead city. This might draw some undead to me, but they aren't a threat to me at all. However, I don't actually see any undead, in fact everything is completely quiet.

I hope Bones didn't take control of all the undead and go off to attack the humans. If he became strong enough, I wouldn't put it past him, he is a battle maniac after all. Just as I am about to take off to start looking, I hear something moving towards me.

It is the clop of hooves, but it doesn't sound quite right, it sounds hollow. I soon see a skeletal horse walking towards me, but the surprise is that the rider is Bones. As he approaches I scan him with my mana, he has grown a lot more powerful.

Bones says "Hello, master."

"Hello, Bones. You have gotten stronger, and you even got yourself a mount. Well done!"

Bones says "Thank you, master."

"So, do you still need to stay, or are you done here?"

Bones says "I am done, there are no intelligent undead left."

"You killed all of them?"

Bones says "Yes, master."

"That's good. Did you happen to find out what happened here?"

Bones says "Yes, I did. One of the undead I killed was responsible. He was a member of the government who desired more power. He betrayed the city in his attempt to rule it."

"That isn't too surprising. It is a fairly common story in my world. At least my curiosity is satisfied, thank you."

Bones says "You're welcome, master. So, do you have somewhere else for me to fight?"

"No, not currently. The current plan is to fly over and see what the maker is up to. The ship is heading for an island where I will do some modifications. You should be able to explore the island and fight some beasts. After the ship is done I will start working on how to free you."

Bones says "Alright, master."