Last night, before everything settled, he had given Graveknit a task.
Find a mine.
If they wanted weapons, armor, and real growth, scraps would not be enough forever. They needed a steady source of ore.
And now, he was waiting.
Aiden’s fingers tapped lightly against the wooden fra of the window, his gaze steady as he watched the streets below.
"...You should be back by now."
As if answering him, a faint sound echoed from outside.
Soft.
Uneven.
Aiden’s eyes shifted.
Monts later, the door opened after a knock.
Graveknit stepped inside.
Its stitched body looked slightly dirtier than before, patches of soil clinging to the bone fragnts that made up its fra. The thin black threads binding it together twitched faintly, as if reacting to sothing it had encountered.
It lowered its head imdiately.
"My lord."
Aiden didn’t waste ti.
"Well?"
Graveknit lifted its head slightly.
"I found one."
Aiden’s expression didn’t change, but his attention sharpened.
"Where."
"Close to Stoneford town."
That na lingered in the air for a mont.
The ruined town.
Or rather, what used to be one.
Aiden’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"...Go on."
Graveknit continued, its voice steady despite its unnatural tone.
"It’s a mining cave. After we destroyed the Stoneford town, it beco abandoned."
After they wiped out Stoneford, whatever operations were there had naturally collapsed with it.
Which ant one thing.
"It’s ours now," Aiden said calmly.
There was no doubt in his voice.
Graveknit tilted its head slightly, then continued.
"It’s not entirely empty, my lord."
Aiden’s gaze sharpened again.
"...What’s inside."
"Beasts."
The word was simple, but enough.
Graveknit’s body twitched faintly as it added more.
"They made it their nest. Different beasts, but stronger ones lives deeper."
Aiden fell silent for a mont, processing.
A mine overrun by beasts.
Dangerous.
But also valuable.
He let out a quiet breath.
"...Good."
Aiden stood in silence for a few seconds after hearing Graveknit’s report, his mind moving through every possibility the cave presented.
A source of ore.
A nest of beasts.
And maybe sothing more.
Then he made his decision.
"...Let’s go there."
His voice was calm, but final.
Graveknit didn’t question it.
"Yes, my lord."
It did not take long to prepare.
Aiden chose not to bring the army this ti. Numbers were useful, but not always necessary. For sothing like this, speed and control mattered more.
A single carriage was brought out.
It was not an ordinary one.
The fra was reinforced with darkened wood, its edges lined with bone plating that had been crudely fitted but held firm. The wheels creaked faintly as it moved, and at the front stood the one pulling it.
A bone horse.
Its skeletal fra was clean and sturdy, faint traces of necrotic energy flickering within its hollow ribs. When it moved, its steps were steady, almost silent despite its size.
Aiden stepped into the carriage without hesitation.
Graveknit followed, settling inside with its usual unnatural stillness.
"Move."
The command was simple.
The bone horse reacted instantly.
The carriage lurched forward.
The road to Stoneford was quiet.
Too quiet.
The further they traveled, the more the signs of life disappeared. The path grew rougher, the land more barren, and the faint remnants of what used to be human activity slowly faded into nothing.
Broken fences.
Abandoned carts.
Scattered debris left behind when people ran and never ca back.
Inside the carriage, neither of them spoke for a while.
The landscape had changed.
Rocky terrain.
Uneven ground.
And ahead, rising from the earth like a scar, was the entrance to the mine.
"...I see it."
The carriage ca to a slow stop. Aiden stepped down first. The air here was different.
Carrying the faint scent of earth mixed with sothing else.
Sothing animal, Graveknit stepped down behind him.
The entrance was wide, reinforced with old wooden supports that were now cracked and worn. So had collapsed entirely, leaving jagged edges and loose stones scattered across the ground.
Darkness stretched inward, deep and suffocating.
And from within, faint sounds echoed.
Low growls.
Scraping.
Movent.
Aiden stood there, staring into it.
"...It’s quite a big mine."
Aiden stood at the edge of the mine for a mont longer, listening.
The sounds inside grew clearer.
Claws scraping against stone.
Low, hungry growls echoing through the narrow tunnels.
Sothing shifted deeper within.
Aiden’s eyes sharpened.
"...Good."
Then he stepped forward.
"Now," he said calmly, his voice steady in the darkness, "let’s test my strength."
Graveknit followed half a step behind, silent as ever.
The deeper they went, the darker it beca.
Only a faint, cold glow lingered around Aiden, barely enough to outline the jagged walls and uneven ground. The air was thick, heavy with the scent of damp earth and beasts that had claid this place as their own.
Aiden flexed his fingers slightly.
Level 30.
His body felt different now. Stronger. Denser. Every movent carried weight behind it.
"...About the sa as a new body tempering practitioner," he muttered.
But there was a problem.
"I don’t know any martial arts."
No refined techniques. No trained movents.
Just raw strength.
His grip tightened slightly around the sword in his hand.
"...That’s fine." A faint smile appeared. "For this, it’s enough."
A low snarl cut through the silence.
Then another.
Graveknit stopped.
"My lord."
Aiden already saw them.
From the darkness ahead, shapes erged.
Four-legged beasts, their bodies low and tense, eyes glowing faintly in the dark. Their fur was patchy, so areas bare as if sothing had eaten away at them. Their teeth were exposed, sharp and uneven.
Hungry.
Wild.
And the mont they locked onto Aiden, they moved.
Fast.
The first beast lunged, claws scraping against stone as it launched itself forward.
Then the rest followed, he didn’t step back. Instead, he raised his sword.
"...Co."
The first beast reached him in seconds, jaws wide open.
He swung, just a simple slash, no technique, no finesse, just strength.
The blade cut through the air with a sharp sound. Then it hit, clean.
The beast’s body split mid-motion, its montum carrying it forward before it collapsed into two pieces on the ground.
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