With the Star Hero Agency handling all of Ning’s affairs, it was only through them that he learned that the schedule was set.
One week out of every month, Ning was to travel north to the Aullazire mines in the mountain ranges and help oversee the transport of the harvested ore. The governnt would handle the rest. His job was to make sure nothing went wrong from when the ore was harvested all the way to when the Aullazire reached a secure facility.
For this month, Ning was to start working on the second week. So when the ti ca, he left.
He didn’t bother with a plane. Planes were slow.
He was faster as a bat, and he knew it. He shifted right from his house in the suburbs and flew out while it was still dark in the morning. The flight north took just over an hour—a journey that would’ve taken him half a day had he waited for the plane.
If Ning had decided to take the plane, he would’ve had to leave yesterday, so just gaining a single day more was already good enough.
By the ti the mine ca into view, the air was cold enough to bite through almost anything, and the land below had long since given up on being hospitable. Nothing but bare rock and frost and the occasional stretch of grey-white nothing covered the landscape, with very little signs of wildlife around.
Ning could only imagine how difficult this place had to be to live, and yet there were people working here day and night.
The Aullazire vein had been noticed in the coal mine about half a year ago, so people had already been here working since before that.
Ning descended and shifted back into his human form before landing.
Down on the ground, the mine was bigger than he’d expected. He’d imagined a hole in the ground with so equipnt around it, but this was a much bigger undertaking. What he found instead looked closer to a military base with reinforced walls, guard towers, and a row of enormous tanker vehicles parked along the southern edge. The mine shaft itself was wide enough to swallow two of those tankers side by side.
A few soldiers ca to surround Ning imdiately upon noticing his arrival, but they stopped halfway through when they recognized him. Still, Ning had to first show his docunts before they treated him as anything other than a hostile individual.
Once they confird his identity, they took him to one of the many square buildings that were set up around the place. Upon entering, he found two other heroes that were waiting outside.
The first was a woman with long black hair, sporting a small section of silver hair. She wore a similar black and white outfit that worked well for who she was. The woman looked at him with so disinterest at first, but then she recognized who he was and her expression changed.
"I wasn’t aware we would have a big shot in our group," she said, a smile forming on her lips. She extended her hand toward Ning. "Good to see you again, sir Blackfang."
Ning rembered the woman barely from the brief conversations he had with the heroes that were present previously when the president had called them all over. He took hold of her hand in a firm shake.
"Miss Silverstreak, it’s a pleasure to et you again."
"The pleasure is all mine."
Ning turned toward the second hero, an older man in his late fifties, with a broad build to his body. He was a furry man, no doubt a werewolf.
"Sir Threadreaper," he said and extended his hand toward the old man as well.
The old man shook his hand.
Ning sat down, talking to the two. He quickly learned that these two were who he had to work with for the next week and that each group only had 3 people to work with.
"Once the tankers prepare to leave, we will have to take over the defense around here," Threadreaper explained. "I hope you two have had enough sleep as we’ll be working so sleepless nights these coming days."
"Our kind does well during the night," Silverstreak said with a smile, revealing two fangs.
Ning hadn’t realized that the woman was a vampire before this. As they began planning how they were going to handle everything, movent at the side gate caught Ning’s eyes. Before he could say anything else, Frostveil and Lightspeed ca walking in and stopped inside in surprise.
"Oh, hi," Frostveil said with a hint of surprise in her voice. She looked around. "Are you the three replacing us?"
"It appears so," Ning said. "How have the two of you been?"
"Worried that you’ll take over our spot in the upcoming days," Lightspeed said with a teasing grin. "Congrats on your improved ranking."
"It’s only 4 spots in the city. Nothing to be excited about," Ning said. "You don’t have to worry about either. At least, not until I start trying for real."
Lightspeed chuckled.
"Are you guys leaving?" Silverstreak asked.
"Yes, we ca to gear up," Frostveil said. "If you don’t mind us."
She walked over to the door connecting to another room and entered. This was the quarters where they had been staying, so all of her luggage was there. Once ready, Frostveil walked out in her regular hero outfit, dragging a suitcase along with her.
Ning looked toward Lightspeed who didn’t go to his room.
"You didn’t bring your suitcase?" he asked.
"Nah, I travel light."
"You guys should go and take a look around the mine, get a hold of how big the place is. Don’t make the mistake of refusing to ride in the tour inside. The place is massive," Frostveil said. "Well, our batch is loaded. It’s your problem now. Good luck."
Lightspeed giggled and made a gesture before leaving. He followed alongside Frostveil, quickly getting into an off-road vehicle that would follow the tankers front and back while they made their way out of this place to a secure facility.
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