Ice Queen in Another World V1 [Completed]

[20] Bash The Door. Enter Another World

The air was murky. There was a continuous smog of gray that seemed to float about, and one could almost taste the dust and dirt that settled within. Claire frowned, she did not like it one bit.

The place was large and wide. She found that it was almost three times taller than her and that it would take several people crowded together to clog it.

All sides of the tunnel, save for the immediate floor, were jagged, rough in some areas, spiky in others, and rarely smooth. She could see chips of breakage and cracks along the walls. It was befitting a place where people mined. There were rails of carts here and there on tracks of iron. She had no idea if they were powered by electricity or not—though, she highly doubted that. There were tools in some of the carts, hammers, pickaxes, and glowing crystals just like the ones that hung upon the roof of the mines.

She wasn't the only one that looked at those shining crystals etched in the ceiling. Alicia and Aura also followed.

"Orient crystals," Noticing their gazes, Fieth spoke.

The warm glow of the crystal stones highlighted their bodies as they continued to walk deeper. Their steps almost moving as one. The groups followed the iron tracks.

"They're the light source of most of the kingdom. Developing deep under areas with vast amounts of mana circulating, they continue to release light before drying up and becoming mere stones—some are used for carving."

He explained quite calmly, as if this was only a smidge of the knowledge he held, as if he had been fostered to know, "They're the lanterns you see hanging and decorating the city, those have orange-tinted glass enclosing them."

There was a momentary silence.

"It..." Aura looked up, clutching her bag with a bit more force.

"It reminds me of the night sky, like stars."

That voice of hers was heavy, it shook, resounding within the tunnel. It didn't sound like she thought the comparison a happy thing. Claire wondered how the thought of stars had suddenly gotten the girl shaken. The mystery of the Hero of Heart continued onward.

"I see something," Alicia said, "up ahead."

"It looks like a door?" Aura chimed in, shaking herself from her reminiscence.

The group walked a bit faster. It was definitely strange for a mine to have a door, at least, a door so close to the opening itself. What was the point?

It wasn't composed of any raw material and seemed hurriedly put together. Spikes of wooden bits stuck out along with hazard placed swords, daggers, and small spears. It was a crude door. Entirely made in haste. There were various bits and pieces of armor thrown in there as well. Drying red blood stained here and there.

Calling it a door would be wrong, there was no handle to move inward, it was more akin to a warning trap. The smell was unpleasant at best, she had never smelled rotten flesh before, but she thought this must be what the stench was like.

There was a small hole in the 'door', black feathers still resided around it.

"The Blood Raven came through here." Claire nodded, assured they had chosen the right tunnel.

She imagined a bird folding its wings and diving through, becoming injured in the process.

"Should we disassemble it...?" Fieth asked, pointing at the door.

"You want to try and disassemble that thing?" Claire raised a brow.

"We could punch it," Alicia said.