Stella knew that even with all the preparations, there was still a chance that this was a trap or that they could run into monsters, so Stella stayed on very high alert to make sure that nothing could sneak up on her prince from behind! Jason continued to walk forward without a care in the world, and Gina still had her hand in the crook of his elbow as she followed beside him. The group of three passed through a large banquet hall that had various meals on a long table in the center of the room. There were a few people sitting at the table, but they were all slouched over, and none of them were breathing, so Jason ignored all of them and continued forward. They passed through a long hallway that had more pictures on the wall, and there were large magic stones on the ceiling that shone blue light down on them.
’This way~!’
The voice led Jason into a side door along the hallway, and he entered a library that had been blown to pieces. Jason frowned as he felt an irritation deep in his heart when he saw all the burnt and destroyed books, but he shook his head and got rid of that feeling as he looked down at the large hole in the library floor. The hole led into a basement underground, and Jason could see Stella’s frown deepen as she looked at it with distrust. Stella offered to even jump down the hole first in case there was a trap down there, but Jason just rolled his eyes at Stella’s overprotectiveness as he sent a pawn rank midnight wolf down there instead. The wolf landed on solid ground and looked around with sharp red eyes to make sure there was nothing around before he let out a yip to tell Jason that it was safe!
Jason and the girls jumped into the hole, and the area that they appeared in was unlike anything Jason had ever seen before. There were light blue crystals everywhere! The walls glowed with an unearthly shine, and the amount of raw power Jason could feel rolling out from those crystals was insane!
’This is another variant of the Mana stone we find inside monsters, just like the Dragonstone on Radagan.’
"I can’t believe it was all real. This is Aqualith, my prince. It’s one of the most precious mana stones ever discovered due to its rarity. From what I heard about it, the stone can turn the tide of any war by giving water-type mages a massive boost in their abilities."
Stella spoke up in awe while staring at the stones in the wall, and Jason hummed. Jason could understand why a mineral like this would cause a war. It was just like the dragonstones that were very useful for fire-based magic. If the Period of Lawlessness had continued into today, then Jason was certain that Radagan would have also been attacked for their dragonstone deposits.
’Well, it doesn’t look like anyone is going to be using them, so I guess it’s okay to take some of it.’
Jason grinned as this thought crossed his mind, and he called on multiple Diamond Bear subordinates. The Diamond Bears were very good at digging through rock, so they were the best fit for mining and creating tunnels. Jason ordered the Diamond Bears as well as multiple phantoms to stay behind and mine as many of the stones as possible, and the subordinates let out a shout of agreement as they immediately got to work. Gina looked up at Jason in disbelief when she saw what he was doing, and Jason turned to her with a grin. Gina just let out a sigh and shook her head. Gina couldn’t believe her fiancé could think about taking magic stones when they were in such a tense situation!
Jason could understand exactly what Gina was thinking, but Jason didn’t care! This was a perfect opportunity, and he couldn’t allow it to slip from his fingers! Jason turned as he realised Stella was no longer standing beside him, and he deadpanned when he noticed her digging into the wall with a large pickaxe.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Don’t worry, my prince! I’ll make sure to get all the stones for you!"
Stella exclaimed like she was a warrior fighting for the honor of her king as she continued digging through the rock, and Jason shook his head and started to walk away with Gina.
"If you don’t hurry up, then we’ll leave you behind."
Stella turned with a stricken look on her face as she saw Jason and Gina disappearing into the distance, and for a moment she was split between going with them or staying behind and making sure she got as many stones as possible for her prince, but she eventually decided the Prince was more important than the stones, and she turned to the Diamond Bears and Phantoms before saying!
"Make sure you don’t rest until everything is mined! I’ll come back to supervise you soon!"
Stella then turned and ran to catch up with Jason and Gina. For a few seconds, the subordinates just looked at Stella like she had gone insane before they all ignored her and turned back towards the walls to continue mining.
Jason continued walking together with Gina and Stella, and he followed the voice in his head past a few more hallways. Since they were underground now, the only source of light around them was from the many Aqualith stones embedded in the walls and ground, but it wasn’t long before they began to notice the lights dimming rapidly the further they went. The Aqualith deposits were no longer as plentiful as before, so they all began to rely on their advanced vision to see what was in front of them.
’I’m here~! I’m here~! Please~! Ple –’
Jason stopped as the voice in his head was suddenly cut off, and he narrowed his eyes as he noticed something in the distance. There was a strange blue light shining in front of him, and Jason could tell that the others were seeing it too since they were also staring at it in surprise. The three of them were currently walking down a long, dark tunnel, and the light at the other end looked like it led out of the tunnel. The voice in Jason’s head was no longer speaking, so it was obvious that there was only one thing to do in this situation. Jason decided to trust his own gut at that moment, and he continued forward towards the light.
The group walked for only a few minutes before they entered the light and emerged from the other side. The room they walked out into was more beautiful than anything Jason had ever seen. It was a large room lit up by an extremely large Aqualith crystal stuck to the roof. The walls of the room were made of a smooth marble-like material that reflected the blue light from the crystal in a way that made the entire room shine brightly, and there were even more Aqualith crystals growing out from the ground like diamonds. But none of them were paying any attention to the light or the crystals in the room. Instead, their eyes were all stuck on the large wall of glass on the other side of the room, and the person who had been frozen still within the glass wall.
"Who in the world is that?"
Gina spoke up in shock as she looked at the woman within the glass wall, and even Stella was at a loss for words. Jason stepped forward as he studied the woman closely.