"What's that over there?"
This statement caused the mercenaries to raise their heads as they noticed the gap created by Fredrick after being smashed.
"It looks like…an entrance!"
At the same time, the eyes of all the others lit up with greed.
'An entrance to the treasures within!'
Similar thoughts went through the minds of the other mercenaries, but none dared to move.
'Whoever makes the first move is going to be chewed by the rest'
As such, they stood still and began observing one another, when…
"Bye"
A mercenary flashed past them at a speed too fast to follow.
With nimble steps, he hopped on the large broken rocks and jumped into the gap like a monkey, leaving the others speechless at the sight.
'Ah!'
Only after a few seconds did they get their acts together and rush for the gap without reservations.
Every passing second meant less time to plunder treasure, and they needed as much time as they could get.
Like an ant march, the short race from their spot to the mountain gap was another chaotic event on its own. They pushed, shoved, dodged and attacked each other to get ahead and to thin down the competition.
Quickly, twenty people squeezed through the gap, each with one bruise or another, but that mattered little to them, who risked their lives everyday just to eat.
Rather, the sight of shining mana crystals took their attention as they looked around with awe.
"You b*stard! Get off me"
But the voice of others approaching threw them out of their reverie. They moved with haste to take as many of the crystals as they could.
The first adventurer to enter was already plucking crystals off the walls and shoving them into the pouches tied to his belt.
The others moved to do the same, and with the mountain being as wide as it was, they didn't even have to fight each other for space. They just went to a vacant place and got to treasure mining.
But they quickly encountered a problem.
'Why is it so hard?!'
Unlike Fredrick, who was at Master rank, most of these guys were Journeymen, with a few Adepts.
What would be as easy as picking flowers for Fredrick, was like trying to remove something that had been glued firmly to them, especially with their mediocre mana techniques.
While they were greedy, they quickly understood that they would be getting nowhere by trying to do things solo.
So, they quickly formed groups of two and three.
By now, the last twelve had entered, while five had died during the brief struggle.
It showed just how easily mercenaries, or adventurers as a whole, lost their lives.
But no one picked a fight, there was no need to.
The amount of mana crystals were more than enough for them.
Rather, they wouldn't be able to take half of it even if they tried.
The ones who came last plundered near the entrance, as the earlier ones had headed deeper to avoid conflict.
With all these mercenaries focused on plundering as much as they could, they didn't realize an outsider had joined their ranks.
This was the solution that Fredrick came up with!
While he was wondering how to get off the mountain, he saw the mercenaries approaching and acted quickly.
He brought a slave from within the ring and gave him instructors, before handing the ring to the slave.
The next instant, the slave sucked Fredrick into the ring and, after waiting for the mercenaries to enter, joined their ranks stealthily.
He joined them after the first twenty mercenaries had entered the mountain.
Naturally, the mercenary who came in first was a bit suspicious when someone approached from inside the mountain.
But when he turned his head and saw others paying zero attention…
'Maybe I didn't see him passing'
His thoughts arrived at the conclusion that he was the one mistaken.
After all, he had his entire concentration on pulling out mana crystals. It might have been at that time that someone passed by him without him noticing.
So, the mercenary lost interest and got back to his plundering.
Like so, the slave was able to easily infiltrate their ranks without anyone even knowing. He then began pulling mana crystals like the rest of them, further making himself inconspicuous.
Within that hassle, a pair of mercenaries chanced upon a mana stones.
Now, less than fifteen minutes remained and all three parties were plundering as best as they could.
Davin's party in particular was having the best progress.
With their muscles already refined, plucking the mana crystals didn't pose that much of a problem.
The problem was something else.
'Someone was here before us'
Naturally, Davin had seen the parts broken by Fredrick when he was mining mana stones.
And he wasn't the only one. The mercenaries had also seen signs that someone had been there before them.
Davin didn't know what the other party had taken, but the fact that someone had plundered the place before them was troubling.
Still, he couldn't ruminate on it for too long. Mana crystals in the dozens remained for them to take.
The second problem that every party was encountering was a lack of storage.
They could take hundreds of mana crystals, but where would they put them?
Where would keep them safely stored away from hidden eyes?
You couldn't exactly carry hundred mana stones, walk around with it, and advertise it to all those along the road, now could you? Unless you couldn't wait to be killed, that is.
Nevertheless, the answer most came up with was relatively simple.
'We'll cross that bridge when we reach it'
They would worry about that once they were out of the mountain.
Only a few others, mostly mercenaries, regulated how many they would carry.
It wasn't an easy thing to do, not by any means.
But their fair share of experience taught them that taking too many would slow them down, which could be fatal.
Also, it would put a target on their backs.
So, they chose to take only what they could carry.
At the same time, the speed at which the slave was taking mana stones was drawing attention.
It was nowhere as fast as Fredrick, but it was enough that he was able to remove two on his lonesome every minute.
Others had to work in groups of two or three to do the same.
Silently, they took note of his face, features and armor.
It wasn't too late to steal from each other once they got out of the mountain.
But it wouldn't do them any good because the slave had used a disguise potion.
The slave though, couldn't be bothered to even spare them a glance.
Like so did things go, as they plundered with all they had and eyes filled with greed.
Whatever they brought out was sure to change their lives forever.
