I woke up before the artificial sun that illuminated the dwarven city began to shine through the bedroom windows.
For a few seconds, I lay in silence, staring at the polished stone ceiling, trying to remember where I was.
Then I heard the low sound of breathing around me.
Liriel slept peacefully to my left. Elara was turned away, still deeply asleep. Vespera had one arm thrown over me without realizing it. Rai'kanna was on the other side, too close. Lyannis slept a little farther away, but still in the same space.
I sighed.
This had already become something normal.
I carefully got up so as not to wake anyone and went to the window. The city was already alive. Even early, it was possible to hear hammers striking, carts passing, voices echoing through the stone corridors.
Today was not a day for sightseeing.
It was mission day.
Soon after, one by one, they began to wake up.
Lyannis was the first to get up.
"Have you been awake for long?"
"A little."
Rai'kanna stretched.
"Today is the mine, right?"
"Yes."
Elara sat up slowly.
"This is going to be different."
Vespera smiled.
"Manual labor. I want to see you complaining."
Liriel simply got up and started getting ready in silence.
We went down together for breakfast. Borin was already waiting for us.
"The king asked me to wish you good luck."
"Thank him for us," I replied.
We headed straight to the guild.
Gromek was already waiting for us with some equipment set aside.
"You're going to need this," he said, pointing to reinforced backpacks, crystal lanterns, and specific extraction tools.
I picked up one of the backpacks.
Heavy.
"It's not combat," he added. "It's endurance."
Lyannis examined the tools.
"Interesting."
Gromek explained the location.
"An old mine, deactivated years ago. We detected veins of rare ores in deeper layers. The problem is the difficult access and unstable structure."
Rai'kanna smiled.
"Perfect."
We left shortly after.
The entrance to the mine was on a rocky slope a few kilometers from the city. The path was silent, surrounded by natural stone formations and narrow trails.
When we arrived, I realized the size of the opening.
Dark.
Cold.
Deep.
"We're really going into this?", Vespera asked.
"We are," I replied.
We lit the crystal lanterns and began to descend.
The interior was tight in some stretches, wide in others. The air was heavy, with the smell of damp earth and raw ore.
The sound of our footsteps echoed.
There were no monsters.
There was no battle tension.
It was just work.
And, strangely, that made everything more tiring.
Gromek had marked on the map the exact point we needed to reach. It took us almost an hour going down slanted tunnels until we found the indicated area.
When the lantern light hit the right wall, we saw it.
Shining veins crossing the rock.
Bluish.
Rare.
Elara stepped closer.
"This is worth a lot."
Lyannis nodded.
"Now I understand the payment."
We began the work.
Rai'kanna used her strength to break the larger parts of the rock. I helped by opening space. Lyannis guided where to cut to avoid waste. Elara used minimal magic to loosen the harder parts without damaging the ore. Vespera collected and organized everything into the backpacks. Liriel kept the environment illuminated with light magic to save the crystals.
Time passed without us noticing.
Sweat began to run.
Our arms grew heavy.
Our backs hurt.
"This is more tiring than fighting," Vespera commented.
"Because it doesn't stop," I replied.
Rai'kanna laughed.
"At least there's no one trying to kill us."
After hours, the backpacks were full.
Too heavy.
Going up was worse than going down.
Each step required effort.
The silence now was from exhaustion.
When we finally saw the light at the mine entrance, I felt immediate relief.
We came out covered in dust, sweaty, exhausted.
Lyannis sat on a rock.
"I'd rather face a thousand battles."
Elara agreed.
"Me too."
Rai'kanna was breathing deeply.
"But this paid off."
We slowly returned to the city.
At the guild, Gromek widened his eyes when he saw the amount.
"You were fast."
"It was heavy," I replied.
He called the evaluators. They weighed it, analyzed it, confirmed the purity.
Gromek smiled, satisfied.
"Excellent work."
He handed over the payment pouch.
"Five thousand gold coins, as agreed."
Vespera looked at the weight of the pouch.
"I'm starting to understand why dwarves like mining so much."
Liriel smiled.
"It pays off."
We left the guild walking more slowly than usual.
Our whole bodies ached.
But there was a different feeling.
A simple one.
Honest.
"Today I'm going to sleep early," Elara said.
"Me too," Lyannis added.
Rai'kanna looked at me.
"It was worth it."
"It was."
When the castle appeared ahead again, I realized that this mission had been different from everything we had done before.
No combat.
No real danger.
Just effort.
And, even so, it had brought us closer as a group.
We entered in silence.
Tired.
Satisfied.
Knowing that the next day we would have something very different waiting for us.