(NOTE: I've never played FFXI and never intend to do so, so all the inaccuracies you're about to see are the product of my imagination.)


"Errai, door's locked."

The clanners plugged their ears, and the door was immediately unlocked and de-hinged. "It was only made of wood. Blinds could've just set it on fire," said the teenager.

"That would have taken longer," said the channeler peaceably.

Damalia shrugged. "Let's go in, since the way's been so graciously cleared. Come on."

The other three followed the expedition's leader into the cave, stepping over (or in Nero's case nearly tripping over) what had once been a sturdy oak door. June closed up the rear, pistol out and watching their backs.

"So this place has monsters in it?" Errai asked, sounding a bit excited.

Damalia nodded in the darkness of the cave, realized only Nero would see, and said "Yeah. This place used to be a network of mines, Saeun said mostly silver, but there was some valuable magicite too. There was a cave-in a few years ago and the miners abandoned it, so some goblins and panthers moved in."

"Can you see where they are, Blinds?" Errai asked.

Nero continued walking, silent for a moment, before saying "I see some energy a few levels down. Yes."

They could practically hear Errai grin. "Sweet. Well, when we set up camp, what say we go pay our neighbours a visit?"

"Fine by me, we have to sort this place out eventually anyways if we're going to bring the miners back."

Day 1

The camp was set up on an area of ground Nero confirmed was flat and smooth, with the (seemingly unnecessary) tents set around a fire pit Errai dug and June filled with the appropriate fire-fueling materials.

They had a blaze going soon enough, and the four clanners sat around the fire. "So who wants to go down to clear out the monsters?" Damalia asked.

"Me," Errai said.

"Nero?"

"I can heal him. Certainly."

"June?"

The other woman was staring into the fire. "I'll stay."

"Alright, then. Good luck, be careful. I'll get some stew going."

---

Walking down the paths Nero indicated, the two were relieved to find that, once being mines, the ground they walked on was smooth and sturdy from years of traversal.

"So, like," Errai said, breaking a silence that had lasted about a minute. "Are you really blind, or do you just wear the fold?"

"Really blind," Nero replied. "At least, physically blind. My second sight is a lot stronger than most mages, and I can use it to see some of the real world too."

Errai nodded. A pause. "How far?"

"There's some things around the next bend. We should start being quiet if you want to get the jump on it--"

Nero caught a flare of magical brilliance, green in colour, before Errai smashed his fist into the stone wall to their right. "HEY!" the teenager shouted, already storming down the path again, dragging his fist along the wall.

Nero groaned and followed him, catching sight of whatever was ahead moving towards them quickly.

Day 2... Yeah, chronology isn't my thing?

The coeurl was one of the deadliest natural predators known to the mortal races. They were possessed of a fast, powerful physique, sleek and muscled, with all the natural advantages they needed; claws, teeth, whip tails. It was rumored that if a coeurl could eat magicite, it could learn basic magic, so evidently they were also eerily intelligent.

They were also remarkably hard to surprise.

Errai was seriously surprising this coeurl and all of its friends and picking the three-hundred pound killing machine up and tossing it twenty feet.

It rolled and stood, already ready to walk forward and pounce, but didn't have the chance. There was a flare of green energy, a fist, and the sweet embrace of death.

---

Nero watched in fascination. Once Errai got started, he barely touched the ground; he could apparently propel mana from any part of his body, and shooting it from his bare feet seemed to turn him into a living rocket with fists attached.

The coeurls never stood a chance, because by time most of them were awake and standing, they were the next target.

Days 3/4 >.>

Errai took a few deep breaths and leaned against the wall when he was done. "That wasn't too bad. Wish it weren't so dark in here, I might have gone faster."

It occurred to Nero that all Errai had used to see had been his own flashes of magic. Considering that, the speed with which he had dispatched the coeurls was impressive.

"There are more life forms in the next room," Nero said, walking towards an extended branch of the room. As he grew closer, the images resolved into vaguely humanoid things. "Goblins, I think."

"Right." Errai stood straight and walked over, brushing his hands against the walls and shuffling quietly so he didn't trip or run into anything.

Days 5 and 6

The goblins in the next room had spears, but that didn't set them much higher on the food chain than the panthers; sharp stones tied onto sticks were considerably more fragile than bones, and when one of the goblins hurled its spear in desperation at Errai, the teenager had simply blasted it into smithereens.

Errai finished the room quickly enough, and sat down. "Can you feel that?"

Nero looked around. He couldn't see anything magical...what was Errai referring to?

"No, I don't mean magic feel that. I mean actually feel that. There's a breeze."

"Oh! Well...I suppose every mine should have two ways in. That would explain why the goblins were so deep in here, if there's a more convenient way out..."

"Exactly. There's nothin' else to wipe the floor with here?"

"Not that I can see. Damalia said she was making stew, we should go eat before it gets cold."

Clan Andraste now controls Gusgen Mines.