Lushi narrowed her eyes at the tiny boy sitting in the dirt. She stepped right past him. Her boots squelched loudly against the wet mud.
"It's just another sinkhole," Lize said from the shadows.
"It's a tunnel," Lushi corrected her. She traced her bare fingers along the smooth rock wall. "Look at the unnatural curvature of the stone. The earth does not carve perfectly round pathways by accident."
"I can sense mana material ahead," Lize murmured. Her pink hair rustled in the stale, freezing breeze.
Lushi closed her eyes. She focused her senses down the long, pitch-black corridor. "You are right. It is dense. Very dense."
Resuming her march forward, Lushi completely ignored Krai. He just stood there blindly with his hands pressed against the cold stone.
"The slope goes downward from here," Lushi said. Her voice echoed faintly off the damp walls. "There is only one thing at the bottom of a path like this."
"It's a Treasure Shrine," Lize said.
The two girls stopped instantly. They looked at each other in the dark.
Krai blinked heavily. He rubbed his tired eyes. Treasure Shrine? What are they talking about? I cannot see a single thing in front of my face.
"An uncharted Treasure Shrine," Lushi whispered. Her usual fierce tone softened into absolute disbelief. "Do you understand what this means, Lize?"
"A huge reward," Lize replied without hesitation.
"Exactly. The Explorer's Association pays a small fortune for the location of a new shrine. We just have to report it to the nearest branch."
"They will open it to the public," Lize added. She stepped closer to Lushi. "Hunters from nearby towns will come here. The clan masters will bring their best parties to explore the depths."
Lushi nodded slowly. "And the Association will set up a permanent outpost right above it. The local economy will explode overnight. Merchants will build shops to supply the hunters with gear. The military will send armed guards to secure the main entrance."
"We could go inside too," Lize suggested. Her voice carried a rare trace of genuine excitement. "We could hunt the phantoms and collect the treasures and relics ourselves. We could sell it for gold."
"It would be a regular source of income," Lushi agreed. A wide smile finally broke across her dirt-smudged face. "A permanent, endless source of money."
"We do not need to hunt for frogs anymore," Lize said happily.
"No more frogs and no more cheap bread. We can buy actual meat for the kids."
A drop of freezing water fell from the ceiling. It landed squarely on Krai's nose. He shivered violently.
Shouldn't we just go back up already? he thought miserably. I feel incredibly itchy. These cheap clothes are covered in lice. I just want to find a warm corner and go back to sleep.
"The kids will be so happy about this," Lize said. She clapped her small hands together.
"Yes," Lushi agreed. But then her smile faltered. She crossed her arms and stared down into the impenetrable darkness of the slope. "Wait. This is very strange."
"What is strange?"
"How come there is a hidden Treasure Shrine buried directly underneath the slum?" Lushi asked. Her tone grew sharp again. "This area has been a garbage dump for decades. Thousands of desperate people live right above this tunnel. No one ever noticed a huge concentration of mana material directly under their feet? That makes absolutely no sense."
"Hey guys," Krai called out weakly. He aggressively rubbed his itchy arms. "Where are you?"
Neither of them heard a word he said. They were completely lost in their own shared fantasy.
"Maybe it just formed recently," Lize guessed. "The kids can eat three times a day now."
"Five times a day," Lushi corrected her. She tapped her chin with a dirty finger. "We can buy new wool blankets for winter. We can fix the gaping holes in the mansion's roof. We might even be able to afford to pay for a medical treatment and medicine for the sick orphans."