The sound of the commotion from the crowd could have easily been heard through Magnolia, enough so that it was for even some one who was not interested or had any care such as Leyaria to find themselves enticed enough to at the very least see what was going on, if for no reason than to believe and imagine that there might have been a genuine reason for the gathering. Having thought that the gathering was actually far closer than it turned out to have been, she came to realize that in actuality it was far further away from where she had believed it to have been, almost entirely out of the city of Magnolia entirely. Rather, it turned out to have been located just on the outskirts of Magnolia, near by one of the caves in which had been found and were often held off limits to the people for a variety of reasons, and likely what ever the reason for this particular shielding off might have been, it was clearly enough and warranted the reaction from the crowd, or at the very least as they appeared to have had it.

Moving through the crowd, there was no clear indication of just what it might have been that was there or why it was that the people who might have been after it. Amongst the crowd were people whom she was not familiar with, neither having engaged with in the past, nor people who she believed were even in Magnolia for that matter, or at the least just living there. Rather, they looked to have been people who might have had an indirect reason for being involved for some reason or perhaps they had gotten caught up in what was going on and decided to join along in the commotion, which was something that Leyaria might have considered at one point or another as well. However, there was one person who that she saw there who could provide a bit more insight into just what was happening, and perhaps give her reason to care one way or the other.

It did not take long before the man known as Barras had encountered Leyaria as well and was already motioning her away from the rest of the crowd, perhaps realizing the exact same thing it was that Leyaria had about the people that were in the area. Listening to what was going on and just what it was that the man was seeming to want, Leyaria quickly learned that in fact, the cave that the other people were all protesting about was believed to have held a rare metal, a metal in which he described being capable of being used to forge powerful weapons, far and above beyond what they had encountered and had the chance to work with in the past. It was certainly intriguing to Leyaria, though for someone who did not use weapons, the appeal was not quite as enticing as what he might have paid though.

500/3000

And to her delight, it turned out that there was some incentive for whatever it was that this man was going to want her to do, it was not going to come at a free expense. There was going to be reason enough for Leyaria to want to do this job, and it was going to demand something that this man was clearly reluctant to part with, money. He had hoped that by saying it would be the opportunity of a lifetime, that it would instill some level of obligation and appreciation towards the fact to make it likely that he was going to be able to get away without having to pay, though that very clearly was not going to be the case. Instead, he was going to have to pay, as much as he might have hoped that it would not have been the case.

There was a small smirk on the man’s face as he had known that he had made the unfortunate mistake of expecting more out of Leyaria. They had interacted before, and to some degree even, Barras as served as a sort of guide to Leyaria, assisting as much as he were able regarding the recent issue and desire for Leyaria to head to Oak Town to interact and see the woman named Bianca one last time. He didn’t know why it was so important, but he cared none the less and was determined to help in what manners he was able to. However, he had not done a huge deal with respects towards fiscal aid or actually getting her towards Oak. Had he, the situation might have bene different, though it was impossible to say. What was clear was that this time at least, he was not going to be able to get this work from Leyaria for free. He was going to have to pay. But it was likely that she was going to be willing to do what it was that he was seeking assuming the pay was right.

Once all the details were made clear, Leyaria set out towards the cave, hoping that she was going to be able to easily enough escape by the guards, though it was not looking like it would be an easy task. One that could have been accomplished. Certainly, but it would as much require a knowledge of just when to make her move and when not to. Because that there had been so many people who had gathered about near this cave – and likely with none of them actually realizing what it might have been that were within the caves – it did not stop the local guards from establishing a sort of barrier that would end up being used to prevent entrance. To make matters worse, it was guarded by two guards, who while Leyaria believed she could have taken care of them if put to the task, she would have rather avoided causing any damage or fights that could backfire on her.

1000/3000

Fortunately for her, there would be only a short time that she was going to have to consider and worry just about what it was that she was going to do as it looked like the guards were preparing to swap their shifts, or at least that was the impression that she drew from the pair of guards that were off in the distance making their way towards the barricade. While still out of sight from the guards who were stationed there, Leyaria kept to the shadows, doing what ever she could as a means of hiding and making sure that there would be no way that she could have been caught. For even a split second, if the attention on the guards were not directly upon her, she would be able to enter the cave without any sort of issue what so ever, and as sure as it would be, as she turned the corner that would be the last obstruction in her getting inside of the cave, the guards’ attention were not even in the same direction as where she was.

Once she made even the slightest bit of distance into the cave, she realized just how much of a challenge that this job was going to actually be. The light in the tunnel almost immediately vanished, leaving her within what was nothing more than an empty and black cave, with the pathway entirely obscured. Hell, if it were not for the fact that she was relying upon the wall which her hand constantly remained on as to ensure that she did not end up going in a complete circle, there would not have been any hope that she might have been able to go anywhere. This method, though very basic and presenting itself with no shortage of flaws that might have resulted in being utterly unable to go anywhere of actual meaning towards her ideal destination, but it was the one that provided her with the best chance of being able to know which way she was going rather than relying on simply a hope.

Keeping her hand towards the wall, there were surprisingly no sort of resistance or challenge that presented itself. Instead rather, it was seeming that it was a pretty straight-forward path, one that she was not upset in the least about. While there might have been some stones and formations of rocks that might have presented themselves as a challenge, they weren’t a concern for Leyaria as she was able to pretty effortlessly kick down the rocks out of the way, all the while being able to continually travel with her hand on the wall. And as well, the presence of broken down rocks might have actually been of greater benefit than she realized, them now having become land marks that she could refer back towards to make sure that she was going in the right direction. Whether or not it was going to remain this easy, it would remain to be seen.

1500/3000

After continuing along with this pathway, there eventually became what she thought she saw was light. It was impossible to tell if it was actually light or if it were just her going crazy or perhaps her eyes adjusting to the light. What ever might have been that source of light, it was worth checking out, and Leyaria did just that, following it as she was able. Though as it became more and more in focus and apparent to her, while it did reveal there being a source of light, however it appeared being something in itself, there was also something else which was perhaps as worrisome as the darkness. A huge hole. Located right in the center of the room, with only pure blackness within it, even with the light appearing directly overhead. There was little doubt in Leyaria’s mind that wherever this hole would have led to, it was going to end up if not outright being her death, but also would be impossible for her to escape even if she was to some how survive the fall.

Leyaria recognized that the hole presented a huge danger, but there was a bright side in that there was light present now in the area. The way in which she had taken, or at the very least a good amount of it, was viewable. The rocks in which she had knocked over before were also visible, which was something that she had to admit was a welcome change compared to the emptiness that there had been earlier. She wondered if it was the best that she was going to get, but the reality too was also that there were enough reasons and challenges that she still faced, namely that there now presented 3 different paths, each of them presenting as many questions arising from them as earlier compared to when there was no light before.

With no clear indication of which way to go, Leyaria figured the best option was to try to go through all of them. There was the risk that any of htem could have led to dead ends, in more ways than one, as the large hole just before her indicated to her, but she had to believe or at the very least hope that they wouldn’t end up with her dying. The first pathway, the furthest right, led to nothing and very quickly came to be a dead end. The second path, the one to the furthest left, was no better, ending almost as quickly as the first one she had entered through seemed to have ended. More than anything, they appeared to be more like impromptu tunnels that had been attempted to be dug out, but whoever it was that had attempted to dig through them gave up very shortly after. That meant that the third path, the one in the middle of the three, was the only other option that she had. If there was nothing that came of here, it was over.

2000/3000

The final path was immediately different than that of the first two paths, as the distance that the two of them permitted, even together with their distances combined, was very quickly covered in the amount of time and distance that Leyaria had travelled. Like before, she kept her hand to the wall, making sure as to never allow her hand to pull away from the area. Even though she now had the benefit of light from the earlier source, she did not want to take advantage of it in a negative way. The light could make her be careless, and there were enough dangers in this cave to make sure that whomever was venturing through the cave would have to be mindful and Leyaria was not going to allow herself to end up being caught out of awareness or otherwise making a critical mistake that she would go on to regret for what could have been the rest of her life.

Eventually, there was a challenge that presented itself to her in the form of a larger wall that appeared to have been composed of crumbled rocks that were stacked upon each other. While there was still some light that was present and viewable from the light source earlier, it was faint, and if it had not been for her eyes having become used to the darkness that she might not have noticed the minor details that would have other wise not been apparent. Making sure as to not cause any structural damage or move a rock that could have caused the tunnel to collapse, either in front or behind her, or worst of all upon her, she was confident that she was doing enough and being careful enough as to not cause any real problems. After a short while and working hard to make sure that nothing might have collapsed upon her in this tunnel, Leyaria was satisfied enough that she was going to be able to get through and proceed onward.

It took a little bit longer, but there was also something that she was noticing as she walked through the tunnel. While the light source from earlier was gone now, there was something else that appeared to have looked like it was radiating light itself. Confused, Leyaria proceeded cautiously, though she had an idea also of what it might have been. As she got closer, she realized that the light source was exactly what she was hoping it would have been, the rare mineral ore that Barras had indicated to her. It had the same properties in which he had described, appearing blue in color and having a faint glow to it, but the glow might have been a bit of an understatement. Even in the small amounts that were there, it completely lit up the area to the point where she could easily see at least in the immediate area. There were only a few bits of the ore, but it was far more than enough.

2500/3000

The main thing in which that she was worried about was not being able to come out of this cave without any sort of information or ability to say to Barras that there was any trace of the ore in the cave. Now though, she had been proved to have made the right move. There was ore here, which meant that Barras was going to be able to forge his weapons and armor that he was so interested in creating. It also meant that Leyaria was going to be paid, and that there was a far greater chance that she was going to be able to head to Oak Town as a result. However though, she was first going to have to go back out of the cave, making sure as to remember just where it was that she was going and the appropriate direction that she was taking. Making sure as to again watch carefully from the rocks that she had moved out of the way, along with the huge hole which appeared just beneath the light source, she found herself having a very easy time getting through the cave. The worst part of it, having to deal with the darkness that was around her, it was far easier at this point, now knowing that she had taken the right route in the first place.

Even though she was no doubt deep within the cave, it did not take much time until she was already nearing the exit of the cave, but as she had been so fixated earlier on the concerns regarding the cave and the darkness surrounding it, she had almost completely forgotten about the fact that there were guards who were ensuring that people did not get in to the cave. As a result, as she was about to freely walk out, she found herself stopping and disappearing just enough into the shadows as a means of making sure that she did not get seen. Fortunately, it was late out at this point which made it far easier for her to simply slip by the guards, so long as they were not looking in her direction. To wait for a shift, it was too hard to say how long it would be until the next time that were to happen. Rather than risk it, she simply stayed as much as she could to the shadows, making her way slowly towards out of eye sight of the guards and rather instead headed towards a man who appeared o have been watching. Barras, having waited the entire time while Leyaria had explored the cave, appeared like he had taken a short nap earlier, the bags under his eyes still apparent and indicating that he himself was waking up, if at least to some extent. As the two met up again, Leyaria conveyed what she knew of the mineral, the route that she had taken, and the other information she could. Barras on the meanwhile paid her and the two parted ways.

3003/3000