Chapter VIII: Dog Go Woof

"Well, that certainly was unexpected. I didn't anticipate a golem hiding as a hill. And boy, that was huge." (Kenneth)

"A welcome one at that. Let's loot the golem first, and take some of it's parts that we could hopefully sell, or use to make armor later on." (Lena)

"You can't deny that was completely out of the ordinary. Golems aren't supposed to be near the city. They don't like the constant stream of mana coming from the humans. It disturbs their hibernation." (Kenneth)

"Come to think of it, they did warn us about the unknown increase in monsters. I do hope we don't run into somethink like that again." (Lena)

"Woof!" 

"Where have you been, Mister? I'm pretty sure you could've sensed the golem before sis went to take it. Or better yet, you could've helped us out." (Lucas)

"Ar....woof."

Despite Tyrone's clearly overweight physique, he can actually very well fight. King's Guardian breeds are bred specifically for their loyalty to humans, their keen sense for mana, and their outstanding magical capabilities. Tyrone in particular was an adequate fighter, geared more towards his sense for mana, but he could still control his affinity for Earth Magic and use it in battle.

"Aghh! Alright Tyrone. I'll let you off the hook this time. Could you at least warn us with your mana sense if there's anything out of the ordinary? I promise I'll buy you more premium dog food." (Lucas)

Despite Lucas looking like a musclehead, he has a very personal attachment to dogs. He spends most of his allowance on buying Tyrone many toys and lots of expensive food. 

"Woof!" Tyrone gave his bark of approval. 

"We're back. I managed to strip off some of it's rough carapace. I broke your hunting knife in the process, though." (Lena)

"Now that I think about it, Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Although we didn't really have a choice, seeing as none of our weapons can be used for gathering." (Kenneth)

"Eh, it's alright. I can buy another one soon. Maybe I'll splurge a little bit on equipment the next time I shop. Should we head on then?" (Lucas)

"Woof!"

Strolling around through the plains were the next relaxing thing Kenneth could think of, with sleeping on Mikaela's breasts being the first. 

Just as they passed by a road, Tyrone suddenly began barking violently.

"What's wrong, buddy? Did you find something?" (Lena)

"Woof!" He points his nose directly at the ground, and begins sniffing it.

"Maybe he found something. Should we try digging?" (Lucas)

"Sure. But you should do it." (Lena)

"What? Why not help me? I can't possibly know how deep I'm probably going to dig. (Lucas)

"Why not just ask Tyrone?" (Kenneth)

"Listen to yourself! Even I know dogs don't speak!" (Lucas)

"Well, try another way of communication. Tyrone come here." (Lena)

Tyrone wobbles over.

"Do you know how deep it is?" Tyrone barks. "Okay, good. Here. Bark when you hear how deep you think it is, or at least close to it."(Lena)

"Is it ten meters down?" Tyrone stays silent. "Twenty?". Silent again. "Thirty?". Silent. "Fourty?".  A somewhat quiet bark is heard. "Fourty-five?" A louder bark is heard. "Fifty?" An energetic and clearly audible bark is heard from the dog. 

"That's certainly deep. Way too deep. It'd take ages to dig something that deep. Especially with us not having anything useful for digging." (Kenneth)

"Woof." Tyrone digs a small whole in the ground, using his earth magic. The soil is picked up by some force, and is discarded nearby, similar to when people shovel dirt. 

"I've thought about that, and it could certainly work, but I'm not positive about you having enough mana to dig a whole that deep." (Kenneth)

"Woof....." 

"Well, it's the thought that counts. Why don't we head back to the city to buy some digging equipment?" (Lena)

"It's all good. I could order it for us, and have it sent to your Dimensional Storage." (Kenneth)

"That works. I'll try ordering it now." Lena walks off in the distance, and comes back shortly.

"It'll be soon. Argon Delivery Service is typically slower than most delivery services, but a few minutes won't hurt." (Lena)

'Heh. At least it doesn't get frequent errors in it's delivery and your order won't get sent back again and again.' Kenneth thinks to himself. 'I'm talking to you Ama*on. Come to think of it, I never received my body pillow before I was sent here.'

Lena and Lucas sit down in an elevated hill, and decide to wait for the digging equipment to be sent to Lena's Dimensional Storage. Meanwhile, Lucas took out his storage and proceeded to take out some dog food to feed Tyrone with. 

Moments later, Lena was notified about a confirmed package delivery, Lena opened her storage and took out multiple... shovels? Not the commonly known tool often used to dig ground, but this one having no handle, but instead the flat blade was exceptionally wider than normal, being at least ten meters in width, looking like the big scooper on a front loader. (The construction vehicle used to dig earth.) After bringing out the oversized shovels, she then took out multiple crystals, dyed brown, similar to the brown of a chocolate. The crystals, shaped almost like a cube, fit perfectly into the palm of Lena's hand.

"These are Earth Mana Crystals. When one applies enough force to it, maybe by crushing it in one's hand, the energy inside is absorbed and can be used as a substitute for mana potions, but are more potent, since it's natural Earth energy. This cost me quite a bit, so I hope this helps Tyrone a bit in replenishing his mana when it gets too low." (Lena)

"Alright then. Should we start now? Hopefully we'll be able to finish this before night falls. Mom and Dad might try to find out why it we were outside for so long. Well, it'll be up to you guys to explain, not me." (Kenneth)

 The four of them soon start digging, with Lena and Lucas using magic to power the shovels, and Tyrone using Earth Magic to excavate a small descending tunnel towards the mana oddity he perceived earlier. 

"*huff* This is certainly tiring. I don't think we're even half the way through." Lena said tiredly, after almost continuous digging for three hours straight. 

"Suck it up, sis. We'll get there soon." Lucas says, seemingly unfatigued, still digging without breaking a sweat. 

By the time they were about halfway through, everyone was already worn out and exhausted, and Tyrone had already consumed more than seven mana crystals, leaving them with only three left. 

"Uh yeah guys. You should probably get back. Mom has been wondering where you guys have been. It's almost night, and surely you guys wouldn't want to sleep outside, especially in the open like that." (Kenneth)

"Yup, Kenneth's right. We've been out for the whole day." (Lena)

"Alright then. I'll grab some nearby shrubbery and sticks to cover up the hole. Tyrone, could you put a bit of earth below the surface to support the leaves? Make it so that a normal person won't fall in even if they jump frantically." (Lucas)

"Woof!"

Taking back their equipment, Lena, Lucas and Tyrone begin to head back under the glow of the moon, seemingly looking more beautiful than usual. Stars begin to align, lining up to make a perfectly aligned circle. And in that circle, a bright light begins to twinkle.

As the three are walking along the dirt road, Tyrone suddenly begins to turn back.

"What's up, Tyrone? Did you catch something?" (Lena)

"Woof." Tyrone barks and turns back towards the two. Instead, he continues on walking, as if saying, "it's nothing."

"Well, if it was nothing, then it must be nothing." (Lucas)

Unbeknownst to them, something in the night sky was stirring up, and something big was about to go down. Only two people notice this, and it's Jandru and Illia.