“Thanks for the lift,” I thanked the older man.
“No problem. Thank you for keeping me company, young man. You see that mountain over there? That’s where the mine is. Take care now and be careful while mining ore,” the man told me before waving and riding off.
We were lucky to get a lift more than halfway to the mine. When we went to the Guild to ask where the mine was, the person I spoke to told me that there are carriages coming and going to and from the outside of town farms which were almost on the way to the mine. As it happened, we managed to get on board on one of them. The older farmer who was riding one was nice enough to give us a lift. He was alone, so he welcomed some company. I kept chatting to him, sitting at the front while the girls were sitting at the back. They were chatting about something too, but I didn’t dare to ask what they were talking about what after we got off. It was another half an hour walk to the mountain where the mine was and we reached it without any incident, other than enjoying the nature outside. It was nice to see sun and clouds for a change, something you wouldn’t see inside the dungeon, or wouldn’t bother looking at while in town.
“We’re here,” I finally said, stopping at the foot of the mountain.
“Oh, wow. Is this the mine that Alragus spoke of, Master?” Ranalaiya asked, her eyes sparkling with curious excitement.
“Looks like it,” I said, giving a look around.
“There are several entrances here, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin pointed out.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, wondering which entrance we should choose.
There were three that we could see from where we were. Two were on the ground level and one was a bit higher, a third floor in height if it was a building. The two entrances on the ground level were about sixty feet apart from one another, and if we were to choose the entrance on the top, we’d have to find a way to climb up to it.
“Let’s go right,” I finally said.
“Why right, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya wanted to know.
“Because I think it’s the right choice,” I attempted to make a joke.
“Huh?” But that just made Ranalaiya feel confused.
Yeah, of course. I frowned but looked away.
“Ahaha!” But someone did laugh. It was Lilfira. “Oops, sorry.” She quickly covered her mouth with both hands to stop herself from laughing when I turned to face her.
“Don’t be, and thank you,” I grinned, feeling happy someone laughed.
“It was funny, Master Rockin. Oops, s… sorry,” Lilfira covered her mouth with both hands again.
Eh? Why does she keep calling me Master Rockin? It almost sounds like it comes naturally for her. Hey, could it be because of Ranalaiya and Sylfrin? I suppose when the three of them talk, Ranalaiya and Sylfrin always calls me Master which just enforces it for Lilfira as well. Ah, whatever. Let’s not make a big deal out of it. I finally submitted and decided not say anything.
“Open Item Storage Box,” instead, I opened my storage and took out the spear that I’ve bought from Alragus. “Here you go, Lilfira.” I passed it to her.
“Ah, oh. Thank you, Mas… Mister Rockin,” Lilfira caught herself about to call me Master again, correcting herself at the last second.
“Well then, let’s go explore the mine,” I told my three escorts.
Ranalaiya and I took out our weapons to be ready to fight. Well, I took out my shields, but since I used them to attack as well as defend, I called them weapons too. In any case, the mine looked more or less how I imagined a mine would look. It was a tunnel dug inside a mountain. The only thing that struck me was how spacious it was. It was well over twenty feet in width and more than ten feet in height. There were plenty of rubble and rocks around, and multiple signs of ore mining too, not that I could see any ore deposits being around anywhere. Of course there wouldn’t. Anything near or around the entrances would’ve been mined a long time ago.
There was one good thing about the mine too. There was enough light inside the tunnel which allowed us to see quite well. There were lamps set up on the walls, probably by whoever dug out this tunnel and by the people who worked in it previously. Obviously, it wasn’t as bright inside the tunnel as it was outside, but it wasn’t that bad. Besides, Ranalaiya could see better in the dark thanks to her cat eyes and Sylfrin had her Echo Sense ability too. I also had a few torches with me thanks to the clerk at the Guild suggesting I get some before leaving. Overall, I felt we were decently prepared to explore the mine.
“Ranalaiya, Sylfrin, how much free space do you have in your storage?” I asked them after walking just a short while.
“Oh, let me check, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya stopped to check. “Forty four.”
“I have fifty one, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin informed me.
“Right, ok. I have thirty six, so that’s… one hundred and thirty one. Yeah, that’s plenty,” I figured we’ll be fine.
Ranalaiya and Sylfrin had three containers with water, a few Weak Healing Potions each and some Carnabbit and Rhaki’s meat in their inventory. Ranalaiya also carried our hammock with her too. I had more stuff in mine than they had. Other than water and Weak Healing Potions, I also had my crafting tools and crafting materials that I couldn’t leave with Alragus, and our money too. I knew we’d use up some of the meat which will make some extra space, but over a hundred available slots of free space was more than enough to get some ore.
“Ok, let’s start exploring the mine for real. Sylfrin, feel free to summon Voras and watch our surroundings. We’ve never been here before, so we need to be careful,” I warned them.
“Ok, Master Rockin. Summon Spiderling,” Sylfrin waved her hand and a green magic circle appeared several feet away in front of her, a Halluspider resembling monster materializing within the glowing, green light.
“Wow. So, that’s how you summon Voras,” Lilfira gasped in awe. It looked pretty cool and I was amazed to see her summon her spiderling every single time myself, actually.
“Master Rockin, something’s moving ahead,” we didn’t have to walk too far into the tunnel before Ranalaiya noticed something. “Over there.” She pointed with her right claw weapon.
“Ok,” I squinted my eyes to help me see better.
Obviously, the tunnel was full of rocks and broken walls, and rubble too, allowing for monsters to hide behind them. But if they moved, their cover was blown. As we got closer, two lizard resembling creatures crawled out of their hiding, hissing at us in their not so loud or not so threatening voices. The creatures were about two feet in length, had four legs and a short tail. Their bodies were covered in what it looked like to be rocks, mainly on the upper part of their bodies, including their foreheads. Their faces resembled a horned lizard’s face, the rocks growing on the sides of their heads creating a shape of the horns. And when they hissed, we could see their mouths were loaded with multiple sharp teeth that probably could leave more than a scratch if the creatures managed to bite us.
“Those must be the Stonehide Lizards. Stay behind for now,” I told everyone, making a step forward. “Come on.” I taunted the two lizards to come at me, waving my hand I held my Piercing Shield with. It worked and both of them rushed at me.
They’re slow. I thought. The Stoneskin Lizards definitely lacked speed that Rhakis had.
- ‘Bang. Bam.’ – I blocked their advance with my Tarkee King’s Shield and hit one of them back with my Piercing Shield. The Stoneskin Lizard I hit was basically squashed under the sharp end of the shield, puffing into the fiery dust in an instant.
- “My, my. That was such a sweet kill, handsome. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita was happy to announce our experience gain.
Ah, right. I completely forgot about that. I somewhat frowned. Not because I didn’t like it, but because we had someone new in our party now.
- ‘Bam.’ – I suddenly heard and felt a bump on my left leg, someone or something bumping at it just below my knee. It didn’t really hurt, but since I was relaxed, the hit managed to move my leg a few inches back.
“Huh? Oh,” I looked down and saw the Stoneskin Lizard curl out of the ball that it was curled into. It tried to hit me by curling into a ball and rolling into me. Unfortunately for the Stoneskin Lizard, I was too tough of a cookie for it to break me. “Humph!” I swung with my Piercing Shield at it again before the monster could do anything else.
- “Well done, cutie pie. I just love seeing you move like that. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita was happy to announce our experience gain again.
“Right,” I turned around, thinking how to explain it to Lilfira.
“So, that was Lavita talking?” But Lilfira beat me to it.
“Ah, yeah,” I said, feeling a bit awkward, but then it hit me. “I take it Ranalaiya and Sylfrin have told you about her?”
“Yes. I’ve never heard about someone announcing experience gain like that, so I was really surprised when Ranalaiya and Sylfrin told me about it,” Lilfira said.
“Yeah, well… Lavita is more of an exception than a norm,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck and looking away.
“Ranalaiya and Sylfrin also told me that you might feel uncomfortable in front of me because of it, but please don’t. Now when I heard her, I think Lavita is quite fun,” Lilfira said, showing a smile.
Oh, you haven’t heard the fun part yet. I rolled my eyes, but rubbed my forehead at the same to cover my face, so nobody would see it.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Ok, well, good. Let’s continue, shall we?” I decided the best thing to do was to keep going.
Stoneskin Lizards gave four experience points per kill which meant they were about as strong as Halluspiders in the dungeon near Hirvant. Stoneskin Lizards and Halluspiders were two completely different monsters, but they must’ve been ranked on a similar danger scale and that’s why they offered four experience points per kill. In contrast, Halluspiders were quite fast monsters, could climb trees and poison you while Stoneskin Lizards were slow but had tough stone hide and probably were stronger in terms of doing damage. Of course, with my current strength they couldn’t do much against me.
We resumed our exploration, Ranalaiya and Sylfrin noticing another Stoneskin Lizard hiding in between the rocks not long after. This time I wasn’t the one fighting the monster, however.
“Lilfira, this one is for you,” I said.
“For me?” Lilfira sounded a little confused.
“Yes. It’s only one Stoneskin Lizard,” I said, making a step to the side to let her through, not that there wasn’t enough space for her to go around me.
“Ok,” Lilfira stepped forward, lifting her spear and pointing it forward.
“You can do it, Lilfira,” Ranalaiya cheered her on.
“Yes, just stab it with your spear,” Sylfrin added in a supportive manner.
“Ok,” Lilfira smiled. She stepped forward, just close enough for the Stoneskin Lizard to notice her and feel threatened, the monster crawling out of its hiding as a result of it. It hissed at Lilfira to try and scare her off which actually made Lilfira hesitate to attack it.
“Lilfira,” Ranalaiya said, her probably wanting to go help, but I raised my hand to stop her.
“Lilfira needs to learn how to fight,” I told Ranalaiya in a quiet voice. “Stoneskin lizards aren’t that strong. She should be fine.”
“Yes, I understand, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya relaxed, but didn’t remove her eyes from Lilfira.
“Huh? Haah!” Lilfira reacted to the Stoneskin Lizards’ movement when it curled into a ball, thrusting her spear at it. However, as slow as the Stoneskin Lizard was, Lilfira wasn’t able to stab it with her attack. She hit the monster on the side, but managed only to graze its stone skin with the tip of her weapon. “Oh, no.” Lilfira panicked.
“Don’t worry. Just attack it again,” I told her to not worry about it. “And remember, you have a skill you can use too.” I added.
“Yes, that’s right. Humph,” Lilfira jumped to the side when the Stoneskin Lizard rolled at her in an attempt to bump onto one of her legs. Fortunately, this time Lilfira was faster on her feet than the monster was. She then raised her spear and thrusted it at the Stoneskin Lizard when the creature stopped rolling. “Twinstab!”
Lilfira extended her right arm, the one she held her spear with, thrusting it forward once before retracting her arm back within half a second and thrusting it forward again, delivering another seemingly more powerful attack at the same spot she hit the monster with her first thrust. The Stoneskin Lizard winced on the first hit and was thrown upside down on its back on the second hit, revealing its belly. However, Lilfira’s attack didn’t kill the monster even with her using her Twinstab skill.
“Quick, attack it again,” I instructed when the Stoneskin Lizard moved its legs to try and roll over to get back on its feet.
“Haah!” Lilfira grabbed the spear with both hands and stabbed the creature from above, the sharp end of her spear piercing its belly through. This time, it was the end of it, the Stoneskin Lizard dying and disappearing into a glowing dust.
- “Wow, you were so fierce with your attacks back there, darling, I even had a chill run down my spine. You have gained four experience points and your party members have gained eight.” – Lavita was happy to announce it again.
“Yay, you did it, Lilfira,” Ranalaiya cheered for her, clapping her hands.
“Yes,” Lilfira said, a bright smile dressing her face.
“Congratulations on your first kill, Lilfira,” Sylfrin congratulated her too.
“Thank you, Sylfrin,” Lilfira was happy about it.
“Nicely done and look. I think that Stoneskin Lizard dropped something,” I noticed a strangely shaped rock that wasn’t there before at the spot where the Stoneskin Lizard died. It was dark brown in color and had a small glow to it, not like any other rocks that were lying around.
“Huh? Oh, do you mean this, Master Rockin?” Lilfira asked, picking it up. She hasn’t even noticed she has called me Master when she asked that.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to suppress my grimace. I took the rock from Lilfira which just about fit into my palm, expecting for Lavita to tell us what she thought about it, like she always does, but she stayed quiet. “Ok. I guess it’s not that valuable.” I mumbled under my nose before showing the rock to Ranalaiya and Sylfrin. “I suppose this is how the Brown Iron Ore looks. We can use it as a reference to find Brown Iron Ore deposits inside the mine going forward.”
“Ok, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, with Sylfrin coming closer to take a better look too, her spiderling following her to stay close to Sylfrin.
“Ready to keep going now?” I asked before putting the Brown Iron Ore chunk into my Item Storage Box.
“Yes, Master Rockin,” the girls, Lilfira including, responded.
“Sigh…” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Ok then, let’s go. And just so you know, Lilfira will be fighting the Stoneskin Lizards for the most part while we’re here.”
“Huh? Why only Lilfira, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya wanted to know.
“Yes, why only her? If Ranalaiya and I join her, we can kill the Stoneskin Lizards really fast,” Sylfrin joined in.
“Yes, but I want for Lilfira to get actual fighting experience,” I said.
“Oh, ok,” Lilfira agreed to it, but there was hesitation heard in her voice.
“That’s right. You had me and Sylfrin fight from the very beginning too, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said before turning to Lilfira. “It is important to gain fighting experience, Lilfira. And don’t worry, we’ll be right here to help you if need be.”
“Yes, you can count on us, Lilfira,” Sylfrin added as well.
It was quite pleasant to see Ranalaiya and Sylfrin being so supportive towards Lilfira. Those two were good friends to one another already and it looked like they’ve accepted Lilfira as their friend too. In a sense, I could understand why Ranalaiya and Sylfrin would act like that. Savirei had told me that she has a mother who works at Navirei’s inn and that Lilfira loves her dearly. I was glad to see her mother raised Lilfira well. She must’ve gone through some tough times and wanted what was best for her daughter. Of course, I didn’t know Lilfira that well, but from the little time that we’ve spent so far, she seemed to be a decent person.
“Hah!” Lilfira was fighting another Stoneskin Lizard. She tried stabbing it from the front, the tip of her spear hitting the creature’s forehead, but not piercing it through.
“Try to attack its weaker body parts,” I instructed.
“Ok, humph,” Lilfira acknowledged it, jumping to the side to make distance between herself and the Stoneskn Lizard that she was fighting. It was supposed to be evident from the very beginning, but using a spear Lilfira had an advantage in range. She could reach her target from a safer distance whereas Ranalaiya or I would need to be in front of the enemy. Ranalaiya’s claw weapons might offer some reach, but for me to hit someone I have to be in front of my target. “Twinstab!” Lilfira unleashed her skill on the Stoneskin Lizard, stabbing it twice on the side just next to its rear leg. She had hit it twice before with her normal attacks, so it was enough to kill it.
- “Well done, sweetheart. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita announced after the kill.
Right. It takes her at least three hits to kill a Stoneskin Lizard. It must be because they have their hard, stone hide. Of course, Lilfira is only level one and doesn’t have any items to boost her stats. I could craft her Rhanabbit Armor later, but that one boosts Agility stat the most and from what I saw, Agility is definitely not the main stat to go for Lilfira. I was debating in my head, thinking about it.
“Good job, Lilfira. Did it drop anything?” I asked, feeling curious.
“Ah, no. I don’t think so,” Lilfira said after checking the ground.
“Ok, doesn’t matter. Let’s move on,” I said.
We continued exploring the mine, mainly just walking forward through the tunnel, Lilfira fighting a Stoneskin Lizard or two when we’d come across them. I had her fight two of them at the same time to see if she could handle them. Killing a few Stoneskin Lizards earlier gave her confidence, so she took on two in one go. It took a bit of running and dodging, but hit and run tactic worked very well for her, especially since she could reach the monsters from a far with her spear. She killed the two Stoneskin Lizards in a short while, feeling happy she was able to achieve such a feat. Ranalaiya and Sylfrin were ecstatic to see Lilfira kill two monsters in one go, congratulating her right after. Unfortunately, no Brown Iron Ores were dropped by the monsters, but we were just getting started.
“Hey, look, the tunnel is opening into some sort of room,” Ranalaiya pointed out, noticing it in the distance.
“Ok, it must be a cave where they mined ore,” I reasoned. We came closer but didn’t go inside. The cave was more or less round and quite spacious too. It must’ve been at least sixty feet in diameter, with the ceiling being over fifteen feet height. The cave had some light coming from the lamps on the walls, but it was rather dim and dark in the middle of it. “Sylfrin, can you check for the monsters inside?” I asked her before walking inside of it.
“Yes, Master Rockin. Echo Sense,” Sylfrin said before using her ability which made her eyes glow yellow. “I can see four Stoneskin Lizards inside, Master. However, the cave is too big for me to be able to see if there are any more at the other end of it.”
“Four, huh?” I said, crinkling my nose. “Can you see any more monsters on the other side of the cave, Ranalaiya?”
“I think there are two just behind those rocks at the far end of it, but I am not sure, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya told me.
“Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s all go in together and take the monsters down,” I said before walking forward.
“Yes, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, perking up.
“Ok, Master. Frostbite,” Sylfrin said, her attack hitting and killing the closest Stoneskin Lizard on the spot.
- “Way to go, babe. That was a nice kill. You have gained four experience points and your party members have gained eight.” – Lavita announced our experience gain right away.
“Hey, Leap Jump, Swift Cut,” Ranalaiya used her skills to take down another Stoneskin Lizard.
- “Just wow. You seem to be on fire today, my love. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita’s sweet words echoed inside the cave.
“Voras, go. Frostbolt,” Sylfrin sent her pet before hitting another Stoneskin Lizard with her Frostbolt spell.
- “Ahh, now that was such a hot move. Loved it. You have gained four experience points and your party members have gained eight.” – Lavita was catching up to announce the experience gain.
- “You’ve dealt with it so fast, babe. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita spoke again after Voras killed yet another Stoneskin Lizard.
Eh? Wait, what’s gotten into you two? I became perplexed to see Ranalaiya and Sylfrin, taking the monsters inside the cave down one after another.
“Claw Swipe,” Ranalaiya killed another one again.
“Frost Spear,” with Sylfrin killing yet another one.
“Twinstab. Hah, Haah!” Even Lilfira had dealt with one on her own.
Hey, what about me? I felt being left out for some reason.
- “Wow, that was such a swift kill. Four experience points for you and eight for your party members.” – Lavita was enjoying herself too.
Sigh… Whatever… I dropped my head, deciding to leave it for the ladies to clear the monsters out.
- “Oh, my, now that is something I’ve been waiting for. Maximum experience points reached. Level up is available. How about we level up together here and now, my love? And just so you know, I have a very exciting surprise prepared for you.” – The next Lavita’s message wasn’t just to announce about our experience gain. I knew I should reach my next level up soon enough, but it still caught me by surprise.
Eh? Oh, damn… I sank my face into my right hand’s palm.
- “Ooh, you’re so good at it, darling. Do it again. You have gained zero experience points and your party members have gained eight.” – Lavita announced again after yet another monster kill.
The ladies dealt with the remaining monsters inside the cave, with Lavita letting us know about how much experience we have gained after each kill. Of course, I had received zero experience points after the following kills since I now had to decline my Level Up offer before I could start gaining experience points again. Needless to say, someone became rather excited upon hearing my Level Up offer announcement.
“Master Rockin, it is safe now for you to decline your level up,” was the first thing Ranalaiya said after all monsters were killed.
“Yes, I don’t see any more monsters around, so you can decline your Level Up offer, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin added, her eyes glowing yellow.
“Ok, great. Did the monsters drop anything?” I asked, pretending I didn’t hear the decline level up part.
“Ah, we didn’t check yet,” Ranalaiya said.
“Ok, let’s check then,” I said, walking forward to do just that.
“But what about your level up, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya asked.
“What about it?” I asked, pretending I didn’t know what she meant.
“Ooh, you know what I mean, Master,” Ranalaiya pouted her lips.
“You should decline your level, so you could start gaining experience points again, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin said, making it sound as if that was the main reason the two of them wanted me to decline Lavita’s Level Up offer.
Aren’t you two a little too excited about it, eh? I gave them a suspicious stare, both of them showing innocent expressions on their faces. Of course, sigh… Ah, damn it. I will have to decline it going forward anyway. It’s just that… I rubbed the back of my head, turning to look at Lilfira who simply showed me a kind smile.