I was now looking at a hole that was gushing out lava, I wish I had some dirt blocks to clog up the hole but sadly, this isn't craftmine.

So, I erected an earth wall and continued moving forward with a torch. I walked deeper and deeper and every time, I felt the temperature rise. I soon came across a huge pool of lava, I was about to ignore it when a reflection of light grabbed my attention. I concentrated and sure enough, I saw a gem just above the center of the pool of lava and if I'm not mistaken, that's gotta be a red diamond

With a target in mind, I infused electricity on the soles of my feet as I dashed through hot air. I stabbed Lea on the ceiling, I held her tight as my right hand extracted the thumb-sized diamond, I dashed out of that sauna and got a better look at the red diamond in my hand, it was sparkly red, coupled with the pool of lava, it really is hard to notice

Red diamonds are considered rare back in my world, in fact out of all the diamond variations, red is the rarest. Although I'm not sure if they're that rare here, anyway, this would be the heart of the ring I'm going to give Arachne because it matches her eyes

I was about to walk out when Raija warned me, I rolled forward and saw the earth where I used to stand, get eaten by a lava shaped hand. I looked at the lava pool and saw a human-shaped lava crawl out

"Return the stone" His voice was low

"Why?" I asked

"It is mine, if you want to take it, kill me!" It roared out before turning into a puddle of lava and pouncing towards me

I dashed forward and evaded its attack, we've now switched places. I raised an earth wall behind me, one large enough to cover the car-sized hole leading to the lava pool

The cave went dark, my only source of light was the torch on the ground and my glowing enemy

'Let's go Lea'

I infused [Ice giant's strike] before dashing forward, the lava man, like an arrow released from the bow, shot towards me.

I slid on the ground, the distance between us getting shorter. I stabbed Lea on the ground, stopping me completely. The lava man, still at breakneck speed, was about to hit me but a large hand of ice protruded from the ground and punched the lava mam leaving him stuck on the ceiling like a bubble gum under the desk table of a school.

"Is that enough?" I asked

"Plenty"

I walked away as steam wafted through the ceilings, finding their way out of the cave, seems like the lava man was melting the ice

I walked deeper down with the torch at hand, surprisingly, these torches last long. I wonder if I can dip anything else in oil and make it last a lifetime then call it ever ready, your always lit torch. I'd make a killing selling it, although it doesn't really last forever, welp, that's marketing for you.

I walked deeper and deeper, I keep seeing what seems to be pools of water here and there yet when I look up, no water seems to be dripping down. I kept walking and came saw a large pool of water, don't tell me something like the lava man will happen here

I looked around and surely there was something glistening on the pool's center, a closer look it seemed to be a huge chunk of lapis lazuli

I touched the pool and released a huge amount of ice magic, freezing the pool up just enough for me to reach the small island with the lapis lazuli

I trod the ice path with caution, with the incident earlier, I'm kinda sketchy about the monsters inhabiting this mine

A body of water rose, its shape much like that of a human with no legs. It had a face and I'm pretty sure it's the face you make when you're mad

"My waters rise!" It spoke out the moment its eyes met mine

"Morphling?" I asked

"No, this is Patrick!" Did I just hear it right? did this thing just memed Patrick?

I could only stifle my laughter remembering the meme from the internet, Patrick didn't like it and just shot a water blast towards me, I quickly moved and appeared next to him, I touched him and encased him in an [Ice Lotus].

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"Alright Patrick, I can now take the Lapis right?"

"Yes you may, powerful warrior"

What are with them? I knew no miners come here since they kept saying that elemental monsters attacked them. I guess they were just protecting these ores, thankfully they've never killed anyone, if they had, I would've killed these elementals

I looked at the lapis and it its center was an aquamarine, does this mine have everything? maybe I will find a Painite next

I walked past Patrick who was struggling to break through the ice lotus

This aquamarine will be perfect for Blue, the color might be a bit lighter than her hairs but I've got an awesome speech to go with it.

And deeper I go, how are you holding up torch? still lit? of course you are, I dipped you in oil. Whatever that oil was, I need it to keep the stove lit forever.

I walked around the maze and soon found saw myself going in circles, I even passed by lava man who was licking the ice. I turned away and walked as fast as I could despite him begging and yelling that I've misunderstood something

No way am I going to listen to his explanation, the way he licked that ice was... sexual, even I, a bystander, felt his feelings which made the hair on my arms stand up

I soon saw a path I didn't take before and strangely, the sunlight seems to have reached this underground cavern, how? I looked above and saw some gems that are glowing, what are these even? glowstones? no, these things shine more powerful. I pressed on, if I were to take these glowing stones and use them, then what's the point of shaping them to perfection if the wearer would be blinded by it

I walked to the center of the cavern and a huge golem made out of rock moved

"Regirock?" I asked

"No, I am John"

"What's the lavaman's name"

"He is Joshua"

"What is with your common names?" I asked

"What is with your common face" He striked back, I felt the burn a bit

"What is with your common intellect?" No way am I gonna stand down

"What's with your" He just stopped there

"Hello? any response?" I asked but he seems to be too busy thinking about something

"I'll just pass by then" I walked past him who was deep in thought

Behind the rock was a moonstone, a really beautiful moonstone. Jackpot, this is for Mira, white like her hair... although a bit transparent, it's perfect!

I took the moonstone and left the einstein rock to do his thing. I walked out of the mine with three perfect gems for the ring, also, I managed to mine out a bit of gold and silver which will be turned into the body of the ring

Speaking of rings, I thought I saw a well earlier on my way here, it was sealed up pretty tight too. Nah, I'd rather not, spare me the trouble of some ghost popping out of my monitor. Sure I was pretty lonely back then to the point that I'd watch the cursed tape just so that a woman (even if she is a ghost or is there to kill me) would come and visit me, well except for my mom

I eagerly rushed to the local blacksmith, told him of my plan, drew the shape of the said rings. He nodded to my suggestion however, he would need my help in shaping the three gems which I immediately agreed on. We both got to work

Tirelessly for two days, I kept working on it, the Blacksmith would work on the day but I would continue on on the nights and would refuse to go home which worried my parents and the others but they respected me when I said that I'm working on something and needed to be alone

After the third day, everything was perfect. They all came out fine, the silver and gold too, I am just amazed. I am so happy with how everything turned out, I thanked the Blacksmith, paid him a decent amount even though he told me not to.

I left and headed for Dad's office just near the foot of the split mountain

All of the soldiers I passed through greeted me with a kneel and a feverish salute, I could only awkwardly salute back and move away. I saw dad who was busy with the deforestation nearby, I asked him what's the huge ton of wood going to be used for

"Oh those, those are going to be cut up and distributed all over town, winters coming you know" He responded

"But doesn't everyone have a fire core at their houses?" I asked

"Well, yes but we value tradition a bit, you grew up here didn't you, how come you didn't know about this?"

"You always seem to deforest those trees every year and have the soldiers cut them for training, as for the distribution, I thought they were just used to make some furnitures, after all, everyone here is good when it comes to carpentry" I replied

"I see, well now you know, although the first part is true" He smiled

"Dad, I want to hold a wedding a week and a half from now" I mentioned out of nowhere which left my dad looking at me with a mix of fervent tension in his eyes

He paused for a bit before asking

"Really?"

"Yeah, at least if one of them says yes" I nodded

He coughed before looking at me with eyes full of jealousy

"More than 1?!"

"There's Mira, Arachne, and Blue" I laughed

"Goddamnit it son, why can't dad be as lucky as you" He locked on my neck

I coldly looked at him before responding

"Are you saying mom is the reason why you're unlucky?"

He broke away and with a nervous laugh he replied

"No, definitely no" And murmured under his breath

" Like mother like son"

"Hmm? What was that?" I smiled so innocently towards him

"Nothing, just how I am ally-less when it comes to family matters" He chuckled

"Oh, I am no one's ally, I only move for fidelity and love" I announced like someone holy

"So says the hypocrite" Dad shot back

"I love everyone, only difference is, I love those girls more"

"Alright, alright, so tell me, how do you plan to do the wedding?" He asked

"You seriously aren't going to try to hijack it?" I asked

"What, you thought I was going to take control and plan the wedding myself?"

"Well, yeah"

"I'm not your mom you know"

"I forgot, you only go along with her plans"

"She resorts to blackmail if I don't"

"Mom is awesome"

"Yeah..."

Back in the cave, there stood a lonely figure, strong and large yet his appearance and posture made him seem to be deep in thought, a strong contrast to his body. He seems to have figured something out and pointed at the empty spot in front of him before declaring with a strong and proud voice

"I get it! what's with your common face!"

Yet there was no one there to respond to him nor remind him that he's already used the same phrase twice

"Eh?"

Poor John