CHAPTER 90 - SPELUNKING ROCKS!
🙞❤︎🙜
In case someone teleported in to rescue me, I used a chisel from my System toolbelt to carve a simple message on the stone: Violet West Mines.
Player items disappeared after a while if they were placed anywhere that wasn’t their farm. Therefore, I took out three of the robes that I had bought from Hongzhen town and cut them into strips. Then I used the ink and brush from the Scholar costume set to write the same message on the cloth.
There was no time to lose. Nighttime would no doubt bring even more demons to this area, since they were nocturnal.
I put Mr. Bear in [Travel Mode]. My puppet enlarged until he was three times as tall as I was. Mentally directing him to kneel, I climbed on his shoulders. We looked totally ridiculous, like a parent carrying his child on his shoulders, which is why I had never used this method of traveling before, but right now I didn’t care. Using both hands to hold on to Mr. Bear’s head, I was able to keep my balance when he stood up and levitated two feet off the ground. I kept the System minimap active as he flew us west of the teleportation stone.
The Mines were officially called the Chitinous Caverns, but everybody called it “The Mines” since it was where all the players went to level up their Mining skill. The other mines were more accessible and the Island Mine was way more profitable, yet when someone said “the mine” without any adjective, everyone knew that they were talking about the Chitinous Caverns.
Thankfully, the mine was very near to my current location.
I took a circuitous way, avoiding all the enemies that showed up as red dots on the minimap. Once, we were caught between a [Dire Rat] and a [Demon Spider]. I immediately used my [Escape] skill to move towards the [Dire Rat], which was a lot less dangerous compared to the spider. Three arrows and two [Fireballs] were all it took to take down the rodent, and we gave the [Demon Spider] a wide berth after that.
Along the way, I tied the strips of cloth to the branches of the trees that we passed by. The ink would probably wash out soon, but the cloth itself should serve as a good enough marker of where I was going, though I had no idea if anyone would be looking for me in this place.
Three hours later, I gave a whoop as our destination came into sight. Though all I could see with the naked eye was the side of a mountain covered in vines, the System map labeled it as the Chitinous Caverns.
Mr. Bear knelt down, and I hopped off to find the entrance. A little to the right of me, I saw a few vines fluttering as though they were being blown outwards by a wind from the inside of the mountain. Sure enough, when I used my machete to cut away some vines, I found the entrance to the tunnels there.
Yes! I wouldn’t have to stay outside during the night when all the most dangerous demons roamed the Southerlands.
I cut away a lot more vines and then used a larger chisel to carve “Violet is inside” beside the cave entrance. To make it stand out more, I splashed it with red ink. I also tied a dozen strips of cloth to the nearest trees.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
By the time I was finished, it was already late afternoon.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Bear, I have a plan, and it’s a good one.” Saying it out loud, even just to my puppet, made me feel better.
Adventure Incarnate players normally descended through all ninety-nine mine levels very cautiously, but there were a few things that made the journey easier. Navigating to the System’s Crafting tab, I made a [Staircase] using ninety-nine pieces of [Stone]. Then I made eight more, since there was a safe space every ten levels.
My plan was to use [Staircases] all the way down to the lower levels of the Mines where I could level up in safety.
I equipped a [Halo Ring]. Wearing [Iron Plate Armor] and with my [Iron Sword] in hand, I slowly and cautiously made my way into the tunnel with Mr. Bear beside me.
The ring cast a gentle yellow sphere of light, illuminating my surroundings. The ground was strewn with rocks and the walls were jagged and rough. Taking a deep breath, I found that the air was heavy and damp, smelling of earth and mold. I expected it to be quiet, but I could hear the chittering of insects from further inside the tunnel.
When I tried to use a [Staircase] from my inventory, a ladder icon with a red X on it appeared on the ground. The X meant that it wasn’t usable here. I guessed that I needed to go further inside. However, my way was soon blocked by a large gray boulder.
Wow, it was time for me to experience mining for the first time in this world!
Since I was only level 1, it took me six swings of my pickax to reduce the boulder to nothing. One piece of [Stone] was automatically added to my inventory.
Once again, I tested the ground to see if it was now ready for the [Staircase]. To my surprise, it was!
A solid stone staircase opened up in front of me with a loud grinding noise. I quickly dashed down it and placed another [Staircase] as soon as I hit the bottom. I repeated that seven more times until I finally reached level 10 of the mine.
Yes! I did a little dance when I found myself in a large chamber, with its walls and floors covered in rough stone tiles. At the northeast corner was a ladder leading to the level above me, while a ladder in the southwest corner led to the level below. There was even a large golden treasure chest right in the middle of the room, just like in the game.
I was about to open the chest, when a scary thought struck me. What was an unopened treasure chest doing here? Wasn’t this quite suspicious? Could it be a [Mimic]?
Discretion was the better part of valor, so I sent Mr. Bear to check it out first. When he was able to push the top open, I approached and saw that there was a large amethyst inside the chest. The gem was as big as my fist, and its many facets reflected the light cast by my [Halo Ring]. Of course, given my eye color and name, I was particularly fond of amethysts, so I put it in with the rest. Now I had one stack of 2,147,483,647 amethysts and a single amethyst in another inventory slot.
This was exactly why I hadn’t bothered to do any Mining. There was nothing here that I needed that I didn’t already have.
I pushed the treasure chest to a corner of the room and set up a large tent. This was supposed to be a safe level, but I put Mr. Bear in [Guard Mode] anyway.
As I ate my dinner, courtesy of the Demon Chef who had prepared two weeks’ worth of food for the four of us while he was on vacation, I planned my next move.
The monsters inside the mine became stronger the lower the level. The enemies in levels 1 to 9 were probably weaker than the [Dire Rats] I had fought.
It was the common wisdom in Adventure incarnate to stay on a certain level until one was able to kill enemies with one blow/arrow/spell. Though I really wanted to level up fast, I shouldn’t be impatient. I resolved to stay on level 11 until I leveled up enough that I could kill a monster in one blow.