“Let's go mine some bloody ore already!” gripes Kazzrak, and he strides purposefully towards the cave entrance.
The others just roll their eyes, and we all follow him in. It is quite a large entrance and opens up slightly once we get in. There is a soft green light coming from luminescent moss, which is letting us see quite well, actually.
“The caves can travel quite far and have a few offshoots that don't really go anywhere,” Knax informs us. “If we follow the main tunnel, it will lead us to a large cavern where we will find the iron and silver veins.”
“Well, we won't just be able to start off on iron ore, we will have to level up on copper and tin first, don't we?” Kazzrak says, seeking clarification.
Knax nods. “That's true, you are restricted to copper and tin till level 55. That's when you can mine silver and then iron at 75.”
“Ah, right then,” Kazzrak says as we make our way through the cave. “Well, Sybaal and I are level 45, though I think Ifalna is level 1. So, we will each peel off when we see a copper or tin ore node while the rest of you keep moving on to the next one. And then you guys do the same.”
Ezekial nods. “That's a good idea. I'll scout ahead with stealth and see how far I can get and if anything is in that big room. If I get stuck somewhere, Sybaal can just use the Ring of Party Leader and either summon me to him, or you guys to me. Depends on what I find, really.”
“I'll stick with the furthest person into the mine and move up when you all catch up. Just to make sure nothing sneaks up on us while you are all trying to gut the mountain,” Dosan says with a shake of his head, as if he doesn't know why they bother.
“I'm not sure that is going to really matter, seeing as how close the ore nodes are. We will literally be stumbling over them every few yards when we go in a bit further,” Knax says with a chuckle.
Right he was. Another few minutes later, we are hitting a copper or tin ore node every couple of yards. The nymphs, Ifalna, Kazzrak, Knax and I pull out Mining Picks from our Mining Bags and proceed to try to break the mountain from the inside out.
Mining is pretty simple in this game, the same as with DSR1. All I have to do is get a proper stance going, aim and swing hard. At my level, two or maybe three hits and a chunk of ore drops out, littering the floor until I bend down and pick it up. I'm getting roughly six ores out of each node, and that's with the buff from the god. Jeez.
I can definitely see a lot of time being spent down here in the future if it stays at these odds. Eventually I should be able to strike it once and out pops a piece of ore like magic.
Kazzrak and I quickly leave the others behind, as they need to hit around four to six times for an ore to drop. Not to mention that stamina also plays a part and drops a portion with each hit. The buff is giving us double regain for our stamina, so we don't really have to deal with that problem right now.
I'm not sure if Dosan did it as a joke, but he summoned Ratatoskr and had him sit facing deeper into the mine, just in case something wanted to have a crack. Quite funny, really.
I doubt any goblins are going to attack now.
Ezekial: So how you guys all going? Nearing level 75 yet?
Looking at my logs, I'm quite surprised. I'm not sure how much time has passed, but we hit level 75 in Mining and didn't even realise it. We had long since left the others in the dust. We had periodically left mining nodes for them so they didn't have so far to walk in between them.
Kazzrak: Rofl, I hit 75 a little while ago and didn't even realise it.
Sybaal: Yeah, same here. Lol.
Ifalna: Everyone here is around level 70 to 75 except me. I'm still sitting at 65.
Ezekial: Well, that's nice. So how would everyone like a short break?
Dosan: Yes, please! This is quite boring just hanging out and chatting with my Bonded.
Ezekial: Awesome. Well, since that is the case, would anyone like to come find out what I've been checking out for the past little while?
Kazzrak: Ha, knew that you wouldn't have said anything if you didn't have something planned. What did you find?
Ezekial: It's probably easier if I just show you guys.
Sybaal: I'm not wasting the ring's summons without an emergency, so start hiking, gents and ladies. Btw, the rest of you can talk to us this way if you want to as well. Makes it easier when we don't want enemies to notice us, so you should practice.
Eloise: Sigh. It's not that I didn't want to talk, it's just that I had nothing to say. I'm not one for, how did you say it, Ifalna? Shooting the breeze?
Dosan: Burn. Oh, big massive burn, buddy.
Sybaal: Well, I'm sorry if you think I talk too much. I'll try to keep it short and sweet from now on.
Kazzrak: Whoa there, Eloise, did you just get Sybaal to stop flapping his gums more than usual? Respect, girl.
Ezekial: Lol.
Eloise: :)
Knax: Haha, I like you, Eloise. You are quite funny and only talk when you need to.
Deciding that it would probably be in my best interest to just shut up, I sigh wistfully and proceed to do so as we make our way into the larger cavern. I reckon a football stadium could fit in here quite nicely. The far wall has a massive hole in it with rubble strewn all around it. Another entrance is off to our left a little.
I stand there for a minute, just looking at how much iron and silver ore I can see lining the walls or sticking upright from the rocky ground in the middle. That's a lot of ore.
We have only been taking a leisurely pace through the cavern, but I think the others might have actually legged it and are barrelling out of the tunnel just behind us.
Guess they want to see what Ezekial has in store for us just as much as we do. Or they took me telling them to take a hike to heart and actually did so.
Either way, they caught up with us, and we make our way over to the large new cave entrance. Right where Ezekial's raid icon is on the mini map.
Sybaal: Should we be wary of what's back there, or do we not need to worry about stealth?
Ezekial: It's fine. I checked it out well and good. Oh, you're here.
Standing up and popping out of stealth, Ezekial waves a hand for us to hurry up. Sighing, I keep up with the rest of the group as we make our way over to him.
Climbing over the rubble-strewn mess and getting my first proper look into the next section, I'm floored.
I'm standing on the rocky shore of a quite large underground lake, at least the size of the previous room just by itself, which looks like it is lit from within. Not to mention, oh, at least four football stadiums could fit in here.
The moss is everywhere, though there are also twinkles all over the walls and ceiling, which are quite appealing to the eye.
“Ezekial, what am I looking at here?” I whisper, quite astounded at the beauty of the cavern.
He grins at me like a maniac. “It's mithril and truesilver ore nodes. They are everywhere. There are even a few obsidian and elementium nodes on the far side of the lake against the wall. I checked.”
“How are we meant to get up there though?” asks Ifalna with a sigh.
“Maybe Dosan and I can rig up some scaffolding with our Engineering professions,” Kazzrak says thoughtfully. “Guess it will be useful quicker than I thought.”
“That is an awesome idea!” exclaims Dosan. “Though we don't really have the materials for it right now, we can always come back later and set it up.”
“How are you all so calm?!” shouts Knax, wide eyed and panting heavily. “This is—! I don't even have words to tell you how important this discovery is!”
“Yo, mini me, chill, bro.” Dosan chuckles, resting a hand on Knax's shoulder. “It's okay, we are all very excited, I assure you. However, none of us can use any of this yet, nor can we even mine it, as our levels aren't high enough.”
“Yeah, but, like, seriously?” Knax says, exasperated.
“Seriously,” I say. “These new nodes aren't going anywhere. If anything, they will continue to grow due to
the respawning rates.”
“Okay, people.” Ifalna claps her hands together. “We have exactly eighteen hours and fifteen minutes before our Gaea's Grace buff ends. Let's see how far we can get, and hopefully we can start working on the walls of this new treasure trove.”
Right then and there, that moment sparked the fire that was lit under all our butts till the buff disappeared from my buff list.
Everyone with the Mining profession who wasn't level 75 stuck with the silver nodes while the rest of us were furiously hacking at the iron nodes. We were trying to level up as quickly as possible.
Dosan stuck his massive rat in the entry to the goblin section of the mine and went off exploring with Ezekial, taking his minions with him. He said something about herbs or some such. I really wasn't paying attention. Old habits, I guess.
Our mining packs became full around the Mining level 100 mark, and we started just dumping the excess ore in the middle of the cavern. We asked Knax if ore we left lying around would disappear, and received the negative amid grunts of exertion from him.
Kazzrak and I reach level 125 before any of the others and quickly dump our ore on the pile before hightailing it to the next cavern and starting on the truesilver nodes. The sparks they give off when I strike them with the pick are quite distracting. A couple of times I notice that I've drifted to a stop, watching Kazzrak strike his own node.
Soon after, the others follow us inside. Dosan leaves his minions back with the ore pile, as he is as much of a stickler about leaving loot lying around as I am.
By the time only three hours are left on the buff, we are all getting periodic healing from Ifalna as she washes away the aches and pains of such hard labour.
It’s at this point that Kazzrak hits level 150 and shouts with joy, not bothering to even finish the truesilver node he was working on. We all have a good laugh as he leaps at a mithril node lips first and kisses it right on its rocky surface before taking a step back and swinging for all he’s worth.
On his first strike, two mithril ores pop into existence and fall to the floor. He then picks them up and looks them over before smiling like a kid who was just told he could pick anything in the entire shopping centre and it would be his for his birthday.
It isn't long before I am moving over to mithril myself, and then for the last hour, everyone else except Knax moves on with us.
Unfortunately, Knax doesn't have the buff, so he isn't getting nearly the same drop rate for truesilver as the rest of us. Considering he could already mine iron ore before we came in here, if he had the buff, he would probably be moving on to elementium already.
Oh well. No point worrying over something that can't change. That is exactly Knax's attitude. Just hanging out over at the truesilver mines and going to town. I think he’s just stoked at having the distraction of something new and shiny he can sink his metal tooth into.
When the Gaea's Grace buff finally ticks over its last second, we all just collapse right where we are.
Ifalna: Oh my god. If I thought I was mentally exhausted when we logged out last time, this beats it threefold.
Sybaal: I hear you, buddy, I hear you. We are done for now, people.
Knax, however, yells in triumph. “Finally!”
Dashing as fast as his little legs can carry him, he begins striking a mithril node with vigour. With his first hit, two pieces pop out, and he squeals loud enough that I'm sure everyone back on the surface heard him. Picking them up with trembling hands, he places them in his bag before sitting down with his back against the node.
I can almost feel the sighs of relief and exclamations of congratulations emanating from the surrounding people in the cavern.
Have to take care of business first, though, before we log out.
Sybaal: Alright, everyone gather as much of the mithril and truesilver ore as you can, then fill up on iron after that. If you have any space left, which I doubt you do, then do equal measures of tin and copper.
Dosan: There is no way you are all going to be able to carry all that ore back. We just don't have enough Mining Bag space.
Knax: Well, why don't I just go back and get some more, then?
Ezekial: Mwahaha, already way ahead of you guys. After I saw the massive pile of ore we have, I decided to make a quick jog back to Chief Knoxley and get us each four more Mining Bags. He didn't have any more, or I would have brought those too.
Kazzrak: No way! Really?
Ezekial: True story, bro. I'm literally just walking into the cavern now.
It’s weird, because Ezekial walks into the cavern, but he’s also carrying a huge sack on his back.
“What's with the sack?” I ask him, puzzled why he didn't just use his bags.
He laughs as a response and empties the sack on the floor. Several Mining Bags fall out and onto the floor. “I didn't have enough space in my Bag of Holding to carry all of them. I do have forty-four of them, after all.”
“Huh, true that,” I say softly.
We all walk over and gather up the new bags. In short order, we have every last piece of ore squared away, and we are finally ready to go.
I wasn't relishing trying to get others down here to clean up our mess and take all our hard-earned ore.
Saying a quiet goodbye to the untouched nodes, we head out and make our way through the mine back to the surface. The walk seems to have given us a second wind, and we pick up the pace quite a bit in anticipation of taking a well-deserved break.
Without that buff, it would have taken us a couple of weeks at least with just the normally crappy drop rates and the amount of stamina we used up.
Reaching the entrance, we step out into the sunlight of a warm midday. Taking a look at the time, I see it is now 11:45.
Almost twenty-nine hours in the game so far. I've only ever done this a few times without breaks, and I'm quite exhausted. I guess the mind needs to be tricked into its sleeping state every now and then by logging in and out.
Something to tell the admins, anyways.
“Finally!” Eloise and the other nymphs sigh together. Looks like they aren't used to enclosed spaces for long periods of time.
“Finally, what?” asks Knax, confused.
Eloise grins at him timidly. “We don't usually spend long periods without the warmth of the sun. Sometimes we get a form of withdrawal when it happens.”
“Oh, I don't have that problem at all,” Knax says, quite oblivious. “I’ve spent days down there just mining and sleeping where I am. Quite relaxing, really. Peace and quiet except for the echoes of others striking ore.”
“Knax, we are quite tired. Where would we be able to get some sleep?” Dosan interrupts.
“Oh, there are small rooms off the main hall you can use. I'm sure my father will be fine with you using them. I’ll sort it out with him,” Knax replies, studiously avoiding looking anywhere near a certain hut. “We will be waiting on the loggers and masons to gather the necessary materials before we can rebuild the buildings. We have enough nails and metal strapping.”
“Wait, are those professions?” asks Ifalna quizzically.
“Of course, how else do you think we get wood and stone?” Knax asks, looking at us like we have a screw loose.
“I see,” I say quietly, thinking about what that represents. Maybe it’s a good thing that none of the nymphs have either of those skills. Especially considering that they don’t like staying underground for long periods and are basically animated trees and plant life.
With the felorians, however, I will have to make sure I get a few of them to become masons and loggers. Especially if I want to build any new buildings with stone and wood later on.
Playing the long game will benefit us more than the short game right now.
Making our way to the hall, Dosan dismisses his giant rat and we go through the door. I didn't realise before, but this building is actually built extremely sturdily, with iron straps on the door and properly secured walls.
I guess with all the excite
ment previously, I just didn't notice.
The hall is quite wide and long inside, with multiple doors leading off it.
Turning to the nymphs, I say, “Okay, so we are going to get some sleep, and I’m not sure how long we will be. If we aren't up when you guys wake up, then please stay within the village. Also, if you were to get started on smelting the ore, that would be amazing.”
With murmured affirmatives from them, we all pick a room and walk in. It’s quite tiny, but that's fine. I sit on the bed with my back against the wall because the bed is just so small, and finally log out, my vision fading to darkness.
When it clears, I have a brief hit of dislocation, as the ceiling isn't the same as in my bedroom. Then I remember that I'm in my new bedroom and I will probably never step foot inside my old house again.
A pang of sorrow hits me before I sigh wistfully. At least I won't have to deal with being constantly visually reminded of Rosie with memories of things we did together. I hope I never see her again.
Stretching out to full, I feel my joints pop as I tense everything and get the blood flowing. Twisting around, I continue to pop the rest of them that I can.
Ah, so much better. Not so stiff now.
Looking around, I'm surprised I missed the gigantic window that takes up an entire wall. Considering my room is about the size of a spacious double car lockup, it's pretty big. Walking to the window, I look out into the night and can see the lights of the city far below and spread across my vision.
Dream Stream Reality: Publisher's Pack Books 1-2: (A LitRPG Adventure) Page 27
