Chapter 207: Mining at the Summit
We finally reached the summit.
Having spent some time in the valley, the sky felt incredibly vast. The ridge extending from the peak gently spread out, resembling a high ground littered with rugged rocks. Stretching out my Presence Detection, I could indeed sense several magic power vents nearby. One of them seemed to harbor a Mole Ball.
Aside from that, I could also detect the presence of Wyverns and Chimeras, which I had sensed from the Guild. Other than those, only small presences were noticeable, so for now, it seemed these three types were the only formidable foes we might encounter.
“They’re here, alright.”
“Wafuhun!”
Following Rio, Nil was in high spirits. Perhaps it was because we had stepped into an open space with the wind at our backs, but the foul odor had dissipated.
“By the way, you mentioned we were here to investigate, but how exactly should we go about it?”
Ivan voiced a reasonable question, but judging by that old woman’s tone, it seemed all we needed to know was whether the Mole Ball was occupying the vent.
“Is it alright if we just take it down?”
“Yeah, that works. I’d rather not have it explode and spread that stench everywhere. Let’s wrap this up quickly and get to searching for veins and practicing our cuts.”
“Alright!”
Agreeing with Rio’s words, Phonia raised her right hand in enthusiasm.
Now that I think about it, we hadn’t discussed any rewards with that old woman, but that was fine. I had been told before to make sure to receive my rewards, but I had enough money already. Negotiating with that old woman seemed more trouble than it was worth.
As we approached the Mole Ball, the stench became undeniable. Nil and Phonia said they would wait at a distance, so the three of us continued toward it.
“Ugh…”
Ivan looked like he was struggling. Do Bear Tribe members have a keen sense of smell? At the very least, it seemed better than ours, which lacked Enhanced Sense of Smell.
“Isn’t this far enough…?”
Rio gave up when we were about 500 meters away from the Mole Ball, which was now visible in the distance. At the same moment, a thread of magic power shot from Rio toward the Mole Ball, enveloping it in a Spatial Isolation Barrier. Then, she used the wind to sweep away all the foul odors lingering in the area, sending them high into the sky.
“Oh, that’s much better!”
Even with Enhanced Sense of Smell, the stench had nearly vanished. Ivan’s expression brightened, while the Mole Ball trapped within the barrier thrashed about wildly.
It was round like a ball, about two meters in diameter, and quite large. Its mouth was lined with sharp teeth, and its entire body was covered in a shaggy coat of fur.
“That’s definitely gross…”
Watching the Mole Ball flail around wasn’t entertaining, so Rio transformed the barrier, creating sharp blades on the inside that sliced the ball cleanly in half. She then stored it away in the Dimensional Box along with the barrier.
“Now that’s refreshing.”
“Seriously, I can finally relax.”
“By the way, what happens to the barrier inside the Dimensional Box?”
I had casually stored it away, but I was curious about how the barrier would hold up since maintaining it should consume magic power.
“Now that you mention it… Hmm, I think the barrier is still maintained, but it doesn’t feel like it’s consuming magic power.”
“Maybe because in a Time Stop Box, it doesn’t matter if the barrier exists or not?”
“That could be it?”
I had a vague understanding of it, but I decided to accept it as it was. When I took it out, the barrier appeared intact. Since I didn’t want the stench to spread, it was good if it could maintain the barrier as is.
“Alright, let’s start searching for veins right away.”
“Yeah!”
“I’ll do some training.”
“Wafuhwafuh!”
“I’ll look for veins too!”
With the stench gone, Nil and Phonia rejoined us, and our search for veins began alongside Ivan’s training and Nil’s playful antics with him.
“Magic Crystal?”
This was what we managed to mine from the magic power vent.
＝＝＝＝＝
Type: Tool
Name: Magic Crystal
Description: A crystallized form of magic power.
It has a significantly higher purity of magic power than Magic Stones.
＝＝＝＝＝
It seemed like an upgraded version of a Magic Stone, but I couldn’t quite grasp its usage just from appraisal. I decided to continue mining and ask Ruigentz later.
After about two days of camping out in our makeshift shelter, we had a good understanding of what could be mined in the surrounding area. While we didn’t find much Adamantite near the summit, we did manage to acquire some Orichalcum, which made me quite happy.
Yesterday, that stalker had secretly appeared again, and when I waved back at her with a smile, she quickly disappeared once more.
“Big brother, big sister! Look at this!”
Phonia had even managed to create a makeshift knife using the Orichalcum. While it wasn’t sharp enough to cut anything, it had taken a solid shape.
“Wait, what are you doing with such a rare metal…?!”
Ivan looked pale, but I thought it was fine. Orichalcum is known for its excellent conductivity of magic power, making it perfect for practice.
“That’s not the point!?”
When I explained my reasoning, he shot back with a fierce retort, but I stood my ground. Look, even Rio was nodding in agreement.
“I’ll tell Ruigentz about this later.”
“No, please don’t!”
Why was he so against it?
But well, since it was Ivan saying it, I decided to let it slide.
“Anyway, I’d like to try out the katana next.”
“Nfufufu.”
“Wafuhwafuh!”
“Ohh!”
“Hey hey!”
In response to my declaration, each of them replied in their own unique way.