Volume 2 Wandering Chapter 2: Mining continues as long as life continues
"Oh, you are here to get Elder's blood analyzer." Although I didn't say a word, this weird alchemist Edgwell still saw my purpose at a glance. I don't know how he did it, maybe it's just like the inexplicable knowledge in my mind, a natural instinct.
"I can't give it to you right now because there's still a small part that's not finished. I need some special raw materials. If you can get them for me, I can give it to you soon. You have to go to the abandoned mine in the west of the city to find a mineral called quartzite jade. They are some white, shiny rocks. You can't mistake them. You can use this pickaxe to dig them out, fill this bag, and don't forget to bring a torch. However, you'd better be careful because there seems to be a group of big bats occupying that place now."
Although he asked for my opinion, he did not give me a chance to object. As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a pickaxe, a large bag and a torch from somewhere and put them in my hands. Then he immediately left me aside and turned around to continue his crazy and dangerous alchemical experiments.
Holding the tools, I stood aside awkwardly, not knowing what to do. According to etiquette (although I don't know how I know this etiquette), I should say goodbye to the owner of this house before leaving. But looking at his busy and focused appearance, I was afraid that I would abruptly disturb his research.
After standing there awkwardly for a long while, I finally made up my mind to say goodbye to him. At this moment, I suddenly smelled a bitter smell in the air. The instinct I had trained in battle made me feel the breath of danger. Suddenly, a ball of fiery red bloomed in front of me with a dazzling color, followed by a surging heat wave, which instantly burned my cheeks.
At the same time, a huge explosion sounded suddenly, like thunder exploding in my ears. In this brief moment, I only had time to bend over and lie on the ground with my head in my hands, feeling all kinds of debris brushing against my scalp.
When everything calmed down, I finally had the courage to look up and look around. The room hadn't changed much - because everything was already in such a mess that the chaos caused by the explosion could be ignored. The black smoke billowing from the iron frame of the test bench was still there, and the alchemist Edgwell's torn clothes and blackened face were still the same.
"Don't worry..." He chuckled again, revealing two rows of white teeth. But his smile was not reassuring at all - whether it was a paranoid lunatic or a mentally retarded person with a blown brain, this was how they would look when they smiled.
"…It was just a small accident." He continued calmly, as if it was all natural.
Immediately, I threw all social etiquette out of my mind and scrambled out of Edgware's house as fast as I could. I swear, even a dragon couldn't pull me back into this room at this moment. Say goodbye to him? Don't be ridiculous, I don't want to stay in this damn place for a second - well, I admit, I dare not stay - I am not so afraid of death, but I will die in vain by being hit on the head by a broken bowl in an explosion caused by a deranged madman. This kind of dishonorable and stupid death is absolutely unacceptable to me.
Following Edgwell's instructions, I walked out of the west gate of Capnavia. It was already dark, and there were fewer people in and outside the city. Only a few people who occasionally crossed the sky flashed in my field of vision, their eyes were dull and they were in a hurry.
With fewer people, there are more wild animals wandering outside the city. However, the first and second level birds and beasts wandering at the city gate can no longer pose any threat to me. In fact, even if I walk by them at a very close distance, they will no longer chase me like before - I think this is because my soul strength is much higher than theirs. Even so, I still pay attention to keeping a considerable distance from them when walking - especially the flocks of hens near the base of the city wall.
Following the markings on the magic map, I walked along a path to the end, easily killing several wild dogs along the way that lacked basic judgment of their opponents' strength, and finally found a dilapidated mine entrance.
This was clearly an abandoned mine. The eaves of the cave entrance, made of wood, had been severely eaten away and covered with large spider webs, but it was still very solid. The corridor inside the mine was also firmly supported by thick wood. The floor of the corridor was paved with two long rails, one end extending out of the cave entrance, and the other end pointing to the dark depths of the mine - this practical design was the masterpiece of the dwarves, these races who were born to love manufacturing could use this method to quickly and efficiently transport ore out of the ground.
Several huge bats were hovering at the entrance of the cave. They were not flying very high, and even their huge ears and ugly sharp teeth were clearly visible. Their strength was not commensurate with their ferocious appearance. This creature called "Big Bat" was only level three and was not difficult to deal with. I didn't want to provoke a large group of bats to attack me, so I walked towards the entrance of the mine along the side of the mountain wall. Only three bats noticed me along the way, and I killed them without much effort.
Walking into the mine, I lit a torch. The torch was not very bright, and could only illuminate a distance of less than twenty steps. The flickering flames rippled on the stone walls around me, making me feel a different kind of oppression. After walking a few steps, a white solid with a crystal luster appeared in my field of vision. I knew that this was the quartzite jade I was looking for. I stuck the torch aside, took out the bag and the pickaxe, and quickly dug it out. This ore was harder than I thought, and it shook my hands several times until they were numb. I threw it into my pocket, put the pocket into my magic backpack, picked up the torch, and continued forward.
This mine is very deep. The further you go, the more bats you encounter, and the stronger they become. I walked in for a long time, and the more ore I dug, the more opponents I encountered became two level 5 "vampire bats" that appeared side by side. This huge red-haired bat is born with a blood-sucking skill, and when it bites, it can absorb part of my vitality into its own vitality. This is the limit of what I can deal with. If Niu Baiwan hadn't given me a lot of life potions before leaving, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to make it this far.
I only needed one more piece of ore to fill my pocket, so I decided to go a little further and leave after digging enough ore. Soon, I found a piece of crystal clear quartzite jade in the tunnel. I walked over excitedly, took out my pickaxe and dug it up immediately, completing the purpose of my trip. At this time, I heard a series of "bang bang" sounds coming from not far inside the mine.
I followed the sound and found that at a bend not far ahead, a short, sturdy and strong guy with a long red beard braided into a small braid was wielding a large iron pickaxe and digging hard at the wall. The iron pickaxe was very large, almost twice as large as the one in my hand, and in contrast, the person using it was very short, and his head was probably not even as high as my chest. The short stature and the huge pickaxe formed a very uncoordinated sense of humor, and I couldn't help but worry that this person would be thrown out by his tool because of excessive force.
Whether it was his stature or his appearance, it proved that the man in front of me was a pure-blooded highland dwarf. The Golden Stone Castle in the northeast of Campnavia was a dwarf city, and the distance between the two places was less than three days, so it was not difficult to find the whereabouts of the dwarves near Campnavia.
Humans feel more lonely in dark and narrow spaces, especially when they are surrounded by deadly blood-sucking beasts. So it was heartwarming to see a fellow traveler with the same goal.
"Hello." I walked towards him happily and greeted him in a friendly manner, "I didn't expect there would be someone here."
"Mining is good, that's the real good..." He looked straight ahead, without stopping the work in his hands, and his words did not hide his love and dedication to his work.
"Oh, really? What did you get? This should be an abandoned mine. Are there any good things left?" I asked curiously.
As soon as I finished speaking, the dwarf miner suddenly sang loudly with great pride in his thick voice: "We miners have power, hey, we miners have power..."
It was obvious that this guy was very satisfied with his current job and was very proud of it, but his overly enthusiastic way of expressing himself was really a bit too much for me.
"How long have you been here? I mean, you look like you've been here a long time..." I asked hesitantly.
"Mining or destruction, this is a question worth considering..." His tone suddenly became angry and vicissitudes, and his words were heavy, profound and thought-provoking. Perhaps there is only one word that can describe the profound characteristics of his words, that is - answering the question irrelevantly!
"Hey, are you okay? Are you okay?" I was a little worried about his reaction. He didn't look like he was insane, but every answer he made didn't make sense to me.
"I pounce on the ore as a hungry man pounces on bread!" He ignored my question.
"Didn't you hear what I said?" I was almost driven crazy by this paranoid miner. I thought I had found a like-minded partner, but he was just talking nonsense.
"I want to invest my limited life into unlimited mining!" He still answered firmly and confidently.
…
In this way, I had a strange and puzzling exchange with him. From beginning to end, this rough-looking dwarf was talking to me in a poetic language. Every word he said was so meaningful, yet so inexpressive. The most amazing thing was that no matter what he said, he was praising and admiring the business of "mining" and the profession of "miner" without reservation. In his words, "mining" is simply the most noble and greatest profession in the world. The life of a miner is full of the halo of honor, splendid and magnificent. As a miner, in his words, that is "a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, a person who is free from vulgarity, and a person who is beneficial to the people."
If someone was watching our conversation, he would see an interesting scene: a human warrior in armor was confused and bewildered, and kept asking meaningless questions; in front of him, a dwarf miner in ragged clothes was not moved at all, digging stones attentively, and answering slowly. There seemed to be some kind of communication between the two people, but at least I had no idea what he wanted to say.
I don't know how this happened. Maybe this guy with a head full of ore didn't understand what I was saying, or maybe my mind was not sharp enough to keep up with his fast-moving thoughts.
In other words , I think that if this strange dwarf miner in front of me is not an idiot, then he might be a great philosopher - in fact, many times there is not much difference between the two, the difference between them is only that you look at them differently.
During our conversation, several vampire bats flew close to us. I watched them with caution, but every time they flew to the edge of the warning distance, they would suddenly turn around and fly away in the opposite direction. After several times, I finally confirmed that the place where we were located was a blind spot where the bats were cruising, and we would not be disturbed by these flying beasts at all.
Finally, I gave up this futile conversation. I no longer expected to get much valuable words from this dwarf miner. He gave me a very strange feeling. I always felt that he was not a free-spirited person, but more like a silent native like me. He would only reply when I said something to him first. And unlike ordinary natives, he spoke in a variety of ways, but it was completely incomprehensible.
Before leaving, I said goodbye to him as usual, and he shouted to me righteously: "Mining represents the requirements for the development of advanced productive forces, represents the direction of advanced culture, and represents the fundamental interests of the vast majority of players!"
I immediately felt overwhelmed and hurried out of the mine, leaving only the figure of him swinging his pickaxe. With his desperate work, I would not be too surprised even if he dug through the entire magnificent Uzig Mountains and opened a passage to the distant western road.
Oh, by the way, this guy has a very strange name, called "Attacking Mining and Training Alt"...
…
