Mining

“What are they so scared of?”

I tilted my head and walked up to the nearest kobold.

“Kieek!”

The creature squeezed its eyes shut with a shriek.

I paid it no mind and snatched open the bag the kobolds were carrying.

Inside, as expected, it was stuffed with all kinds of mineral fragments.

Without hesitation, I lifted the whole bag and dumped its contents into my mouth.

Hmm, not bad.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of stones shattering in my mouth echoed through the cave.

The kobolds' eyes filled with horror.

“As expected, this still isn't enough.”

I smacked my lips, feeling the faint change in mana deep in my stomach.

This would never be enough.

I needed stronger, purer minerals.

I clicked my tongue and looked for my next target.

“Kkieeeek!”

When my gaze fell on them, the kobolds all started screaming and scattering at once.

What was with them? Did they think I was going to eat them or something?

This is ridiculous.

I let out a dry laugh.

“Go a little slower.”

I slowly walked in the direction the panicked kobolds were fleeing.

They pumped their short legs furiously, but in a narrow abandoned mine like this, there were only so many places they could go.

At last, they reached a dead end.

The kobolds slumped to the ground with expressions like they'd lost the world.

I watched their pitiful state for a moment, then shifted my gaze to the worn pickaxes they were carrying.

And naturally, to the massive rock wall behind them.

I could see faintly glimmering bits embedded all over the wall.

It looked like this was the kobolds' nest, and the location of the vein.

So all of this is edible?

Suddenly, this place started looking like a buffet made just for me.

“I'll strip it clean, not a single scrap left.”

First, I decided to test whether I could mine the minerals myself.

I walked up to the wall and tried using Weathering and the staff's ability separately.

When I activated the skill, the hard rock instantly turned to fine sand and poured down.

It felt several times easier than turning a jungle or a machine into sand.

“The problem is, the skill works too well on rock.”

The problem was that it was too powerful and indiscriminate.

Every time, the minerals embedded in the wall would usually turn to sand as well.

“I should try the staff.”

I tapped the staff against the wall a few times.

Then the location and type of the hidden vein beyond the rock face appeared in my head like a map.

I pinpointed the location with the staff and used Weathering to grind away the rock.

Crrrk.

The result was a success.

A few chunks of mineral that kept their shape fell out from the sand.

However, it consumed a lot of my concentration.

It felt like peeling a cherry tomato with a surgical scalpel.

I had been mining minerals by magic alone for about ten minutes.

There was still a long way to go on the wall.

Suddenly, I felt annoyance rising up in me.

“Now that I think about it, why am I doing the work myself?”

This wasn't it.

I had come here to eat minerals for free and in comfort, not to work while getting covered in dirt and dust.

I stopped everything I was doing.

Instead, I turned the surrounding ground into a sandy beach.

Dozens of sand clones rose up from it.

“You lot, mine together with those kobolds over there.”

I handed each of the summoned clones a pickaxe made of rock.

Then I could see their expressions visibly sour.

Not my problem.

I casually packed the sand into a chair and a bed, then flopped down.

My work here was done.

The sand clones reluctantly started swinging their pickaxes at my command.

The kobolds also started digging beside them, watching nervously.

“Hey, No. 13! Do it properly!”

My only job was to shout at the slackers now and then to straighten them out.

But even that got annoying later on.

They all looked the same, so it was hard to tell them apart, and my throat hurt from yelling so much.

I took out Chohogi, who had been quietly sleeping in my arms.

The one who had just woken up stared up at me with blank eyes.

“All right, from now on you're in charge of managing these guys.”

I said, setting Chohogi upright.

Then it shook its head as if dissatisfied.

It pointed at itself, then at the mass-produced sand clones swinging pickaxes in the distance.

Then it drew a big X with both hands.

“Why? Ah... you're saying you're on a different level from them?”

Chohogi nodded.

“Mm... that's fair enough.”

I decided to respect its pride.

Chohogi was on a different level from the other clones, who were just simple laborers.

It was, so to speak, management material with a college degree.

I couldn't treat such an elite the same way.

I decided to give it a role worthy of it.

“Now then, for your lacking self, I'll give you a hat.”

I mixed the nearby rock and dirt together appropriately and molded a hard hat that fit its head perfectly.

I even mixed in some minerals so it would have some color.

“Ah, I should make a whistle too.”

I carved a whistle out of stone as well.

Under the watch of the other clones, I presented Chohogi with the finished hard hat and whistle.

Chohogi's attitude, which had been full of complaints just moments ago, changed 180 degrees.

It straightened up, kept readjusting its new hat, and wore a satisfied expression.

Seeing that, I lay back comfortably in bed.

Ah, if only the tower had internet.

***

A little later, a mountain of minerals had piled up in front of me.

Chohogi stood there, arms crossed, looking smug.

“Why are you so proud when you didn't even touch a pickaxe...?”

I said that, but I still gave Chohogi a casual pat on the head.

I was pretty satisfied.

I grabbed a handful of unknown minerals and shoved them straight into my mouth.

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of snacks crunching echoed in my mouth.

Chohogi, who'd been watching, looked back and forth between me and the minerals with curious eyes.

As if trying to copy me, it carefully picked up a small mineral fragment from the floor and brought it to its mouth.

Nom.

“……!”

But the next moment Chohogi's body trembled, and it spat the unchewed stone back onto the floor.

It seemed its teeth still weren't strong enough to chew hard minerals yet.

Well, it didn't have a digestive tract or anything anyway, so it couldn't have swallowed it.

The poor thing rubbed at its mouth, as if its teeth hurt.

I casually picked up the pebble Chohogi had spat out and ate it.

It'd be a shame to throw it away.

After eating the whole mountain of minerals, I was so full my stomach felt ready to burst.

I sat cross-legged right there and closed my eyes.

It was time to digest.

As I fell into meditation, the changes happening inside my body became crystal clear.

Different minerals were mingling with my mana and being reborn.

I understood instinctively.

Mixing too many different minerals wasn't a good idea.

This was putting quite a burden on the core of my power, on its very essence.

Above all else, I had to keep the power of sand intact.

To keep my body's purity from dropping below a certain level, I was still limited to three or four minerals as my mainstays.

“So it wasn't a skill with only upsides.”

I stopped meditating and opened my eyes.

I needed to narrow my focus.

Which mineral would be the most efficient?

There were still limits to deciding on my own.

***

After returning home, I logged into the Mage Gallery again to ask for advice.

I'd already given a rough explanation yesterday.

The mages began explaining the unique skill trees they'd each researched.

ㄴpKkatsu : You have to start with aluminum, I say. You need to make a hat out of aluminum and wear it to be safe from electromagnetic brainwashing attacks, I say.

As always, there was one worthless comment, but soon a serious one came in.

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : Diamond is good. If you make it into a sword or drill, it should deal good physical damage. If you're going to fire it as a bullet, tungsten would probably be better.

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : And let's also buy some Sunstone from the tower's volcanic zone and eat it. It has explosive properties, you know? Seems like it'd be good against the heavily armored ones.

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : As for the rest... uranium?

ㄴAnon(111.1J1) : Where the heck are you even supposed to get uranium?

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : Maybe a trip to North Korea? We'll have to go someday anyway.

ㄴpKkatsu : ???

ㄴFridge : I think you're the only one who thinks we have to go.

An all-offense setup.

Soon, a rebuttal comment appeared.

ㄴpKkatsu : For a mage, defense is more important than offense, I say!

ㄴpKkatsu : If it were me, I'd absolutely eat only mithril. Mithril gear is essential for defending against magic, I say.

ㄴpKkatsu : It's always best to have some kind of anti-magic countermeasure. Take that to heart, I say.

pKkatsu was suddenly making a surprisingly sensible point.

The metal called mithril was definitely impressive.

Because I hadn't even thought there'd be minerals specifically for magic defense.

Then Dung Beetle, who'd only been lurking, suddenly jumped in.

ㄴDung Beetle : I came up with a plan too.

ㄴDung Beetle : I've drawn up a roadmap, so everyone give it a read.

He even posted a new thread with an attached file.

[Project Stone. ver1.2_revised_final_final_final_final. hwpx]

[1. Project Overview and Purpose]

[2. Subject of Analysis]

[3. Core Methodology]

[4. Step-by-Step Implementation Plan]

[5. Risk Analysis and Response Measures]

[6. Expected Final Results]

ㄴpKkatsu : ??????

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : Why are you taking this so seriously, lol.

“No, what is this?”

A document over 40 pages long, no less.

I read through the document bit by bit, then quickly stopped.

“This doesn't make any sense.”

Dung Beetle's plan was packed mainly with materials from floors 40 and above, and it also called for more than twenty minerals to consume.

Naturally, it was a bogus combination recipe I couldn't use right now.

I wondered if I'd be able to follow this plan once I grew stronger, but soon our top brain, Fridge, gave the document a death sentence.

ㄴFridge : I just read it, and most of it isn't even minerals to begin with.

ㄴFridge : Besides, this combination is way too inefficient. You didn't think about synergy at all and just shoved in all the good stuff.

ㄴFridge : It's a pity you made the effort, but this is scrapped.

ㄴFridge : No matter how I look at it, my combination still seems to be the best.

ㄴFridge : Just follow exactly what I tell you.

ㄴpKkatsu : (dumbfounded emoticon)

ㄴDung Beetle : No, but this is the strongest combo I thought up after staying up all night...

ㄴMagicIsFirepower : But honestly, isn't my idea pretty decent too? What do you think, newbie?

“Oh, no.”

Before I knew it, the comment section had become a battle of pride among the mages.