studiobondurri Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Made a pickaxe.
It was enough if I could just swing it down roughly.
I mined a mana stone.
Clang—!
As I was doing this, I sensed something was different.
【99】
The mana stone rock had durability.
Clang!
【98】
Clang!
【97】
“Damn!”
To mine one mana stone, I had to swing the pickaxe a hundred times.
This was no ordinary labor.
‘This is insane.’
Now I understood why the pirate crew had slaves.
‘I didn’t experience this on Island 1.’
The trees had no durability system.
Whether it was the golden dagger or the edge of my hand, I could just chop through them with ease.
But on Island 2, it was different.
Clang!
【96】
My mind was starting to go numb.
‘When did I let this reach 0?’
It wasn’t about time; it was about my stamina.
【0】
“Gasp, gasp!”
This was harder than I thought.
My arms were so numb, I couldn’t do this twice.
[Low-grade Mana Stone][F]
I checked the information on the mana stone I barely mined.
It was a low-grade quality stone.
The hundred swings of the pickaxe felt meaningless.
‘I wish it had some potential, like the other races...’
Even dust would have been fine.
If my stats or skills leveled up from mining, I might have felt some joy.
But as an Earthling, I didn’t even get that pleasure.
“....”
That’s what I had thought.
[The Soul System has successfully detected potential within the player’s soul.]
[You can acquire ‘Mining (F)’.]
There was nothing else to do except mine mana stones.
At least this.
With that mindset, I immersed myself in mining for dozens of minutes.
I gained the skill.
“Suddenly a skill?”
Acquiring a skill wasn’t strange.
Other races often unlocked their potential like this.
‘But I’m an Earthling, right?’
I was far from potential.
So I couldn’t believe it.
“Ah.”
After checking the skill information, I understood the situation.
‘Basic skills are something Earthlings can learn too.’
Mining was the skill of a miner.
By mining mana stones, I had stepped into the path of a miner.
[Mining][Lv.1][F]
It even had a level attached.
This meant there was potential for growth.
‘Suddenly, I’m interested.’
I swung the pickaxe.
Clang—!
The durability dropped by 1.
Clang—!
Sometimes, it even dropped by 2.
‘So this is what efficiency means.’
The corners of my mouth twitched.
I had only gained one growth skill, but mining suddenly became so much fun.
Clang! Clang—!
Except for sleep time and hunting the holy knight at the temple, I invested all my time in mining.
I mined mana stones, eagerly anticipating my skill level rising.
Level 2.
Efficiency increased by 1%.
Whoosh.
Boom—!
The two skills activated consecutively, not giving the holy knight a chance to defend.
[You have defeated an unnamed holy knight.]
The holy knight fell, and I checked for any dropped items.
“Nothing.”
I wasn’t expecting much.
I hadn’t gotten anything except the first day.
“Now, we go back to mining mana stones.”
“...You’ve been repeating this for four days?”
“Yeah. I’ve mined quite a few mana stones. 400.”
I didn’t know how much a stone the size of a fist could power a ship.
But I thought it wasn’t a huge number.
‘I’ve only mined for four days. Don’t think I’ll use all of these for life.’
I led them to the mining area.
Then I handed the pickaxe over.
The pickaxe I gave to Yuki, after a slight mark of her hand, was passed to Hikari.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“This is something the youngest should do.”
I was used to giving tasks to juniors.
I didn’t feel guilty about it.
Yuki was the same.
The Special Combat Division of the Public Security?
It seemed like a military-like organization for psychics.
‘It’s probably a strict hierarchy.’
Her expertise in handling tasks seemed natural, like she’d done it many times.
“....”
Hikari started swinging the pickaxe with a grimace.
Clang—!
Automatic mining, not automatic hunting.
‘...I get it now.’
Now I understand why the pirates went around collecting slaves.
Yuki and I started building a ship.
We planned to reinforce the ice elemental raft and increase its size.
“It seems like ice alone has its limits.”
“Yeah, we need to use wood too.”
I thought back to the pirate ships.
‘The basic material was wood.’
I hadn’t seen any modern ships made of steel.
Maybe they would appear later on, but wood was the best choice for now.
“I’ll shape it first.”
When I created ice using Frozen Prison, Yuki used it to start building the ship.
Since we also had to chop down nearby trees, it wasn’t exactly an easy task.
“Manager, this is too hard.”
We couldn’t work endlessly.
When the sun set, we had to take a break.
Hikari complained about the afternoon work.
Yuki ignored it.
We repeated the near-laborious lifestyle.
A week passed.
“...”
The ships had gathered on the shore.
The white skull flag fluttered.
‘I think I’ve seen this symbol before.’
My memory was hazy.
A flash of light.
Hikari returned from the ship.
She had no physical strength, but her activity level was unmatched.
“They came to kill the ones who messed with the White Bone Pirate Crew?”
“White Bone Pirate Crew? What’s that?”
Yuki questioned.
“Oh.”
It hit me.
“I asked them to deliver the ship a week ago.”
The two psychics tilted their heads, as if they didn’t understand.
There was no need to explain in words.
It was better to show them by action.
I pulled the ship out from my inventory.
It was time for the departure ceremony.