“Here we are!” The trail ended at a big clearing. The surrounding undergrowth that gave the forest an almost jungle like feel was also cut down. The giant trees were left unharmed.

“It doesn’t look much different to your city camp. I was expecting something different.”

“You did? Why should it be different? Makes no sense. It’s a place to sleep and eat, nothing more. Or were you referring to the mining?”

“I guess. Isn’t mining dirty, with rubble, chips and rubbish? Well, I like it better this way.” I grinned now.

“Haha, I will work you soon enough.”

We rode to the center with no other soul in sight. Christa wasn’t even waiting for Less to sit and jumped down. I used the save way.

“CB, unfasten the saddles and the harnesses from Jess and Less and store it over there at the empty stables. I have to check something first.”

“Ok.”

While Christa was away I tried to take care of our mounts.

“Be a good girl Jess. And no head munching!”

“Coo?” The monster bird was feigning ignorance.

She was behaving all right. Less was even easier to unbuckle. That went better than expected. The saddles were sturdy and heavy. I could only carry one after another to the barn.

“A snack for the ladies.”

Christa was back with rabbits in one hand and a big bucket full of water in the other. Each Minker bird got tossed one “snack”. They snatched it out of the air and downed it in one gulp. The bucket was placed in front of them and wouldn’t last long.

“Let’s go and grab something to eat. I will explain the details and plan for today.”

“What’s with Jess and Less? Shouldn’t we tie them to the barn or something?”

“No need. They won’t run off and shouldn’t be hungry either. In case they are, both can easily hunt on their own in this area. In contrast to a horse a Minker bird can mostly take care of itself, even with a few predators around.”

We went inside one of the tents. Christa had fired up a stove, on it a pot filled with some kind of stew. She was filling two bowels and put bread on the table.

“Eat up boy. You look like you’ll need some extra.”

We dug in and Christa told me what would happen next. I couldn’t identify the ingredients. Some vegetables tasted like carrots or eggplant. The meat was a bit chewy but very tasty. I guess it was another you-really-don’t-want-to-know soup.

“The crew work shaft C this week. It’s almost 6 pm now and they should be finished for today within the next minutes. We still have more than three hours of sunlight and will head over to the mine. It’s more than enough for us to show you around and let you hit rocks for some time. Haha.” Christa kept eating.

I felt a bit strange all of a sudden. My stomach was rumbling.

“What’s wrong? You are fidgeting like a five year old!”

“I’m not sure. Maybe it is something with the food.”

“I think it is more like your bowels yell for attention. Boy, I feel somehow like your mother. The outhouse is next to the stable.”

Oh, now I remembered. Once a day the call of nature was inevitable. I started to run. The latrine did not smell too bad and wasn’t too shabby. But I still had the urge to look for monster spiders. I dropped my pants.

“Thank god, everything is like I remember.” I was no Ken and some testing showed the usual reactions.

The business itself was quite unspectacular. I thought that chickens must feel about the same when laying eggs, plop and go. It was a matter of seconds.

“I can live with that one. Now men poop roses too.” Well I couldn’t wash hands. Maybe the game developers left out germs.

Relieved I went back to Christa. I just hoped that there was no feedback to my real body. I did no want to wake in a stinky mess with shat pants.

“Are you ready to go? Or do you want a refill?”

“Nope, I’m fine. Do we need tools or something?”

“I have all the things we’ll need in my pouch. Grab yourself a water bag if you have none already.”

We took a track in the northern part of the clearing, which took us slow but steady uphill. Christa walked quite fast and we didn’t talk. She slowed down a bit to ask me something.

“CB, can you fight? I mean, do you have some skill or know your combat? You look weak, but maybe I’m assuming wrong.”

“I learned some weaponless hand to hand combat style when I was young. Some moves should still be possible but I have a feeling that is mostly useless. Just your tossing of that big monster was something else. You’d probably beat me with your pinky even without your impressive gear.”

“Haha. It’s good that you know what you lack. Kick me! Kick me with all you’ve got!” She stopped and turned around.

“Yeah right. You’ll hit me back and beat me to a pulp.” I walked past her.

“Wait. I just want to get a feel for your strength. That’s not an intricate way to torture you.”

“I really don’t like to hit a woman.”

“Maybe you suckled on your mommies tits for too long?!”

“How childish.” I rolled my eyes and took a stance.

I started with a low kick to her right thigh. My health bar was indicating minor damage on my side. Hitting a log couldn’t be worse. Christa didn’t flinch and moved not even a millimeter.

The next low kick aimed at her right lower leg with a follow up on the left side. It had the same result, only with less damage to myself.

I didn’t want to go for the vitals and decided to move in, throw a left hook to her liver and tried to bring in my right elbow. Her left eye twitched and she stopped me with her hand, right before I could hit her nose.

“It looks like an interesting fighting style. But it is completely useless against monsters and only efficient against some low level adventurers or in bar fights without weapons. Your speed and strength are not sufficient to survive alone.”

“That’s only one reason why I travel the world. I just want to be a blacksmith in the end.”

“Oh, like the midget. That’s not the worst trade out there. To learn mining makes sense. Nevertheless you cannot mine alone right now. Someone from my crew will have to supervise you.”

We started walking again. I could now see the opening of a tunnel or cave.

“That’s mine shaft A. We will walk to C.”

We passed the next shaft after a couple of minutes.

“You should learn combat from a buddy of mine. He is proficient in even the most exotic weapons and will figure out, what suits you and your, lets say, personality best.” I wasn’t sure if she had a good or a bad impression of me.

***

“That’s it.” We arrived at another cave. Four men and one woman were standing in front of it and were chatting.

“Hey guys! Hit your quota? Haha.”

“Evening Boss.”

“Hey Boss.”

“What’s up Boss?”

“Hi Christa.”

“Oh no!”

Christa seemed well liked.

“Folks, meet our newest member, CB. CB, the crew.”

Ding

You received a new nickname.

It could have been worse.

I shook hands with everyone but had problems to remember each name. Who was who? That was one of my worst traits. I couldn’t even remember most of my schoolmates’ names anymore. It should be better tomorrow, I hoped.

“Today and tomorrow I’ll show CB the ropes and Sinan, you will take over afterwards.”

“I saw that one coming.”

“That’s why you are my right hand man at the site. Haha. We’ll head now into the mine and will see you later.”

***

We entered the mine.

Ding

You entered a dungeon.

Name: Mine Shaft C

Threat Level: Low to Medium

This mine counted as a dungeon? That’s why I would need a supervisor. I wasn’t sure if I could handle a spawning monster in this area. My new boss seemed sure that I could not.

Christa raised her left hand. A light ball rose from her hand and was following us.

“That’s neat. Do you know a lot magic?”

“Some minor hocus-pocus, but nothing fancy or combat related. Light is one of the most basic spells and essential for every miner or adventurer. Just try it out on our way. But don’t start chanting “Light” out loud. That sucks and would break my nerves.”

I tried it the same like I did with the menus. So far only some sparks were visible for a split seconds.

“Are you an adventurer, Christa?”

“I used to be one. Midget, Erestran, the instructor, and me were part of a bigger party. We settled down in Kalesh about 15 years ago. Fun times, fun times.”

She looked sad for a second, so I did not poke further.

The tunnels were now almost labyrinth like. I wasn’t sure if I would find my way back alone. We were going left, right, right, left. Or was it left, right, left, left?

“Take that.” Christa had a pick in her hand and gave it to me. A set of leather gloves changed the owner as well.

“You can use the pick for your work or as weapon. Do you have a weapon with you?

“No… I lost my Dagger in a fight.” Now I really felt like an idiot.

“CB, you are piece of work!” She was grinning again.

“Anyway, you can swing the pick at rocks or opponents. So point the sharp end away from me.” Was that a joke now? I wasn’t sure.

“With every new tunnel we try to follow a vein through this mountains. It’s mostly iron ore, sometimes silver and if you are really lucky enclaves with mithril are found. That’s why it was called the Silver Mountains first. Now that mithril isn’t found in abundance for more than 500 years, it is still called that. The reason today is the different monsters with a silver fur.”

“So the monsters weren’t silver in the past?”

“They were. But the glimmer of greed isn’t mithril anymore but the juicy ass of a Silverboar. Haha.”

We walked to the end of the tunnel and stopped in front of a wall.

“An untrained eye cannot really see the difference between rubble and ore. Even silver isn’t often shiny in this form. You’ll get the hang of it over time. The first step is to swing the pick and break bits and pieces out of the wall. Sinan or I will determine the direction of the digging. We collect the ore in special bags. The magic reduces the weight by factor 10 and the space is enough for a lot of ore. That’s why we don’t have to use carts out here. I will hand you your own bag tomorrow.”

During her explanation I studied the items I received.

Leather Gloves

Class: Common

Material: Leather

Defense: 3

Sturdy working gloves with some defense added.

Pick

Class: Common

Material: Iron

Attack: 3- 10

A pick often used by Novice Miners and hobby geologists.

I was raising the pick.

“Ready? Hack away!”