Chapter 6: Chapter 5: Mining
[Enter through the hatch to enter your base]
"That's it." Vincent stood there for a few moments just staring at the hatch before opening it, revealing a row of ladders leading down to a wooden floor.
"This better be all that they said it to be." Vincent mumbled as he descended the ladder, he looked at what he will be calling home for a long time.
The whole house was made with wood with wooden boards keeping the sand up. They was really nothing in the house but the walls, floors and door but what surprised him most of was the things lying on the ground.
"What the hell is this?" Vincent wondered as he bent down, picking up a stone pickaxe while staring at the stone axe and shovel. Not only that but they were some clothes on the floor.
"Wait, aren't those the clothes I was wearing before this whole ordeal." Said Vincent as he grabbed a blue hoodie.
Vincent felt relived as he hadn't been wearing a shirt the whole time. He really regretted removing his shirt to go for that swim but now he finally had something to cover his bare chest.
With a single glance he had seen the whole house as the house was just 6 meters by 7 meters, surprisingly he could see the room clearly, even though there was no light in the house. He walked through the door finding that there was a path to a wall.
"I wonder if I can mine the wall." Vincent thought but decided to test out his theory later. For now all, he needed to do was to get some resources and to do that, he had to explore the forest but it seemed the chests wouldn't appear until later...along with the monsters.
"Hm, maybe I'm supposed to gather resources before the monsters came along. I mean what are these tools for then." Vincent commented, walking back into his home.
"Alright then, time to go felling." Vincent grabbed the axe, lifting it up to test its weight. After he held it in one hand as he began to climb the ladder. He struggled to climb the ladder with one hand but after a couple of seconds he was out.
Taking in a deep breath, he began to walk towards the forest. It didn't take long to reach the trees as he strategically placed his base not too far from the forest.
However as he approached the tree, with his arms prepared to cut it another screen appeared in front of him.
[Do you wish to dismantle the tree to obtain 7 pieces of wood? [Y/N]
"Huh, what the-. Wait, the voice did mention something about other uses, never expected them to be so convenient." Vincent said.
[Y]
Suddenly, the tree began to be enveloped in light and after a shone it a little bit as the light faded away.
[Notification: Ordinary wood +7]
Another screen popped up in front of him and as he looked, there wasn't a trace of the tree left as if it just disappeared.
"Really convenient." Vincent was left stunned at its effectiveness but as the old saying goes time is of the essence.
[5 minutes later]
"Okay then, this should be my sixth tree." Vincent mumbled wiping the non-existent sweat of his head as he walked toward another tree.
[Error! Durability is too low to dismantle the tree]
The screen popped up but this it made Vincent stopping his tracks.
"Durability! Of course it has to use something to cut down the tree. It really is like a game" Vincent commented as he hang the axe over his shoulder intending to head back to his home.
During his axe chopping time, Vincent also figured out that the plate which was still with him had what he only say to be a tracking device. It would project an arrow and the arrow could point to the base. He guessed it was to make sure people didn't get lost.
Using his locator was a big help even though he didn't really need it but still getting lost in the forest is also a death wish with there still being three hours still monsters show up.
"What now?" Vincent wondered as he entered his base but he looked back she was surprised to find pieces of wood neatly arranged by a wall of the house
"Oh, I thought I had some kind of inventory but that's also fine. At least I won't have to carry the wood back here." Vincent muttered as he sat on the ground.
"I should probably go and mine materials…I never thought I would say this." Vincent laughed as he grabbed his pickaxe before exiting the house.
He walked up to the stone wall, taking in a breath as he expected a familiar screen prompt to occur but it didn't.
"Then looks like I have to do it the hard way." He sighed.
Mining, as for most of the population wasn't practiced by people with other jobs and Vincent was one of them. What use was of mining in the modern world but still he did learn sword arts when a gun would be necessary.
But still, the voice said they would make the gathering easy so how hard could it be.
"I'll give it a try"
Vincent held the pickaxe and used it to hit the wall as hard he could, causing a crack in the wall. It was easier to dig than expected and under Vincent's labor, mining became as easy as digging sand.
[Notification: +3 Stone]
Each hit would cause a crack in the wall and after an exact number of hits, the wall would collapse and vanished but in the end he would only get three stone from each wall which didn't match the amount that appeared.
Vincent continued to brandish his pickaxe, his speed constantly increasing per hit.
[Notification: +3 Stone]
[Notification: +3 Stone]
[Notification: +3 Stone]
[Notification: +3 Stone]
After what seemed to be the seventh wall he had broken, Vincent found out something weird about the walls, they seemed to get weaker as he went and even the one in front of him, when he knocked on it made a noise as if they was nothing on the other side.
"Well now, moment of truth." Said Vincent as he knocked down the final wall, revealing that there were no more walls blocking the road.
It was pitch-black, and he couldn't see the area in front of him.
"So it's a tunnel." Vincent said as he looked through the tunnel.
[Ding! You are the first to enter a catacomb. Here are some rules for mining]
[1. The mine in this world are connected by various subterranean caves]
[2. Once you have reached the end of a subterranean cave, you will have choose a direction to dig further. Be careful, once chosen you cannot come back to the origin and dig in another cave]
[3. Areas might have survival resources, or there might be dangerous monsters. Note: Unlike the surface monsters are lurking in the caves and killing the monsters will bring you a pleasant surprise]
Vincent observed the passageway, wondering whether to enter or turn back. Ultimately he decided to observe the cave, even if there was any danger he would just turn back.
"Well then, time to go exploring just know if I fall victim to some monsters I blame you."
Vincent bent his body and took a step forward. Suddenly the dark cave began to illuminate starting to look like how his house seemed.
He began to scan his surroundings, finding that the catacomb was bigger than he had expected. More ever, the ground seemed to be covered in some mushrooms laced all-round the cave.
Walking over to a corner, Vincent bent down plucking one of the mushrooms.
[Glowing Mushroom]: Cannot be used. Illuminates light when in darkness]
"Hmm, so it's basically a torch with actually needing to have fire. Convenient."
[Notification: +10 Glowing Mushrooms]
[Notification: +1 Glowing Mushroom Fungi]
The fungi was just lying in the ground and Vincent presumed it was the cause of the mushrooms sprouting.
After gathering most of the mushrooms on the ground, he continued through the path.
"What the hell is that?" Vincent questioned as he stopped in his tracks. He looked at the black type rock embedded into a random wall with curiosity.
"Wait a minute is this coal?" Vincent wondered as he approached it, examining every detail before touching it to feel its texture. It was rough with a lot edges.
Vincent grabbed his pickaxe, lifting it up before striking the rock with it. Each hit caused a crack in only the stone the rock was embedded in, leaving the rest of the wall not cracked unlike the rest.
Soon, the stone began to break under Vincent's strength and speed. Finally after another hard strike the whole rock crumbled into pieces dissipating into thin are
[Notification: +3 Stone]
[Notification: +1 Coal]
"So it was coal but what am I going to do with it, use it as fuel." Vincent pondered but that that for later as more things were important at the moment.
He continued down the cave, finding more coal and mushrooms along the way. However eventually he came to a dead end with there being three paths he could take right, left or forward.
"They said each path could either kill me or help me. Ugh and here I was thinking I could live without using my skill." Vincent sighed.
"Alright then, activate skill…"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone