Chapter 35: Final Stretch for Resources

A/N: This chapter is a little longer so I can start the entire contract process in the next chapter.

***

The night went by without any major issues.

Until the next difficulty increase, my current army of Minions would be enough to look over us every night. This allowed me to get plenty of sleep to recover from the hard manual labour of the days. The previous night, Chloe had collected 6 {Ultra-hardened Stone} worth of rocks and a plethora of other gems and ores. Granted, it wasn't an incredibly large amount but she was likely multitasking with all of the mummies.

Most of the time, I would just sell the items that she gave me. I didn't really have anything I wanted to craft with them anyways and I wanted to stock up on tokens in case something really good appeared in the shop.

Now that the next day had come, Chloe was off with the mummies to try to find their home and I was left once again to make my way to the gloriously laborious mountainside where I would spend the majority of my day.

It was relatively early in the morning but Chloe and the mummies had already left, so I decided to make my way as well.

It was the same walk as always, walking on the same path, passing the same trees and trekking through the same vegetation which had slowly become worn down from the walking. After a few minutes, I made it to the mountainside once again and prepared to chip away at the fragile yet indestructible rock.

I took out my pickaxe and raised it up to my chest.

New day new me.

Full of energy, I swung the pickaxe into the stone, smashing it and crumbling the weak, pitiful mountainside. Rock fragments flew everywhere and I collected the fallen resources.

{+2 rocks}

{+1 rocks}

Ah, the beautiful sight filled my eyes as I saw the number of rocks in my inventory increase. I chipped away at the rock wall like I was some sort of maniac. To any outsider, I was just aimlessly smashing away at a wall of stone for hours on end. I was now religiously mining rocks like it was in my faith—like the god of the world was someone with a rock-breaking fetish and I was trying to please them with every inch of my body.

I cut away at the rock like I was kicking over the sandcastles built by every single child on earth. It was as satisfying as popping bubble wrap, as satisfying as cutting a loaf of bread perfectly. The numbers filled my eyes as I continued to rotate my body, smashing my pickaxe into the grey wall of sediment.

{+1 rocks}

{+3 rocks}

{+4 rocks}

{+1 rocks}

For almost two hours straight, I swung my arms non-stop, it was at the point that I felt like I was trying to pull them through mud. It was like I was trying to raise a barbell every time I moved my body. Even the light pickaxe felt like a full bag of rice. I really needed a break now, after one more swing, I dropped my pickaxe to the ground and took a seat on a nearby rock.

I took in a big breath, then exhaled, then took in a deep breath, then exhaled, I was pulling oxygen into my body like a vacuum sucking a pile of beans up from the ground. I had overexerted myself, I shouldn't go on for so long without a break.

Finally, after a few minutes, my body managed to recover from the intense strain and I was ready to pick myself up and gather more rocks again. I summoned my enchanted {Silver Pickaxe} into my hands and braced myself for impact. The tip of the pickaxe cut into the rock wall, swiping fragments and dust onto the ground.

{+2 rocks}

{+1 rocks}

{+2 rocks}

{+1 rocks}

I had gathered quite a large amount of rocks—well obviously I did. I had spent hours on end, looking into a rockface like it was a mirror and I chipped away at it with all of my strength.

An hour later, I took another break and looked down at the path I had walked to get here. Even just after three days, there was a significant imprint on the ground, you could easily tell exactly which way I walked just by looking at the slightly distorted vegetation and print in the dirt.

Once again, I lifted myself up and raised my pickaxe.

Maybe I was a psychopath.

Twisting my body, I swung the pickaxe into the wall. For several more hours, I continued this cycle of mining and resting and mining and resting until the sun had all but set for the day again. The sky went from bright blue to a darker purple-y crimson. The clouds had begun to fill the sky and the moon was soon to show its face.

After a few more swings, me and my arms had decided that we'd had enough. I gathered more rocks than the previous day and after converting the last of my rocks into {Ultra-hardened Stone} I took a deep breath and prepared to make my way back to the settlement.

In total, I had gathered ten {Ultra-hardened Stone}, as I made my way back, I shook my arms a little bit since they were slightly numb from all that harsh exercise I did. If I wanted to push myself up the ranks, this was what I needed to do.

After a short hike back to the settlement, I saw Chloe sitting by herself beside the fire. She looked up at me as I made my way out of the forest and smiled.

"Hey, you're back~"

"Yeah, did you manage to deliver them home?" I asked

"Yes, their chief gave me this."

She pulled out a little pile of bandages and showed it to me.

"Apparently it's an item that speeds up healing on the area it's applied to. It also provides protection in general when you wrap it around an area."

"That'll be useful for the future."

An item that speeds up healing and also provides protection would be quite useful. It was light and soft, it could provide protection without being a liability. I touched it a little bit before pulling up my sleeve and wrapping it around my arm.

I began preparing dinner for the day.

My Minion Manager made its way over to me.

[I've got the end-of-day report]

Total resources gathered:

- {x1994} wood

- {x20} leaves

- {x41} meat

- {x654} rocks

- {x23} Ultra-Hardened Stone

- {x9} iron

- {x3} gold

Other:

- {x47} Scout Minions Crafted

My Minions had managed to gather 23 more {Ultra-hardened Stone}, alongside Chloe's extra 8 {Ultra-hardened Stone} that she had gathered, my total was now up to 72. I only needed 28 more before I had enough to craft my demonic sword.

I finished my dinner and rested my body for some action the next day.

***

As I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside, I slowly picked myself up from my bed.

My body was still a little sore from all the physical activity but it was nothing debilitating.

At the moment, I would get enough resources from my Minions and Chloe so that I didn't need to go out and gather any rocks myself.

However, half of the recipe was the contract with the devil itself.

I looked at the recipe again.

<Crafting> {Demonic Weapons}

...

[Mayuri-Luc-Ei] (Sword)

{1x} Mayuri Contract

{100x} Ultra-hardened Stone

So I needed to get a contract with the devil Mayuri in order to craft the weapon. I had a look at the menu which had a separate section called 'Contracts'.

Attempt a contract with Mayuri

(Begin)

A/N

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