This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/MrIzuarel on 2024-10-17 12:17:07+00:00.
Chapter 74
There were upsides and downsides to the whole digging situation.
I had used my money to buy as many ores from the merchant as I could. I hoped to skip a few levels that way. Thankfully, job skills always centered around either job level or fighting level, whatever was the lowest of both. So initially, I only needed copper ores to improve. I had managed to reach level 6 before my money ran out.
The next point was the skill itself. In order to get a lot of rocks fast, I asked my explorers to use the skill once after every fight. Most of them accepted it and followed the instructions to the letter.
This meant I obtained hundreds of rocks in mere minutes thanks to them, but it wasn’t all great.
The problem with this wasn’t the rocks clogging up my inventory, but what came out of it.
Unlike in the game, I didn’t need to physically click on each rock to break it open, but simply think of doing it, and it happened hundreds of times in less than a heartbeat.
Obtaining ores was great, and it was even better if there was a gem inside, but the problem was the garbage I obtained in the process. Because I had level 6, this meant that every rock had a 6% chance of giving me ores or gems. The problem with that was the 94% that didn’t give me anything.
Every failure gave me gravel, and unlike in the game, if I threw them out, they didn’t get deleted by the system. Instead, they accumulated on the ground around me. At the same time, these trash items were worthless, 0 copper worth, and the merchant didn’t want to buy them. The possibility of getting rid of them that way was also not available.
In the beginning, I found it funny. I could create gravel wherever I went, but as I realized I had to do this for thousands, if not millions of rocks, it became a problem.
This could and would end in a serious problem. I had to find a way to safely dispose of them without being found out. At least, as long as I traveled through the areas infested with humans. It was only after two days that I remembered I could get rid of everything inside one of the dungeon runs.
Disposing of trash after finishing a dungeon was easy enough and would help me free some space without causing me problems.
Speaking of humans, my calculations based on my current situation were that I would need about a month and a half to reach my next destination. I just hoped I would not need to go through the same process as before. The last thing I needed was to cause more uproar and issues with another country.
I had already robbed the tombs of the royal family in the last country. They certainly disliked me for doing it and would not accept me doing it a second time. Of course, they could hide it to prevent national embarrassment, but spies exist everywhere. They always find out information after such commotion after all.
But there were problems along the way. Like before, my claw resources were dwindling fast, and I barely had enough time to undo the damage done by the constant level ups. If I used the wisdom skill, I could undo that damage to a certain extent, but I would get stuck at my current level. And because I was underneath level 30 at that moment, it meant no flying. That also meant that my travel plans would take longer.
It was a management nightmare that, in all seriousness, I wished I had at level 10 when I fled my tormentors.
I decided to bite the bullet and take the hike instead of the airplane. This allowed me to see and enjoy the scenery.
So much scenery.
So, so much scenery.
I endured a lot of scenery during which I had a few ideas on how to proceed.
First, my girls were complaining in their own way about having lost access to the tier 3 and tier 4 dungeons. I had a hard time convincing them that, unfortunately, I would not be able to compromise in my plans in favor of leveling up to a higher tier and staying there.
At the same time I was forced to pinpoint how we needed to fall back to level 20 every time we had the opportunity to do so, even if it meant I would have to give up on flying around and they too.
Next was the smelting of ores. We needed someone in the management dedicated to doing such a task. But no one was interested in it. Staying for hours in front of a smelter, rubbing your hands and not being able to leave was not very enjoyable, and I could not fault them for doing that. I put up a rotational system so everyone in the managing group would have to do it for about two hours every day.
It was not perfect, but it had to do. I also put myself in that rotation, just to show them I was also participating in the work.
Next was the second naga. While I was ready to help out, Miss First Naga came forth and proposed to be the instructor. Surprisingly, the second Naga accepted, but in the end, she didn’t like staying as a naga, so I re-opened that position. The third try was a success.
I understood that not everyone was pleased with that choice, and I had to be more careful with imposing such roles onto them. But at least these two seemed to enjoy themselves as they started a dancing team on the spot.
The next problem was how to acquire the next two divine crystals, or more precisely, the whole situation around my relationship with the humans of this world.
I will not lie and claim I didn’t miss talking with other people. My girls were fine, but talks were mostly one-sided. But I wasn’t a fool. I had seen how people were treated in this world. I wished it was just in that city where I had been held captive, but it wasn’t. Everywhere I went, I saw unnecessary abuse, conflicts, and discrimination. These people were deeply tainted and could not be helped unless they wanted to help themselves.
Clean your room before you clean the world. Before you change the world, start with the man in the mirror.
I had been forced to change when I came here. I had never had the responsibility of other people’s lives in my hand. I had never had the experience of fighting for my life before. I had never had the role of leading other people and creating a plan for future endeavors. All that was forced onto me, and I managed to pull it off. But I had to change myself to do it. I had to become active and no longer be passive towards the others.
I wondered just how bad the situation here had to be before the people would rise up and change it themselves.
Well, it was not my problem, but I was not ready to endure such behavior outside of the walls. And I had to make sure everybody knew that. So, a simple but effective plan started to form inside my head.