Rock On, Iron Man!

Deep-seated eyes of red; scales, black as night. A typhoon of destruction approaches, engulfing all who oppose its wake. Calamitous, ruinous, catastrophic! The world trembles as oceans turn; mountains erupt. A winter of cinder. Rain stings as it touches the skin. It's dry; it's miserable. Water, what's left, it's toxic. Sickness is rising. Those once known. . . forgotten. . . buried. . . lost to the tide. . . . Despair!

Velk awoke suddenly in a cold sweat and began to panic as soon as he realized he didn't recognize where he was. That panic quickly faded, though once he felt the familiar touch of soft, silky fur close to his stomach and remembered that he was currently staying in the Mistyweather Mountains. Since the entire tent was dark, he couldn't see much past the cot he had been sleeping on.

Gently finding and running his hands through Ash's fur, Velk reminisced about the nightmare he had before waking. He couldn't remember most of it, but he knew that it was one he's had before, multiple times in fact. There were a couple of such dreams, but those have long since moved on as time progressed. The memories of his village and grandfather no longer haunted him, but ever since then, he's had this exact same dream, once every so often. Never challenged; never changing.

Velk tenderly shuffled out of bed, avoiding to bother Ash, as he moved to gear up. He thought that it wouldn't be all that bad to let Ash sleep in for a while. At least until breakfast was ready and served. But first, he needed to catch some.

Before all that, though, Velk first retrieved the old black belt that held some valuable items inside of it. Although his grandfather told him not to take it out for extended periods, Velk would often hold onto the star-shaped sapphire gem, as for whatever reason, it brought him a sense of peace and comfort in his otherwise trying times.

Strangely enough, Velk always thought that the gem resembled that of the depictions of the Saphire Star. The Sapphire Star was an important symbol to those living in the New World, as it was one of guidance and reassurance. After all, it was the Sapphire Star that guided them to the New World.

Taking out the sapphire gem, Velk held it close to his chest before beginning to get dressed. His leather armor wasn't hard to don alone, so he had no problems doing so in quick timing. He attached the sword to his right hip and wore the shield around his right arm. Despite being predominantly right-handed—according to the book on weapon styles—it was emphasized that those using the sword and shield should hold the weapon in their left hand, enabling them to use battlefield equipment more readily in the heat of the moment.

Since he wasn't practiced in the sword and shield, Velk could not tell if this was a good style of weapon handling, so he decided to trust the manuals and do as it recommended. After reading his blade, he slowly opened the entrance to the tent and stepped outside into the early morning mist. The mist wasn't concerning to Velk as he had read that the cloud would recede back up the mountain as morning turned to afternoon.

Now outside, Velk had some work ahead of him before he and Ash could start working on their mission. The most important of tasks was securing food, and since the duo had spent the majority of yesterday afternoon scavenging for materials, he had a sizeable collection of goods to choose from. Unfortunately, the only meats available were the rations, but Velk knew it would be best to save the last two bags in case something went awry.

Deciding that he would try his hand at catching a fish to make a soup for breakfast, Velk headed down towards the nearby river that passed came from the mountain top and passed all the way through Rak-Al-Faar. He knew fish existed in the river, but he had no idea if they even swam as far upstream as he currently was. Still, it didn't hurt to find out.

Arriving at the waterway, Velk placed down his shield before taking off his shoes and pants and heading in. Because they didn't own any fishing rods, he was going directly into the stream so that he could maybe skewer a good-sized fish if he found one. After a couple minutes of scouring the water, Velk was about to quit and instead boil some mushrooms, but then he felt something brush against his leg before quickly racing away. This all but confirmed that there were fish in the river and that he would definitely catch one.

A couple more minutes passed by as Velk stood very still within the slow-moving stream, keeping constant vigilance over the water and its inhabitant's whereabouts. Velk had already spotted a couple of small fries, just minding their own business as they went about their day. It was only once a larger Tanca—a freshwater fish native to the new world—reared its ugly face that Velk had finally found his prey and swiftly struck down with his sword, skewering it through the mid-region.

Blood quickly started draining into the water before he pulled the fish out and placed it upon dry land. Velk rushed to grab his shield so that he could bash the fish to death before it suffered any longer. He could only imagine what it would feel like to have a blade lodged into his stomach and out the other end, and he didn't think it would be that pleasant.

Bashing the fish's head with the shield, Velk quickly ends its life, crushing the brain and securing a meal. Velk had caught a fish!

(...)

Coming back to the camp, reward in hand, Velk was surprised to find Ash already awake and working. It was still early dawn, and the mist hadn't receded from the camp yet, so Velk was glad to see that Ash no longer feared the fog. He appeared to be working on the plant fiber rope that was nearly finished, so while he did that, Velk took the time to prepare and cook the fish.

It was a fish head soup that Velk decided to make, using every last bit of the fish so that none went to waste. He and Ash ate happily that morning and afterward worked on their chores together. Hoping that they would start looking for iron by noon, Velk worked quickly, placing traps around the areas most worn. If the ground looked frequented often, it was probably the path many animals walk to find food, making them the perfect places for trapping.

After placing all the traps, Velk helped Ash makes the ropes and sled needed for their mission. Time passed by quickly as the two worked hard on the contraption. They ended up skipping out on lunch altogether in favor of going iron hunting sooner. Once the sled was finished, the duo admired it in all its glory. . . It's rough and ready glory, but glorious nonetheless.

Turning towards Ash, Velk excitedly shouted, "We did it, Ash! Now we can go look for some iron!

"Meow, wow!"

And the two went off, dragging the singular wooden sled behind them with a rope attached, leaving behind their belongings at the camp, except for the pickaxe and other valuable tools. It was no problem leaving your possessions at guild camps as if someone did show up, they would probably leave the possessions alone, but you could never be too sure. Although no sane-minded person has ever gone out of their way to mess with a hunter: It's simply a risk not worth taking.

They snaked their way through the tree lines and went up and down slopes as they made their way towards potential ore deposits. Before they left Rak-Al-Faar, Abigial had marked all of the potential mineral hotspots on their map so that they would easily be able to find their way towards them. Luckily for the duo, mining outcrops were in numerous supply closer to the top of the mountain, where fewer people visited, and scaring to the planet's surface was more likely to occur due to increasing wyvern turf wars.

Approaching one of the hotspots, Velk was glad to view a glimpse of blue crystalized scarring close to the rocky mountainside. Rushing up towards the mining outcrop, Velk readied the pickaxe to strike down on one of the hanging limbs of the crystal. Only once the crystal was shattered and dug into would they find any potential ores that found their way out from under the surface.

It was well documented that even if Velk destroyed the entirety of this crystal here, it would just regrow back and push out more ores from the planet's crust. Velk didn't know how it worked, nor did he care—all he cared about was the fact that he could come back in a month and collect from the outcrop once again if needed.

Only once Ash got closer with the sled did Velk finally go to town on the ore deposit. Strike and strike, the pickaxe dug away at the crystalline structure, eager to uncover the goods, just waiting inside for someone to grab them. It only took twelve strikes with the pickaxe before a massive chunk of crystal came flying off and smacked Velk in the side.

It slightly hurt, but nothing Velk couldn't handle as he continued to dig away at the mining outcrop. Eventually, Velk struck gold—quite literally—and stopped mining so that he could recover the ore. Reaching his hand into the crystal, Velk pulled out a sizeable golden rock and inspected it closely. He knew for a fact that it wasn't iron, so he suspected it to be gold, which would mean that selling this rock would fetch him a pretty zenny.

Since gold wasn't all that beneficial outside of vanity or the act of creating zenny, it wouldn't sell for very much, but it was certainly more profitable than even ten iron ores. Deciding that he was done looking at it, Velk dropped the golden ore on the ground for Ash to grab and bring to the cart before continuing to mine. After only a couple more swings, the crystal shattered and fell to pieces, revealing that the only thing it held was the gold ore that was already collected.

"Darn," was the only response Velk humored to give in response to his disappointment.

"Meow. . ." Ash seemed to feel the same.

Fortunately, this wasn't the only mining outcrop in the area, and they only had to look for the others before they inevitably found two more along the rocky walls. The first mining outcrop held only one iron ore, but the second held three, bringing their total iron to 4/50. A decent start, but not nearly enough for the day.

The duo searched around some more but invariably found nothing and decided to give up on that area. According to the map, there were several other nearby hotspots they could search, and if they didn't reach the requisite amount of iron from those, they would have to travel a bit further than desired from the camp to find the next hotspot.

Traveling towards the next spot, Velk and Ash were entertained by playing little games or throwing stuff at one another. It was a joyous afternoon with the two, and they were happy that they were finally able to get to their actual–paying work. Finding that gold had only made them more motivated to keep searching—as what if they found something even more valuable? They would go home rich!

Alas, from one hotspot to the next, they only collected iron—that is the most common of the ores to be found—from the mining outcrops. The total iron ore they had accrued by the end of their little excursion towards the mountainside amounted to 22/50 identically sized iron rocks—bringing them close to the halfway point, and given that they had three days to make progress before they would need to start heading back, they were well ahead on schedule.

As the sun started to dip lower and lower, Velk and Ash finally decided that they would head back to camp for the night and resume work tomorrow, but before going to sleep—they would have a feast!

Velk checked out all the traps he had placed around the forest and found that three of them had been sprung—but unfortunately, only two of which held anything valuable worth taking. The two animals that Velk had caught were both Feathlee Squirrels—furry black squirrels who had an uncanny knack for enjoying berries and raiding bird nests, but not for the eggs, no; they want the feathers so they can decorate their own nests with them.

The third trap, which had sprung, did not hold any animal but rather the remains of one stuck within the snare. It seemed to have been eaten while Velk and Ash were out mining, which means that there are some big predatory animals in the woods, given that the creature that was stuck appeared to have been a large bird that Velk was unfamiliar with.

Anyhow, Velk brought the game back to camp and began cooking up a hearty feast that he and Ash could share for the night before going to bed. The two once again ate their fair share, grinning ear to ear, as they basked in the flavor fullness of feathlee. Because of the squirrel's uncommon diet—despite tasting somewhat gamey, they also had a bit of sweetness that could bring unusual combinations to any meal they're added in: Some good, others bad.

Once finished eating, the two packed up for the night and retreated into the tent to escape the coming mist. The mist wasn't dangerous at all, or at least nothing Velk had read ever eluded to the Mistyweather Mountains' perpetual mist being harmful; it was just annoying to deal with.

Having lit the lamps inside the tent, Velk was able to read a bit into the monster classifications book some more before growing weary and deciding that he would get some sleep so that he could be up and active the next day. So along with Ash, Velk sunk into the bed once again and fell asleep.

(...)

Deep-seated eyes of red; scales, black as night. A typhoon of destruction approaches. . . . Despair!

Velk woke calmly this time, confused for only the briefest of moments before finding sudden clarity. He still wasn't used to waking up in the tents, but he was sure that he would get accustomed to it—eventually. But what puzzled him even more was his dream. Never before had he had the nightmare more than once in a given month. Perhaps he should ask one of the elder wyverians in the city about it: They might just know what the cause is.

Disregarding the dream, Velk decided that he would do much the same today as he did yesterday. He would go out, capture food, cook food, set the traps, and only then search for mining outcrops before returning home and having dinner. Things should go quicker that day since they don't need to build the sled, and due to now having a greater understanding of the forest, they could more easily navigate their way through it.

Despite seeming experienced, Velk had mainly just been going off book smarts this entire time and was only hoping that things clicked along the way—which they had, and he is grateful that he took the time to do his research before jumping into the hunting business. Although, the studying was for all intents and purposes the act of increasing his chances of joining the Hunter's Guild, of which his enrollment was expedited by the guild master. . . . An unfortunate tale.

Using all that knowledge to his advantage, Velk, who was not back in the river without shoes or pants, quickly captured scrumptious looking fish in his hands before crushing its brain and cooking it right up. Making a quick fish fillet meal, exploiting the fact that the fish he caught had only a few bones.

After eating their meal, Velk and Ash once again set out with their now empty sled in the hopes of collecting the last of the iron they needed to complete the commission. They traveled further this time due to the next closest hotspot being a bit away from camp and upwards in elevation by quite a lot. Dragging and trekking upwards with a sled behind you was tiring work—as a result, Velk and Ash were dead tired by the time they reached the first mining outcrop, but since they had worked up model amounts of stamina from their time spent training for this very day, they recovered quickly from their fatigue and got to mining.

After exhausting through four separate ore deposits, the duo was brought up to a grand total of twenty-eight iron ores. They were about to move onto the fifth and final mining outcrop, but there was an abrupt rumble in the ground that knocked Velk to his feet and sent Ash comically bouncing around as he tried to keep his footing. The distant sound of a landslide could be heard off in the distance, cautioning the pair that something may be wrong, but eventually, the quaking stopped, and everything returned to normal.

Rak-Al-Faar was susceptible to massive earthquakes, so it's not outside the realm of possibility that—that was all it was, but Velk and Ash proceeded towards the next few mining outcrops with caution in their steps.

The last thing they wanted to become was meat paste.