Chapter 7 – 8

Chapter 7 – I found something while digging!

"Ahh. Water is always amazing after you've worked hard!!"

I said after drinking down the water.

This was the third day since the arrival of the goblins.

We were now sitting by the cave's entrance and preparing to have dinner.

Erevan, the large goblin, nodded in agreement.

"Yes! The water tastes as fine as wine! I never thought I would be having so much fun in a cave like this!"

"Yes, yes. Right? Right?"

I couldn't help but be happy that Erevan had also come to know the joys of mining.

Not only that but the goblin Shaman, Baris, was with us as we sat around a pile of Shining Stones. And he was also in a good mood.

"I did not think an old goblin like me would be able to dig so much. But the Princess's life is extending gradually, and so I am quite motivated."

"Yeah. The sense of accomplishment is different when the goal is to extend Rienna's life… By the way, today's Turtle Stones are…"

I opened the Inventory.

◇ Inventory

Rock x 14988

Iron Ore x 256

Copper Ore x 180

Gold Ore x 18

Silver Ore x 43

Coal x 1190

Limestone x 1911

Marble x 68

…

Ruby x 21

Sapphire x 19

Crystal x 8987

Turtle Stone x 328

Purification Stone x 3

Shining Stone x 0

The reason that I only had 0 Shining Stones was because we were using them as torches.

I would have had 49 of them otherwise.

As for the Turtle Stones, everything we got yesterday and the day before were used immediately on Rienna.

And so if we added the stones we got today, then her life would be extended for over two years.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! I made some apple pie today!"

Rienna said as she returned from a little cooking space that had been set up outside.

During these last few days, I had built a number of facilities.

One of them was the cooking space.

A simple kitchen made of piled-up rocks.

There was a small furnace that you could make a fire inside.

The second place was the bathroom.

I dug in one corner of the cave, making a separate small room with a pit in the ground.

And I regularly used fire magic to burn everything up…

Goblin bodies were not made to store magical energy.

And so they could not use magic. That meant that I had to do the burning.

And the final thing I made, was a reservoir.

If it was just me, I could have used water magic for drinking and washing my body.

However, goblins couldn't use magic.

And so I decided to have a reservoir so it would be easy for them to use it.

Well, while I may have said facilities, they weren't really anything special.

Here, there was an overwhelming lack of resources derived from plants.

The only way to get firewood or wood for building materials was to use driftwood or the few supplies we already had.

And that wasn't the only thing we lacked.

"Ah, Princess's apple pie! I can't wait!"

Erevan raised his hands as if this was something he had been looking forward to.

I muttered in agreement.

"Oh, it looks great today as well!"

"I hope that you like it, Lord Heal…"

Rienna said as she handed me a plate of apple pie.

She was very good at cooking.

The day before yesterday, she had made fish and vegetable soup. And yesterday, she made a shrimp and clam gratin. Both of them were amazing. As for me, I could only grill or boil food, so I was especially grateful.

"Of course, I'll like it. The food from the last few days was amazing."

I said as I immediately stuffed the apple pie into my mouth.

Yes, it was delicious.

In fact, it was far superior to anything I had ever eaten in the royal palace.

How did she manage to make the apples so sweet?

Was she some kind of cooking genius?

However, these were all made with ingredients that I had brought.

The butter, sugar, flour… My father had made sure I had certain provisions.

Of course, these would have been wasted on me, seeing as I wasn't a cook.

But thanks to Rienna's arrival, these ingredients did not have to go to waste.

"Rienna. There isn't much flour left, is there?"

"Yes… If I were to make the same kind of pie again… I could perhaps make two."

"I see…"

Just when I thought that such delicious food could become the norm, we were running out of ingredients…

Yes, food was another thing that we greatly lacked.

Well, it was more about variety, to be precise.

After all, there was no shortage of fish.

However, it was impossible to not get tired of fish when you had it every day.

And there were nutritional concerns as well.

But we were on a small island that was mostly just exposed rock.

We couldn't get any wood or flour, and there was no soil that would allow anything to grow.

Perhaps the only way to acquire what we didn't have, was to trade.

But ships rarely came near here…

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As I racked my brain over this, Rienna tried to cheer me up.

"I-I…will try my hardest to make something satisfactory, even with only fish!"

"Rienna… Thank you. But you really shouldn't push yourself too hard. For instance, you don't need to mine with us."

"No, I intend to do my best with both mining and cooking!"

Rienna was a rounded goblin with dark green skin.

In comparison, Erevan and Baris were a more vibrant green and had chiseled features. However, she was very likable and did her best, which made her quite cute.

"Then I'll have to work harder too… Alright, I'm going to go digging to help with digestion then."

I stood up and stretched my limbs.

And the Erevan said,

"Chief! I will go with you!"

"So will I!"

"And I will go too!"

Rienna and Baris were just about to stand up.

"Hey, hey. I barely get tired, thanks to my crest, but you guys must be exhausted. Even the slimes seem tired. You should rest for today. And that's an order."

The goblins looked towards the slimes, who were stretched out lazily around the pile of Shining Stones.

If that's what their transport team looked like, then they could not go mining.

Erevan looked quite disappointed. Still, he said,

"Very well… In that case, we will accept your kindness."

"Yes, that's good. Alright, I'm going to go digging then."

I held my pickaxe in one hand as I went back into the mines.

On the way, Shiel offered to give me a lift, so I got on.

And once we were deep underground, I became completely absorbed in mining…or I tried to, but failed.

Even though I swung my pickaxe, I couldn't concentrate like I always did.

As I said before, if we wanted to all live here together, we needed more resources.

It was the food and building materials that worried me now, but my clothes wouldn't last forever either.

Hmm. I didn't expect to feel like a troubled landlord so quickly…

In any case, it seemed that the thing to do now was try to find new stones and increase my magic with Crystals.

Other than that, we could take turns watching for passing ships.

Maybe we might trade precious stones for food and supplies…

It was while I was thinking of such things and swinging my pickaxe.

The rocks fell away, just like they always did…

However, this time there was a vast open space in front of me.

Where was I?

I entered the hollow room and looked around.

The walls and ceiling were covered in stones that shone like the sun.

And then I noticed that the ground was soft.

Was it…soil?

Shockingly, the ground I was standing on was made of dirt.

According to priests, all soil was made by the blessing of the sun, and so it only existed above ground… What?

A dark mass appeared over me, and I quickly raised my head.

And what I saw…was a black spider that was several times larger than me.

The multiple red eyes seemed to be staring at me.

I was dead. There was no doubt about it.

I always hated spiders…

But no, this was no time for that.

I instinctively raised my right hand towards the spider and was about to unleash my magic.

Would it attack?

However, much to my surprise, the spider frantically turned away and scampered off to the far back of the cave.

There, I saw that there were small spiders…well, they were the same size as me.

I see. So it returned to protect its children.

However, it seemed odd that it would be scared of a small human like me…

And it showed no signs of wanting to attack.

"Uh, um…sorry? I guess this is your home?"

I tried talking to them. But the Advisor answered instead.

<<There is a tamable monster. Will you tame it?>>

What? A monster? Why am I able to tame it!?

<<The monster has lost the will to fight. Therefore taming is possible.>>

Uh, but I didn't do anything yet…

Maybe it was shy or not used to seeing humans.

Hmm. What should I do?

Should I just pretend I never saw it?

But then again, I might as well…

"Uh…do you want to join us?"

I put the pickaxe down and stepped in front of the spider.

And then the spider hesitantly extended one of its front legs towards me.

The leg was covered in soft, black hair and it touched me gently.

Hmm. It was surprisingly soft.

"Uh. I guess that's a yes? Alright, then… What about Taran?"

<<Naming complete. You have tamed Taran.>>

It was a little confusing, but apparently the spider monster was a friend now.

And according to the Advisor, I could also tame Taran's children.

And so I tamed the 13 other spiders as well.

Thinking of 13 names sure takes a while…

It was as I was thinking this.

<<As your proficiency has reached the necessary level, the crest, 'Cave King' has been raised to Rank 2.>>

I didn't quite understand the words that rang in my head.

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Chapter 8 – A new feature was added!!

These words from the Advisor were quite puzzling.

Ra-rank 2?

<<As you are now Rank 2, a new feature has been added.>>

In any case, it seemed that there was more that I could do with Cave King now.

As for this new feature…

<<The Workshop feature has been added. You can process and combine the mined materials in your Inventory.>>

Really!? Does that mean I can make iron from Iron Ore?

If I could do that…

I could make large pickaxes…

Or invent lighter ones…

Or create ones with cooler designs.

<<Iron Ore to iron…recognized as Ironmaking. Your Workshop rank is too low for Ironmaking.>>

What… Then what could I do?

As my shoulders slumped, the Advisor continued.

<<…A list of all the currently processable and combinable items will be displayed.>>

And then the list appeared in my head.

◇ Workshop Items

Stone Block

Sand

Marble Block

Huh? That's it?

I was pretty shocked, but upon hearing more about it, I realized that there was a lot to it.

Creating Stone Blocks depleted the mined Rocks.

When doing this, you could choose your preferred size and shape.

Normally, Rock x 1 in my Inventory equaled 1kg of Stone Block.

But now I could combine them to make a larger 2kg Stone Block.

The shape could be anything from a square to a rectangle or even a sphere or cylinder.

You could even create more complicated shapes in your mind.

In other words, I could make statues or fancy pillars.

That being said, I had no talent for design, so that wasn't likely to happen…

Well, that wasn't important.

Now I didn't have to pile up randomly sized rocks when trying to build something.

The Marble Blocks could also be used freely to make what you want.

Furthermore, sand could also be made with the rocks.

Apparently, you could also use Limestone and Iron to change its color and texture.

And you could combine Rock and Sand to make Gravel.

Stone Blocks and Sand? At first, I had thought that it was all very boring.

However, depending on how I used them, I could increase the size of the island.

In the first place, the fact that I could do it all quickly by myself was a huge advantage.

Making Stone Blocks was hard enough, but creating an entire pillar would take forever.

And the Advisor explained one other new feature.

<<The Design Cut feature has also been added. You can now create any desired shape when you are mining.>>

Currently, when I mined an area, the walls were jagged and rough.

However, with this new feature, I could make smooth walls and floors.

Of course, I could probably make inclines and stairs as well.

In other words, I could clean up this island, which was so difficult to walk around on…

<<Currently, Cave King's features and effects can only be activated within the cave. But the Workshop feature and Inventory can be used outside.>>

I see… Well, that should be enough.

I can just scatter sand everywhere and make the ground smooth.

In any case, I had new abilities now.

So I might as well try and reform the island a little.

…Oh, I almost most forgot about these guys.

The monster spiders I had just tamed were staring quietly at me.

"Ah, sorry-sorry. My name is Heal. I'll be going back to the surface now. But you're welcome to come with me. I'll introduce you to the others."

Well, of course, they wouldn't understand…

But I suppose they would come up if they ever got curious.

The taming skill prevented the monsters from hurting the tamer.

Furthermore, tamed monsters could not hurt each other.

As for whether or not they had to obey the tamer, that was up to their relationship. But these first two points were enforced by the skill.

And so it would not be possible for the spiders to attack the goblins or slimes.

In fact, Shiel was currently climbing onto Taran's head and playing on top of it.

As for the spider, it just lightly poked Shiel's soft body with its long legs.

Regardless of the taming skill, the two creatures seemed to be interested in each other.

I walked back down the path I had come.

I hadn't meant to mine too long, to begin with. And since I had apparently ranked up, it seemed like a good time to stop.

But when I turned to look back into the cave, I saw that the spiders were starting to follow me.

So, I suppose they were coming after all.

However, this passage…

While the small ones could fit through, the parent would have a hard time.

"Uh… Wait a second."

And so I decided to try and test the new cutting feature.

I used the pickaxe to lower the incline a little and widen the path as we climbed up.

As I did this, I cut the center into stairs and made the sides a gentle slope.

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Now the spiders would be able to go up and it would also be easier for me to walk.

When we reached the entrance, I saw that the goblins were still gathered around the Shining Stones.

"Ah, Chief! I heard the comforting sounds of your pickaxe slowly getting closer! It made me really want to go down there and do some digging myself."

Erevan said with a smile as he turned around.

However, his expression immediately turned into terror.

"Wha…what? Ah, Ahhhhhhh!?!??!?!"

It wasn't just Erevan. Rienna and Baris were also afraid.

Oh, it was the one behind me…

I turned around and saw many, glowing red eyes.

Obviously, they were Taran's eyes.

"Chi-chief!! Behind! Behind you!!"

"Calm down, Erevan. These guys. I just tamed them."

"Ta-tamed!? Them?"

"Yeah. I found this big cavern when I was digging. And they were inside. And so I tamed them."

"I-I see… I'm sorry. I'm not good with spiders."

Erevan said with a sigh as he touched his chest.

Rienna and Baris also looked relieved.

As for the slimes, they immediately tried to copy, Shiel, who was still on Taran's head. And they all headed towards the spiders.

Baris watched this and muttered in a puzzled voice.

"…Still, this is quite a surprise. I believe they are Cave Spiders. But I did not know that they grew to be so large."

"Do you mean the Cave Spiders on the continent are smaller?"

"Very much so. They are usually about the same height as me."

According to Baris, the normal ones would come up to my waist.

That was still pretty big…

"Well, I've never seen a Cave Spider until today. But uh, weren't they monsters that lived in caves or old ruins?"

"Yes. They are vicious creatures with powerful venom. It is said that their webs are harder than iron and yet can stretch very far. We goblins often live in caves as well, and it was not rare to see the bones of humans and monsters that fell victim to the spiders."

"Oh…"

That was pretty horrifying.

However, in spite of being much larger than usual, Taran had submitted to me rather quickly.

"Among us goblins, we often say that you must be careful if you find soil in the depths of a cave. This soil is actually a Cave Spider's…um…"

As Baris was a wise goblin, he liked to choose his words carefully.

Was he going to tell me that the soil was something that had been discharged from the spiders…

"I think I understand what you mean… The entire floor was covered in it."

Well, it didn't smell at least. And it really looked like dirt.

And since it was from spiders, perhaps it was no big deal.

Baris nodded.

"I see… Well, that is wonderful news then."

"Huh?"

"Their um…material is said to be superior to surface soil for growing crops. They say that you can even grow wheat without sunlight. And since the webs of the spiders are combined in it as well, it retains moisture very well, meaning that even plants will grow in the desert."

"Ohh. But, why are the webs mixed in?"

"Cave Spiders grow mushrooms. They do eat human and monster flesh as well. But they mainly eat mushrooms."

They ate human meat too…

Rienna had already moved forward to say hello. She was currently offering Taran a plate of grilled fish.

Without hesitation, Taran grabbed the grilled fish with its mandibles.

Upon seeing this, Taran's children swarmed around Rienna and seemed to be begging her for some fish as well.

Rienna looked a little scared, but she quickly went away to prepare more of the grilled fish.

So, they could survive on just mushrooms.

But they also like meat and fish as well.

"I see… So that's why they were able to live in such an isolated area."

And the reason that Baris had said this was wonderful news, was because it now meant that we could get soil on this island.

I had said it many times before, but this island was just a lot of exposed rocks.

And since there was no soil, there were no plants.

And while it may have not been much, we now had soil of very high quality.

Now we just needed some seeds, and we would be able to grow things.

Well, as for the seeds. We had a few fruits…

However, a fruit tree would take years of waiting before you could harvest anything.

"Maybe I should just make a small field for now… Oh, but I'll need to increase the size of the land first…"

Thanks to the new features and the Cave Spider, we could suddenly do so much more.

Perhaps the spider webs could be processed to make fibers.

And that could be used to make clothes and fishing nets.

In any case, my true passion was digging. But as long as we lived here communally, I had to think about the others.

Well, for now…

"We should have a welcoming party. It's a small island, but we must all get along. …Rienna, let me help you!"

I picked up some fish and helped Rienna cook them. Like this, our friendship with the Cave Spiders was deepened.