Hold No Punches

Yren finished mining the other six lumps in the area, including the ones closer to the next room, without a problem. Yren was disappointed that there were only steel cubes in each of the geodes, but he knew he could have all the luck.

"That is all of the lumps, but I want to go take a look at the next room," Yren explained, and Mika groaned.

"What do you need to do that for? Do you think that you can win?" Mika asked, but with curiosity.

"No, but I want to know what I should be prepared for. If I know what to expect, there is a good chance that I will be able to win," Yren explained but then went quiet as he started to sneak forward.

Mika put a hand on her chin, thinking about it, and she guessed that it made sense. This human was much different from his father in her eyes since Tybrus would always rush in with rage.

Maki became increasingly curious about Yren as he seemed to think and consider. Yren seemed to be the kind of person who might be able to change things, Maki thought.

That didn't mean that she was going to go easy on him. No, that meant she would have to push him harder so he could get stronger faster, but Maki knew what would be around the corner.

Yren slowly crept forward, but as soon as the glowing cave ahead came into view, he froze in his tracks. There were ants all over, but the massive Queen caught his attention the most.

She was much different than the other ants and looked to have her entire body made from glowing purple amethyst. The back section of the Queen was a massive glowing crystal that alone was at least six feet tall.

Yren slowly moved back after counting over twenty smaller ants, but some had crystal bodies. This was far too much for Yren to take alone, but he wasn't sure what to do about that.

Siegfried was gone for three days, and Yren wasn't sure if he wanted to try and show his friend this yet. Other than Siegfried, there wasn't really anyone he trusted with this secret.

"So? Did you get a good look?" Mika asked as Yren walked back to where she was perched back on her rock.

"Yeah, but it is far too much for me right now," Yren said with a sigh.

"Then get some party members! Don't be a loner like your old man! Find some pretty girl to be your support!" Mika said with an evil laugh that Yren didn't like.

"Why are you laughing like that? That is very disturbing with your razor-sharp teeth, you know!" Yren told Mika, and she laughed even harder.

"Oh boy, you must hang around that old fart too much, ya know! Haha!" Mika laughed, and Yren joined her.

Then a thought hit Yren as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. There was one person that he might be able to invite in, but he was a bit nervous about asking her.

"Okay, let's go back and give Blastern what I got, and I will head back to the guild. I might have a person in mind that would be able to help, but I need to go talk to them," Yren explained, and Mika nodded as she hopped off her rock.

The two walked back to the main cave where Blastern was waiting for them. His forge was burning, but the JadeSkin Golem didn't seem to be working on anything at the moment.

The moment they entered the main cave, the results of his exploration were displayed in front of him.

[Dungeon room 1, floor 2 Incompleted!]

[JadeSkin Golem Undefeated!]

[Special Bonus: Ore collection x5]

[Items Recovered: 7x Ant Claw, 5x Green Ichor, 5x Steel Cubes]

[Rank 3 Acquired!]

"Hmmm, I guess that I won't get the skill until I can clear that last cave like I thought," Yren pondered aloud as he walked over to the big green smith.

"So, ya didn't make it through, but you did get something, right?" Blastern asked, and Yren nodded.

Yren pulled out his license and swiped over to his inventory, selecting the five Steel Cubes, making more choices appear. After selecting Drop, five blocks appeared on the smith's anvil.

"Well, not that shabby for your first time! What can I make for you?" Blastern asked with more excitement than he meant to, but it had been ages.

"Huh? I didn't complete the Dungeon, right?" Yren asked in confusion, but the smith let out another one of these vibrating laughs.

"Dungeons, smungeons! I don't really care as long as you bring me metal! What can I make for you, my boy?" Blastern asked Yren, not trying to hide his excitement now.

Tybrus had him make armor, but once he figured out how to make armor and weapons with Magic, he no longer asked Blastern to make things. Now his son was here, so Blastern would hold no punches to keep the boy coming back for more.

Yren paused and thought about what he might need. A weapon wasn't needed, nor was armor, but he was finding himself in many close-range fights lately.

"Do you think you could make me a buckler for my left forearm? That would help me parry and block, and that should be enough metal, right? I also have a gem, but I am unsure if you can use it," Yren explained and pulled out his license.

"Oh? I can make a buckler! But first, let's see," Blastern said, and he opened his hand to Yren.

Yren selected Drop on the Strength Jewel, and it appeared in Blasterns massive jade hand. That was where Yren wanted it to go, so he noted that but would have to test the drop range another time.

"Hmm? This is a very good drop, and it will give you a boost to offensive attacks. Things like parry and shield bash will be more effective when you learn them," Blastern explained, and Yren sighed.

"Sounds good, and thank you for this. I will head back to the guild for the day; I'm still a bit worn out from coming last night. All of this extra info has got me a bit overloaded, so I will go and get some sleep and be back tomorrow," Yren said as he turned to head back up, waving for Mika to follow.