Chapter XI
Cash started to think about the purpose of miners and how that could be used to help him get a new class. The priority of a miner was similar to being an Excavator, in that they both dig into the ground, but a miners job was specifically to delve into the earth to find rare minerals and ores. In medieval societies miners were peasants or even slaves who were sent into the bowels of the earth to find precious metals. Cash didn't care that it wasn't a grand profession. All he cared about was that this was as good a place as any to start and would allow him to create a solid foundation for future professions. His current profession, Excavator, was a good start along the path in his mind but Cash refused to remain an Excavator for the rest of his life. Besides, he had a feeling that the professions in this new world would be essential in gaining power.
"Well, I'm already in the bowels of the earth. I guess I just need to find some ore in order to upgrade my class." Cash said.
Before taking off on a new expedition to upgrade his profession, Cash wanted to expand the hollow that was their new home and get some rest. As it was now, their home consisted of a doorway and a small room. He wanted somewhere to store food and items they found that wouldn't just be out in the open for goblins to steal while they were gone. Cash decided to dig a cellar underneath the small room. He could hide the cellar by using a large stone that slid over the top of the cellar hole like a man-hole for sewers.
"Might as well plan out some other rooms now while getting the man-hole cover."
From the entranceway of their home Cash made a sharp left turn and faced the wall. After looking at it for a moment he decided that the first room he'd build would be a small workshop. He still had the chitin plates from the ants and having a workshop would give him some space to work with materials.
Cash dragged his pickaxe along the wall in front of him, scratching into the stone the outline of another doorway. Minding his strength, Cash carefully swung his pickaxe against the outline. His first swing landed perfectly and a long crack spread up and down travelling along the outline he made. Repeating the pattern, Cash soon had another doorway fully framed. All he needed to do now was cut into the stone within the frame. Instead of using his full strength to swing into the stone, Cash used roughly half strength hoping it would result in larger chunks of stone coming loose instead of pulverizing the stone into dust. His efforts resulted in exactly what he hoped.
After excavating a portion of the room, Cash received a notification. Cash let the pickaxe fall on his shoulder while he opened the message.
Congratulations!
Through the continuous use of your profession, you have learned a new skill!
You receive: PRECISE SWING (BASIC LVL. 1)!
"Huh. That's interesting. I'm assuming I learned that from just using different types of swings with varying degrees of strength. Good to know." Cash used identify to see what his new skill did.
PRECISE SWING (BASIC LVL. 1): Description: The inductee has learned how to empower their swing to achieve a desired effect. Cost per swing: 5 stamina points.
Cash decided to test his new skill. After several swings he had chunks of stone of different sizes lying on the ground before him. He noticed that the amount of effort he had to put in to break the stone had decreased dramatically. As the skill was triggered, his desired effect was achieved with less effort.
Cash went back to using full power along with Precise Swing to excavate the room in front of him. After a half hour, Cash had a dusty but large room cleared out, roughly double the size of the first room. Exhaustion was beginning to set in. He hadn't realized how tired he was. He quickly used the chitin plates again to remove the abundance of dust on the floor before looking around at the new space.
The new room was hard to see in due to being away from the entrance door to their home. The room was parallel to the wall of the main cavern and only separated by roughly a foot of stone. Cash figured he could cut windows into the wall to let light into the space but seeing as he had no glass, he decided to go with another option. Cash cut several cubby holes evenly spaced in the walls and went outside to collect some glowing moss. He figured he could use the luminescent moss as a light source in their home since he didn't have sustainable fire yet. Digging up a good stack of moss, Cash went back inside and stuffed the cubbies with the moss he gathered.
His plan worked. The moss fit perfectly and now a soft glowing blue and green light filled the interior of his new workshop. It was still fairly dark inside, but was more than adequate as a light source. Walking back to the fire outside, Cash called out to Opie using his nickname.
"Opa'lope, I'm gonna work on the house a little longer, do you want to look around the area a little and see what you can find? Just stay within roughly fifty yards of the house and bring back whatever you find that you think is interesting," Cash said to the resting Opie.
Opie responded with a bark and took off into the bushes around them.
Cash sighed and said, "Let's pimp our crib."
A few hours later, Cash wiped his hands off on his pants and looked at his work. A dopamine rush filled his mind as he stared at all he'd done. He'd finished the cellar underneath the entrance room, and added a small bedroom for him and Opie to sleep in. The cellar had a steep staircase that led down to a room that was roughly the same size as the room above it. The walls were again lined with the glowing moss and had several shelves cut into the stone where he could store materials. All of his loot was neatly stacked on the shelves with coins stacked in a couple towers on their own shelf. At the hole leading into the cellar was a large rounded stone slab that could be placed on top. Cash had a feeling that the weak looking goblins would have a tough time trying to move the stone if they got inside their house. In the bedroom that Cash had made, he lined the floor with a thick layer of moss on the ground as bedding for him and Opie to sleep on. In the foyer, which was what Cash had started calling the first room from the entryway, Cash had carved a square basin in one of the corners where he planned on storing water in the future, similar to a rain barrel. Next to the entryway was a large rounded stone that could be rolled in place.
Cash walked outside with a smile on his face which quickly changed into the shape of an 'o' as he saw the stack of fruits beside the doorway. Next to the fruits was a snoring Opie with red liquid dripping from his jaws.
Cash ran to Opie and shook him awake. "Opie! Wake up! What the hell happened!"
Opie's voice groaned in Cash's head before saying, "I went and collected a bunch of yummy snacks, now let me sleep you peasant."
Cash stared at his companion with his rounded stomach before laughing loudly, "It looks like you collected half of them in your stomach buddy."
"Well, someone had to do a taste test." Opie shared back.
"Right, you were just looking out for both of us. Damn glutton." Cash guffawed.
Cash looked over at the stack of fruits and decided to Identify a few of them.
Angopple Fruit: Edible: Evaluate for more information
Krackleberry Fruit: Edible: Evaluate for more information
Yazzleberry Fruit: Edible: Evaluate for more information
The stack of fruits Opie had collected consisted of those three types. The Angopple fruit looked just like any regular apple except the color of the skin was a deep, dark red color. The Krackleberry fruit reminded Cash of Dragon fruits he would see in the grocery store on occasion but had never tried himself. The Yazzleberry was a plump looking raspberry but was maybe double the size of the latter. Identify didn't tell Cash anything more than the name of the fruits and that they were edible. He assumed the fact that his skill told him they were edible was from Opie testing them first and that information was automatically included when he used identify.
He wondered if identify would tell him more information if he could verify other facts. He could tell there was some significance behind the word 'Evaluate' he saw in the description as well. Perhaps 'Evaluate' was an upgraded version of his Identify skill? Cash stored that question for later before picking up his shaggy companion and carrying him inside their home. Cash laid Opie down on the carpet of moss in their bedroom before going back to collect the mass of fruit Opie had collected. Storing it all in the cellar he had just finished constructing, Cash rolled the stone over the doorway to their home and returned to their bedroom. The moment Cash laid down and shut his eyes, exhaustion claimed him and his consciousness faded into the black of dreamless sleep.