[SP-F2] A Journey Under The Mountain [complete]

[Gestein 0]

Though the company of another would have certainly been enjoyable, Gestein was making good progress on his own. Without any distractions it was easy to focus in on the task at hand. he was still whistling as he hovered over the next deposit, stopping only briefly to grunt at the impact of his hammer connecting with the materials. Sadly, the iron vein did not yield the coveted material that it held, and exploded in to pixelized dust with very little fanfare. Undeterred, Gestein picked up where he left off in his whistling and maneuvered himself around a dense cluster of crystals to reach yet another deposit.

[Gestein 0]

It was a tight fit, but the big man was able to squeeze his way into the crystal crevice that housed the next couple of deposits (though he had to suck in his gut to reach the veins). The first swing of his hammer demolished the nearest deposit in reach, but no ore was awarded. Cramped as the space was, Gestein was not about to give in to his body's demand for freedom. He endured the crevice's squeeze as he shimmied his way into position to mine the next deposit.

[Gestein 0]

Though it was not painful thanks to the nature of the game, the claustrophobic feeling of being squeezed still did not sit well with the back of Gestein's mind, and his body replied in kind. When the next deposit of ore exploded into pixels and once again yielded nothing in return, the big man wasted no time in pulling himself out of the crystal crevice. After a quick crack of his neck and back, more of a stress releasing habit than anything that actually worked, the big man scoured the cavern floor for any remaining deposits.

[Gestein 0]

Free from the confines of the crystals, and feeling somewhat better about his progress for the day than he was a few hours ago, a goofy mood caught Gestein as he spotted another vein of ore nestled neatly into the wall of the cavern. It started with a little bit of toe tapping, but the big man soon found himself bobbing with a rhythm that only existed in the back of his mind. He began to hustle and shuffle towards the deposit, throwing in sharp, angular adjustments of his shoulders, head bobs, and rhythmic stomps and twirls into the mix as the beat grew stronger and stronger.

After finally dancing his way to the large vein of ore on the wall, a final twirl saw his hammer connect with the deposit, and sparkly pixels showered the area that had become his stage. Alas, not a single piece of ore was earned, but he laughed all the same, happy that no one was there to witness his goof ball antics. His idea of 'dancing' wasn't exactly something he felt comfortable sharing with other people.

[Gestein 0]

The newly mined deposit revealed a few smaller veins in the wall, and Gestein quickly seized the opportunity to mine once again. His first attempt once again yielded no fruit. Shrugging off the failure with one last flurry of 'dancing' (a blast of angular juts of his shoulders and elbows mixed with a series of lag-shakes and a final twirl), he moved on to the next deposit with gusto.

[Gestein 0]

Unfortunately, the final deposit once again did not yield success. He had pounded his way though half of the deposits in the room so far, and though it was hard earned, he was slightly disappointed by the fact that he only had 2 pieces of ore to his name. However, Gestein was no slouch when it came to labor. He had only been under the mountain for about 4 hours total (not counting the time it took to reach the cave's entrance in the first place), and had fortunately been blessed with the patience and stamina to continue on despite the lack of progress.

Just a few more hours... he reminded himself, as thoughts of the weapons and armor he would receive in exchange for his toiling added to his resolve.

[Gestein 0]

The next deposit he found in the cavern was somewhat masked by phosphorescent moss, but the absence of glow from a particularly strange part of the blanket of light caught his eye. Gestein wiped away some of the moss to have a big enough area to work with, and found that while the deposit itself was rather small, it had a few neighbors nearby completely hidden away. He scoured the area and revealed two more deposits before winding up a swing with his hammer.

With a yell of "BOOOOOOM!" as he drove his hammer through the first deposit, the shattered pixels finally released another piece of ore. He pocketed the glob of ore with a smile and prepared to strike the other two veins.

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Loot - <>

[Gestein 0]

A wave of confidence washed over the big man as he wound up for a second swing. Not wanting to jinx his luck, he mimicked his previous attempt at mining and wound up for another huge swing.

With another cry of "BOOOOOOM!" Gestein followed through with his swing, except this time, though the deposit did shatter, his aim was so poor that he had barely caught the edge of the deposit, causing his hammer to fumble out of his fingers and onto the floor and onto his toe.

He gasped in pain for a moment, though it only took a split-second for his brain to register that he was not in any amount of agony. With the weight of his hammer, he would have likely broken his toe in the real world. With a sigh of relief, he prepared himself to mine the third vein with a little less goofiness.

[Gestein 0]

Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Gestein carefully took aim at the final vein of ore that stood before him. His swing struck true, and as the deposit shattered into pixel dust, another chunk of ore was nestled lightly in the crevice left behind by the vein. He picked it up, and after tossing it lightly into the air, snatched it with gusto before depositing it into his inventory.

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Loot - <>

[Gestein 0]

The iron-rich room was getting closer to being depleted. The next batch of deposits took a half an hour's worth of careful searching to be found, but in the end it was all worth while. The cave was truly a wondrous boon.

For the moment, Gestein rested against the wall of the cavern and sipped on a store of water that he had pulled form his inventory. There was no real need to drink or eat in the game, but something about the moment of rest combined with the normalcy of drinking water felt right to him. The crumpled paper remnants of his sandwich found themselves ground to bits by the heel of the big man's boot as he rose and shattered into tiny fragments.

"Guess it's time to get back to work."

He wiped his forehead before he un-holstered his hammer, though there was no sweat to be removed, and approached his latest targets. With a quick and efficient swing, his hammer connected and broke the first vein, but no ore was awarded.

[Gestein 0]

The next vein of iron ore that he had scouted was an interesting one. If not for his careful scouring of the cavern, he would have likely missed the vein as it was buried under a lode of crystals, just barely visible thought the slightly opaque formations of light-blue minerals. It was an interactable lode, and although chances were low that he could collect both, it was still a surprisingly good potential boon.

Although the strength of the hit actually meant very little to the collection of the minerals, Gestein could not help but hold back as he jimmy-tapped the crystal structure due to its perceived weakness. The crystals shattered into pixels, but ultimately, no recording crystal remained to be collected.

[Gestein 0]

Though he was slightly disappointed by the failure of his first of two attempts to collect materials, his second attempt was fruitful indeed. A quick swing of his arm brought the hammer down onto the ore deposit, and with a satisfying 'ting' of metal ore against metal hammer, the vein burst into a shower of pixels and left a sizable piece of ore behind for him.

There were still a few more sources left in the cavern, but even if all of the rest left him empty handed, Gestein was pleased to have collected as much as he had through the course of the day. He gave the piece of ore a cheeky peck before he deposited it, cementing the fact that it was lucky in his mind.

"Let's knock out the rest of these deposits, and call it a night." Gestein said to no one but himself. He couldn't stand the stillness of silence for long, even in the real world. Silence was... lonely. Even if it was only him talking to himself, it felt less stifling to do so than to let quiet reign supreme.

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Loot - <>

[Gestein 0]

The last few deposits had been particularly difficult to find. The one that he now had in mind would not be easy to reach. In fact, he wasn't sure if is plan to mine the deposit would work at all. It was generally against human nature to look up at the ceiling, and this lode had been counting on that to keep it hidden from sight, but Gestein's scouring of the lofty cavern left no blind spots. It's secondary defense, however, was that with the height of the ceiling, you could not reach it without either a ladder or a boost up.

This did not deter the big man. Instead, he tried to get creative. Knowing the game's mechanics, he launched his hammer skyward towards the deposit, and after several misses, the weapon connected with the ore. Sure enough, the deposit shattered, but only his hammer came crashing back to the ground.

[Gestein 0]

The last deposit had been completely hidden underneath the moss. If not for his diligence in clearing large patches in the phosphorescent plant life, Gestein would have completely missed it. However, his perseverance had prevailed. He had saved it for last due to its proximity to the tunnel that seemed as if it would lead outwards towards the surface due to the slight incline of the path.

He took a deep breath and held his hand from striking for a moment of contemplation. Well, here goes...

He struck quickly, shattering the deposit with the swing of his weapon, and he was rewarded with one last globe of light blue tinted iron ore.

With that, Gestein took his leave of the mineral-rich cavern. Now came the arduous task of making it back to the surface. Given all of the ground that he had covered that day, there was likely a fair bit of exploring to do.

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Loot - <>

[Gestein 0]

He had taken a chance on the new path rather than winding his way back past the way he had come. The route that he had taken had stumbled upon the mineral rich cavern by accident, after hours of wandering, and given the scope of the tunnel systems, he figured he had a better chance of making it out faster though another route.

So far, this tunnel did not disappoint. While it was essentially taking him the opposite direction from where he entered, the rumors indicated that there were several entryways into the system of caves below the mountain. Considering he had run into a player earlier who seemed to have come from a different direction than his own, it was likely a well founded rumor. The incline was much more noticeable despite the twists and turns that he followed, although the lack of other paths intersecting it for the time being was starting to make him somewhat nervous.

As he continued to walk in the light-blue glow of the tunnel, he saw an interactable crystal shard. Taking a moment of opportunity, he swung his hammer at the crystal lode, but it only shattered into dust.

[Gestein 0]

Another half an hour passed by with silent monotony broken by the occasional outburst of song, but the tunnel continued to wind upwards with regularity until it finally lead to a small cavern with a few other paths. Upon arrival, Gestein took the opportunity to quickly sweep the area for iron ore, and though he found a deposit, it did not yield any materials for him. After a quick check of his map, he decided upon a new tunnel that seemed like it would lead closer to the edge of the mountain, and continued on.

[Gestein 0]

Further up and further in, I suppose...

His choice in paths ended up being less than ideal. While it still had a decent incline upwards, it wound itself away from its original direction and had ended up leading Gestein further away from the outline of the mountain's edge on his map and back into the greater cave system. It was also particularly barren. Only once in the half an hour he spent wandering the trail that curled ever closer to his original point of entry did he find even an interactable crystal lode, and that had shattered without yielding fruit. However, he finally came upon a junction that showed some promise. The inclines of both leveled off, and one of the paths seemed to go towards his original point of entry. While he had not spent quite as much time heading upwards ans he had heading into the depths, Gestein decided not to risk further exploration, and chose the path that had a greater likelihood of crossing paths with his original trail.

[Gestein 0]

It wasn't long before he once again came to a fork in the road. While there was an iron deposit hidden among the glowing moss, a swing of his hammer only shattered the deposit. Each direction was less than ideal - one seemed to head back into the mountain, but the other that lead in the general direction he wished to go had a slight decline. Taking a risk on going back into the mountain did not appeal to the big man at this point. He had his fill of exploration for the day. He chose to press onward down the path that lead towards certain exit rather than fiddle with traversing the mountain any further.

[Gestein 0]

"You have heard me tell this story

Many times before you sleep

This time listen carefully

And I will tell you once again

But this time understand that what I'm telling you,

Every single word is true.

You need to know..."

He had been singing to himself as he turned the corner of the tunnel and found himself staring at a dead end.

"Oh come on!" he yelled as he threw up his hands in frustration. At the end of the tunnel stood a huge crystal lode, slightly off color in the way that indicated that it could be mined, and he would be dammed if he didn't at least try to get something out of the lode before he tried to backtrack to the previous junction.

While the lode did not yield a single recording crystal, upon shattering, it unveiled a small cavern caked in crystal from ceiling to floor. It was like walking into a giant, shimmering geode as Gestein slipped through the crack he had made, and he carefully traversed what little pathing could be found as he made his way to another large lode that seemed aesthetically similar to the one he had just broken.

As he had hoped, upon shattering, the lode did not yield a recording crystal, but instead opened up a new path. While it was not in the direction he hoped to go, it was better than trying to backtrack at this point, so Gestein took the risk and continued to press on.

[Gestein 0]

Oh no...

Gestein was grateful that he had seen the large tendrils of spiderweb on the ceiling further ahead. There were rumors of spider silk were also true, but where there was spider silk, there were also likely spiders. Not common household spiders, either, if his instinct was correct. A fantasy game like SAO was likely to have a few giant spiders as monsters for the players to encounter. The big man had no desire to challenge a creature like that alone, especially not on its home turf. With that in mind, he backtracked towards the geode-room in the hopes of finding another path.