Before Ruby and I head off to do that, I pick the heart out of the thing and eat it raw.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Devour skill has been activated! Agility +10 Speed +20
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩⟩
- Congratulations, the Devour skill has advanced to level 2!
√ Devour
√ Level 2.
- You can become stronger by consuming the flesh of strong enemies.
I love that skill! It's a nice agility boost, but speed? I hadn't even seen a speed stat before. That thing was incredibly fast, so it makes sense. Then I take its beast core and stare at it.
"ITEM."
√ Beast Core
- Quality: medium
Would you like to absorb it? Y/N
"No."
I clean the beast core and then set it aside. Ruby looks at me strangely when she notices it.
Ruby says "You're not going to absorb it?"
"No, I plan to save it for the next time I need to develop a skill."
Ruby says "That's okay. I guess that's a smart move considering how the skills are spent."
"Well, I'm sorry if all my skill work is boring to you."
Ruby laughs and says, "It is, but I don't mind. I understand how you get stronger that way."
"Do you want to try eating this before we head to the cave?"
Ruby says, "Sure, it doesn't look very tasty, but I'll try it with you."
So I cook up some steaks and while they're cooking I clean up camp. Once it's done cooking, we get to digging.
Ruby says "Mmm! Delicious! How can something so ugly be so tasty?"
"I don't know, but now I'm hoping I had friends. seconds?"
Ruby smiles and says, "Yes, please!"
Once we finish eating our second helpings, we get up and head to the cave below the lake. I make sure to bring my pickaxe because I haven't forgotten that there is more armatite ore down there. It takes us about twenty minutes to walk back to the cave and follow the path down to the pond.
Ruby hides in the amulet to avoid going over the waterfall. I crawl through the small part of the cave and summon her to come out once the tunnel opens. We enter the cave under the lake side by side. Ruby is watching the tree, but I look for movement. I quickly head for my gear and start putting it over my eyes as I constantly wander around the cave looking for another basilisk.
Ruby says, "Okay, just try not to hurt yourself this time."
Ruby switches to spirit form and lunges at the amulet before I can come up with a witty retort. I shrug my shoulders, lean the branch against the wall, grab my pickaxe and take my first swing at the cave wall. It only takes me about half an hour to extract the armatite ore.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Mining skill has advanced to level 9!
√ Mining
√ Level 9
- Strength +9 Endurance +4
- You are an expert at mining ore.
I seem to have enough ore to smelt into another bar. I pick it up, grab the tree branch and head back to camp. At the camp, I leave the pickaxe and most of my weapons, then grab the ore and the branch and head to the forge room. I place the ore in the crucible and set the branch aside with the pickaxe handle from earlier.
"Ruby, I'm going to need your help."
Ruby says "Okay," steps out of the amulet and takes human form. "What are we going to do this time?"
"I need you to turn on the forge to smelt the Armatite ore again."
Ruby nods and walks to the back of the forge and places her hands on it. Suddenly, the forge bursts into blue flames and I jump back with a curse.
Ruby says, "I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen!"
"It's okay. I should have known, but I didn't stop to think. It's okay to try again."
Ruby says "It's okay" and reactivates the forge.
Once the blue flames subside, I place the crucible in the forge. This time, the armatite ore melts much faster. In a few minutes it is ready to pour into the bar mold.
⟨⟨-DING-⟩⟩.
- Congratulations, the Blacksmith skill expert has advanced to level 12!
√ Expert Blacksmith
√ Level 12
- Fue +14 Fire resistance +14
- You can craft expert level metal items.
Once the ore is poured into the mold, I sit on the stone bench to catch my breath, just being near the forge is exhausting when it's running on blue flames.
"Okay, it's ready, you can stop now."
Ruby lets the forge go back to normal and comes to sit next to me.
Ruby says, "What now, more crafting?"
"No, not yet, how about we finish exploring the cavern first?"
Ruby says, "Sure!"