BXBX NOVEL Chapter 91: Miner (3)
[You have learned new skills—A Miner's Awareness(Rare) and A Miner's Golden Eye(Rare)!]
[A Miner's Awareness(Rare)—a skill to sense and perceive monsters common in mines and dungeons. It contains Saku's experience and knowledge.]
[A Miner's Awareness(Rare) can be synced with The Perception Skill(Common) for a higher radius.]
[A Miner's Golden Eye(Rare)—a skill to spot various ores, minerals, and resources found in mines and dungeons. It contains Saku's experience and knowledge.]
Jake had spent his remaining time in Saku's cave.
It was a valuable experience as he learned about various ores and minerals. He saw how their layers and veins looked and even struck them with his pickax to increase his miner's proficiency.
It was only a matter of time before he would receive a title and subclass from Saku.
Saku was also impressed by Jake's strength and dexterity. That said, Jake's excitement to learn new things was incomparable to his high stats—it was a genuine passion.
Anything that would help his archery was cool and exciting.
Jake also wasn't afraid of exercising his muscles.
It was fun to teach him various things.
Speaking of new things, the miner's lesson wasn't done yet.
Saku used a special trick, turning off Jake's and his flashlights. Their suits also lost all light.
Darkness blanketed them.
Jake coolly adapted to the new environment. He looked around, finding no one. His perception skill, combined with A Miner's Awareness, unfolded a vast bubble around him to keep him safe from any dangers.
'It must be a part of the special miner's lesson,' Jake thought.
He couldn't sense Saku.
This NPC was hiding his level, but Jake didn't doubt the man was of a high level.
Recalling Saku's explanations about hazards in the mine, Jake had an inkling he knew what would soon come at him.
'It'll be either Saku or monsters,' Jake thought.
Despite all this thinking, Jake didn't have time to take out his bow and quiver. Before he clicked on the inventory feature on his game system, monsters breezed through the darkness to his side.
Jake sensed them.
With his pickax's handle tightly clenched in his hand, Jake swung the sharpest part at the closest monster. He felt a hit and something glancing off the cave's wall. Another monster lurched at him, but Jake's perception easily allowed him to see through the monster's trajectory.
The little creature got blown away from Jake.
The last monster suffered the same fate.
Saku's applause came from behind Jake.
He shouted, "Perfect! Ya remained calm and protected yourself with your miner's equipment! Usually, players don't wear our suits or miner's helmets during their dungeon or cave expeditions. Only a few go to caves only to mine—those wear our stuff. The thing is that monsters don't have any source of light in their nests, so they always go first to our light.
I don't want to damage our guild's stuff, so I just turned them off."
Jake nodded, "I see."
"Ya are really simple to teach, Archer! Even experienced players past level twenty get scared when the darkness comes over them, but ya stood cold-blooded and wary of your surroundings! Ya don't have the perception skill already for no reason!" Saku smiled.
Jake reciprocated his smile.
He asked, "Since the darkness stays, I take it a few more monsters will come at me?"
Saku nodded, "Yep! Ya have to learn how to protect yourself without your usual equipment. Monsters, residents, and players will always aim for the break between ya putting down the pickax and extending ya hand for ya bow. Giving anyone an edge is the worst we can do."
After that, the same monsters pounced at Jake.
Those were called Stone Piercers. Their level was low, around level seven, so their presence was easy to spot, and their strength and skills weren't deadly. Their appearance was similar to hedgehogs, but their skin was as gray as stone and often adapted to their nest's colors.
It was difficult to see them even with lights on.
After understanding Saku's objective, Jake focused on creating as much distance with the stone piercers as possible. He used the blunt side of the pickax to send them flying back into the stomach of the abyss. When the monsters left his perception bubble, Jake comfortably took out his bow and arrows.
A single one was enough for each stone piercer.
Three soothing whistles echoed in the cave.
Saku had never heard such a whistle in the cave, so he was surprised how melodious it could be.
He grinned, "Lights on!"
Jake instinctively shut his eyes. A few breaths later, he opened them.
Saku stood before him with a broad smile, "I'll surprise you with a blackout from now on. Just keep mining."
Jake curtly nodded.
For the next hour, Jake fought various cavern monsters. Their levels and appearances served as different trials for Jake, making the test more enjoyable.
Perhaps it was just the feeling of a bow in a different environment that stirred Jake's heart.
Time flew so much that Jake didn't even notice he was a step before the last challenge.
He forgot about it because of the abundance of different monsters and his thrill.
A sudden, rapid attack came at him from the side.
His perception was too late to catch it, causing Jake to take it head-on.
A heavy fist sank into his cheek, closing his left eye. His head craned to the side first, then the rest of the body followed, as the punch sent Jake rolling on the ground.
'Saku!' Jake thought. The pain wasn't that much because of the pain sensor lowered down, but Jake also could tell that Saku had been holding back.
Saku's voice flowed from the side, "Ya haven't fought many people yet, right? Ya reaction was much slower!"
It was the truth.
Jake lifted himself up, "That's true."
Saku smiled, "Drop the pickax and get your hands up, then! I'll teach ya some of the close combat!" Saku clenched his hands tightly, "Those hands caught many thieves and bastards!"