ALL NOVEL Chapter 46: Finding Something More (2)
For several long, drawn-out minutes, Aoni stood there in the cavern, laughing like a lunatic, while spinning around with the glowing stone in his hands, cradling it like a newborn baby and even planting a few kisses on its crystalline surface before eventually calming down enough to realize Glacia had once again disappeared.
At first, like the good girl she was, Glacia had stood by her Lord, watching as he made a scene, but after three or four minutes, the baby yeti grew bored and went off to explore the new area.
Having spent a few days with Aoni, the small fluff ball understood it would be a while before he got a grip on reality. Since he wasn't paying enough attention to her and didn't seem to be showing any signs of snapping out of his strange state, she felt it was better to search for the stuff that made her sneeze yesterday.
And since there wasn't any real danger apart from maybe falling or something, Aoni wasn't exactly worried about her safety anymore.
'Eh, im sure she's fine, hehe, im rich…no wait…fuck, is it even possible for me to solo mine all these Energia Crystals?' shoving the glowing stone into his pack, Aoni dug out a few more before walking away from the wall and falling back into thought.
Since he was on an exploration mission with a clear goal, the topic of cashing out Energia Crystals for Points could be held off till a later date. Still, he did learn something valuable apart from his Attribute's newfound ability to exchange the crystals, and that was the fact that he would be able to determine their Grade, something that generally requires either a specific Attribute or a lot of experience in the field of inspection.
Then again, multiple passives could aid in such a thing. There even existed devices back on Terra that were able to get a rough reading on how much Energia was in the crystal, but the fact that he could, on the fly, figure out which were the treasures and which were trash in a pile of gems was quite a boon for the lad.
Unfortunately, it was because of his notifications that Aoni was quick to realize he wasn't finding anything other than one-star-grade crystals…even so, it was quite a find. If he played his cards right, maybe money wouldn't be a big issue in the near future.
"Still…with such a large amount of Energia Crystals, it's amazing that this place didn't spawn a Dungeon Instance; then again, the Energia isn't necessarily focused on one singular point." Walking away from the wall, Aoni carefully watched his steps so he didn't trip on anything as he walked out into the large open space.
With a simple glance, it was easy to understand this cavern was several times the size of his school Gym, well over the size of 10 American Football fields, and several hundred feet tall, and the best part was, everywhere you looked, you'd see teal lights dotting everything.
From the walls to the floor and ceiling, hell, even the stalactites and stalagmites were frosted with small Energia Crystals, which not only provided a light source but also raised the temperature in the space to a comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
Standing where he was, Aoni also noticed that he was actually at the top of a long winding pathway, which led down like a mountain pass, and upon reaching the edge, he took note that it was a drop of around 10 to 15 stories, meaning that within his mountain, was a MASSIVE bowl-shaped formation.
That wasn't all either because smack dab in the center of this cavern was a large, crystal clear, and glowing lake.
'Warm temperatures, closed-off environment, water source, and Energia Crystals as far as the eye can see. This place is PERFECT for creating a Town or small-scale City within my territory…but…I can't help but feel this may be the den of a beast."
"Gaoooooo!"
"Gaoooooo!"
"Hm? I hear my fur ball, but I see no fur ball," looking around, side to side and up and down, Aoni murmured, but due to the low lighting and Glacia's small stature, apart from hearing her far-off voice, the lad couldn't exactly pinpoint her location.
"Gaooooooo…gaooooo, GRRRR."
"I hear you, Glacia, but I don't see you! Come back here…" Cupping his hands to his mouth, Aoni shouted into the void, and sure enough, he heard another loud HUFF off in the distance.
"Pfft, I don't know where she learned to be sassy, but I have a bad feeling that she's gonna be a handful someday," shaking his head and wearing a smile, Aoni began carefully navigating his way toward the uneven pathway, which seemed to have been carved out by years of erosion.
Oddly enough, while it didn't resemble a man-made pass, it was evident by the clear erosion that it had been used as a means of transportation by SOMETHING, but the question is, what?
While the thought bounced around Aoni's head, he continued traversing the narrow path while noticeably heading downward until, at some point, he heard the pitter-patter of small feet on stone, followed by a flash of white skittering to a stop directly at his feet.
"Welcome back. Did you find something?"
"GAOOOO"
"Hmm, and you were yelling to tell me that,"
"OoO,"
"You remember how to get there?"
"Gaoo OoO"
"Well, lead the way," Kneeling while he spoke, the lad roughly deciphered what she was saying, and after giving a few headpats to Glacia along with a clear command, the pair of Lord and Summon began walking at a decent pace down the pass, several stories until reaching the bottom of the bowl-shaped cavern and heading straight toward where the lad had spotted the lake earlier.
While they walked, Aoni's head was on a swivel, taking in everything and making one mental note after another about things such as defensive structures or even the placement of buildings.
Sure, a lot of cleanup was required before he could even consider constructing anything, but between his physical strength and Glacia's help, it was more of a matter of time and effort than anything else.