Chapter 70: Old technology

...

"So the abandoned mines you mentioned are inside this place?"

"Yeah, the ice caves were a lot easier to move on and find minerals, so the people in my era usually built them here, though there should still be some in the normal caves, however, I have not found one in this area at least..."

"Huh..."

Currently, Jack and I were standing in front of what seemed to be the entrance to the ice cave. As we dove into it, the seemingly normal cave behind me suddenly turned completely into ice and snow, and the air turned freezing cold.

I guess we should be under the snow mountains from the Human territory huh...?

"Why are you shivering? Oh, right... Human skin and those things..."

"Y-yeah, how the hell this those people from your era manage to bear this cold while working in a mine? I could probably have my fingers completely turned to ice before even swinging my pickaxe..."

"We used fire magic on us to elevate our temperature enough and keep us warm"

Oh, like that thing I did against that Elf mage? Now that I think about it, this should be a great opportunity to practice that technique...

[Fire magic]

Hah~ that's better...

*Tzzzz....*

Oh, fuck not again...

"What the heck are you doing?"

"I'm trying to use my magic to warm up my body, otherwise I will end up having my limbs frozen before I know it"

"All I can see is that you're a masochist that enjoys burning himself"

"It's not like I'm doing it on purpose, there was no record about this magic at all so I'm improvising all the process by myself"

"Improvising by yourself... you crazy man? At this rate you will end with severe burnings inside your body, and probably most of your blood will evaporate if you don't do it correctly!"

"Then how did the people from your times do it if it's as hard as you say...?"

"Miners went through a large and extremely long process of training in order to dominate this kind of magic. Besides that, only miners that were going specifically to this kind of ice caves were taught this magic technique, as the other miners that went towards normal caves did not need it. I tell you, if it's not by the method created by the people of my era then you will probably end up charred completely before even lowering one degree of the temperature from your body"

"Whatever, it's just a little bit of pain, nothing I haven't tasted before..."

"Hey stop it!" 

"Don't worry, I have already got accustomed to pain somewhat, and even if it doesn't lessen the pain, I have learned how to ignore it somewhat"

"What the heck is wrong with you"

*Tzzzzzz*

"Look! You are already burning your muscles and veins! Stop it before you are not even able to move!"

 *Gulp*

As I took a healing potion in order to regenerate my lost HP after burning myself accidentally.

Soon, the smoke subsided as my muscles regenerated completely and I lowered the mana output of the fire magic in order to stop it from burning my insides any longer.

However, I accidentally lowered the output a bit too much and I ended up receiving the cold so suddenly that it made me flinch in surprise. Like being suddenly bathed in cold water right after coming out of some hot springs, that kind of surprise.

Though the  hot springs were pretty much burning me alive...

If I were to compare the difficulty of lowering the mana output enough to only make my body warm, then it could be similar to trying to click a specific pixel in your screen with your mouse at 1000% sensitivity. That's why I needed to do it slow.

"What the heck is wrong with your body? How did you regenerate after just drinking a healing potion?!"

"My healing potions are a bit different from the usual ones... Anyways, while I keep practicing this magic let's continue moving towards the mine"

"... Are you sure you're considered a hero in your city...?"

"Pretty much, why do you ask?"

Jack looked at the Blood Butcher in my hands, and the looked at me with a strange look on his face.

"Nothing... nothing at all..."

...

Somehow I feel insulted.

°

°

°

Some time later...

...

"Well, here we are. The abandoned mine." Jack placed his skeletical hands on his waist and exclaimed while letting out an exhausted sigh after the long walk they had in order to reach this place.

"Ohoho!! I can already smell the treasure!!" Aspen, who rubbed his hands while his face twisted into an evil grin, soon ran towards the insides of the mines in order to find chests or other things that could be of utility for him.

"..."

Jack, who looked at Aspen ran away with a evil grin on his face, stood dumbfounded while contemplating if his decision of bringing him here was the best option.

"...... Did I just bring a criminal with me......?"

However, after some seconds he stopped thinking too much and only ended up shrugging his shoulders with an exhausted look in his skull/face.

"Whatever, help is help anyways. Besides, even if he won't really keep his promise, after becoming a skeleton my body got surprisingly a lot stronger than any other human, so I can still make him bring me to the surface by force... though those healing potions can be a problem..." Jack muttered in a low voice while following the Aspen.

"Wohoooo! Jack, look at this treasure!" Aspen, who seemed to be inside a room with dozens of chests inside it, screamed happily while jumping around as if he were a kid.

In Aspen hands there were many strange red bracelets that had a small gem on top of it in the shape of a heart. They seemed to exude some kind of magical aura whenever they entered in touch with Aspen's skin, and they even glowed slightly when waved around by Aspen. 

"Hoh~ You found bands of regeneration, huh? Yeah, those things were pretty popular among workers as they helped a lot to stop people from over-bleeding on the cases when one of the miners got injured after fighting one of the monsters inside the caves. They were pretty much the standard equipment for any worker that had to fight monsters at any time"

"This is a motherfucking jackpot!" Aspen looked at the special bands in his hands while his eyes glittered while looking at them.

"Well, it's not like it's that valuable... I mean, it wasn't even that expensive in my times because the effect was minimal, and it only stopped slightly the bleedings on your body..."

However, Aspen was not paying attention to Jack at all, instead, he was looking at the screen in front of his eyes that glowed slightly in a golden color.

 

Soon, Aspen looked again at the other regeneration bands on his hands that were slightly covered in dust and even appeared to have a bit of moo in them.

'To think that this system actually has a use like this!' Aspen thought as he looked at the dozens of chest in his surroundings filled with bands of regeneration ready to be upgraded at any moment by his system.

'Though there's this thing about soul resistance that worries me... maybe it's the same as the Soul Power unit of measurement that the Elves use? In that case, I won't be able to sell it to anyone as they will probably explode right after putting them on if the requirement is too high...'

Aspen equipped right away the band of regeneration that he has just restored, and smiled widely as he saw his defense points raise up.

'Whatever, they still work for me anyways. First is my safety and then comes the business...'

...

After some minutes, Aspen found a lot of mining equipment that seemed to have been abandoned by the miners after the Great war happened.

There were dozens of iron pickaxes (though most of them were broken or completely oxidized to the point of uselessness), grappling hooks (oxidized to the point of uselessness as well), and even a ripped and dirty miner's set of clothes that gave him +15% mining speed when equipping all of it, and although it should have been supposed to give him +30% mining speed instead, due to the oldness of the clothes and all the defects that it has gained through the years, the effect has halved.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the restoring ability of the system only applied to accessories like the bands of regeneration. So, unfortunately, all those tools and clothes that he found were bounded to remain useless for the rest of eternity.

*Tap*

Just as Aspen was checking another chest with an expectant look on his face, suddenly a strange cry came from behind him.

*Gya!*

A small and fluffy animal with an enormous nose coming from its face, but that unlike any other animal Aspen had ever seen, this one only had two short legs protruding from its fur. It had no arms, and it was completely circular.

"What the heck is this guy?" Aspen, who turned to look at it, flinched a bit after seeing its horrible face, that resembled somewhat that of an old man but with an enormous nose protruding from it.

Soon, after it made eye contact with its tiny eyes, a screen appeared right in front of his eyes.

How does a shrimp like this still have more HP than me? This world's creatures are completely illogical...

*Gyaaaa!!*

Soon, the Snow flinx lunged at Aspen with ferocity as it opened its mouth hidden under his enormous nose, and dozens of sharp teeth surged out ready to tear his flesh appart.

*Bam!!!*

However, one kick from Aspen was enough to send him flying away.

"Well look at that... he is actually a lot lighter than what I thought he could be... I feel like even a small punch from me could send him flying several meters away..."

*Gyaa!!*

*Bam!!*

Soon the flinx appeared once again. However, before it even knew what happened, he was kicked away again.

"Well, this is kind of funny. It's like playing football"

*Gyaaaaaaaa!!!*

*Bam!!*

Jack, who was looking at this scene from the side with an astonished expression on his face, ended up shruggin his skeletical shoulders before he lied down on the floor in order to take a rest while Aspen did his thing.

'Did I bring with me a criminal, a hero, or a kid?'

...

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