Ch 69 -- Mithril Lizard

We left the city early the next morning, running toward Pasquale Mountain. Of course Fer is doing all the running, I'm simply riding on his back and Sui is sleeping comfortably in her new bag.

Fer gobbled up some Orc General steaks for breakfast before we set off. We had a long day ahead of us and I didn't want him getting hungry and crabby half-way though. Sui seemed to be quite happy in her bag.

"Is that where that reptile's supposed to be?" Fer's tone of voice was dismissive of his intended prey. Hey, it's supposed to be a Class A monster! A tall peak that I took to be Pasquale Mountain appeared on the horizon.

"If the Guild Master's directions were correct, that's Pasquale Mountain. Do you know where the Metal Lizard is likely to be, Fer?"

"Wait a moment..." Fer said and after a second or two he accelerated towards where he thought the Metal Lizard would be. When I asked him he told me he seems to know the approximate location of any monster nearby. It's something like a feeling of recognition rather than a specific location skill, apparently.

"We're just about there." Saying that Fer slowed down to a halt.

"It's over there." I followed Fer's gaze. There was a cave under the shade of a tree.

"Is that where the Metal Lizard is living?" I asked. I don't like caves for good reason. I blame Fer's magic training regime.

"Probably." Fer answered.

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked apprehensively.

"I'll think about it later." Fer answered. That wasn't the answer I wanted to hear... Fer charged into the cave with me still on his back.

"W- W- W- W- wait a minute, ahhh-" At least let me off first, you big idiot.

As we ran into the pitch-dark cavern we immediately encountered the Metal Lizard. There was a wide opening just past the cave entrance. Over by the far wall the Metal Lizard was eating something with a loud crunching sound. It looked... huh?

"Hey, what's up with that Lizard? Somehow its body is glowing...."

"So what. I'll defeat that reptile with one hit and turn it into money." Fer was indifferent to the unusual sight.

Don't just say "So what", you... To be on the safe side I used Appraisal on the glowing monster and it registered as "Mithril Lizard". ...Mithril? That's the precious metal that appears in fantasy novels?

"Fer, I just used Appraisal on that Metal Lizard and it's actually a Mithril Lizard." I warned him.

"If that's the case there's a vein of mithril ore in here somewhere. That reptile has been eating mithril ore and it's mutated." Fer explained.

So there's a vein of mithril ore here... that's an important discovery, isn't it? Well, it's not something that involves me really, but if there's some mithril ore lying about I'll pick some up. I like the idea of having a mithril sword, or if that's not possible maybe a knife. Mithril sword, mithril knife, both? hmmm... Having a knife and a sword made of such a rare metal is the stuff of fantasy stories. Mithril is especially romantic. I decided that I really wanted them.

"Mithril means that magic is not very effective." Fer explained.

Anything made from mithril is light and hard and it protects well against magical attacks by diffusing the energy. From Fer's experience he told me that magic was reduced to less than half of its usual effectiveness. Did that mean Fer's magic wasn't going to be strong enough to defeat the Mithril Lizard?

Fer shook his head. "All that means is that I'll have to use twice as much magic as normal to deal with that reptile properly." Saying that, the cavern resounded with a loud crash as Fer unleashed his magic attack. Kaboom! Rumble rumble rumble... A single flash of lightning hit the Mithril Lizard. I stared open-mouthed at the sight. Sui, surprised by the loud sound poked her head out of her bag.

"Hey Fer, what did you just do?"

"I fired strong lightning magic at that reptile." Strong? Isn't that a bit excessive? No, thinking about it using that much magic on a Mithril Lizard was probably the right thing to do. The lightning magic was incredibly loud though.

"OK, that's done. Collect it quickly and you can turn it in at the Guild for cash."

"Are you sure it's totally dead?" It was only one hit after all...

"Oh, that reptile was killed by my magic sure enough."

So the Mithril Lizard is standing there eating mithril ore, it doesn't even notice we're here and then, kaboom! and it's dead in an instant... It seems kinda pathetic, a real let-down. I am sorry, Mithril Lizard. That's what I was thinking as I put the Mithril Lizard in my Item Box.

Around where the Mithril Lizard was feeding there were lumps of ore glowing with a pale light. That would be mithril ore, I guessed.

"Fer, hang on a minute, I want to get some of this mithril ore."

"Nuuu, hurry up." Fer was impatient to get going now the job was finished.

"Aruji-, do you want this glowing stone? Sui will help too."

"Thanks, Sui. Bring the glowing stones over to me then."

"I understand-" Sui jumped out of the bag and started gathering mithril ore. I put some nearby mithril ore in my Item Box. Hmmm, I wonder if this is enough.

"I gathered some for you-" Sui chimed in.

"Wow, you sure collected a lot." I praised Sui. She had gathered enough mithril ore to fill the back of a small truck. I felt that maybe that was too much but Sui had worked hard so I couldn't refuse it. I put it in my Item Box and decided to worry about it later. I had easily enough ore now to make a mithril sword and a mithril knife now, maybe I could get a suit of mithril armour made? But if it's armour made from solid metal wouldn't it hinder my movement? Thinking about it though maybe the Mithril Lizard's skin would be just as strong as mithril metal?

"Hey, Fer, would a Mithril Lizard's skin be as strong as mithril metal?" I asked.

Fer thought for a moment."Because that reptile's skin would take on the same characteristics as the ore it ate, yeah it probably will be as strong."

"Oh? Rather than making mithril armour maybe I should get armour made with Mithril Lizard skin instead since it'll be a lot more flexible."

"Hmm? Are you planning to get some armour?"

"Well, I thought that it would be better to have some kind of armour."

"You don't need armour, you've got my magic Barrier." Fer grumped. "Whether it's mithril metal armour or reptile-skin armour, they're nothing compared to my Barrier. It's pointless for you to have something like that."

Well, he's got a point. Fer's magical Barrier has totally prevented me from being injured any time I've been attacked. So what should I do with all this mithril ore? Even if I just hang on to it for the time being, would I be able to sell it if I wanted to?

"Hey, have you finished collecting that mithril ore? Let's get out of here and eat." Fer was getting really impatient now.

Yeah yeah Mister Glutton. We left the cave and I started preparing dinner.

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