Kyle looked out of the crevice.
There were two small mountains in front of him, both about 300 meters high.
"Do not pass between the mountains," Theodor said.
"How come?" Kyle asked.
"It is never a good idea to pass through places that give natural shade. The crevice was an exception since I knew what was waiting there. I do not know what is waiting between the mountains."
"Okay then," Kyle said. "So, I sprint through the open terrain to the right?"
He looked at the relatively even plane.
In the distance, he saw a huge lizard resting under the light of the sun.
"Bad idea," Theodor said. "You are too exposed, and there is no safe place in sight."
"Then, what do I do?" Kyle asked. "I don’t really see any other way."
"If you can’t see one, you make one," Theodor answered.
"Not sure what you mean," Kyle said, scratching the side of his head.
"Through one of the mountains."
Kyle looked at the mountains again.
"That’s... a lot of digging," he said.
"It’s the best way forward. Also, you need starting capital. The Fighting Guilds don’t just take any Adept."
"So, it’s back to mining then," Kyle said.
Kyle took a deep breath. "Sure thing, Boss."
He looked around again, making sure that there was no beast looking.
Then, he charged towards the right mountain.
While he was running towards the mountains, his instincts screamed at him.
Danger was approaching!
Just when Theodor started to shout, Kyle jumped to his left.
Three projectiles hit the ground beside Kyle.
Kyle looked over and saw three long feathers sticking out of the ground.
They were grey and half a meter long.
Kyle looked up and saw a distant bird.
The bird was circling around the tip of the right mountain, and its wings were a couple of meters wide.
Kyle readied himself for battle and took out his hammer.
The bird just kept circling the tip of the mountain without doing anything else.
"Don’t just stop! Get to the mountain!" Theodor shouted.
Kyle quickly resumed running, but he didn’t ignore the bird anymore.
Surprisingly, he managed to reach the foot of the mountain without being attacked again.
Obviously, the bird had noticed him, but for some reason, it didn’t attack a second time.
Without waiting, Kyle hit the base of the mountain with the flat side of his hammer.
The wall in front of Kyle shook, but only a couple of stones fell.
Usually, one strike with Kyle’s hammer would scatter stones everywhere.
’This fucker is hard!’
Kyle spun his hammer 180° and hit the wall with its pick.
A gigantic gash appeared on the wall.
The next moment, Kyle looked around again, making sure that nobody had noticed him.
After that, he started to attack the wall relentlessly, alternating between the two sides of his hammer.
The flat side loosened the rocks while the pick tore them open.
If he only had one of the two sides, he wouldn’t be making a lot of progress.
After around three minutes of digging, Kyle created a small hole and crawled inside.
Finally, he had a moment to rest.
He was no longer in the open.
"What’s this bird’s problem?" Kyle asked.
"That was a warning shot," Theodor answered.
"A warning shot?" Kyle asked. "Looked like it wanted to kill me."
"It was trying to kill you, but only very casually," Theodor answered. "That’s a Metal Rain Bird. They are amongst the slowest kinds of birds due to their horrible acceleration."
"However, their defenses are quite strong since it’s covered with metallic feathers. They can acquire food by sniping a beast from hundreds of meters away, but if they feel threatened, they will move closer."
"Okay," Kyle said. "So, it thought I was food?"
"Potentially," Theodor answered. "If you died to that attack, you would have become food. If you didn’t, you would be intimidated and keep away from the top of the mountain."
"Huh," Kyle said. "Is its nest there?"
"Possibly," Theodor said. "When it shot its feathers at you and saw you evade, it realized that shooting more feathers most likely wouldn’t kill you."
"But you are also not powerful enough to be worth the effort. This Metal Rain Bird seems to be an Initial, Early, or Mid Ferocious Beast. The highest likelihood would be Early Ferocious Beast."
Kyle took a deep breath.
’Another Ferocious fucking Beast,’ he thought. ’Sure enough, I’m too weak for this place.’
"As long as you don’t move towards the peak of the mountain, it shouldn’t attack you... too much," Theodor said.
"Sure," Kyle said with a groan. "So, do I just start digging now?"
"Yes," Theodor answered.
Kyle took another deep breath. "How long do you think it’s going to take to get to the other side? That’s gotta be like 1,000 feet."
"Stop using that antiquated measurement," Theodor said with annoyance. "It’s about 500 meters. If you keep at it, you will be done in about a week or so."
"A week?!" Kyle asked. "What am I going to eat?"
"Go eat the ore you dig up. Mountains have some ore. It might not be very valuable, but it should give you enough Ether to survive."
Kyle sighed. "Sure thing, Boss."
The next moment, Kyle slowly crawled out of the hole again.
He couldn’t swing his hammer in such a tiny hole.
After making sure that everything was clear, Kyle attacked the wall again.
While digging, Kyle kept a lookout for the Metal Rain Bird.
It still circled the top of the mountain, and he really didn’t want to get attacked by that thing.
If this thing actually swooped down, Kyle would be done for.
’Luckily, I’m too weak to catch its attention. Seriously, if I saw a Spitter right now, I might not even kill it. The taste has really gotten bland and boring.’
’That’s probably how I taste to that bird.’
"Alright, boys," Kyle said. "It’s time to earn some money for our wives!"
"You don’t have a wife," Theodor said with annoyance.
"Not with that attitude," Kyle answered.