Chapter 31
**
The Giant Spider
Ion pulled and pushed Dvalin upward toward the spot where the pickaxe was wedged in.
Lotte had followed, but Autun and Pichai stayed below, watching.
Only the heel of Dvalin’s boot reached the pickaxe, which was sunk deep.
“You go first and pull it out.”
“Me?”
“It looks like the golden pickaxe, but to be sure you should try first.”
“There must be a reason. Understood.”
The difference between someone from the family and someone from outside seemed to matter here.
Ion gripped the handle of the pickaxe.
It had been abandoned for so long, yet the leather wrapping the handle was still soft.
He wrapped both hands around it and yanked with all his strength.
*… What?*
It didn’t budge.
He gripped it again with both hands and pulled with everything he had.
He had grown strong over the year since his regression, especially in raw power, yet the pickaxe refused to move.
It was simply too firmly lodged, but even that didn’t make it tremble.
It wasn’t a strength issue. It was the power sealed inside the pickaxe.
He knew that, but he squeezed every ounce of strength in his body and yanked again.
No luck.
Ion let go of the handle and stepped back.
“This must be a treasure no one else can touch.”
“That’s right. It really was the golden pickaxe.”
Dvalin’s face lit up with pure emotion as he stared at the pickaxe.
He stepped forward, lifted his heel, and grasped the handle.
*…!*
The pickaxe, whose color had been a bit darker than ordinary steel, turned from the handle to solid gold.
In an instant the entire tool glowed golden—not from reflection, but because it radiated light from within.
And just as expected, the golden pickaxe slid smoothly out of the black stone wall with no effort and landed in Dvalin’s hand.
“Keureuk! Kultahaku has claimed the golden pickaxe!”
“Now we can go to the heaven we dreamed of!”
Autun and Pichai, who had been watching from below, hugged each other and celebrated even more wildly than Dvalin.
The kobolds called any place full of glittering jewels and minerals a heaven, except for the hole the wall had been drilled through.
They had believed Dvalin would lead them there, which was why the dwarf had felt the burden.
But seeing Dvalin raise the shining golden pickaxe made the kobolds realize he was something far beyond legend.
――Zzzzip!
A crack began to spread across the stone where the pickaxe had been.
Cracking stone was nothing special, but the fissures spread longer and longer in an odd pattern.
*…!*
The cracks extended in long lines, then radiated outward from the hole like spokes of a wheel.
――Jzzzt!
Ion, still awed, wrapped his arms around Dvalin’s shoulders.
“It’s unusual. Let’s come down for now.”
“What?”
――Jzzzt!
Dvalin pointed at the cracking stone wall without hesitation and began descending. The two kobolds backed away from the wall as well.
A moment later the radial cracks collapsed inward, and everything started falling.
Kukukuk!
Black stones crashed down, sending up clouds of dust that finally settled. The bright light made the oil-soaked rags tied around Ion’s forehead unnecessary.
Beyond the collapsed black wall lay a vast cave.
Pillars stretched from floor to ceiling like a stalactite cave, and on the floor, walls, and ceiling were embedded countless large and small ore veins and gems that sparkled on their own.
“Keureuk! Th-this… is heaven!”
The heaven the kobolds had spoken of was right here.
The two kobolds stared at the glittering ores with open mouths in admiration, and Dvalin couldn’t close his.
It was so dazzling it took Ion’s breath away.
*But why was this cave sealed behind a black wall in the first place? Why was the pickaxe here?*
Dvalin and the two kobolds crossed over the fallen boulders to enter the cave, while Ion, feeling an inexplicable unease, carefully followed with Lotte.
“This isn’t enough. We have to reopen the entire mine!”
“Are there many rare ores?”
“Not many. There are some ores that harden iron even more.”
Ion nodded and looked around.
The bright light left no corners for enemies or danger to hide.
Naturally, the map showed no threats.
Dvalin and the kobolds were so excited by the ores they kept touching them with the pickaxe.
They would go a little deeper, then return once there was nothing strange.
* * *
Ion walked through the vast cave with Dvalin for a long time, planning to head back to the village.
Suddenly.
――Kuoong!
The ground trembled with a loud noise.
“Everyone gather!”
Ion called out to the scattered Dvalin and the kobolds who had been exploring.
They hurried to gather, and the ground trembled violently again with another loud sound.
――Groong!
It sounded like massive rocks rubbing against each other.
*Nothing on the map shows this yet!*
The map only had Lotte’s green dot and the blue dots of the others—no other markers.
The sound could be from an enemy or something very far away.
――Sssst!
A red dot suddenly swelled as a sound like spiders crawling approached.
――Kungkungkung!
The startled kobolds and Dvalin snapped awake when Lotte barked.
“What is this? An enemy?”
“Yes! Giant spiders are coming! Everyone prepare!”
Dvalin wore his battle hammer at his hip but kept the pickaxe in his hand instead.
Autun and Pichai also held the small pickaxes suited to their size.
They weren’t ideal weapons, but better than nothing.
――Sssssst!
The bright cave made the approaching spiders clearly visible.
As soon as Ion confirmed the sight he kicked off the ground and charged.
――Kukung!
Another loud sound shook the ground as he ran.
The sound was closing rapidly.
Whatever it was, he had to finish and kill the spiders quickly.
He closed the distance and swung his blade, slicing through one after another.
“Keegik!”
A group of spiders surrounded Ion, attacking while the rest crawled past toward Lotte and Dvalin.
Ion carved through the clinging spiders while watching over Lotte and Dvalin.
Dvalin wielded the golden pickaxe to tear into the spiders.
Since the tool wasn’t meant to cut, it wasn’t like Ion’s blade, but he used it to rip flesh right off their bodies.
Lotte helped by tearing off spider legs in the gaps Dvalin created and protected the kobolds.
They were doing well on their own.
The number of spiders was fewer than before, and the space was wide, so they didn’t have to worry about the ceiling.
Ion happily carved through the clinging spiders.
――Kuoong!
The ground shook louder with another loud noise.
The map’s red dots for giant spiders suddenly scattered.
Kwakwakwak!
A section of the cave ceiling collapsed, revealing a dark silhouette.
It was a giant spider.
Other spiders that had been fought were still called giant spiders, but this one was truly enormous.
The wide cave felt cramped in front of a creature the size of ten humans.
It couldn’t move freely and crashed through the cave walls as it advanced.
It had to be dealt with now.
As he charged at the spider, its massive leg slammed down toward Ion from above.
Kuaaa!
It looked like it was descending slowly, but the speed was anything but slow.
Kuung!
He rolled his body and barely dodged, swinging his sword.
Clang! The hard shell repelled his blade.
This was the first time he hadn’t been able to cut with Pain.
Normally spiders had softer shells than other insects.
Other giant spiders weren’t this tough either.
But this one was so large that its shell had become hard.
If the power matched, Pain could cut through anything.
Kuoong! Boong boong!
He dodged the successive slamming legs and found an opening to drive his sword deep into one of the giant spider’s legs.
Kakakak! The blade pierced the thick, resistant shell and sank deep inside.
“Keeeek!”
The spider lifted its leg when it felt the stab, and Ion was pulled up with it.
It shook its leg to fling Ion off, slamming it into a stalactite pillar.
The pillar cracked, but Ion kept his sword out, protecting his head with one arm.
He couldn’t let go—he had no weapon that could attack outside of Pain.
He shattered the pillar and raised the leg high again, but the Ion hanging on it suddenly opened his eyes, yanked the sword free, and leaped down.
As he fell he drove the blade into one of the spider’s single eyes.
“Keeeek!”
He stabbed one of the eight single eyes and burst it.
The spider shook its head violently, trying to throw Ion off, but Ion clung to the sword and pulled sideways.
Crunch! With a sideways yank he burst another eye.
“Keeeeeeeeeek!”
A spider with no way to turn its body could see all directions at once.
That meant if it lost one eye, it couldn’t see that direction at all.
The giant spider, blinded, staggered blindly, crashing into walls and pillars until it tripped over the rubble of its own destroyed pillar and tilted.
Its body slowly tilted like a dead tree before suddenly crashing to the ground.
Ion leaped away just as the spider touched down and rolled across the floor.
Kwaaaang!
The ground shook violently with a massive sound, sending dust flying.
Though the eyes were gone, the spider tried to rise again, stomping its legs.
Ion stabbed his sword into the joint connecting the body and legs and dragged it down.
A piece of the thick, massive leg was severed, and the weight made it crash.
The leg fell away, and the spider’s body tilted.
Ion climbed up the legs to the spot where he had popped the eyes and drove the sword in again.
“Keeeeeeeeeek!”
The spider’s brain was a little above the eyes.
It was too big for one stab, but starting from the already-made hole he could reach it.
Squish! The more Ion stirred inside the spider’s skull, the slower and eventually still the spider’s movements became.
Ion had grown strong enough that he rarely felt his strength increase from killing normal monsters.
Even this giant spider’s swarm had been just numerous, nothing special.
But this one carried power on the scale of its size.
No, the kind of power was different.
His muscles swelled with strength, and his senses sharpened even more.
And the dots on the map shrank.
The map’s detection range had expanded again.
Ion adapted to the suddenly sensitive senses while standing on the spider’s head.
* * *
The group returned to the kobold village.
The kobolds were ecstatic about the golden pickaxe Dvalin had brought and practically worshipped him.
They demanded to be hired as miners in the mines and explained that was the only way they could continue living here.
Dvalin, who had no intention of mining the ores he saw in the cave, began negotiating with the kobolds.
While that happened, Ion practiced adapting to his newly sensitive senses alone.
Training to keep and expand one’s senses was necessary even for knights, because all five senses were required for finding, tracking, or fighting enemies.
It wasn’t needed for slow development, but when change happened suddenly like this, adaptation time was required.
This was Ion’s first experience of suddenly becoming hyper-sensitive, so it took time.
He entered the dark underground tunnel with only Lotte and practiced adapting under minimal stimulation.
A person’s body was truly strange—the unfamiliar, alien senses slowly became familiar, like breathing.
Three days later, after saying goodbye to the kobolds, the group headed for the mine entrance.
They used the shortcut they had come down by.
When they reached the surface, the frost reindeer Niel, who had been waiting at the shelter, welcomed them with joy.
The troughs were empty of water and hay, so she was even happier.
Ion and Dvalin filled the troughs with water and cut grass to fill them.
They lit the fire in the shelter and ate dinner.
While Ion prepared the bedding, he asked Dvalin.
“If we start mining in the mine, what will you do with the blacksmith shop in the Yetev Estate?”
“I plan to keep it open. I’ll sell the iron ore as is, but if I get valuable ores I’ll make a hammer myself.”
“I see. It will be difficult since you’re staying here.”
“Actually… I thought it was enough just to find this pickaxe, but seeing the kobolds made me realize I couldn’t do that. In a way, they have remembered our family longer than our own dwarf family.”
It was truly surprising and wondrous to think about Dvalin’s words that way.
“Yes. It’s a truly wondrous thing.”
“Theirs was to mine. And to build a village where there are full of glittering ores. I have to do at least that much.”
“I didn’t know the kobolds would like glittering ores.”
“I heard goblins love gold or scrap metal, but I didn’t know the kobolds were like that.”
“That is also a wondrous thing.”
“Haha, that’s right. That’s how much I didn’t know about the kobolds.”
The goblins’ wanderings were famous.
So much so that there was even a legend about catching a goblin carrying a large sack and obtaining treasure, the so-called Treasure Goblin.
“When we get back, I’ll use my full skill to repair your armor.”
“Will you have time for that? You’ll be busy going back to the mine.”
“Then I’ll hire someone to pack the gear. That should be fine. I also need to bring someone to guard the blacksmith shop in my place.”
“I understand. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Haha, yes. I will.”
It was really exciting to hear a dwarf say he would make good armor.