The day after that, I actually remembered to go see Robin at her shop about this "refined quartz" stuff.
"Refined quartz is what happens when you heat quartz in a furnace for… what was it, an hour and a half?" she said. She then looked up at me, and I could tell she got some sort of dark realization. "You're going to need a boatload of it if you want any decently long paths."
"Where do I get quartz?" I asked.
"You can find it laying around in the mines," Robin answered. "If you go deep enough, level 80 or below, you can also find Fire Quartz, which will give you thrice as much refined quartz at a time."
I'd never considered mining before in my life, really. My whole life, that seemed like something people only did professionally.
"The mines are dangerous, though," Robin warned me. "There's all sorts of monsters down there. My husband does research on them all the time, and they are not to be messed with."
"So…" I replied, feeling my spirit fall. "The crystal paths I want are going to require me to bet my life?"
"I'm afraid so," Robin said solemnly.
She took a moment to think. I could tell she really wanted the best for me.
"If you really want to take the plunge, there's a place near the entrance that I think sells weapons," she then told me.
I'd regret it if I didn't at least see how difficult it would be, I decided. For all I knew, you'd only get hurt if you let the creatures take a bite out of you.
"Alright," I smiled. "Thank you!"
I went to leave, then realized I forgot to ask another big question.
"Where are the mines, exactly?" was said question.
"There are some planks that'll get you to the other side of the river very near here," Robin replied. "You'll find a hole in the side of the mountain bordered with some wood. There'll also be a lantern."
"Cool!" I said.
"The place with the weapons I was talking about is just past that entrance," said Robin. "It looks like a green house."
"Thanks!" I said.
"Please be careful," Robin insisted.
"I'll do my best," I said with a bit of a laugh.
A few moments later found me entering said green house. There was a man behind a counter and another man sitting in a rocking chair. I wondered what kinds of lives these two led.
"Hm?" said the man behind the counter. "…I've gotten word about a new farmer in town! Would that be you?"
"Yeah, that's me," I replied.
"And you've come by because you want to start your journey down in the mines, right?" he then asked.
"I suppose I'm not the first?" I asked.
"One of the first," the man responded. "…One of the only ones… But never mind that."
The man reached below the counter he was standing at and came back up with a rusty sword.
"Here, take this," he said, holding it out. "This should help you start out in the sport of monster slaying."
I walked up and took it, then asked "What do you want for it?"
"Nothing, take it!" the man replied.
"Oh," I replied. "Thank you!"
A few moments after that saw me entering the mines. I had been underground before, but how cold it was always amazed me.
I first approached what appeared to be a minecart. When I couldn't find anything that appeared to control it, I followed its tracks until, very quickly, they led out of the mountain.
I then went back in and approached what appeared to be an elevator. When I pressed the button, however, it did nothing.
The only thing that appeared to be left was a ladder leading underground, so I took it.
I was interested to see that aside from the fact that this was even a large, spacious area… everything here looked so natural. There were rocks laying all around.
And wouldn't you know it, there was also something that I could guess to be quartz. I quickly rushed over and grabbed it… then pondered another question.
Robin had said there were at least 80 levels to these mines. I couldn't see a ladder anywhere. How was one to proceed?
…Some of these rocks looked bigger than others. Maybe one of them was blocking the way downward.
Sure enough, after a quick scan, I noticed that one of the rocks was nestled in a hole or dip of some sort. Taking out my pickaxe and chopping said rock up, I revealed the way down and took it.
And I was almost immediately convinced that the first level was meant to be the tutorial of levels. The next one was noticeably different; it was bigger, and there were actually what appeared to be these "monsters" everyone was mentioning.
More specifically, a bug thing flew back and forth. I readied my sword and approached it slowly... until I was fully convinced it was blind. I could have reached out and touched it with my own hand, and it still didn't see me. I'd still keep an eye out, but I decided to pass it and go on my way.
Truth be told, part of me was a little disappointed. That same part of me had always wanted to use an actual sword in real life.
Then, I felt a bit heavy, looked at my watch, and saw that it was midnight already. I didn't want to pass out anywhere outside my bed, let alone somewhere where other species would take advantage of the chance to eat me whole, so I proudly left with my one bit of quartz… if that's even what it was.