Hello, hello, hello, what's happenin' readers?

This edited version of chapter 5 was reuploaded when chapter 78 was uploaded.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jagex, RuneScape, or any of the RuneScape characters. All I own is the plot of this fanfiction and some of the characters in the story. I am not making a financial profit from this story.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Mining ores and Smithing Daggers

I climbed down the ladder. A sudden gust of cold air came out from the cave. I shivered, the hairs on the back of my head standing on end. The ladder was very long, and it was getting darker, damper and colder with every step. I went down, down, down, down, into deep blackness, until I hit the ground. The moment I touched the ground, large flame lamps went on in the dungeon, and I could see clearly I was in a kind of cavern.

I shivered miserably again, not liking the looks of the place. Ahead of me, I saw a dark, damp tunnel, and I reluctantly decided to follow that tunnel, since it seemed like the only way forward. I walked along, my footsteps echoing off the damp walls of the dungeon, and finally, after what felt like hours of walking, I finally arrived at an opening.

There was a large opening in the cave filled with different rocks in it. But these looked like different rocks. There were streaks of silver in some of the rocks on the right, and orange streaks in the rocks on the left. People were crowding around the rocks, banging pickaxes against them. On the far end of the cave was a large, boiling hot furnace, like a portal into hell. I eyed the tumbling, white-hot coals in the furnace nervously. People were putting different things in, and they came out like a large pile of red-hot goopy melted metal, which were then put into bar moulds. Near the furnace were two anvils, where people were banging hammers against the anvil, with bars in the middle. I saw a tall, thin, bony man with a dirty brown shirt and trousers, a big filth-colour cloak and an enormous rucksack on his back. He spotted me and went towards me, smiling slyly at me.

"Why hello there youngster, I am the mining and smithing tutor on this island, and I am here to teach you the basics of mining and the basics of using a furnace and an anvil. And by the way, my name is Deezick, but I prefer to be called the mining instructor," He said gruffly to me.

"Well, first of all, you mine some ore from different rocks. The rocks can be found all over the world. There are tin and copper, iron, coal, silver, gold, mithril and adamantine, and runite, and even different gems. Scattered all throughout RuneScape, you can find all of these rocks and ores.

"Well, then, what can you do with this ore? Well, you'll need to put it into the form of a bar before you can do anything else with it! That is what a furnace is for. Just insert the ore in the furnace (taking care not to burn your hands) and then when you've melted some of it together, use the fireproof ladle provided to scoop it out and to place it into a bar mould. Then, once it is cooled down, take it out and there, you have a bar of whatever metal you used!

"Sometimes you can use just one ore on its own to make a bar (for example, gold). But, other times, you will need more then one ore to make a bar of some kind of metal (for example, you need six coals and one adamantine to make an adamant bar). But, once it is in bar form what can you do with it?

"There are a few options here to do with bars. One option is to turn the bar into a weapon! Use a hammer with the anvils provided, and you can bang it into whatever shape you want to! But, some metals are harder to turn into weapons, so you'll need higher smithing level to turn some metals into some weapons. And it also depends on the amount of bars you have got. For example, let's say I want a bronze plate body. I can't make a large bronze plate body with just one bar of bronze, can't I? So, the solution to that would be to use more then one bar of bronze, and smash it all together! Another thing you can do with the bar of bronze would be to sell it for a profit. Some metals are really valuable, and can be sold to shops or the grand exchange for very high prices.

"Well, we'd better get you started in mining then," he finished, and fished something out of his bag. He pulled out a bronze pickaxe, and handed it to me. "Now, first you've got to learn what kind of ore is inside the rock before you mine it, so that little green book the RuneScape starter guide gave you would come in handy for that. Once you know what are inside the rocks, come to me, and I will tell you what to do after that."

I nodded, and ran off towards the silver-streaked rock. I held up my green book against it, and it flipped open to a page, which told me that there was tin inside the rock, and I could mine this at level 1 mining, and if I put this inside a furnace with copper ore, I would make bronze. So then, I went to the orange rocks, which turned out to be copper. I went up to the mining and smithing tutor, expecting more instructions. He nodded curtly at me, and told me to start mining. I did so. I got my pickaxe, and hit a copper rock with all my might with it. I chipped away some rock, but I was nowhere near getting some ore.

I hit it again, and again, chipping away a lot of rock, then, finally, some small orange stones fell out. I sighed with happiness and tiredness. My forehead was shining with sweat, and I was doubled up, wheezing. My plain blue clothes were covered with dirt and grime.

I put the copper ore in my bag, and headed towards a tin rock. I basically did just the same, until some in ore fell out of the rock. I went towards the mining instructor, seeking further instructions.

"Well done, young lad. That sure was impressive! OK, go towards the furnace and carefully put the two ores inside, then use that iron ladle provided to take out the melted bronze, then put it in the bar mould until it hardens into a bronze bar," he told me excitedly. I did as he told. I inserted the ores into the scorching hot furnace nervously and carefully, and took a ladle from the rack of ladles on the wall. Then, I put in the ladle, and scooped out some shiny brown, red hot melted metal. I went to the bar mould, and put the melted bronze stuff in the mould.

I waited about 10 minutes to make sure it really was cool and hard, and then took out my very first bronze bar. I went to the mining instructor excitedly, and showed him my bar. He nodded, and fished out a large, heavy hammer from his bag, and he handed it to me. He explained to me that all I could make out of bronze at my level were daggers and axes.

I went towards an unoccupied anvil, and placed the bar on it. I then mustered all my strength, and hit the bar several times, shaping it into the shape of a dagger. I don't know how, but it felt strangely like it was turning into a dagger by itself. I carried on hitting until I had a strong bronze dagger. I looked proudly at my weapon. Then, small fireworks popped up around me, and I realised that I was now smithing level 2. I went towards the mining instructor, exhausted but happy. He smiled at me.

"Right, you know the basics of mining and smithing, so I will give you a few rewards for doing well here. I will give you the pickaxe and hammer, and I'll also give you 100 mining experience and 100 smithing experience," he told me. Then, suddenly, more small fireworks flew around me, illuminating me with light, and I realised I had raised a mining level to 2. I jumped for joy.

"Next my old friend Vannaka will teach you about combat, and then you will follow a tunnel to a ladder to resurface to the island. I'm not too sure, but I think after a few more tutors, you will have finished your time on Tutorial Island. Now, go down that tunnel to your next tutor," he said.

I shook his bony hand, and set off to learn the ways of killing and combat. Now, this was one tutor I was feeling uncomfortable about. I didn't like the sound of killing stuff. I thought of all the horrible things that could happen in the world because of killing. But, it must be a key part of life in RuneScape, and something that probably must be learnt to stay alive in the dangerous and treacherous world out there.

I was getting curious about this mysterious wilderness everyone was talking about. I'd probably find out more about the wilderness when I got off Tutorial Island. I began to go down the tunnel that led to Vannaka, but then before I set off anywhere I just realised how tired I was. I had to have a rest somewhere. I saw a nearby boulder, and sat on it, exhausted.

I wiped off some of the dirt off my clothes, and tried to clean my grubby cheeks, that had turned from a rosy colour to a brown dirt-like texture. The mining instructor saw me, and then walked up to me. He handed me a damp cloth from his bag, and told me that I should clean and keep dampening the cloth in fountains.

I gave my face, hands and my clothes a quick clean with the cloth, then I put it in my bag. I sat back on the boulder, and wondered how hard life would get when I was off Tutorial Island. After having a good long rest, I sat up and set off to learn combat with Vannaka.

I hope you enjoyed that!

I've tried my best to remove mistakes/typos, but some still may remain. If you spot a typo please inform me and I'll remove it.

Next time: What's worse than meeting an unpleasant person? Meeting two, of course.

Until next time, toodles!