As usual, Caius dashed forward at full speed, reaching his destination in less than an hour.
He could feel his strength and speed had improved slightly.
With the accumulation of magic power, his physicality would gradually enhance, though at a slower pace—only upon advancing would there be a burst of growth.
What surprised Caius was that, despite the explosive rise in power, he felt no discomfort at all.
His control over strength remained just as precise as before the breakthrough—no adjustment period needed.
He suspected this was thanks to his giant's physique.
To that, Caius could only say—giants are awesome!
Lighting a cigarette, he gazed at the massive mining zone ahead.
The mine had some open-air sections, but the majority stretched underground.
Abandoned shafts were scattered throughout, and the vegetation was almost nonexistent, allowing for a clear view.
Within the mining zone, several Magic Beasts roamed—giant lizard-like creatures, mostly Silver-tier, with a few at Gold-tier. He counted over a dozen.
Then there were two massive beings.
Their lower halves were composed of sand and earth, with chests embedded with giant boulders.
At the center of those boulders, a clay-yellow crystal glowed faintly.
Their arms were formed from massive rocky fists.
Earth Elementals.
These beings, forged from pure elemental force and magic, were questionable in terms of biological classification—but they were certainly powerful, averaging around the Platinum tier.
Even the surrounding earth-type Magic Beasts didn’t dare get close to the two Earth Elementals.
Their bodies were composed of various ores, and at their core resided what Caius sought—Earthen Core Crystals.
At the moment, the two Elementals were situated before a massive stone slab.
Clay-yellow light flowed out of the stone, absorbed slowly into their bodies.
This was how Earth Elementals fed—absorbing the elemental earth and metals within the ore.
It was said that some Earth Elementals, after absorbing too much metal, would transform into Metal-Earth Elementals.
Others, who fed on fire-elemental ores, would mutate into Fire-Earth Elementals.
In short, Elementals were like highly malleable clay, capable of countless variations and branches, each with unique abilities.
The one constant: they were always a pain to deal with.
Luckily for Caius, Earth Elementals were the easiest for him to handle.
All he had to do was smash them head-on and extract the Earthen Core Crystal.
Finishing his cigarette, Caius leapt down with the little catgirl Kiki, warhammer raised high—bringing it down upon one of the Elementals.
BOOM!
With a thunderous impact, a deep hole was blasted into the Elemental’s back, sending the ten-meter-tall creature stumbling forward.
It let out an earth-shaking roar of fury and turned to face Caius.
Its massive stone fists launched directly at him.
Caius didn’t dodge—he met the blow head-on.
One swing—crack—the stone fist shattered.
The Earth Elemental staggered back, only for rocks to swiftly coalesce at the stump, re-forming a new fist.
As long as its Earthen Core Crystal remained intact, it could regenerate indefinitely using nearby earth elements and magic.
“Kiki, lure the giant lizards away. Leave this one to me.” Caius spoke, noticing several Rock Lizards drawn by the noise.
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Rock Lizards were high in strength and defense but slow in speed.
Kiki, being Silver-tier, could easily distract them.
“Got it, meow!”
Kiki drew her Mewtooth Dagger, darting toward the Rock Lizards.
Five were Silver-tier, one was Gold-tier.
Kiki couldn’t beat them head-on, but her goal was only to lure them away—not to fight.
“Come catch me, you big dumb lizards, meow~!”
She leapt onto one’s head, gave it a poke, then bounced away.
The Rock Lizard snapped at her but caught only air.
Kiki was incredibly agile. Soon, all the Rock Lizards were chasing her in circles.
Caius raised his warhammer again and engaged the Earth Elemental directly.
The creature summoned Earth Magic—spikes, boulders, and stone spears surged at him.
But they posed no threat.
In just five minutes, Caius smashed the Elemental apart and retrieved a head-sized Earthen Core Crystal, along with a pile of ores from the Elemental’s body.
All the minerals absorbed by Earth Elementals were essentially refined—free of impurities.
That’s why they were his primary targets.
“Over 20 kilograms of Fire Copper, a full 7.5 kg Earthen Core Crystal, no Runic Silver, and several other minerals...”
Caius did a quick tally, stored everything in his spatial ring, then looked toward Kiki.
She was clearly having fun, darting around as the sluggish Rock Lizards chased her in confusion.
“Kiki, let’s go,” Caius called.
“Coming, meow~!”
She sprinted over and leapt onto his back.
The Rock Lizards started charging, but after Caius knocked the Gold-tier one unconscious with a single hammer strike, the rest quickly scattered.
Caius dashed toward the other side of the mining zone, where he found the second Earth Elemental.
Same strategy—Kiki distracted the Rock Lizards, and Caius dealt with the Elemental.
This one had likely absorbed more metal—its body was tougher than the last.
It took Caius ten minutes to bring it down.
Thirty-plus kilograms of Fire Copper, a full 9 kg Earthen Core Crystal, 0.25 kg of Runic Silver, and various other minerals.
His target for Fire Copper was 50 kg, and the two Earth Elementals had yielded over 110 kg of refined ore—mission accomplished.
He still needed one more Earthen Core Crystal and 2.5 kg of Runic Silver.
Caius spent another half-hour circling the surface, but didn’t find a third Earth Elemental.
So, he had no choice—he’d have to bring Kiki into the mine shafts below.
Some of the mine tunnels here were remnants from earlier, small-scale operations, now abandoned due to the presence of Magic Beasts.
Others had been carved out by Earth-type Magic Beasts themselves, and combined with the underground mines, formed a labyrinth of interconnected pathways.
“This place looks really scary, meow…” The little Catgirl perched on Caius's shoulder shrank her neck as she stared into the pitch-black mine.
Caius gently ruffled her hair. “A kiss from you will boost my courage.”
At his words, the little Catgirl pouted her soft pink lips and gave Caius a loud smooch on the cheek.
Looking very pleased with himself, Caius marched boldly into the mine.
He had barely gone a few hundred meters when he ran into an Earth-type Magic Beast that looked a lot like a pangolin.
Roughly Gold-grade, Four-Star level.
The moment it spotted Caius, it swung its claw at him. In response, Caius delivered a clean punch.
The beast cried out in pain, curling into a ball, and Caius gave it a solid kick, sending it rolling deeper into the cavern.
Good enough as a pathfinder.
The mine was teeming with Magic Beasts, and some were pretty big, but none posed a real threat to Caius.
As long as no Mithril-grade Magic Beast showed up, Caius could likely handle anything thrown at him.
Before long, he found some Earthen Core Crystals.
But this area only had fragments. The largest piece weighed less than 1.5 kilograms.
Oern’s requirement was a whole chunk, not less than 5 kilograms. Caius had to venture deeper.
Roughly a kilometer in, he estimated he was about 300 to 400 meters below the surface.
It wasn’t dark here, though. Many of the minerals emitted light.
Not from radiation—don’t get the wrong idea—but from magic power.
Certain ores and crystals absorb magic and radiate various colors of light. It was rather beautiful, actually.
The ones Caius was looking for emitted a yellowish glow—or bluish-purple.
Half an hour later, Kiki found something.
Thanks to her ability to sense the flow of wind, and even the Earth-element magic hidden within it, Kiki was particularly useful here.
Despite the complexity of the tunnels, most of them were ventilated.
The elemental magic emanating from distant ores would drift along with the wind, and Kiki followed those trails to pinpoint the right direction. It didn’t take her long to find something promising.
That made Caius extremely happy.
“See? You’re super useful~” Caius cupped Kiki’s tiny face in both hands and gave her a fond rub. Kiki purred with delight, nuzzling eagerly into his palms.
As she rubbed against him, a soft purring sound came from her throat. Then, she suddenly leapt up and transformed into a “Face-Hugging Meow,” clinging tightly to Caius’s head.
Caius figured she’d been thoroughly pampered and was now riding a high. These were the moments when his little Catgirl got especially excited.
She kept rubbing against his hair, even sticking out her little tongue to lick it, as if grooming him.
After a few moments, Caius’s slightly long hair had been licked into a ridiculous pompadour.
