my crest is a cheat

However, the wind that I created was just a gentle breeze.

Yes…that was the power of my magic. Most people would have been able to create a stronger gust of wind, but I didn’t have enough magical energy for that.

Still, I desperately continued to make it blow.

“Please…please…yes!!”

The boat slowly slid up onto land.

Then I got off of the boat and tied it to a jutting rock so that it would not drift away.

“Phew…now, that’s one problem out of the way.”

There was no one here, but I still talked to myself.

Yes, it was to distract from how lonely I felt.

While I was looked down upon, I still exchanged a word or two with others before.

Besides, it also made a difference if you could at least see that there were other people around you.

But now, the only thing that I could see was the ash-colored rocks.

It was too late to try and return now.

The ship that had carried me was disappearing at the horizon.

I might have been better off disobeying the order so that I could be executed instead.

Well, no. I didn’t want to die…

I shook the thought out of my head and began to carry my cargo out of the boat.

“I’ll need a safe place to store it…”

The food would be ruined if the rain or waves got at it.

I would also have to find a place I could sleep in.

“That cave looks like a good spot.”

I found a single empty cave in an elevated area.

It really was the only hole that I could even find.

And so I picked up a barrel and headed to the cave.

However, when I reached it and looked inside, a chilling scene awaited me.

Woah…

It was a small cave that perhaps ten people could have slept in. And inside, were numerous skeletons.

And they weren’t just human skeletons. Some were from beasts and monsters.

Judging by the old tools and wooden boxes, they must have all been living here.

Had they been exiled too? Or did they drift from somewhere else?

Still, they must have eventually run out of food and water and then died.

You will meet the same fate…the bones seemed to say to me.

I didn’t mean to be stingy, but sleeping with the dead was not my thing.

However, there really wasn’t any other place to go.

At the very least, I would have to keep my supplies here.

“I guess I’ll just carry it all here for now…”

After some time, I managed to finish carrying everything.

Even though it was a short distance, it was very hard to walk on the uneven ground.

I would have to rest for a while.

And so I sat down inside of the cave and looked outside.

The sea from here looked incredibly beautiful.

Unlike the royal capital, the only sounds I could hear were the ocean waves and the seagulls.

What a wonderful place…no, no, that’s not right.

Right now, I had to focus on my survival.

I didn’t come here without thinking about that.

In fact, my intention was to be rescued by a passing ship.

And then I would hide and live somewhere where my father couldn’t find me.

So it couldn’t be any ships from my home country.

They all knew that I was not to be allowed to leave this place.

So, that meant I would have to rely on foreign ships or pirates…

But even if they took me off the island, they would just sell me off as a slave. That was obvious.

In the first place, this was not along any routes for trading vessels. And it was much too far for fishermen to come close to. Besides, it was also dangerous to come so close to the reefs.

“Hahh…what should I do…”

I only had a month’s worth of food and water.

As for water, I could use the barrel to collect rainwater.

That is if it even rained.

In an emergency, I could gather moisture from the air with water magic.

However, with my power, it was all I could do to make a few drops…

Perhaps I could catch fish for food.

I had a fishing pole. However, it would be hard when the tide is high.

As for anything else I could do now, I could clean up the cave.

As there were bones and old tools everywhere, I would have to make this place a little more comfortable.

However, I didn’t want to be disrespectful either.

But then again, I couldn’t exactly offer them a proper burial here…

I picked up a pickaxe, that I had brought with me.

“I guess I could try digging with this…”

An amateur trying to dig into rock…maybe it would be a waste of strength…

You possess a tool that makes mining possible.

“…Huh?”

I looked around me.

However, there was no one there.

Well, maybe there was. But they were all dead.

Besides, it hadn’t echoed throughout the cave.

It was like I had heard it inside of my head, rather than through my ears.

And so without saying it out loud, I willed it in my head.

…Say it again.

You possess a tool that makes mining possible. Do you want to start mining? 

I knew it. There was something talking to me inside of my head.

…Who the hell are you?

This is the advice feature for the crest, ‘Cave King.’ Not a lifeform.

‘Cave King’…it was the crest that I had been born with.

As I had stayed in the royal palace most of the time, I had never gone to any caves. To think that it had such an effect all along…

I wonder what else Cave King could do…

As if reading my mind, the advisor answered.

Currently, aside from the advice feature, there is the raising of mining skills and support effects. Furthermore, abilities and skill ranks used in caves will be boosted.

I wasn’t able to catch all of that…

But, in other words, it was an advanced ‘mining’ skill?

So anyone who had a mining crest would have their mining ability raised.

But as I was Cave King, I also became stronger inside of caves. Something like that.

In any case, it was clear that I was specialized in mining.

As there was not enough room to sleep here, I decided to start digging a little.

…So, if I said that I wanted to start mining?

Understood. Mining optimization will begin through the mining support effect.

…Optimization? What?

I then noticed that there were numerous white lights floating on the cavern walls.

Why were they glowing?

The white lights are recommendations for where you should hit with your pickaxe. It is calculated to be the easiest way to dig without causing a cave-in.

“Huh. Well, guess I’ll try it out then.”

And so I tried hitting the spot with the pickaxe.

And then, in one strike, I was able to dig out a rock that was about the size of a person’s head.

I didn’t feel any of the impact in my arms, so the advice had been true after all.

“Also, it seems strangely bright in here in spite of it being a cave…is that also a support effect?”

Yes. It is the Night Vision effect.

“I see. Well, I’ll be able to keep going then… I’ll just make some space to sleep for now.”

And so I struck the wall again with the pickaxe.

As I knew where to hit, I was able to make good progress really easily.

Besides, there was something comforting about the sounds of the rocks breaking.

“This…is sort of fun…”

Before I knew it, I was very engrossed in my work.

I had forgotten my plans to just make an area to sleep in, and I kept digging much farther.

There was now a lot of rocks around my feet.

Hmm… Was it just me, or was I able to dig out more with every hit now?

The rocks that came out seemed to be getting bigger.

“Still, I’ve dug quite a lot now…”

According to the Advisor, my current position was about 30m below the surface.

And so I checked my inventory.

◇ Inventory

    Rocks x 1230

    Iron ore x 21

    Copper ore x 19

    Gold ore x 0.6

    Silver ore x 2

    Coal x 15

    Limestone x 10

    …

    Ruby x 0.3

    Saphire x 0.2

    Crystal x 90

    Turtle stone x 6

There were some materials that didn’t even amount to 1. Apparently, this was because the mined materials were displayed as ingots.

However, Turtle Stones displayed the number of uses.

Two silver ingots… I had mined that much silver in just a few hours.

What would happen if I continued to mine…

Well, I would have no use for any of it unless I got out of here.

Besides, the ones that interested me the most were the Crystals and Turtle Stones.

I had never seen or even heard of them before.

The Turtle Stones extended your lifespan and were something I could probably use in an emergency.

As for the Crystal, they increased your magical energy.

While my magic was very weak, I was quite confident in my knowledge of it.

And so I had high hopes that they might allow me to use mid-range to advanced magic…

Well, how were these used?

Will you use Crystal x 90?

The advisor suddenly asked.

Apparently, there was no need to take them out of the inventory.

I nodded, of course.

Crystall x 90 have been used.

The Advisor said, but no matter how long I waited, I didn’t feel any change.

Uhhh…were they used?

Yes, the Advisor answered.

Apparently, the crystals really had been used.

I suppose it was true that just a shift in energy wasn’t going to cause any changes to the body.

They did say that brilliant magicians were able to detect the flow of energy inside of people.

But of course, I had no such advanced skills.

So novices like me would have to use magic to find out.

And so I decided to cast Wind, which was minor magic that used the wind attribute. I would clean out the dust that had accumulated in my path. 

ly, whenever I used this magic, people in the palace would mock me and say that it was just a gentle breeze.

I hoped that it would have improved a little, at least…

“Wind! …!?”

As I chanted with my right hand extended in front of me, the dust was blown away in an instant.

The wind roared and did not lose momentum until it escaped through the exit.

“What? …What?”

I couldn’t help but look around, but there was no one else there.

Without a doubt, it had been me who had just unleashed Wind.

This was what happened after 90 Crystals collected in just a few hours.

If I gathered more, would I be able to use advanced magic?

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