Day 6 of Spring, Saturday, 6:00 a.m., windy.
Daeron opened his eyes right on time.
He glanced first at the cold hearth; the red dragon egg lay quietly in the ashes.
"Another day full of energy."
Smiling, Daeron sprang from bed and got to work.
Water the crops, pet the chicks, collect the eggs, check the mailbox… cluck-cluck-cluck…
Woof-woof!
After the usual flap and frenzy, the farm settled down.
"Four eggs and one daffodil…"
"A rock gave me one coal and one copper ore, and the mailbox held a furnace recipe."
Daeron sat by the door and tallied everything useful.
The furnace recipe came with a panel-issued tutorial quest.
[Start Forging: If you want to keep mining, you'll need to build a furnace.]
—Craft a furnace.
The furnace recipe is the single most important blueprint early in stardew valley.
Twenty copper ore and twenty-five stone to build one.
Without a furnace you can't smelt ores into usable bars.
Some might wonder: can't I just buy the bars I need?
No.
Apart from the starting 500 gold, nothing can override the panel's rules.
If you want bars for sprinklers, kegs, or anything else, you have to mine them yourself.
"Your Highness, I found the mine entrance you mentioned."
Ser Jon returned to the farm in high spirits.
Daeron perked up at once. "Where?"
"Following your tip that it might be near a lake, I searched the hills."
"At last, by the waterfall above your farm, I found both the lake and the mine."
The knight was travel-worn but couldn't hide his excitement.
Yesterday's good intentions had gone awry; though the prince said nothing, the knight felt wretched.
Making amends was all he wanted.
"Well done, Ser!"
Daeron praised him without stint, grabbed his gear, and prepared to set out.
Before leaving he turned on the television.
[Weather: Tomorrow will be rainy, possibly stormy.]
[Fortune: The sprites are in a fine mood; luck is with you.]
A third program popped up.
[Living Off the Land: Tips for Stardew folk.]
[Check the southeast of Cindersap: where river meets sea you'll often find wild spring onions poking through the soil.]
Daeron brightened. "Wild onions? Perfect timing."
Spring wild onions are a natural forage, restoring a sliver of health and stamina.
On the Westeros Continent they'd count as a wild plant laced with a trace of Life Force.
Mining burns stamina, and you need food.
Life Force and stamina are linked; they aren't the same.
Eating special crops can extend life; top knights use them, sometimes awakening Life Force.
special crops fix almost everything.
Injured? Eat special crops.
Tired? Eat special crops.
Two big risks in mining:
One: running out of stamina.
Two: getting hurt by monsters.
special crops solve both.
"Then what are we waiting for—let's go!"
Daeron mounted a chestnut mare and clip-clopped toward the southeast forage spot.
Southeast of Dragon Language Farm lies the strip between the beach and The Kingswood.
The Kingswood has rivers and isn't far… 11:30 a.m.
He filled a basket with common and silver-star wild onions, felled a few trees on the edge of The Kingswood, and turned the wood into a chest he could carry.
Soon he reached the lake at the waterfall's head where Ser Jon had found the mine.
Remote—1.5 km from the farm—no one would disturb it.
A narrow plank bridge led to the mine mouth at the lakeside.
Inside waited a blue box identical to the starter bundle.
Pop!
It held a battered, rusted sword.
[Rusty Sword]: Damage 2–5, Crit 0.02.
"The freebie junk sword."
Daeron rolled his eyes—so this was the legendary "starter weapon."
He picked it up and compared it with his steel longsword.
Clang-clang!
Sparks flew.
The rusty blade stayed as shabby as ever.
His steel longsword now bore two faint nicks.
"Panel weapons don't degrade."
Daeron understood.
The rusty sword couldn't match steel for sharpness, but it would never break—infuriating.
"Others might agonize; I'm a dual-wielder."
He spun the rusty sword in his right hand, steel in his left, then flourished both.
At the mine elevator he set down the chest he'd crafted, storing axe and hoe.
Axe for chopping, hoe for digging artifact spots.
Artifact spots—those wiggly-worm shadows—yield random relics or books.
Inventory check: rusty sword, pickaxe, 11 common onions, 6 silver onions… steel longsword didn't count; it stayed at his hip.
The mine entrance was a wooden shaft dead-center in the cave.
He reminded himself: "Careful, careful—ore's not worth an injury."
Gritting his teeth, he dropped in.
Thud!
He landed in blackness: jagged rock walls, uneven floor strewn with stones, patches of weed, damp rot in the air.
"Luck—no monsters."
Level 1 was safe; any spawns would be weak—green slimes, bugs, grubs, duggies, flies.
He sheathed the rusty sword, steel at his waist, and swung his pickaxe.
Clang-clang-clang!
Crack!
A plain rock shattered, yielding one stone and one coal.
"Where's the copper?"
He looked around and spotted two copper-tinted stones by some weeds.
Copper ore for sure.
Clang-clang!
Four or five swings later, one stone coughed up three copper ores.
"Hands are numb."
Daeron frowned; things looked grim.
Mine stone demanded Life Force: each swing had to channel power into arms and back or you'd barely scratch it.
Plain stone took two swings.
Copper ore took four or five.
This would kill him.
"Fine—practice controlling Life Force."
He wiped sweat and kept digging.
On the surface it looked like training; really, he had no choice.
8:00 p.m.
He dragged himself back to the farm.
Half a day of brutal labor… underwhelming haul.
Inventory: 45 stone, 27 copper ore, 11 coal, 4 slime, 8 bug meat, 8 fiber, 2 quartz… achievement: cleared six levels, elevator to 5.
Four green slimes squished.
Five grubs, three cave flies.
One duggie that nearly bit his toe.
Losses: steel longsword moderately worn (slime acid), 17 common onions, and a shattered ego… "I'm done."
He sighed.
Clunk!
He spent 25 copper ore and 30 stone to place a furnace in front of his field.
Coins clinked as the tutorial quest completed.
[Reward: 100g.]
With fewer than five copper ore left he couldn't start a smelt.
He stowed the day's haul and trudged to bed.
more chapter available in p@tréøñ(Atoki_29)