Akash stood before a stunted mountain tree, its bark gnarled and tough. He gripped the [Crude Stone Axe], feeling the rough vine bindings bite into his palms. He took a breath, adjusted his stance, and swung.
Thwack!
The impact reverberated up his arms, jarring his shoulders. The axe didn't bite deep—it was more like a heavy blunt force. It took him more than two minutes of awkward, heavy hacking to finally fell the small tree. As it crashed down, the system chimed.
[You have obtained: 2x Wood]
He moved to the next tree. This time, his body remembered the rhythm. He tilted the blade slightly, hitting the wood at a more efficient angle. The tree fell faster. But as the minutes turned into an hour, the "Stone Age" reality set in. His body was being pushed to its limit. His muscles began to burn, and a dull ache settled in his lower back.
By the time another half an hour had passed, Akash was drenched in sweat, but a sense of accomplishment flared in his gut. In his inventory, 50 units of wood firmly occupied one of the slots.
Akash rested his back against a stump, his breath finally evening out. He pulled out the [Rough Leather Water Bag] and took a careful swallow, rationing the precious liquid. After ten minutes, he stood up, his muscles stiffening. He didn't want to move, but the sight of those grey boulders called to him.
He swapped the axe for the [Crude Stone Pickaxe]. Unlike the rhythmic thwack of the wood, mining was a jarring, bone-shaking process. Each strike sent a vibration up his arms that felt like a localized earthquake. His progress was agonizingly slow; where the trees fell in minutes, the boulders only gave up small chunks of rock after dozens of swings.
By the time he had gathered 12 units of stone, his vision was swimming with fatigue. His sour muscles screaming for him to stop.
He moved toward a cluster of boulders near the edge of the dome to find a softer vein of rock. As he pushed past a thick, low-hanging mountain shrub, he stopped dead.
Tucked away in the shadows of a jagged rock face, half-hidden by overgrown weeds, sat a small, wooden box with strange patterns
Excited, he leaned in, focussed on the treasure chest.
[Wooden Chest]
[Grade]: Special
[Description]:A basic chest spawned by the Realm. Contains random survival items or low-level resources.
"Finally," Akash breathed, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten. Seeing Lady Geetha talk about these in the chat was one thing, but seeing the weathered wooden box in person was another. This was the 'luck' he needed to bypass the system's "highway robbery" store prices.
He knelt in the dirt, his hands trembling—not just from the labor, but from anticipation and touched the box.
A soft, white light spilled out, and three items came into his view. Before he could even touch the rewards, the treasure chest began to dissolve into a fine, silvery mist.
[Wooden Chest Rewards]
Spirit Coins: x3
Hard Bread: x2
Whetstone: x1
Akash stared at the contents of the chest. The chime of the shimmering silver-blue coins felt like music, even if it was only a small handful.
"Three coins, Not a fortune, but a start" he muttered.
He ignored the hard bread for now—it looked like it could break a tooth—and picked up the rectangular grey stone. It felt heavy and gritty to the touch. He focused his gaze to pull up its technical data.
[Basic Whetstone]
[Grade]: Common
[Essence Properties]: Inferior Abrasiveness, Standard Toughness
[Description]: A simple slab of coarse sedimentary rock. Efficiently grinds away the dull edges and restores the cutting power of blades.
Akash stared at the [Basic Whetstone]and the 3 Spirit Coins, the temptation to experiment pulling at him like a magnet. He looked at his shaking, blistered hands and then at the [Crude Stone Axe].
"If I use these Spirit Coins now and the infusion fails, or if I lose the whetstone's manual utility for a botched essence, I'm back to square one with zero capital," he reasoned, his voice raspy from the mountain air.
He had seen the Lord Count drop; he knew how thin the margin for error was in this realm. Three coins were a lifeline, not a gambling fund. He needed a safety net—a "financial buffer"—before he started deconstructing his only tools.
"Not yet," he muttered, stowing the coins and the whetstone into his inventory. "I'll earn the right to experiment. First, I will build the foundation."
He forced himself back to the boulders. The next hour was a blur of rhythmic, agonizing pain. Every strike of the pickaxe felt like it was chipping away at his own bones as much as the granite. He had to stop every five minutes to catch his breath, his muscles reaching its absolute limit.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the final chunk of granite dissolved into light and entered his inventory.
[Inventory Status]
Wild Bananas : x6
Hard Bread: x2
Rough Leather Water Bag,
Crude Stone Axe,
Crude Stone Pickaxe,
Sharp Stone Knife,
Wood : x50
Stone: x25
Spirit Coins : x3
Akash collapsed against the cold surface of a large rock, his chest heaving. He was drenched in sweat, his muscles twitching with exhaustion, but he had done it. He had gathered the physical materials for the first upgrade of [Lord`s Manor] through sheer, stubborn will.
He looked at the 3 coins again. "I have the wood and stone, but the system still wants its cut," he gritted his teeth. "I have 3 coins... I need 2 more."
He checked his tools one last time. The [Crude Stone Axe] sat at 12 Durability, while the [Crude Stone Pickaxe] was at 10. He shook his head; swinging the pickaxe against the mountain's stubborn rock was too much strain on his body, and the jarring impact would likely shatter the tool before he made any progress. Wood was the smarter, easier choice.
Thwak! Thwak! Thwak!
He forced himself through one final, grueling push. By the time he finished, his muscles were screaming, but he had the extra timber. To recover, he pulled out the two loaves of [Hard Bread]. They were as dry as the mountain dust, but as he washed the dense, calorie-heavy chunks down with a few gulps of water, he felt a slow warmth returning to his limbs.
He opened the store and sold the wood.
[Notification]: 20 Wood has been sold for 2 SC.
[Spirit Coins]: 5
Watching his balance finally hit 5 Spirit Coins. Without wasting a second, he triggered the upgrade.
The golden light of construction swirled for a few minutes, masking the transformation with a shimmering veil of energy. When the light finally faded, a clear, resonant chime rang out in his mind.