The scratches on the exposed, stone-like object suggested my earlier strike had indeed struck home. I carefully began unearthing it to avoid further damage. The stone was roughly the length of my index finger and about two fingers wide. Its color indicated a dark attribute, and a quick use of Appraisal confirmed I was right.
But it wasn't the only one. Even as I unearthed the first, several more identical stones poked out from the surrounding soil. The Break Rock magic I’d imbued into my shovel had likely caused the dirt to crumble, making them easy to spot. Some even looked larger than the one currently in my hand.
Was that strange sensation I’d felt earlier the collective mana of all these stones? Regardless, reporting my find came first.
"Everyone! I found some mana stones! They’re dark attribute!"
I tossed the stone I’d excavated up to the group peering into the pit. Sebas caught it and performed his own Appraisal. He sounded genuinely impressed.
"It is indeed a Grade 1 dark-attribute mana stone."
His words drew surprised exclamations from the other three. My own Appraisal hadn't been high enough to determine the grade. I figured the quality was high, but I wasn't sure of the specifics. When I asked, I learned that mana stones were categorized into three types, each further divided into six grades based on quality.
Type 1 consisted of the light, lightning, and wood attributes. Type 2 included dark, poison, and ice. Type 3 covered fire, water, wind, earth, and the no-attribute category.
These classifications were based on rarity. Type 1 was the rarest and most valuable, followed by Type 2, with Type 3 being the most common. Space-attribute stones were omitted because their existence had never been confirmed.
Furthermore, within the same attribute, a stone’s price doubled with every grade it climbed. Using Type 3 stones as a baseline, the prices looked something like this:
Grade 1: 32,000 Suut or more Grade 2: 16,000 Suut or more Grade 3: 8,000 Suut or more Grade 4: 4,000 Suut or more Grade 5: 2,000 Suut or more Grade 6: Less than 2,000 Suut
Grade 5 was the minimum quality needed for use in a magic wand, while Grade 6 stones were used for cheap magic tools. They were essentially batteries for the masses. These Grade 6 stones were often sold as fragments leftover from carving higher-grade stones for wands, and they were colloquially known—rather harshly—as "junk magic stones."
Higher-quality stones fetched higher prices because they contained more mana and could be used for a wider variety of purposes. As for Type 2 stones, their rarity meant they were worth roughly three times as much as Type 3. However, a Type 2 stone wasn't automatically more expensive than a Type 3 stone if the qualities differed.
Grade 1: 96,000 Suut or more Grade 2: 48,000 Suut or more Grade 3: 24,000 Suut or more Grade 4: 12,000 Suut or more Grade 5: 6,000 Suut or more Grade 6: Less than 6,000 Suut
As the list showed, a high-quality Type 3 stone could easily outvalue a mediocre Type 2.
But in this specific instance...
"So, this stone is dark attribute, making it Type 2, and its quality is Grade 1. That means it’s exceptionally valuable because both the attribute and the grade are top-tier?"
"Precisely," Sebas replied. "High-quality stones are difficult to harvest. When one of this caliber hits the market, mages and craftsmen alike scramble for it. It is rare to see a stone of such quality."
"The prices I gave you are the absolute minimum," Sebas continued. "In the right market, it could fetch two or three times that amount."
"I’ve actually been looking for a dark-attribute stone for a new wand," Remily added. "If it’s all right with you, Ryoma-chan, I’ll buy it from you for that price right now."
At least ninety-six thousand Suut for just one? If I rounded that up, it was practically a hundred thousand—a massive sum, the equivalent of a large gold coin. And Remily-san was ready to drop that kind of cash on the spot.
"Um, Sebas-san?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"It looks like there are a lot more stones just like this one further back..."
The news that there might be multiple stones of such quality shocked them. We decided I should mine as many as I could find.
I summoned Earth Slimes and Dark Slimes from my Dimension Home to help. Originally, I’d only planned to use the Earth Slimes, but the Dark Slimes seemed eager to come out. It turned out they wanted to absorb the ambient mana in the air.
While I occasionally gave my elemental slimes mana as a "snack," their primary "meals" consisted of natural mana absorbed from the environment. This area was apparently a buffet for the Dark Slimes.
The Earth Slimes dug using earth magic, the Dark Slimes gathered the stones, and I handled the transport. The four people above pulled up the bags and appraised each find. Just as we had finished excavating twenty-two dark-attribute mana stones of various sizes, that sensation I’d nearly forgotten flared up again.
I was pulled toward a specific spot. Using earth magic, I dug frantically until something came into view.
"...That thing is huge..."
Surrounded by stones of various sizes was a black, pillar-like object. It was roughly sixty centimeters tall. As it emerged from the dirt, it looked more beautiful than any stone I’d unearthed so far, radiating an intense mana that—
An indescribable chill suddenly washed over me the moment I reached out to touch it. My heart hammered against my ribs. Instinctively, I leaped back to create distance, my body instantly drenched in a cold sweat.
What was that? Is that stone dangerous?
"Ryoma-chan? Did you find something— My goodness, look at you! You’re soaked! What happened?" Remily shouted from above, illuminating the pit with light magic.
"I found an enormous mana stone, but the moment I got close to it, I was hit by this horrible feeling..."
"Ryoma-chan, come up here this instant."
The sheer seriousness in her voice left no room for debate. I tried to climb out with the slimes, but I felt a strange, lingering attachment to that stone, as if it were tugging at my heart. I forced myself to remember that bone-deep chill to break the spell and scrambled out of the hole.
"Dispel!"
Remily’s magic hit me the moment I surfaced. It was a strange sensation, like magical light soaking into my skin, followed by a rush of clarity. I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my mind. In fact, looking back, it felt as though my thoughts had been sluggish until that very second.
"Was I cursed?" I asked.
Since she had used a curse-breaking spell and I felt better because of it, the answer seemed obvious.
"Accidents like this happen occasionally during dark-attribute excavations," Remily explained. "Since the dark attribute deals in mental attacks and indirect magic, people can be influenced by the concentrated mana inside the stones. I don't do much mining myself, so it slipped my mind."
"I was careless too," I admitted. "Thank you, Remily-san. If I’d been alone, I probably wouldn't have realized I was cursed until it was too late."
"Don't worry about it. We’re a team; looking out for each other is part of the job. I’ll teach you some curse countermeasures later, but for now, just rest. I’ll go break the curse on that stone."
Remily patted my head, chanted "Anti-Curse," and hopped down into the pit.
"Here is some water for you."
"Thank you, Sebas-san."
I took the cup and a towel, wiping away the sweat and gulping down the water. A sudden flash of light filled the pit, and ten seconds later, Remily climbed back out.
"How was it, Remily?" Reinbach asked, having been on high alert for the perimeter.
Remily looked troubled. "Well, it’s hard to put into words, but it’s quite a find. It’s a mana gemstone."
A mana gemstone... I remembered the ruby on the necklace I’d received from Elia was one. They were incredibly rare, high-end treasures.
Remily apologized for asking while I was tired but requested that I retrieve it. She cast a protective spell on me before I went back down.
Seeing it clearly this time, I realized that what I’d thought was a single stone was actually a massive black quartz cluster. I’d seen quartz clusters in business waiting rooms back on Earth, but nothing this massive. If my head had been on straight, I would have realized it immediately. The curse really had clouded my judgment.
Still, it was a beautiful piece of black quartz. It would make for a sophisticated decoration in a home... I found myself wanting it. Even as that desire welled up, I felt a contradictory urge to stay as far away from it as possible, despite the chill being gone.
I decided to use Create Block to wrap the entire cluster in earth. The resulting block was quite large, so I had the Earth Slimes widen the tunnel while I hauled it out using Qigong.
"T-This is..."
"It’s magnificent, but a real headache to handle..."
"If it weren't for the curse, this would easily be national treasure-class," Reinbach muttered.
Once the soil was cleared away, everyone except for Remily and me was rendered speechless. I’d expected as much. This mana gemstone was off the charts in terms of rarity, quality, and size. Even for nobles and specialists accustomed to luxury, it was impossible to estimate what it would fetch on the open market.
The numbers were simply too large for me to fathom. I had no intention of selling it, as that would only attract unwanted attention, so I figured I’d just keep it as a keepsake.
"Ryoma-chan, if you don't mind, would you consider letting me have this gemstone?" Remily asked suddenly.
"Eh? This?"
My gut reaction was to refuse immediately. But that impulse felt off. Why was I so quick to say no? Selling it would be a disaster, and it wasn't like Remily had asked for it for free... I didn't think I was so attached to it that I wouldn't even listen to an offer, yet I felt this intense possessiveness.
"Dispel!"
As I struggled with these conflicting emotions, Remily cast the spell again. My head cleared instantly, but the adults all looked grim.
"The curse wasn't broken after all," Remily sighed.
"It wasn't? Or was I just cursed again when I went to get it?" I asked.
"If that were the case, my Anti-Curse spell should have been triggered. Besides, the feedback I got when I cast Dispel on the gemstone itself felt wrong. It’s hard to explain, but... rather than the curse being broken, it felt like the gemstone allowed me to think it was broken. It’s an unsettling feeling. And for the record, an irrational obsession or a desire to keep the source of a curse close is a classic symptom."
So her question had been a test.
"Given the quality of that gemstone, it would be natural to want it even without a curse, so I was going to judge based on your reaction to further questions. But you noticed the feeling of wrongness yourself, so that confirms it," Remily said.
"We need to get him seen by a curse specialist, an exorcist, or a high-ranking priest as soon as possible," Reinbach noted.
"I agree. I’ve done all I can. My knowledge of curses is limited to Dispel, Anti-Curse, and a few basics I learned to master those two. On the bright side, it doesn't seem to be the kind of curse that affects your physical health. How are you feeling, Ryoma-chan?"
I thought about it. Once the obsession had been pointed out to me, my interest in the gemstone faded significantly. The Dispel had cleared away the confusion. I had no other symptoms. In fact, I felt so normal I wondered if there was even anything wrong with me at all.
"Then there’s no immediate cause for alarm," Remily concluded. "The more mana a person has, the harder it is for a curse to take hold. Let’s just focus on getting out of here."
"I agree. We won't find any more answers in this gloomy place," Reinbach added.
"Let us return, then. Although... climbing those stairs again will be quite the ordeal," Reinbach groaned.
"We can return via space magic," Sebas suggested. "The undead have been cleared, so it is safe. There is no need to waste time on the trek back."
With that, we exited the central tower, bringing our exploration of the Town of Ghosts and the harvest of Everdark Grass to a successful close. Despite the unexpected trouble at the finish line, the expedition had been incredibly fruitful.