After a round of mining, Luo Yi's haul was impressive.
The vein here was a copper–iron mix, both early-game Terraria ores and plentiful.
When he wrapped up, 66 units of copper ore and 30 units of iron ore rested quietly in his inventory.
'Copper's the lowest-tier ore—basically useless.'
'Iron's another story: versatile and even useful for alchemy.'
He couldn't help wishing the numbers were reversed.
The Climbing Rope kept extending, yet even at full length it couldn't reach the cave floor.
'Just how deep does this go…'
Luo Yi picked up a pebble, wove a Cantrip over it, and coaxed out a faint glow.
The light was too weak to see by, but it would serve as a marker.
He tossed the glowing stone into the black void at his feet and watched.
Seconds later the speck of light winked out, followed by a distant splash.
'There's a pool down there.'
He pictured the terrain, gauged the drop, and decided to jump.
Even if he missed the water, the fall-time said it wouldn't be lethal.
With the resolve of someone leaping off a rooftop, he let go of the rope and plunged into icy water.
Splash!
The spray shattered the silence of this never-trodden place. A dozen seconds—and several mouthfuls of water—later, Luo Yi found the bank and gulped air.
'Hah… haah…'
'The moment I'm flush with cash, I'm stocking a full set of potions in my inventory!'
He vowed silently; a single gills potion would have spared him that humiliation.
After a coughing fit he produced a torch and looked around, his frown easing.
It was a roomy cavern, vase-bottom-shaped, an oblong hollow.
Once torches ringed the walls he spotted more ore—still the dull gleam of lowly copper.
What thrilled him, though, was the prize near the pond: a Chest!
Across Terraria's biomes, unique Chests await discovery as exploration rewards.
Around it sat dust-coated jars; smash them for random drops.
Confirming no traps, Luo Yi popped the Chest and swept everything into his inventory.
[You obtained spark wand x1]
[You obtained Silver Coin x20]
[You obtained Wood x50]
[You obtained torch x20]
[You obtained weak healing potion x5]
[You obtained Glowstick x66]
[You obtained Iron Bar x5]
Every Terraria Chest holds one 'primary reward' plus several 'secondary rewards.'
Primary items are rarer and more valuable; secondaries are mostly materials or consumables.
'spark wand… not bad.'
His gaze slid past the clutter and fixed on an unremarkable twig.
That was the primary prize—a magical weapon.
…[spark wand]
[Rarity: Blue (Tier 1)]
[Sell-back: 20 Silver Coin]
[Effect: While held, grants access to the Cantrip 'Spark']
[Spark: Costs 2 mana. Fires a Spark projectile that pierces one target, deals 14 damage, and has a 50 % chance to ignite.]
…Luo Yi flicked the newly acquired wand, channeling mana; an arcing Spark drifted out.
The airy ember kissed the rock wall and fizzed out, but that didn't mean it was weak—its damage was nearly triple that of the 0-tier Cantrip Ray of Frost.
The projectile was slow, yet its cost was a mere 2 mana and it could pierce once.
'Solid early-game weapon.'
He'd planned to pick two offensive 1st-tier spells; now that he had the wand, he could grab utility options instead.
The secondary rewards were all resources he needed right now.
Especially the weak healing potions, Glowsticks, and Iron Bars.
A weak healing potion, Terraria's weakest, restores 50 HP instantly but carries a 1-minute cooldown.
A Glowstick worked much like the glowing stone Luo Yi had dropped earlier—handy for lighting the way.
An Iron Bar is smelted from iron ore, and five of them can forge an anvil that turns Terraria's metal bars into weapons and armor.
'Counting the coins those Slimes dropped, I've got over thirty Silver Coins on me now.'
Luo Yi glanced at the currency tucked in the corner of his inventory.
'Still seventy percent away from unlocking the basic Shop… keep at it.'
Speaking of money, Luo Yi suddenly remembered the hundred omninet disaster coins he'd earned for completing the Adventure Card.
That should be the common currency among OmniNet players, though he hadn't yet figured out how to spend it.
'Maybe the newly unlocked Multiverse OmniNet Player Exchange Forum will have some clues.'
There was plenty to do, and Luo Yi wasn't in a rush; fretting wouldn't help—everything had to be handled one step at a time.
After lingering in the cavern to mine every last exposed copper vein, he doubled back to his cabin and fired up the furnace.
In Terraria, turning ore into metal bars needs no complicated intermediate steps.
Low-tier ores smelt at a 3:1 ratio beside a furnace into their matching bars.
Those bars can then be worked at an anvil into tools and gear.
A furnace costs only twenty stone blocks; he'd built one long ago and could finally put it to use.
Besides smelting ore, the furnace also crafts glass and bricks—its main purpose.
In less than a minute, the entire haul from the cave became neat stacks of copper and Iron Bars.
Any outside blacksmith who witnessed such ridiculous speed would doubt the meaning of his own existence.
'Fifty-plus copper bars, but only sixteen iron ones.'
'Iron Bars have to be rationed… I wonder whether ore from outside counts as Terraria material.'
Based on his earlier experience of taking Terraria World items to reality, Luo Yi pondered whether the reverse might work.
Common metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron existed here too and should be chemically identical.
If so, he could top up Terraria's shortages with real-world ores!
But reality didn't accept omninet disaster coins, and he had no idea whether Terraria's gold, silver, or Copper Coins could circulate outside.
To stockpile resources he would need a fixed base—'a territory!'
The word summoned the memory of Moonstone Town, the domain he'd received upon arrival.
If he could develop Moonstone Town into a hub shuttling resources between Terraria and reality, all the better.
Next he spent his metal bars on workstations he'd long wanted—an anvil, a Sawmill, and the like.
The Sawmill crafts complex wooden furniture: beds, clocks, dressers, even pianos.
He busied himself all afternoon until the Lords Mansion looked comfortably furnished instead of bare.
'Phew…'
As he wiped sweat from his brow and was about to bite into a fruit, a cautious knock sounded at the door.
At this hour, the only visitor he could imagine was Dylan.
But when he opened the door, that proved wrong.
'Lord, um… Grand-Mayor's back still hurts.'
The girl with flaxen twin-tails blinked, gathered her courage, and held out a parchment scroll.
'I'm bringing the papers for the Town Meeting in his place.'
'…I see.'
He remembered her name—Li Xue—one of Moonstone Town's rare literate residents.
Accepting the thick sheaf, he started to close the door, yet she lingered, green eyes bright with expectation.
Expectation?
Right—he'd mentioned in the tavern that a timely delivery would earn a reward.
No wonder the girl had rushed over after dusk, gambling on a promise that might never be kept.
Commendable nerve.
'Speak.'
He swung the door wider again.
'What reward would you like?'