Using thirty percent of his strength, which was equivalent to an ordinary person exerting all his might, he could chip off a solidified clod of earth the size of a head; increasing it to fifty percent, the sand was easily cleared. Half an hour later, the dust-covered Durin finally reached the sandstone.
However, they finally saw a piece of transparent, prism-shaped Synthetite crystal, radiating an orange-yellow glow, embedded within the sandstone.
This was the crystal worth three gold cogwheel?!
Durin's breath hitched, and a wave of ecstasy surged in his heart.
Slaut, even more excited, pumped his fist in a gesture of celebration: "We found the crystal! I can already see the gold cogwheel waving at us!"
But before the two could continue digging, a muffled sound suddenly came from around the corner of the mine shaft.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This did not sound like human footsteps.
Instead, it sounded like metal colliding with stone, and it was exceptionally heavy.
Both men's hearts instantly leaped into their throats.
"Idiot! You were too loud just now!" Durin glared at Slaut.
The next moment, three small stone men staggered out of the darkness of the mine shaft. The one standing in the center was about 1.6 meters tall and quite robust. The other two were about 1.5 meters tall, a size smaller than the central figure.
Although they were humanoid, they lacked any semblance of human appearance. They looked more like they had been forcibly pieced together from uneven rocks, and the two eye sockets and the mouth on their faces contained neither eyeballs nor a tongue, only emanating a ghostly green light.
"Keep digging! I'll hold them off!" The appearance of the small stone men made Durin's scalp tingle, but with the crystal within reach, Durin naturally wouldn't give up. He yelled at Slaut while standing up, gripping his pickaxe.
"Alright, alright, alright." Slaut was sweating profusely as he frantically picked up his pickaxe and vigorously chipped away at the sandstone surrounding the Synthetite crystal.
The small stone men first tilted their heads to examine Durin, then simultaneously opened their mouths slightly and let out roars.
"Roar!"
The sound was very strange, completely unlike a human voice—it resembled the collision of stone, mixed with a metallic resonance. It was so loud that it made them instinctively cover their ears.
Immediately afterward, they sprinted toward Durin with abandon, their heavy bodies causing the entire mine shaft to tremble and roar.
Durin was prepared. He grabbed the two buckets of asphalt placed by his feet and forcefully poured them onto the ground. The black, viscous, foul-smelling asphalt instantly covered the narrow tunnel.
Thump, thump, thump!
The three small stone men straightforwardly stepped onto the asphalt, one after another losing their balance during their charge. They slipped and fell to the ground, performing a face-plant into the dirt. They flailed helplessly, trying to stand up but unable to do so.
Lacking intelligence, they couldn't comprehend the situation and merely stared blankly at Durin.
Just as Durin and Slaut breathed a sigh of relief, they saw the small stone man with the larger upper body struggle to climb out of the asphalt.
"Roar!"
The small stone man let out a strange roar. The asphalt only hindered his steps but couldn't stop his advance, and he charged straight toward Durin.
Durin's heart pounded wildly. He gripped the iron pickaxe in his hand. Conveniently, the pickaxe was a one-handed weapon, and with his 52 points of proficiency, he wielded it as flexibly as an arm, slamming it hard into the center of the small stone man's chest.
He kept in mind the words the Mage Kreslin had told him: strike the opponent's weak point fiercely.
Bang!
The hard metal pickaxe head struck the small stone man's chest heavily. However, the pickaxe only chipped off a layer of rock skin; it failed to penetrate.
Clang!
Unexpectedly, what was supposed to be the small stone man's weak point was incredibly tough, emitting a loud, ringing metallic clang upon impact.
The small stone man was completely unfazed. He suddenly raised his hand and smashed it toward Durin's head.
Durin's expression changed. He subconsciously used the pickaxe to block the incoming stone fist. The heavy rock and surging power caused a sharp pain in Durin's arm.
"Ah!"
Durin cried out in pain, and the pickaxe in his hand slipped away, dropping straight to the ground.
The next moment, his waist was forcefully embraced by the small stone man's extended arms. The terrifying strength and the rigid pressure of the rock squeezed Durin, causing him to let out a low, heart-rending groan. All the features on his face twisted together, accompanied by the continuous cracking sounds of his muscles and bones being contorted.
Damn!
This small stone man is that powerful?!
Am I... going to die?!
The intense pain and feeling of suffocation caused this thought to echo in Durin's mind. His vision grew darker, and his eyelids drooped weakly.
Bang!!
A huge gunshot suddenly reverberated in the mine shaft, deafening Durin's eardrums. At the same time, the small stone man, which had been clutching his waist, trembled. Its broad back cracked open like a spiderweb, gray stone fragments sprayed everywhere, and the area was deeply indented.
Where did that gunshot come from?
Durin snapped his eyes open and clearly saw Slaut holding a crudely made double-barreled flintlock pistol, the muzzle still emitting wisps of white smoke.
The small stone man, assaulted by the black powder, released its grip and staggered backward one step.
Given a chance to breathe, Durin struggled free, picked up the pickaxe from the ground, and forcefully struck the small stone man's head. Having suddenly suffered an attack to its head, the small stone man, which lacked high intelligence, instantly froze, then reached up to touch the spot where it had been hit.
He then lowered his gaze to look at his palm, tilted his head, appearing as if his thoughts had stalled.
Slaut immediately put away the pistol, ran toward Durin, who had fallen to the ground, extended his hand, and urgently shouted, motioning for Durin to grab his palm, "Mr. Durin! Hurry!"
"???"
Durin looked up. Seeing the double-barreled flintlock pistol in Slaut's other hand, he was stunned, and then immediately exploded in rage.
Son of a bitch! You had a gun and didn't take it out sooner!
You only waited until the brink of death to use it, afraid I'd double-cross you, right!
"Run! Mr. Durin!" Slaut roared, "Don't look back, I've already dug out the Synthetite crystal!"
Slaut was right. Durin didn't have time to be angry with him. With Slaut's help, he quickly got up and, enduring the pain, frantically fled toward the mine shaft entrance.