Kyle’s entire body started sizzling.
He let go of his hammer and rolled on the steep wall.
“Use your Soul! The sand is not connected to the cloud!” Theodor shouted.
After rolling for a couple of meters, Kyle grabbed the wall and used his Soul to keep him stable.
Then, he continued shaking off all of the Skysand.
By the end, almost all of his clothing had vanished, and he had burns covering around 40% of his body.
’Fucking! Why does fantasy land have to hurt so much?!’ he thought as he gritted his teeth.
Keeping his focus was difficult under the pain, but he managed to do it.
Over the next seconds, Kyle’s body recovered, but his hunger returned.
Healing so much had exhausted his Ether.
He quickly climbed back to his hammer and held it, giving his Soul a rest.
That was when Kyle noticed something.
’Ah fuck, I dropped my iron sheet,’ he thought as he looked down.
He could see his iron sheet lying on the bottom of the crevice, which was filled with Skysand.
The iron sheet was already corroding.
’Well, there goes that,’ he thought.
Kyle finally had the time to look at his surroundings.
As expected, he was in a crevice, which didn’t look unlike the crevice where the Abyss Eye was.
However, the crevice was around five times as long and wide.
When he looked down, he expected to see another Abyss Eye, but he could only see Skysand.
“This looks like it was made by an Abyss Eye,” Kyle said.
“It most likely was,” Theodor confirmed, “but this one was much stronger. I would guess Peak Ferocious Beast or even Initial Monster.”
“Initial Monster?” Kyle asked in surprise.
Except for Theodor’s golems, Kyle had not seen any wildlife that was in the Third Realm.
“Is it dead?” Kyle asked.
“Depends,” Theodor said. “If it was a Peak Ferocious Beast, the Skysand probably already killed it. If it’s a Monster, it might be able to resist the corrosive effects, and it is just lying dormant until the Skysand moves on.”
Kyle took a deep breath.
’Nature is scary!’
He slowly climbed to the edge of the crevice and looked over.
’Yep, Skysand everywhere,’ he thought. ’It covers the bottom of the crevice and the surroundings. The only reason why it’s not on the walls is because the walls are so steep.’
’Why did I think that the Skysand would end when the crevice begins? Clouds don’t follow terrain rules.’
That was when Kyle realized something.
“Hey, why is the Skysand not eating through the ground?” Kyle asked.
“Skysand corrodes Ether. The ground has no Ether to corrode,” Theodor answered.
“But then, what about my iron sheet? That also doesn’t have any Ether, and it still got corroded.”
“Iron is not earth. Skysand belongs to the Earth Element. It corrodes anything that has Ether and anything that isn’t part of the Earth Element, but if a substance belonging to the Earth Element has Ether, it will also be corroded.”
Kyle looked around.
“So, what if I make a suit out of the ground here?” Kyle asked.
“And how will you isolate your Ether?” Theodor asked.
“Isolate?” Kyle asked.
“Your being does not just comprise your physical body,” Theodor answered. “Anything that you wear on your person is directly connected to you. Some of your Ether would escape, which would excite the Skysand. Go ahead and experiment. Your dwarf brain won’t understand otherwise.”
Kyle let the insult slide and just looked at the sand on the edge of the crevice.
Then, he held his hand to the edge and used his Soul.
Almost immediately, the edge of the crevice started to sizzle and vanish.
Kyle quickly moved to the side, and a bunch of Skysand fell past him.
’Sure enough, as soon as the ground comes into contact with my Ether, the Skysand will destroy it,’ he thought.
But then, Kyle got another idea.
“What if I make a big hamster ball?” Kyle asked.
“A hamster ball?” Theodor asked in annoyance.
“Yeah, like a big ball made of earth. I would be inside and run forward, which would make the ball roll.”
Kyle was quite proud of that idea.
That would solve the Ether problem.
“And how can you tell where you’re going?”
And all of Kyle’s pride vanished.
“Never mind,” he grumbled. “I’ll just walk.”
Theodor just snorted.
Kyle used his soul to walk along the walls of the crevice. Luckily, there was enough distance between him and any place with Skysand. Otherwise, the walls would crumble beneath his feet.
As he kept walking, he looked around.
“Hey, is that ore?” Kyle asked, pointing downward.
“That’s Stygian Graphite. It’s a Rank B Material.”
“Rank B?” Kyle repeated in surprise.
He had never seen a Rank B material before!
“How much is that worth?” Kyle asked.
“That vein down there is worth anything between 50 Ether Stones and three Ether Gems.”
’Ether Gems?!’ Kyle thought. ’One Ether Gem is like a million Ether Pebbles!’
“How do I mine it?” Kyle asked.
“You don’t,” Theodor answered.
“Why not?” Kyle asked.
“How will a toddler mine iron ore?” Theodor asked.
“I’m not a toddler,” Kyle said.
“You’re right,” Theodor said. “In front of Stygian Graphite, you’re not even that. You’re a bug. You’re an ant. How can an ant mine iron ore? If you can find an answer to that question, you can find an answer to how to mine Stygian Graphite with your pitiful level of strength.”
Kyle frowned. “There’s no way?”
“No,” Theodor said with annoyance.
Kyle could only sigh.
’So much wealth right in front of me, but no way to take it with me.’
’Fucking cuck-ass ore!’
“Just continue walking,” Theodor said. “If I find any useful ore, I will tell you.”
“Sure thing, Boss,” Kyle uttered as he kept walking.
Kyle kept walking on the walls.
Luckily, there were no beasts here, and after several minutes, he reached the edge of the crevice.
As he looked over the edge…
He saw more Skysand.
’Fuck this!’