I’ll know more if I take a closer look. Identify!”
It is a Bat Sculpture with an unknown name.
The Bat Sculpture is covering its body with its wings.
Its form resembles the Vampire Bats of the Shaspin Cave.
Artistic Value: 3
Weed was about to pass the sculpture back to the store owner and said.
“It seems to be nothing much. It has no worth and it seems like it was made simply.”
“Is that so? That’s disappointing. I had a lot of expectations for this sculpture, since it was found in the rapids of a lake .”
But it was at that moment.
Weed looked at the eyes of the sculpture.
Thrilling!
The eyes of the Vampire Bat whose eyes were alive with fright!
They say that a bat’s eyes were degenerated, but it still had eyeballs. It seemed as though the surprising bright eyes were moving about.
Its eyes were not made of stone, but were made of precious rubies.
Weed swallowed and examined the stone piece again. He touched the rubies with his fingertips, and observed it while shining a light at it.
‘It’s a ruby that hasn’t been cut and is rough. Since it’s a ruby that I can get thousands for if I touch it up a little, I can’t see how something like that should be in something like this Bat Sculpture.’
Then he had received a message!
– You have discovered evidence of the Shaspin Vampire Bat in the stone piece.
Weed felt another weird feeling.
“Identify!”
Shaspin Vampire Bat.
The work of the Dwarf Craftsman Gudolph.
It was the last completed work in the Shaspin Cave.
Artistic Value: 245
***
In Kuruso Kingdom, the region behind the lake that was littered with caves.
It was certain that without a guide, one would get lost within the complex anthill-like cave.
Thanks to the Dwarves’ innate senses and the ability to read the traces of ore deposits they could never get lost underground. However, since anyone could get lost in a complex cave even with a map, if it wasn’t a particularly brave Dwarf, they never ventured in too deep.
The young Dwarf Gudolph cautiously walked into the cave.
‘This time… Have to find courage to go to the gemstone mines.’
Gudolph was highly noted as an artisan, but even more than that, he had a good grasp of the underground ore deposits.
“I ought to give her a pretty brooch as a present.”
He wanted to give a brooch he created with the gems he found to his lover when he proposes.
Gudolph took up a fast pace towards Shaspin cave.
“This is the way that leads to a cluster of ruby viens.”
The Shaspin is a place Dwarfs do not dare to go. Gudolph was blind in love and cautiously went into the depths of the cave.
Dark, and narrow cave!
He passed by stalactites and the vampire bats sleeping on them.
He was willing to risk his life to move further into the cave to mine jewels.
And from the depths of the cave, he discovered traces of light emitted from jewels.
“It’s here!”
Cheered, old Gudolph as he struck his pickaxe into the vein.
He found the mine of high graded red ruby gemstones!
“This will be more than enough to make a brooch for her!”
Gudolph sank into happiness.
However, the sound coming from the pickaxe as he was digging the ruby out woke up all of the Vampire Bats in the Shaspin Cave. The Vampire Bats beat their wings and flew over to sink their teeth into Gudolph.