Sezel grunted and drove the blunt edge of his poor, abused sword once again into the stubborn purple crystal growing out of the ground.
The alley was silent except for the scraping, his curses, and the occasional complaint from his lower back.
After a few more swings, his sword finally knocked loose a glimmering chunk. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, squinting at the reward.
"Man, this is hard," he muttered—not for the first time and definitely not for the last.
Still, he didn't stop. Bent on getting the Spirit Essence crystal out before his motivation evaporated, Sezel kept hacking and prying until with a final pop, the chunk tumbled free from the root.
A terribly satisfied grin cracked across his face. "Come to daddy."
He scooped it up and then—just like everything else in this cursed world—it disappeared.
Uh... not exactly disappeared but sent away in his inventory.
