The Amber Sword volume 3 - Chapter 46

Chapter 46 – Silver Mines (7)
“I can’t guarantee that there would be Cold Iron ore if you continue mining in that direction, but there’s definitely a rich vein of metal ores,” Brendel said.
Cohen nodded to Maher’s group. They moved over to Brendel’s indicated location and raised their mining picks to the rocks. But Brendel did not have the intention to dig, and instead looked at a forked tunnel a few meters away.
“Where does that place lead to?” He asked.
“That tunnel leads to the lowest level, but it’s abandoned because of the monsters that appeared after the workers broke through to an undiscovered cavern. The soldiers drove them back with much difficulty and the mining area was abandoned after that.” Cohen explained.
The members of his group gathered part of their ore and put them to his side. Due to his health, he was unable to work, but it seemed like they did not mind.
Brendel rubbed his forehead thoughtfully for a moment. He then started walking towards the other end.
“Hold on,” Cohen called after him, “it’s best that you wait for a while before going there.”
“Why’s that?” Brendel stopped and asked.
“The foreman in charge of our level will inspect our location. It’s best that you wait for him to leave before going elsewhere.”
“When is he coming?”
“Between five to thirty minutes.”
Brendel frowned: “Will he come again to inspect?”
“Yes, he comes over every few hours, but there’s no exact timing.”
“I see, thank you.”
[A few hours should be enough for me to execute my plan. Looks like getting on their good side paid off.]
Brendel toyed with his mining pick by throwing it in the air a few times before he randomly knocked twice on the wall. Under his Gold-ranked strength, the mining pick cut through the rocks as though they were made of paper.
The group of youths who were watching him with curiosity was surprised with his strength, but as they continued watching, they became stunned at his techniques; his mining pick seemed to cut off edges of the silver veins, and the thin sheet of ore slid off the rocks like running water.
The pile of poor-quality silver ore quickly piled at his feet. He was initially a little interested at the prospect of mining again, but he soon sat down in boredom and randomly poked at the silver ore. He quickly gave up and simply watched Maher’s group work.
The youths dug quickly, and the walls were quickly taken down to reveal a change in color. Grey rocks could be seen, and Brendel told them to stop and throw a piece over to him. Jocah did so, and Brendel picked it up and inspected for a bit before he spoke again:
“There are Azure Quartz crystals in the rock, continue digging!”
“You mean they found it?” Cohen asked.
Brendel nodded, and the youths showed subtle excitement. They needed a large sum of money in order to travel to the outside world, and it seemed like it was a chance for them to get rich. Their mining picks increased in speed, and the constant metallic clinks filled everyone’s ears. The rocks were thrown away in order to prevent themselves from tripping, and a few rolled over to Brendel’s feet. He curiously looked at them before his eyes widened.
[The quality of the Azure Quartz is getting better. This level is only seen in crystal mines that have high purity. Metal mines don’t typically have this grade!]
The sounds suddenly stopped, and Brendel’s gaze went up. The rocks parted to reveal a richly saturated blue material— Cold Iron Ore. But what stopped the youths from moving were the glinting crystals in the faint light.
[Mystic Eye Gems! And seventeen of them with the size of a thumb!]
Brendel looked stupidly at it for a moment as he stood up in a hurry. He had never heard or seen anyone lucky enough in the game to find seventeen Mystic Eye Gems, let alone lower-grade Mana Crystals.
“Do you know how much Cold Iron is in here?”
The youths shook their heads in silence.
“At least a ton. The rocks in this section are unusual. Cold Iron is something that’s affected by Mana, and I don’t know why there’s so much Mana gathering at this spot. But it’s a fact since there are so many Mystic Eye Gems here……”
Maher was the first to reply: “Let’s share equally.”
It was not a fair deal for the youths since there were seven of them and Brendel was only one. However, Maher knew that Brendel was skilled in combat and was afraid that the latter might get greedy.
“No, I want them all. Just sell me your share,” Brendel patted his bag at the waist as he spoke excitedly, “I can pay immediately.”
The uses of the Mystic Eye Gems were more than just the creation of Magic rings. They could also be applied to the White Lion Plate Armor and even the legendary Wind Bow of the Golden Elves.
[Seventeen! That’s more than enough to make a hundred sets of armor! What a find!]
The youths looked at each other in silence, and Cohen took over the conversation: “How much are you willing to pay?”
“I’m not going to lie to you. I can only offer a tenth of what the gems are worth because I don’t have enough money, but I’m sure you will still be satisfied with the amount of money offered. You may disagree with the money I’m offering because of what they are valued at, but these gems are poisonous because of how much they are worth; you’re very likely to get killed trying to sell them.”
“Then how much are you willing to pay us?” The girl beside Cohen asked.
“Ten square gold coins.”
Loud gasps could be heard immediately. Ten square gold coins were approximately 25,000 Tor coins, and it was the biggest sum of money the youths had ever heard.
“You’re willing to pay…… so much?” Jocah asked with a stutter.
“Of course, oh, and your commission is also included in it.”
Jocah gave an awkward laugh. He knew that Brendel was joking with him; he would at most charge him 15 Tor coins for leading the way.
Cohen thought carefully for a while before he nodded. His companions gently mined the crystals and passed them to Brendel, who paid them readily. The youths who received the money counted them repeatedly and even bit the coins with their teeth as though they did not believe they were made out of real gold.
Even if they worked collectively for ten years and stole the silver ore to sell, they would never earn the sum of money they had in their hands.
“Brendel, are you going to buy the Cold Iron as well?” Cohen asked.
Brendel glanced at the metal vein. He certainly needed the material, but there was no need for him to have it now. It was not as if the metal would be mined immediately, and if his plan went well the mine would soon be his.
He shook his head. The youths sighed with disappointment at his response. It would be difficult for them to sell the Cold Iron Ore.
Approximately thirty minutes later, the foreman that Cohen mentioned finally arrived. Brendel and the youths had returned closer to the entrance because they wanted to hide the discovery of the Cold Iron.
The foreman seemed to know the youths as he greeted them and mistakenly treated Brendel as their newest member, but they did not correct his mistake. Once the foreman left, Brendel finally received the chance to investigate the forked tunnel.
He bid farewell to the youths and traveled the dark tunnel which seemed to have no end. The oppressive silence that was void of life would have frightened an ordinary man, but Brendel was delighted because of the thing he was about to do. Finally, he came out to a large area.
He stopped at a corridor that was blocked off by rocks. It was the spot where the soldiers had filled up in order to prevent monsters from coming back. He extended his palm out, and a shining card appeared the next moment:
The Wind Spirit Spiders.