Chapter 23
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Adamantite
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Rumble—
The earth stirred with a faint tremor. Jutting rocks pushed out the mithril ores that had been embedded deep within.
It consumed a great deal of mana, but it was a method that required neither miners nor mining equipment.
It was something only those proficient in earth magic could do, and one of the many reasons Pernyan had chosen the earth element.
“More than I thought.”
Looking at the turquoise ores that filled his vision, Pernyan barely suppressed a laugh.
In the Prophecy Book, Sir Gardner Alpenparsen had said there was about 5kg of mithril.
Honestly, he had thought that was half a lie and would have been happy with even half that amount, but the reality was the opposite.
‘This is heaven…!’
What was exposed on the surface was just over 5kg, but digging deeper with magic revealed even more.
Roughly 20kg. This amount was valuable enough to buy a small country with change to spare.
—!
──!
Pernyan erected a rock barrier against the falling debris.
The impacts and vibrations grew stronger with time.
“They’re really going at it.”
Fighting like this was how that thick barrier had collapsed, revealing the mithril.
There was quite a distance from where the Sea Serpent was to this place.
Moreover, it was blocked by a wall over two meters thick. Pernyan had used earth magic to dig through and then restore it, but Aint was different.
To break through that and discover the mithril, a mediocre level of combat wouldn't have been nearly enough.
“He’s not going to lose here, is he?”
He had grown stronger than mentioned in the Prophecy Book thanks to the elixir, but since Pernyan was the one who defeated Verian, he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
[Shaaaaaak!
The Sea Serpent’s breath struck all over the cave. *Crash*, collapsed fragments fell from all directions, but it was just its last throes.
Beyond the collapsed ground was a seemingly bottomless abyss. Even for a Sea Serpent, falling from such a height would make it difficult to get back up immediately.
“I-I’m alive!”
- You were lucky. For the ground to collapse like that. We should probably get out of here before that thing comes to its senses and climbs back up…
Wait a minute.
Gardner stopped talking.
- What's that?
“What is it?”
- Over there, don't you see that bluish light?
Exactly behind where the Sea Serpent had been sleeping, a faint stream of light could be seen through the half-collapsed wall.
After carefully harvesting the spirit herb, Aint slowly approached.
“…This is.”
- Mithril! It's a mithril vein!]
Pernyan gripped his throbbing head and nodded.
“So he didn’t win through skill, anyway.”
Then it shouldn't matter. The thought came to him naturally.
“Well, it’s only natural he couldn’t win.”
Verian, who received a demon's power, was that pathetic. Even if Aint had awakened and defeated him, it wouldn't have made much difference.
“…I should hurry.”
The Sea Serpent's attack would soon strike the wall, causing it to partially collapse. He had to harvest all the mithril and escape before then.
“Still, I guess it's a relief I don't have to erase the traces of mining.”
The battle would make a mess of the place anyway. Anyone who could notice something like that would have to be an expert miner, not a knight.
Pernyan spurred himself on.
* * *
“Hah, hah…!”
Aint gasped for breath. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and minor cuts littered his skin.
Before him lay a vast, seemingly endless darkness. It was the bottomless pit that had swallowed the Sea Serpent when the ground collapsed.
“…Is it dead?”
- It looks quite deep… It probably won't be able to climb back up easily.
The problem was that the Sea Serpent wasn't the only thing that had fallen. Aint had fortunately been able to take refuge in a cave in the wall, but he was injured from the impact.
“If only that sudden earthquake hadn't happened…!”
- It might not have been an earthquake, but a consequence of the battle. This is a cave, after all.
“…But it's quite high up.”
- To think there was a space like this underground. Even the previous emperor wouldn't have guessed.
“Will I be able to climb up?”
Aint tilted his head straight up and murmured, looking at the faint light visible far above.
- You have to. Or do you plan on starving to death here?
“Of course not.”
It was a dangerous place where one misstep could mean a fatal fall, but it didn't feel impossible to climb. If he used aura to dig his fingers into the wall as he advanced, it would be slow, but there shouldn't be a problem.
- First, you should recover with a potion, climb up, grab the spirit herb, and get out of here. We don't know when that Sea Serpent will crawl back up… Wait a minute.
“What is it? Don't tell me the Sea Serpent is…?”
A tense Aint spread his senses, but he couldn't feel the Sea Serpent's presence.
- No, not down there. Look over there.
It was a small hole inside a recess in the wall. It was so narrow Aint had to squat to enter, but the space gradually widened inside.
“Is there something in here?”
- Probably. I get a strange feeling.
At those words, Aint forced his body inside. First crawling, then squatting, then standing.
At the end, a small hollow revealed itself.
And there…
- …Jackpot!
“There's no spirit herb here.”
- Is the spirit herb what matters right now!
- Can't you see that!
It was an ore that emitted a faint light. Its color was similar to steel, yet it had a more varied feel.
“What is that?”
- That's adamantite.
“Adamantite? What's th… Adamant…ite?”
Aint was stunned. He knew almost nothing about ores, but he knew of the three legendary metals.
The metal blessed by mana, Mithril.
The hardest substance, Adamantite.
And Orichalcum, which had a tendency to ascend and was also called a floatstone.
All three were things you couldn't obtain no matter how much money you offered.
“Is it really adamantite?”
- You call yourself a knight and you can't tell at a glance! You should always be knowledgeable about the best metals for your weapons and armor!
- This sword I inhabit is also the finest creation, made by mixing adamantite and mithril…
“That's not what's important right now!”
- Right, you're right. Mine it! Mine it all right now!
Aint made a determined face, enveloped his sword in aura, and struck the adamantite.
—!
A massive repulsive force sent shattered aura flying. His face twisted in shock.
“…I don't think this is going to work.”
- What are you doing?
“Isn't this how you do it?”
- You dare try to shatter adamantite head-on with your pathetic level of aura?
- Avoid the adamantite and collapse the earth around it. That's how you're supposed to mine adamantite.
“Aha.”
However, the earth around the adamantite was also quite hard, so even that wasn't easy.
- Of course. Adamantite affects its surroundings.
“This doesn't seem like it'll be over quickly. What if the Sea Serpent comes….”
- Adamantite is one of the most expensive ores. With this much, you won't have to worry about money ever again.
“I'll risk my life to mine it all. But can't I use it?”
- If you have the skill. Adamantite is something that, even among dwarves, only a true master craftsman can smelt easily.
- Such craftsmen are rare, so finding one is the first problem. And even if you find one, it's questionable whether they'll accept the commission.
- Above all, the commission fee will be astronomical. More than you can afford right now.
“That's true.”
A hint of disappointment colored Aint's eyes.
A sword or armor made of adamantite, said to be the hardest in the world. As a knight, it would be a lie to say he had never imagined it.
“But if I give some of the adamantite as payment…”
- More importantly.
Gardner cut Aint off.
- The biggest problem is that neither you nor the Armian family has the power to protect the adamantite right now.
- You've had the throne stolen and lost so much. Is there any guarantee the adamantite won't be taken from you as well?
“……”
Aint couldn't refute that. He himself felt it more keenly than anyone.
“Then who could I sell this to? I can't just sell it to anyone…”
- What's there to think about?
Gardner asked back, his voice suggesting he genuinely didn't understand.
- There's a nouveau riche just a stone's throw away.
- If you really want that armor, make him an offer.
* * *
“So, did you get what you wanted?”
Jace greeted Pernyan with a sly smile as he suddenly rose from the ground.
“Anything happen?”
“Some monsters went on a bit of a rampage and fought with students nearby? It's safe to say there was nothing that required a teaching assistant to step in.”
“Good.”
“Is it all over now?”
“For now.”
At those words, Jace recalled the clone that had been standing guard in the tree.
“Then I guess I'm done sitting around in one spot.”
“It hasn't even been a day.”
“Even staying still for a day makes me antsy.”
So, is our contract finished?
Jace asked Pernyan, who chuckled.
“I've done what you wanted, Hyeongnim, and you've already paid the price.”
“Yes, you did well.”
“But I'm really curious, what kind of elixir is it? What kind of elixir is worth going to these lengths to obtain?”
Instead of answering, Pernyan just stared at Jace silently. At his gaze, Jace shook his head.
“Yeah, of course you wouldn't tell me. Well then, I'm off. Good work, Teaching Assistant. Call me if you need anything else!”
Jace disappeared with a chuckle. Pernyan took his place in the tree, where he was supposed to be as a teaching assistant.
“Things went better than I thought.”
The amount of mithril was substantial, and Aint hadn't found out.
‘Will this much be enough to make it?’
It was 20kg, but since mithril is an extremely light ore, its volume was enormous, comparable to a decent-sized house.
The amount shouldn't be insufficient.
‘The problem is finding a suitable ore.’
Mithril was called the blessed metal of mana for its excellent mana absorption and conductivity, but it was an ore that couldn't shine on its own.
Alloy. Its efficiency would more than double only when mixed with another metal.
Naturally, a mediocre ore wouldn't suffice.
“I'll have to use all the money I have to find something.”
If he mobilized all his connections and his family's power, he might be able to find a few materials worthy of being paired with mithril.
“Adamantite, or at the very least, Blacksteel would be best…”
But were those ores something you could get just because you had money?
‘Anyway, the job is done. I'll just keep up this teaching assistant act for a bit and then finish…’
It was then.
—!
*CRASH!*
*SCREEECH—*
*BARK BARK—*
An explosion, a roar, the cries and screams of beasts, and the thick stench of monsters assaulted his nose.
Pernyan sat up. In the distance, a pack of dozens of hellhounds was chasing a single student.
“Help me! Please, save me!”
Armor that was half in tatters, dried scabs of blood here and there, a desperate cry.
It was a student who had encountered an overwhelming pack of monsters and was now being chased.
Professors and teaching assistants were stationed in each area to supervise and manage the practical training precisely for situations like this.
But Pernyan didn't bother to intervene.
Not until the student had run and run, screamed dozens of times, and circled the tree where Pernyan sat hundreds of times.
“Ah, seriously!”
The student finally shouted.
“Are you really not going to help me?”
“Should I?”
“Aren't the teaching assistants stationed here to help students when they're in danger?”
“If they were in danger, yes.”
Pernyan rested his chin on his hand and tapped the tree.
“But is an elf really in danger from a mere pack of hellhounds in a forest?”
“…Tch.”
The orange-haired elf, Aria, clicked her tongue.
As she leaped lightly and landed next to Pernyan, the pursuing hellhounds slammed into the tree.
—!
“Stop messing around and deal with them quickly. You're going to knock the tree over.”
“How about you help me, Teaching Assistant?”
“So that stuff about elves loving forests and trees was all bullshit.”
In the end, Aria cast a spell. Dozens of wind blades descended on the pack of hellhounds like a storm.
*Kagagagak—*
She couldn't take care of all the hellhounds at once, but some were critically injured and retreated. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, the hellhounds backed away.
“Did you come looking for me?”
“It was a coincidence.”
“Then go.”
“…I came looking for you.”
“Reason?”
“I was curious.”
Curious? Aria nodded at Pernyan's question.
“As far as I know, second-year students don't become temporary teaching assistants.”
“They just don't do it. It's not that they can't.”
“Exactly. Everyone avoids it because the cons outweigh the pros, so I was curious why you did it, Teaching Assistant.”
Seeing the curiosity in her eyes, Pernyan quickly understood the situation.
“Did your father… Marquis Friedien, tell you to do it? To make contact with the people from the Elector families and build relationships, no matter what?”
“…Was it that obvious? I was pretty confident in my acting.”
Aria didn't bother to deny it.
“Very.”
“I won't deny it. So, shall we be friends?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm older.”
Even for an elf, she wasn't that different from a human. Just that her ears were pointed and she had a slightly better affinity for forests and spirits.
“Then how about a close senior-junior relationship?”
“I'm not too keen on that either.”
“I'm still the heir to an Elector family, you know?”
“Weren't you hitting on Aint?”
“Can an elf live on meat alone? You have to eat some fruit now and then. I'm going to befriend all six Electors anyway, so what does it matter?”
From that short conversation, Pernyan grasped her personality.
The shameless and brazen type, through and through.
“The one with the money hasn't even thought abou—”
It was then.
────!
From far away, a deafening sound that seemed to tear at the eardrums echoed.
It was a roar.
The rage of a dragon whose nest was destroyed and whose treasure was stolen.
“…This is crazy.”
Pernyan swallowed a groan at the sight of the Sea Serpent emerging, sending all the water in the lake flying outwards.
‘Don't tell me Aint is dead…?’
Something was wrong.
“A Sea Serpent? Why is something like that here… Huh? When did you?”
Aria blinked blankly.
In the distance, Pernyan was disappearing, becoming a mere dot.