HPDBC Chapter 58 - 58 - 53: Harvest
Chapter 58 - 58 - 53: Harvest
Chapter 58 – 53: Harvest
After collecting these blue crystals, the Dwarves immediately began mining Cold Iron Ore. They worked with incredible efficiency, and due to their innate talent, their Cross Pickaxes always hit the weakest spots in the rock layers, never showing signs of fatigue, growing more spirited the harder they worked.@@@@
Kalalin cast a 0th-level Light Spell to brightly illuminate the surroundings, then studied the corpse of the shark-lizard beast until she could no longer stay awake and fell asleep in a corner, wrapped in her cloak, unaffected by the intermittent tapping of the Dwarves’ mining.
Lancelot, meanwhile, sat cross-legged, meditating, cultivating, and expanding his Divine Sense, to stay alert to any threats that might approach.
He was pleasantly surprised to discover a noticeable increase in his True Qi, small though it was, it was much faster than his usual rate of progress. He conjectured that it was likely related to the fierce battle that day, similar to how intense physical exercise can enhance the body’s strength.
Bruto and Barrend attacked the ore vein with their Cross Pickaxes throughout the night. The high-quality Cold Iron Ore stimulated their enthusiasm for work like a stimulant, and in one night, they excavated nearly a ton of ore, filling up all the space in the Dimensional Bag, enough for Barrend to forge dozens of weapons of various styles.
In addition, they found over thirty pieces of Cold Water Crystals of various sizes, six of which met the Upper Grade Spirit Stone standard. The larger Cold Water Crystals that contained more Spiritual Energy tended to be big and had various inclusions, not really meeting the criteria for ornamental gemstones.
Since most of the battle was Lancelot’s effort, after he expressed how these stones could help improve his strength, everyone agreed to let him pick the larger ones first.
They set out early the next morning, taking nearly four hours to climb from seven thousand feet underground back to the surface. They retrieved their tools from the rest area (the supplies had been completely scavenged by the Gray Dwarves), then summoned the Nightmare Chariot and smoothly returned to Twin Bridges Town by midday.
It must be said, without that Dimensional Bag, the journey would definitely not have been so easy.
Upon entering the town, their first stop was to report the results of their exploration to the Craftsmen Committee. Five white-bearded elderly Dwarves were thrilled by the news of the discovery of the massive Cold Iron Vein, and the ton of high-grade ore in the Dimensional Bag made everything more attractive.
They also expressed gratitude for Lancelot and his group’s efforts to rescue the Gray Dwarf mining team—having returned to Twin Bridges Town the day before. But upon hearing Lancelot’s account of the shark-lizard beast and the Spirit Demons, the committee members all wore looks of relief.
Clearly, the actual difficulty of a mission often did not match its appearance, but whether to accept it was up to the mercenaries themselves. Moreover, unless it was a designated mission item, all the spoils of war belonged to the mercenaries.
This time, they had obtained a Dimensional Bag, cold crystals, the carapace and leather of the shark-lizard beast (as well as its backstrap meat, which Lancelot was very curious about), and enough ore to offset Barrend’s work for a month.
Apart from nearly losing their lives, the return could be said to be extremely generous, and no wonder so many desperadoes dared to venture into the Abyss to become mercenaries.
“Not bad, not bad, you’ve already outlasted more than one-third of the mercenaries by returning alive,” Sonam hissed with a sinister laugh, her gaze falling on Lancelot’s shoulder, “It seems you’ve exchanged for a rather fine weapon.”
“Ha! Remember what I told you last time? This is the craftsmanship of our Frostforge clan!” Seeing Sonam interested in his old man’s work, Bruto couldn’t suppress his excitement, “Lancelot, take it down and let her have a good look! We just got our hands on some raw materials, are you interested in becoming our first client?”
Sonam’s human pupils slowly condensed into a vertical slit, giving Lancelot a tingling sensation on his scalp, as if being watched by a giant python. He helplessly drew out Frostslash and handed it over to the six-armed Serpent Demon.
Sonam took the sword with her lowermost right hand and examined it closely. As a skilled swordsman herself, she could easily discern the weapon’s fine quality, and its slightly longer size than a regular longsword suited her well. She flicked the sword blade lightly with her finger, then reached out to touch the blade to test its sharpness.
“This is a masterwork from my old man; he’s the best blacksmith in Rivet Fort,” Bruto boasted, “It’s a weapon made from cold iron...”
The six-armed Serpent Demon cut off one of her fingers.
“... very effective against Demons and Devils...”
Bruto’s voice gradually trailed off.