”How was it?”
On the outside of the rubbles, slightly rising, Asher raised his head, looking at the heiress he was trying to impress.
“…..”
Taylor watched the scene with her cold eyes without responding. Though inwardly, she was feeling satisfied.
As Asher awaited Taylor’s response, a slight tension crept into his demeanor, his eagerness to please her mingling with uncertainty. Did she find his efforts lacking? Was there something she disliked about his actions?
Taylor observed Asher’s subtle shift in posture, her cold eyes betraying no emotion outwardly. However, inwardly, she felt a sense of satisfaction. “This guy is not bad,” she thought to herself, impressed by Asher’s usefulness and his ability to assert their dominance over others like Astron.
‘But, he is a bit of a chicken, and this is a lot better.’
Sensing Asher’s tension, Taylor couldn’t help but feel a surge of power wash over her. She held the upper hand in these types of dynamics, able to influence his emotions with a mere glance or word, and she was addicted to it.
It had been like this from the start, in any case.
With a small chuckle, she decided to alleviate his anxiety.
“No, you did well,” she said, her voice calm yet authoritative. “There’s nothing to dislike.”
Relief flooded over Asher as he heard Taylor’s reassurance, his tense muscles relaxing as he realized he had succeeded in earning her approval.
‘This crazy woman is like bipolar. I can’t read her at all.’
Grateful for her ‘acknowledgment,’ he nodded slightly, a sense of calm warming his heart. But then again, it was only temporary as he heard her following words.
“Now, enter there and mine me some stones.”
As Asher looked at Taylor, he noticed a subtle grin playing on her lips as she spoke. Her words carried a hint of authority, an order disguised as a request. Top of FormIt was like she was saying, from now on, you will be in my command.
“I-“
Just as he was about to say something, Taylor threw another provocation his way. “I guess you can’t do it,” she remarked casually, her tone taunting. “I thought this trait of yours enabled you to interact with the earth to blast this tunnel?”
Her words hit Asher like a slap in the face, as she had implied that it was obvious who made this tunnel like this.
‘Sigh….I underestimated this woman’s craziness.’
Sighing inwardly, he thought, shaking his head. And then he accepted his fate…..
******
“This tunnel is quite long.”
I thought to myself, looking around. Now that I had been trapped in this place, I couldn’t do anything other than walk deeper.
Of course, the situation I was in wasn’t something grave. For miners, there is always the possibility of tunnels collapsing and them being trapped. Therefore, the academy had already given us the necessary tools to call them in case such a thing happened.
“Though it will affect our grades.”
Calling the academy means that you are unable to solve your own problems as a Hunter, and this will result in a reduction of one’s grades. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, as there are some situations that are beyond the scope of a student.
It will also affect one’s reputation. This was likely why Taylor had done such a thing, as she wanted me to get a negative grade on this assignment.
‘Childish games.’
With that thought, I continued my walk, observing the cave. Finding magic stones is not that hard if you have the necessary features under you.
“Mana Observation is probably the most fundamental method to utilize.”
Normally, [Mana Observation], which was one of the most important advanced techniques for a hunter, would be utilized here.
However, from the moment my [Perceptive Insight] had evolved and increased its rank, I no longer needed to use it. It was already engraved in my subconsciousness, my brain doing it on its own.
Though I needed a blocker for it, after closing the mental switch I had constructed in my head, the mana veins immediately became visible in front of my eyes.
‘The color of the Magic Stones represents the attribute of psions stored, and the radiance of it represents the density. However, I need to learn something to classify the density of mana stones. But I need to get more and more closer to it.’
‘It represents the human body. I wonder if this whole planet can be considered a living being with all these mana veins and magic Stones. With the existence of mana, maybe it even has its own will.’
While observing, everything was fine, but the information was basically overwhelming. Seeing all these mana veins and trying to discern their intersection was too hard to continuously do that.
It was mentally taxing.
‘This should be the reason why not many human detectors like me are not hired. We lack a machine’s consistency.’
I could, of course, continue doing this, but at one point, both my mana and my mind were bound to be exhausted. That wouldn’t be the case for the machines since as long as they had enough storage to keep data, they could move forward in a desired way.
Opening the switch once again, I limited my [Perceptive Insight] and then moved forward.
As I continued to walk deeper into the darkness of the tunnel, my senses attuned to the subtle fluctuations of mana around me.
The air grew thicker with each step, a tangible reminder of the vast network of mana veins that crisscrossed beneath the earth’s surface.
‘This should be enough.’
Finally, I reached a point where the concentration of mana seemed to peak, indicating the presence of magic stones nearby.
I reached out with my hand, feeling the rough texture of the rock beneath my fingertips.
Closing my eyes, I closed the switch, allowing the intricate patterns of mana veins to reveal themselves to my mind’s eye. In the darkness, the magic stones glowed faintly, their colors representing the attributes of psions stored within.
‘I see…So these are water-magic stones.’
Sensing the calmness of the water and its fluidity, I slowly counted the stones.
‘There are five of them here. From its looks, all of them are around the level of low-grade Magic Stone.’
Feeling the mana, I estimated its diameter to be around 15 centimeters. Using this measurement, I calculated its approximate volume using the formula for the volume of a sphere. Assuming the stone was spherical in shape, the volume came out to be approximately 3,530 cubic centimeters.
‘Though it is a little bit bigger than that since it has intrusions around the surface. But, according to what she mentioned, the average density of Water Magic Stones is around 2.65 grams per cubic centimeter. Multiplying the volume by the density, it can be estimated the weight of the stone to be approximately 9,345 grams or 9.345 kilograms.’
From then on, it was in the common knowledge. One could sell magic stones in the market at a price of 1000-100.000, which was dependent on the density of the pieces stored inside.
This would determine the quality of the stone. The ones before me were low-quality; thus, I would probably get approximately 9000U for the biggest one.
‘Well, since I have basically undetectable storage, why not grab some stones for myself?’
After all, not every stone needed to be submitted to the academy….
‘It will be a good way to train my mana control as well…’
With that, I started working.
******
In the dimly lit tunnel, the young man with a bulky build turned his head backward and asked. “What do you think? How long is it left?”
His voice was calm, but it was filled with authority. Behind him stood a girl. She had a slender figure, her short hair reaching only the end of her ears. Her eyes shone for a second as she observed the veins.
“I am sensing a good amount of Mana condensed around fifty meters. I think there are some mana stones there.”
Her name was Becky, and she was an archer. Being in the role of scout in general, rangers tended to require strong senses. Though her rank wasn’t that high, she at least trusted her senses enough.
“I see.” Carl nodded and continued moving. However, Becky was somehow tense.
‘Why am I in the same group as a ranker?’
She had been put into the same group as one of the strongest people in the academy as well as the heir of one of the heirs belonging to the Pentagon.
Also, it was the scariest of all of them since Carl had a bulky build and a serious face all the time.
“Don’t get too tense; he is not that bad.” At that moment, a voice came from her side. It was the remaining member of the group. His name was Martin Bryan. He was slightly on the lower-ranking side, but he was good at theory, which made his opinions valuable.
Becky glanced at him, her curiosity piqued by his cryptic words. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Martin chuckled softly, a knowing smile playing on his lips. “Mister Carl just looks serious and stern from the outside. In fact, he has a warm heart, and he is a good person,” he explained.
‘Mister Carl?’
Becky raised an eyebrow, sensing that Martin knew something more about Carl than he let on. “Why do you think so?” she inquired, her interest growing.
Martin’s smile widened slightly as if reminiscing about something. “I once received his help,” he replied simply.
Becky nodded, feeling a bit more at ease with Martin’s words. She trusted his judgment, and if he believed that Carl was a good person, then perhaps there was more to him than met the eye.
Just then, Becky and Martin caught sight of Carl’s silhouette approaching them silently.
“Mister Carl? Did something happen?” Martin called out to him, but there was no response.
SMASH!
Before they could react, a hammer came hurtling out of the darkness, striking Carl’s head with a sickening thud.
THUD!
“Kyaaaa!”
Becky gasped in horror as Carl’s body crumpled to the ground, his lifeless form slumping against the tunnel wall, its brain scattering around….
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