“Oh?” Kyle uttered as he saw a blue stone in the wall in front of him. “See? I told you there was one here!”
Theodor huffed. “Lucky guess,” he said.
Kyle was inside his mine right now, and he had been mining down here for the last week.
Of course, he couldn’t spend his entire day mining.
In the early mornings, Theodor sent him through the wild to explore.
According to him, he needed to come into contact with more danger.
Kyle needed to be able to make decisive and correct decisions in an emergency situation, and the best way to teach him was to just travel to the unknown.
While Kyle was traveling through the wilds, Theodor also taught him more about affinities, ores, and mining.
Thanks to Kyle’s improved mind, he basically remembered everything perfectly.
Well, as long as he was interested and actually listened.
After getting breakfast, Kyle would meet up with Nervon to learn more about fighting with his hammer.
Nervon taught Kyle how to fight against opponents and how to swing his hammer correctly.
After his lessons with Nervon, Kyle would work as a hunter. He was accompanied by one of the members every day, and they taught him what to do.
During the evenings, Kyle would go to his mine and… mine.
About a week of this had passed, and Kyle barely had any time for himself.
However, in a way, it was fulfilling.
“No, I’m serious,” Kyle said. “I knew one of them would be here!”
“Ore Sense is something advanced. It takes months or years to develop it,” Theodor said with a snort.
“Well, then I will just prove it to you!” Kyle said.
He carefully pulled the Basic Mage Stone out of the wall and put it to the side.
It was only about the size of a fist, but it was something.
“No roots around this one. Means I can take it without any issues,” he said.
Theodor just snorted.
Kyle wanted to leave the Basic Mage Stone for the iron trees.
If he stole their Basic Mage Stone supply, they would wither and die.
As a hunter, Kyle also needed to conserve the wildlife.
Meanwhile, Theodor didn’t care.
After taking the Basic Mage Stone, Kyle put his hand on the wall and closed his eyes.
He started to feel a bit hungry, and his instincts were telling him that food was pretty close.
“Three or four more strikes, and there will be another one,” Kyle said.
“That’s not a wild guess,” Theodor answered. “At this depth, you should get one every four swings on average.”
“You’ll see,” Kyle said with a smirk. “I will just keep being accurate with my guesses, and at some point, you will have to believe me.”
Theodor didn’t answer.
Kyle swung another time.
No ore.
He swung once more.
No ore.
“This one is going to be it,” Kyle said.
Then, he swung one last time.
BANG!
Nothing.
Kyle furrowed his brows. “I was sure there would be one.”
Theodor didn’t answer for a while.
“It’s in the rubble,” Theodor commented neutrally.
“Oh?” Kyle uttered before sifting through the rubble.
Sure enough, there was a finger-sized blue rock in the rubble.
Kyle smiled. “Turns out I was right!”
“Make your next prediction,” Theodor said.
Kyle put his hand on the wall again and closed his eyes.
“Oh wow,” Kyle said. “There’s a big one! Two more swings, and I will get it!”
Just now, Kyle had felt ravenous hunger when he touched the wall.
There was some amazing food ahead!
“How big?” Theodor asked.
“I dunno, but it’s bigger than all the other ones.”
“Alright,” Theodor said. “That is quite a bold prediction. If you are actually right, I might entertain the idea that you already have developed Ore Sense.”
“But before that,” Kyle said as he grabbed a bunch of rubble. “Gotta deal with this first.”
Kyle spent the next minutes transporting the rubble to the hill he had made outside.
Finally, he returned to hitting the wall with his hammer.
BANG!
Nothing.
“I can feel it!” Kyle shouted. “It’s huge!”
Then, Kyle swung again.
BANG!
Nothing.
He could only look in shock at the wall.
“What?” he asked, looking at the wall in dismay. “I was sure there was one!”
Theodor didn’t answer immediately.
Kyle was sure that Theodor would immediately gloat, but he was silent.
“Is there something I overlooked?” Kyle asked suspiciously.
“Go look through the rubble,” Theodor commented absentmindedly.
Kyle did just that.
The size of the ore chunk should make it very obvious.
He was sure that it was huge.
He had to have noticed it if it were in the rubble.
Nevertheless, he checked through the rubble.
“Oh?” Kyle uttered as he picked up a small green stone.
It was barely the size of a fingertip.
He smelled it a bit.
“This is good stuff!” Kyle shouted.
He immediately wanted to consume this stone, but he suppressed his desire.
“Is this what I sensed?” Kyle asked.
“Most likely,” Theodor said, no longer denying Kyle’s Ore Sense.
“What is it?” Kyle asked, looking at it.
“Rank D Material,” Theodor said. “It’s called Wood Essence. You can find it by mining below forests. Over time, gathered Ether from trees can flow into the ground and collect in one spot. After a while, Wood Essence is created.”
“Wood Essence is an integral part of Ether plant farms. If there is a surplus of Ether, Wood Essence will be created, and if there is a lack of Ether, the plants can consume the Wood Essence.”
“Interesting,” Kyle commented while looking at the green stone. “Is it worth something?”
“Foolish inheritor, that’s what I just said. Do I have to spell everything out for you?” Theodor asked in annoyance.
“How much is it worth?” Kyle asked, ignoring the jab.
“I don’t know the prices since a lot of time has passed since I was at my prime,” Theodor said. “This area is also filled with dense Wood Ether, which means you won’t be able to sell it at a premium. The supply is abundant, and the need is minimal.”
“At most, you could get about ten kilos of Basic Mage Stone with that.”
“What the fuck is a kilo? Use pounds like a normal person!” Kyle said.
“How do you even know about pounds?” Theodor asked in annoyance. “That is an archaic method of measuring things. That was used thousands of years ago.”
Kyle only wanted to make a joke, but now, he was also confused.
’I thought it was just a coincidence that they also use kilo, but they also used pounds?’
’Why are the measurements here almost identical to the measurements on Earth?’
After thinking about it for a bit, Kyle just shrugged.
’Eh, who cares? Don’t question fantasy land.’