The Eastern Mine of Eddins

Xiao Ling washed his face by the stream and saw a skeleton soldier with a broken sword and tattered leather armor rushing toward him as soon as he got up.

"I'm only at the outer edge of the Skeleton Forest...How can there be a skeleton soldier!"

At that moment, the skeleton soldier's broken sword fell on him.

Xiao Ling took to his heels, rolling and crawling as fast as he could. He had no fighting power! Due to their weak combat talent, Mechanical Alchemists' basic arcane skills were only half as powerful as ordinary level-1 Demonic Warlocks, Destruction Warlocks, or Shadow Priests, and two-thirds as powerful as Affliction Warlocks. Without the help of mechanical imps, they could not even defeat an ordinary skeleton soldier.

As the sword approached, Xiao Ling ducked down, and the blade went over his head. Drenched in cold sweat, he made a hasty roll on the ground and then sprinted out of the Skeleton Forest.

The skeleton soldier let out a shrill laugh, as if it were laughing at Xiao Ling's cowardice, and pursued him further.

Skeleton soldiers had always been known for their slow speed, so it did not take much time for Xiao Ling to get rid of the sudden attacker. But then, his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

"Damnit!" he cursed. "When I get to level 50, I'll definitely come back and kill you, and then use your femur to pick my teeth!"

The fact that he was forced to flee by a normal skeleton soldier depressed Xiao Ling. "It seems that the primal mining area is safer." With that in mind, he started for the eastern mining area outside the castle of Eddins. After passing through tree-lined paths, Eddins—the capital city of Brakada built halfway up Mount Kilo—gradually revealed its magnificent outline in the distance.

The whole castle was built halfway up the mountain, overlooking the earth like a giant, and its walls—more than ten meters high—were covered with traces left by the years, indicating its history.

Eddins had a history of thousands of years and was a holy place for warlocks. Since the warlocks defected from Erathia and established a free kingdom in Brakada, the kingdom had gone through several wars that nearly destroyed it. The warlocks had fought with an indomitable will and defeated Erathia every single time, eventually earning the recognition of Erathia, and Eddins had survived the wars as well.

Eddins was the spiritual symbol of the free kingdom of Brakada. In the hearts of many warlocks, the castle standing on the mountain was more magnificent than Mount Kilo.

After the warlocks defected from Erathia, some sold their souls to demons in exchange for great power while others placed their faith in science and became Apothecary Alchemists and Mechanical Alchemists.

Warlocks who sold their souls to demons became the mainstream in Brakada, but Apothecary Alchemists and Mechanical Alchemists were not edged out by them, and had gained their ground in this kingdom.

Through the morning mist, one could vaguely see the alchemy towers and magic towers that thrust one hundred meters into the sky within Eddins, with plumes of smoke swirling around their red walls and green tiles that made it look like a mysterious city in a fairy tale. It was a spectacular sight to behold.

Xiao Ling walked under the towering walls of Eddins to the east. In the eastern part of Kilo Mountains was an open mine.

The mine was rich in common metals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, and their quality was good, most of which at level 3 and 4. So, some players of production profession liked to mine there. Each stack of 20 raw gold, silver, copper, or iron dug up there could sell for about 3 to 5 gold coins, and with good luck, some rare metals could be found as well.

Black mechanical gargoyles could be seen resting on the huge trees around the open mine. Made entirely of metal and hanging from the trees like giant bats, they were the guards of the mine. Whenever monsters or necropolis creatures intruded the mine and threatened the safety of players who were mining, these gargoyles would kill the intruders without hesitation.

The mine was opened to all alchemists, and they could get the materials they needed for alchemy here. But, most mechanical alchemists had left to kill monsters and grind in higher-level areas, where they often encountered some rare ores.

Xiao Ling wondered why every mechanical alchemist player had at least one level-1 mechanical imp when it was so expensive. Were all mechanical alchemists so rich? However, since he had no friends and did not know whom to ask, there was no answer for him.

He walked to the center of the mine and began his busy day with his pick, searching for his targets.

He was quite familiar with this mine. Whenever he saw some metal blocks that gave off a faint white light, he would hit them with his pick, and he would obtain ores such as silver soon afterward. If he were lucky, he could even dig up some mithril ores. Because of its excellent magic-breaking attribute, mithril had become the favorite of mechanical alchemists, who often added some to the metals used to craft mechanical imps and gargoyles. So, each mithril ore could sell for as high as 5 to 6 gold coins.

If it were a yellow glowing metal block, it should be copper or gold.

System: You have obtained a Common level-2 silver ore.

System: You have obtained a Common level-3 iron ore.

System: You have obtained a Common level-3 iron ore.

Xiao Ling dug tirelessly, and he felt happy whenever he obtained one or two pieces of ores. 'These are all gold coins!' As he continued to work, he immersed himself in his little happiness.

It took him about five hours to fill his backpack of sixteen slots, and he sold all the ore at the market in Eddins. They could have been used for smelting, but because the rank of his alchemy profession was already very high, they could no longer improve his expertise rating. So, he chose to sell them.

Usually, a backpack of ore could sell for 40 to 50 gold coins. There were often traders buying ore around the mine, but the price they offered was generally low. Black-hearted traders normally took 20% of profits from miners who sold them ore, so Xiao Ling preferred to sell his ore further away at the market in Eddins.

After selling the ore, he took a look at the gold coins in his pouch —there were only 713 gold coins. So, he went back to work.

The fruits of today's labor were not much, even though he had worked from early morning when the world was enveloped by mist to when the sun hung high up in the sky, and stopped when the dusk was settling in. Yet, he only managed to get about 100 gold coins. For an average miner, the sum was considered a lot, but it was a little less for an artisan-rank miner.

As gargoyle guards had poor visions at night, monsters often intruded the mine after the world turned dark. Even though their levels were low, they were still a threat to Xiao Ling.

Just as he was about to call it a day, he saw a cluster of ores give off a faint purple light in the dusk, and his heart raced. 'Is it amethyst again?'

It was in this condition that he dug up three pieces of amethyst in succession last time.

He suppressed his excitement and walked to the cluster, then began to hit it with his pick. The hard rock broke under the sharp pick.

System: You have obtained a Common level-3 iron ore.

System: You have obtained a Common level-4 gold ore.

Even after digging for a long time, Xiao Ling found nothing special but these ordinary ores.

'Could I be wrong? Am I seeing things? Perhaps there is no amethyst here?'

Even as he was lost in thought, a black figure approached him rapidly in the dusk. He was startled; he knew the figure very well.

The Son of Grugor was a legendary sinner who could transform into a werewolf when the moon rose. His speed was so fast that even the gargoyle guards, who were famous for their speed, could not catch up with him. In his werewolf form, he often sneak-attacked mining humans at dusk.

The Elders Council of Eddins had sent people to hunt him down several times, but he escaped every time. Xiao Ling had met him not long ago and had seen several miners get killed by his claws.

Should he run away or stay?

Xiao Ling was only at level 1, so he would not drop to level 0 even if he died, and the three hours of weakness state after he was resurrected had no effect on him either. However, it made him feel a little distressed that 1% of his gold coins would drop after he died. 'Those are seven gold coins! I have to work hard for a long time to earn them back!' Also, when he died, a random item would drop out of his pouch. He would not feel anything if it were an ordinary ore, but if it were the blueprints or the Titan's Heart, he would definitely weep himself to death. 'Why didn't I think of putting them in the chest first?'

As the moon climbed up the night sky and sprinkled its dim light across the open mine, the Son of Grugor gradually grew taller and transformed into a werewolf, his sharp claws gleaming coldly. Xiao Ling had no doubt that if the werewolf were allowed to come to his side, he would be ripped to pieces.

The shadow kept approaching him. Xiao Ling grew anxious, but he continued to swing his pick. 'I will earn everything back if it is a piece of amethyst.'

System: You have obtained an iron ring.

Xiao Ling was stunned. 'What is this?' As the purple light on the cluster of ores gradually faded away, the werewolf's claw caught him from behind. He felt a stab of pain in the back of his head, and then his consciousness slowly left him.

He was instant killed again!

'If I could choose my class again, I would never choose this weak mechanical alchemist again!' But his resentment could not change the fact that he had become a mechanical alchemist.