The one already mining here was none other than Caiman, along with several members of the knight order who had regrouped with him.
At this moment, he held an iron pickaxe, his gaze fixed intently on Manfred.
The pressure emanating from a third-rank top-tier swordsman caused Manfred's muscles to tense up in a knot.
It was over.
He hadn't expected this.
Caiman had arrived at the Lava Stratum before them. Given the speed of their knight order's progression, it was only natural that they would have already reached the twelfth floor for advance exploration!
Since they had explored ahead, they had clearly discovered the great bridge being built by the purple-skinned blacksmiths and found a way to cross the lava. It was only logical that they would be here mining.
Meeting now in the depths of this mine, combined with the irreconcilable life-and-death conflict between the two sides...
A battle was inevitable.
After his initial surprise, Caiman felt a flicker of shame at being seen mining, followed immediately by wild joy.
“To think I'd find by chance what I'd searched for in vain! It falls right into my lap! The Goddess of Light is protecting me!”
Capturing Manfred, who had rebelled against the Grey family, was their original objective upon entering the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.
Furthermore, Manfred possessed the Candelabra, the Forbidden Fire container.
Meeting him in the mine like this was truly effortless.
He could take Manfred down and secure the Candelabra all at once.
The two sides were on the verge of clashing.
“What are you doing!”
A loud shout from the purple-skinned blacksmith acting as the overseer broke the tense standoff.
“Fighting is not permitted in the mine! Do you still want your fire-resistant iron boat cast or not?!”
With Purple Furnace's roar, both sides reluctantly lowered their guard.
After all, they were relying on the purple-skinned blacksmiths to cast the iron boat that would allow them to cross the lava lake.
If they offended the purple-skinned blacksmiths, they would be trapped on this floor.
They couldn't exactly expect to cast the iron boat themselves.
A fire-resistant iron boat was not easily made; it wasn't a matter of simply melting down refined fire-resistant iron ingots.
It required a blacksmith who mastered foundry arts, precise technical blueprints, and a compatible furnace and materials.
The purple-skinned blacksmiths had put in a great deal of effort to figure out the method for casting fire-resistant iron boats.
If they wanted to cast it themselves...
They would not only need to transport a full set of foundry equipment from the surface and find a blacksmith who knew foundry arts, but they would also need to spend time on research.
The time, wealth, and effort required would be so great that by the time they finished the boat, the Well of Eternal Imprisonment might have already been conquered.
“Hmph, consider yourself lucky, Manfred. I'll be waiting for you outside. I don't believe you can stay in this mine forever.”
Caiman stared coldly at Manfred before picking up his iron pickaxe and continuing to mine.
Manfred breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Caiman currently needed a favor from the purple-skinned blacksmiths, so Manfred didn't have to worry about his life for the moment.
However, what should he do next?
He was completely cornered here. As Caiman said, he couldn't be a miner here for the rest of his life.
With Caiman waiting for him outside, he was at a total loss.
Manfred and his two companions shared a quiet, somber look, each seeing the worry in the others' eyes.
“If Lord Caiman has the time, feel free to wait outside as much as you like.”
Manfred picked up his iron pickaxe, walked toward the mineral vein before him, and began to mine as well.
For now, he could only take things one step at a time. Since it had come to this, he would mine first.
Caiman watched Manfred with a cold gaze, already plotting how to deal with this audacious man.
Manfred noticed that the iron pickaxes they were using to mine were all magic items imbued with mana.
As power was applied, the sharp tips acted like magic swords, easily piercing through the hard rock.
‘Were all of these cast by the purple-skinned blacksmith tribe?’
‘What incredible technology.’
Manfred couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
However, when he swung the iron pickaxe into the mineral vein ahead, the force rebounding from the impact nearly numbed his palm.
Under his swing, only a palm-sized chunk of refined fire-resistant iron ore was chipped away.
So hard!
The difficulty of extraction was far too high!
Ordinary fire-resistant iron ore was relatively easy to mine. The dwarf miner race created by Dalun Li could extract it extremely efficiently, so there was no need for adventurers.
But refined fire-resistant iron was the part of the ore with the highest concentration of mana. Located at the core, it was a special mineral formed by countless years of constant compression by the earth's power during crustal shifts.
Both its quality and hardness far exceeded that of ordinary fire-resistant iron ore.
Mining it was exceptionally difficult.
“Hmph.”
A sneer came from the side.
Manfred turned his head and saw that the source of the sneer was Caiman.
Caiman was looking at Manfred with disdain, seemingly satisfied by Manfred's struggling posture.
Although he had also been shocked by the hardness of the refined fire-resistant iron when he first arrived, that didn't stop him from looking down on others now.
Caiman raised his iron pickaxe, and his aura suddenly shifted.
Sharp Sword Qi adhered to the magic pickaxe in his hand as he swung it down heavily.
In an instant, the sharp pickaxe pierced the mineral vein, and a large amount of refined fire-resistant iron ore was unearthed, scattering across the ground.
Caiman then looked at Manfred triumphantly.
Transforming Sword Qi into a pickaxe... he had actually reached the third stage of Miner's Qi. Truly formidable.
Manfred sucked in a breath of cold air, but then he raised his own pickaxe without backing down.
The first clash just now was an accident. Now that he had gauged the hardness of the mineral vein, he also activated his Sword Qi.
My pickaxe is no less sharp!
Silver Sword Qi adhered to the tip of the iron pickaxe.
“Hah!”
The pickaxe swung down, piercing the mineral vein. The sharp Sword Qi quickly chipped away piece after piece of raw ore.
He too had transformed Sword Qi into a pickaxe—the second stage of Miner's Qi!
To be able to achieve the Sword Qi pickaxe at only the second stage of Miner's Qi and mine so much ore with such sharp strikes...
Looking at his posture, he seemed to be doing it with ease.
Such mining talent was awe-inspiring.
Even the purple-skinned blacksmith acting as the overseer let out an exclamation of surprise.
Mining for the first time, yet he manifested the power of dragons and elephants, showing his sharp edge.
Could this boy be the legendary Mining Saint Physique? Looking at him, he has the talent of a Mine Emperor.
If he could be tempered in the mines for ten years, he might be able to rule the mine for all eternity.
Caiman snorted coldly again.
“You think you can catch up to my speed with just that level of skill?”
“You're a hundred years too early!”
Caiman waved his hand, and in an instant, another iron pickaxe tore through the air, flying out from the pushcart.
Caiman grabbed the pickaxe, refined it in an instant, and held one in each hand, no longer hiding his sharp aura.
Could this boy be...!
Everyone turned their gaze toward Caiman. Holding a pickaxe in each hand, Caiman stood firm.
A pair of pickaxes danced in his hands like a whirlwind, smashing into the mineral vein.
All anyone could see were afterimages and the ore that was being chipped away continuously.
Rate on N.U.
