Cthulhu Gonfalon

Hopes and the team did not know that Sui Xiong had gotten inspiration from their mining jobs to create a powerful tool and eventually develop the idea of building a giant Great Magic Pool for the Republic of Northwest. They continued to identify the ores steadily day by day—separating the stones according to Mithril content and passing them on to the masters for further inspection.

This job was boring, and yet, it was good for training magic. When the ores were finally completely identified, Hopes reflected that his knowledge of ores had indeed increased. If this experience were to be described as a game, his “ore-dressing” technique had been sharpened, and he was taking a big step forward from being simply an expert to becoming a master.

If he continued down this path diligently, over a year or so, he would also be able to differentiate naturally occurring and acquired Mithril.

He smiled at the thought of it.

“You look very happy; is it because we’re finally finished with the job? To be honest, I was getting sick of the repetitive job. I’d rather fight a pack of trolls than continue this manual labor,” Ruby, who was sitting on the floor beside Hopes, remarked.

Hopes looked at Ruby’s face and his dark circles and laughed, saying, “It’s not like you had an extremely hard task! Why do you look so weary?”

“I used to think that fighting a war was extremely tough. It’s only now that I realize that engaging in internal affairs is just as tough. Every day, one has to assign manpower and handle administrative matters… This is really not up my alley. I’m a soldier, not a scholar or aristocrat!”

“I think you’re doing a good job though; things are looking good so far. If this is not considered talent, then what is?”

Ruby did not have a reply to that and remained silent.

“He simply dislikes the job. We have no choice, though. Sometimes in life, we have to do what we have to do even if we are unhappy,” Sid, who was sitting beside them, commented.

“If I could, I would want to be a librarian. I would just read books, tidy bookshelves and settle book borrowing administrative matters quietly and peacefully every day. That would be such a quaint life! But that is impossible. I have roles to fulfill now. I’m not young anymore, and I don’t have the ability to command anymore,” Sid sighed and said.

Sid glanced at the weary Ruby with his faded green eyes and said, “You’re even older than me; the stress of life must be getting to you in a worse way, and thus, I can understand where you are coming from. Whether we’re happy or unhappy, each day still passes on its own time. I suggest that you change your attitude towards the job and try to like it.”

Ruby froze and smiled before sighing and shaking his head. “You’re right, but I can’t bring myself to do it. I really cannot enjoy doing complex, never-ending work that requires liaising with people, numbers and trade!”

He turned to look with envy at Dudu, who was sitting with a nearby group of people who were heartily eating and drinking in the corner.

“Sometimes, I really admire that fellow. Even if he lacks brains, he is always so positive and carefree.”

“That’s probably because he really enjoys this job, like me. Maybe you feel that handling a mine is a boring task, but I find happiness in doing this job. Meticulously identifying each ore from different angles and confirming its quality is like opening a magic book series to me. If one quietens their heart, it is actually quite interesting to carry out this task,” Hopes said.

Looking at Hopes’ contented expression, Ruby sighed again and drank alcohol moodily.

Tonight, was the celebratory festival to celebrate the end of the ore identification process, and they all preferred to leave the serious talks to another day.

The next day, Hopes woke up at the crack of dawn. He had packed for his leave in advance, and after bidding his friends farewell, he left for the exploration vein with a few other exploration team members.

Over the past few months, the exploration team had already excavated about one-quarter of the entire Vein Zone. Within the Vein Zone, there were more accessible places, and they were mostly explored. The rest of the places were more dangerous, and without an experienced leader, normal exploration team members would not dare to enter alone.

This world did not have the practice of “extreme sports,” and no one, whether it be aristocrats or common folk, would disregard life and safety—this was why the exploration theme park “Dragons and Dungeons” was so popular. It could satisfy the desire for thrill for adrenaline junkies while posing no real threat to life.

It was now midwinter, and snow fell steadily. In such an environment, to climb the steep cliffs and follow the path of the stones to the cliff’s bottom was really dangerous. Most of these workers were also common folk who simply had some basic survival skills. Even seasoned explorers would normally also avoid such high-risk expeditions. If not for the core leadership of Hopes, the exploration team workers would definitely not take this risk as well.

Wearing special snowshoes and using thick water-resistant winter wear to wrap themselves up like bears, the pack of four followed a previously created path on their perilous journey till mid-noon, where they arrived at the place of excavation.

This was a cliff which was rather daunting. What was scary was that there were ice and snow everywhere—this cliff was not just steep, but anywhere that was stable enough to step on was already covered in a blanket of snow.

“Leader Hopes, take a look above.” One of the workers pointed into the distance at the top of the cliff. Although the sunlight was not particularly strong, one could see a rather visible silvery-white color—that was a vein without question.

“Let me head on up to see.” Hopes observed this for a while and confirmed that he was not able to assess it without physically being near the vein. Thus, he decided to take the risk of climbing up to the peak of the cliff. This was an extremely dangerous endeavor which required much preparation. With the help of his three companions, he spent many hours to secure tens of waterproof nails at the edge of the cliff.

These waterproof nails would serve as hooks for his stepping and strapping safety ropes which would be responsible for his life.

The job for the day was done. The next day, they would return and continue nailing tens of these long nails. The third day, however, the job proved to be more daunting. Because of the falling snow, they only managed to install four nails. At such a speed, they would have to continue this job for five to six more days to create a path of safety that would allow Hopes to climb to the vein and explore it.

However, none of the four were worried as outdoor exploring was known to be a process that took time. One could even say that under most circumstances, they were already rather efficient.

Although more time was spent on safety; the more preparations they made, the safer their journey would be. To these people, that was what mattered most.