Chapter 534: Energy Ore Veins

The new year brought good news.

Leech offered a last-minute prayer of thanks to the four gods, promising that once the church in Iron Stone City was built, he would definitely arrange for a batch of clergy with high salaries and great benefits, providing an excellent employment environment for their most loyal Believers.

The reason was that he had obtained ore! It was a reward from the Palace Level Corpse Ghost Kaqi’s continued expansion activities with his underworld team.

Leech had previously instructed him to be careful, as the underworld could hold significant dangers. But when a piece of ore was presented to him, Leech couldn’t help but feel excited.

It was a peculiar kind of ore. Its light wasn’t blinding, and filing its surface produced a fine layer of powder.

The ore itself, however, remained hazy, like frosted glass.

Looking closely, one could see vein-like patterns running through it, rather sparse, like blood vessels.

The ore’s crystalline glow emanated from these veins.

“This is the ore! You found it!”

The Tangkx Scholar, whom Leech had specifically summoned, stared at the ore with great excitement.

She then explained how to use this type of ore.

“It’s not used directly?”

“It needs to be refined,” she said. “It’s a very tedious process. First, the surface impurities must be removed, then an extraction technique is used.”

“What kind of technique?”

“Any scholar proficient in alchemy should know it,” the Tangkx Scholar explained. “The energy within the ore is extracted and placed into a glass beaker. Then it’s purified through a series of steps. Finally, after skimming off the white foam that floats to the top, we get what we want.”

Leech watched as the Tangkx Scholar first used Magic to remove the veins, then used Magic to boil off the impurities, and finally skimmed away the scum floating in the pot.

The procedure looked very magical, but it was starting to make Leech a little hungry.

Her use of Mage’s Hand was excellent. Although she couldn’t multitask to the same extent as Leech, she could still manage two tasks at once, making it seem as if the “ingredients” had minds of their own.

The entire process was indeed very complicated.

By the time she stopped to wipe away her sweat, more than half a day had passed.

“This is what you need?” Leech picked up the small crystalline cube. Compared to the large piece of frosted-glass ore from before, this crystal was stunning, its surface covered in a dense network of veins.

“It can provide a large amount of Spiritual Power, but over-reliance on it can leave a person in a daze for the entire day.”

The Tangkx Scholar nodded. “If you would be willing to sell it to me, I’d offer…”

She stopped abruptly, embarrassed.

It seemed she had just remembered that she had no money and had even been relying on mooching off Leech to cover her expenses.

But what could she do? Porcupine Territory had far too many good things. Whether it was food, drinks, or entertainment, it was hardly inferior to a large city.

Chatting with scholars like Toma, Betty, and Vic was incredibly enlightening for her.

‘Those little alchemy gadgets Scholar Toma makes are fun and useful. If I see one I like, I just have to buy it, right?’

‘Betty recently made a type of iron rod that sparks when lit. It’s called a sparkler, apparently. A strange name, but they’re so pretty at night. I have to buy those, too.’

‘Vic has developed many medicinal herbs that are extremely effective at treating illnesses. I have to buy some of those as well, of course.’

With the heart of a shopper, it was inevitable that the Tangkx Scholar would have a hard time saving money.

‘This wretched Porcupine Territory, this terrifying vampire! All the money I earned with my own sweat and tears is gone!’

Leech saw her predicament. Of course, he wasn’t about to admit that he had deliberately ordered people to tempt the Tangkx Scholar and entice her to spend money.

He didn’t care about that little bit of money, but he was afraid the Tangkx Scholar would run off once she saved enough. So, he made sure she spent her money quickly, ensuring she would obediently stay.

This had already become a tacit understanding between them.

Leech was even considering setting up a special discount for a spend-it-all person like the Tangkx Scholar, making her the world’s first lucky individual to enjoy installment payments.

Spending her monthly salary wasn’t even her limit. If Leech paid daily, she’d be spending her daily salary too.

“We had an agreement. It’s yours,” Leech said, placing the crystal cube in front of the Tangkx Scholar.

She reached for it in delight, but seeing Leech’s finger still pressing down on it, she came to her senses and asked, “What do I need to do?”

“I want to start an ore refining class, so that talented Caster apprentices can all learn how to refine this material.”

“But I’m already teaching a Magic course… all right,” the Tangkx Scholar said with resignation. “You’ll have to pay me more!”

Leech smiled. “Of course! Double the salary!”

He never had to worry about a shopaholic having too much money.

“Alright, now please help me refine another one.”

“You have more?” The Tangkx Scholar was astonished. “Don’t tell me you actually found an Energy Ore Vein?”

…

“The ore veins are on the other side of that mountain?”

Leech’s spirit descended into the body of a Corpse Ghost. Before him was a group of Burrowing Dwarves, their bodies exuding a unique “fragrance” that only ogres could smell.

These Dark Creatures were treacherous yet timid, and they were fast runners, making them well-suited to be spies.

They were the ones who had discovered the ore.

“Y-yes, my lord.” The Burrowing Dwarf who spoke bowed nervously. Dirty tufts of hair grew out of its ears, flopping to the sides.

“What’s on the other side?”

Leech hadn’t gotten much useful information from Kaqi. He only knew that the Burrowing Dwarves had crossed the mountains to explore under his command, run into some minor trouble, and then Corpse Ghost Kaqi had rushed over, dealt with all the problems by one-punching the small fry, and brought back a few pieces of ore.

Only these Burrowing Dwarves knew the finer details, which was why he had personally come to find out.

Based on tests of the crystal cube refined by the Tangkx Scholar, Leech discovered that it was an excellent energy source, equivalent to 10 units of Spiritual Power. The only downside was the slightly high strain it put on the brain.

“Corpses.”

“Monsters.”

“Undead.”

“Flying dragons.”

Several Burrowing Dwarves chattered all at once.

Finally, they came to a consensus and said to Leech, “It’s terror!”

In the entire underground, there was nothing these shorties weren’t afraid of.

“Be more specific,” Leech said wearily, pointing to one of the Burrowing Dwarves. “You. Tell me.”

Listening to them all explain at once was enough to make one’s head buzz.

“There’s a group of undying monsters there. They have everything. They’re terrifying. Any creature that gets close is killed.”

“A Necromancer, or just simple Undead?”

Leech was very interested in this.

A Necromancer seemed more likely, as simple Undead didn’t possess strong reasoning abilities. Besides, he was rather hoping for an Undead Flying Dragon. He still felt it was a great pity about the one that had been severed by the spatial tear last time.

“Alright, I understand,” Leech said. “You’ve done well.”

“It is our honor, my lord!” The Burrowing Dwarves bowed low.

They were truly honored to work for Leech. It meant that they, who had always been treated like rats, could now align themselves with a powerful faction and no longer had to fear being killed. This faction had Scorpion-tailed Lions, ogres, and even more terrifying, mysterious experts.

Without the pressure of natural predators, the population of the Burrowing Dwarves was increasing rapidly and was expected to double in a few months.

Leech immediately issued an order: gather all forces and seize the ore veins. If they couldn’t win, they were to retreat. His investment in the underworld was low anyway. As long as nothing happened to his Palace Level Corpse Ghost, it was basically a zero-cost operation.

「Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain.」

Amidst a group of shambling Undead Soldiers, a shrill voice roared, “They died? They actually died?! Do you have any idea how much effort I poured into them?”

Before this person was a pile of bizarre-looking creatures.

Some resembled humans but had more than a dozen arms.

Others looked like lions but had the head of a ram and the tail of a snake.

“My lord,” an Undead Knight riding a skeletal horse approached, interrupting the shrill voice. “We are under attack!”