The morning of Glahar Mountain unfolds with a light tint of purple and blue gradually blending into the horizon's white, revealing the dawn—after the stars retreat into the white sky, the forest on the mountaintop forms a unique silhouette under this Glow.
However, the mining area's ti starts even earlier; it's still pitch dark when the sound of wooden whistles rings out.
The flickering light of the oil lamps casts profound black shadows on the ground. Brand, like others, is called out of the camp—into the chilled air of the mountain forest before dawn—he looks at the object in his hand, feeling uncertain.
It's a Cross Pickaxe, its rough wooden handle nearly four feet long, seemingly having passed through many hands. The handle's surface, smoothened by use, has no protruding splinters, and the deep grey pickaxe's tip is sowhat blunt.
But this wasn't the key; what stirred his emotions was the unexpectedness of being a miner again. For anyone who had experienced the wild age of online gas, there was often a nostalgic fondness for mining in those hazy mories, and Brand was no exception.
He had also been a miner for a long ti in the ga, mining and selecting ores in the pitch-dark mines day and night, then taking the high-quality ores to the market to sell.
Thinking back, it was imnsely tedious, but at that ti, it was a source of endless joy and motivation because watching the earned money gradually arm his character to beco stronger brought imnse satisfaction to his spirit.
Though this was only an achievent within the virtual World.
Brand weighed the Cross Pickaxe, montarily feeling a bit self-mocking. But as he lifted his head to carefully distinguish the figures in the distant crowd—he quickly found the familiar silhouettes of Yuta, Qian, and disha among them. They had evidently seen the marks he left in the forest at night and were now disguised as miners mingling with the workers.
They wore headscarves, not uncommon among the mountain people, but the dirty clothes on them were bought by Brand from those youths, who had connections here and offered him substantial convenience.
The most significant gain, however, was the information he got from that frail young boy nad Kevan—the rumor that Shafren Mine was connected to the Underground World. When he heard this from Kevan, he had a vague idea, which he later connected to his own plan.
Whether this plan succeeds depends on today's actual situation.
Even Brand himself didn't expect the opportunity to co so soon.
But as he was pondering these questions, he felt soone elbow him from behind, and he turned around vigilantly, only to find it was Joka.
Seeing him daydreaming, the boy specifically ran over to remind him:
"Be careful, get inside once you have your tools, or you'll get whipped." the boy whispered as he walked by him.
Brand first checked whether his money bag was still on him, then turned back, indeed seeing the frail boy on the other side nodding at him from afar, evidently having sent Joka to remind him.
After a short interaction yesterday, these boys were no longer as wary of him, and Kevan's willingness to help was clearly out of gratitude.
Brand sensed that Kevan didn't want to owe him any favors or get entangled with him, which was within his expectations, though he hadn't suspected the boy held a rather high status among these people.
He pondered for a mont, then quickly followed, softly asking, "Where should I go?"
Knowing Brand's presence here was rely a guise, Joka wasn't surprised by his question, replying softly, "If you don't know, just follow us. I know where the ore is abundant."
"Thank you."
"This isn't a free service," the boy turned back and earnestly rubbed his fingers at him, "You have money, don't you?"
"Of course." Brand smiled slightly.
Upon entering the mine, the light naturally beca soft and dim—the Humans having exhausted the shallow veins of Shafren's silver mine, had drilled several deep shafts underground to mine the lower veins.
The mine's tunnels crisscrossed under Graha Mountain's rock layers, with only oil lamps at wide intervals creating a play of Light and Shadow that depicted this winding maze.
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