Team Sandstorm went down the mountain to search for a good place to start digging.
The lowest spot they could find was at a height of around eight kiloters, and it was a bit away from the crater.
Surprisingly, when they got there, they found a couple of other holes, which had obviously not been made by beasts or nature.
They seed suspiciously manmade.
"I an, it makes sense," Kyle said as he looked at one of the holes. "We are probably not the first ones who got the idea of digging towards the Ether Essence. Wanna go into one of the holes?"
"Risky," Selene said. "Mines that have reached the Ether Essence are probably in use. If these mines are abandoned, I would assu that the miners t with misfortune. Probably a tal Elental."
"Question," Kyle said, "do tal Elentals move around or do they stay in place?"
"I'm not sure," Selene said. "I know how the tal Elentals in the Dividing Ridge act, but this is a completely different place. Different kinds of tal Ether create different tal Elentals. You should ask soone who's more experienced in these things. Soone like a Peak Master Artificer."
Naturally, Selene knew about Theodor since Kyle had told her about him.
"Then, consider this a rhetorical question," Kyle said.
"tal Elentals," Theodor said, "act very differently based on tal Ether. She's right in that regard. So of them move around, while others stay put."
"I can't be entirely sure about how tal Elentals operate, but at this density of tal Ether, I would expect that there are a few of them. Compared to Earth Elentals, tal Elentals are solitary. They do not like to have other tal Elentals near them."
"I suspect there's a territory war going on between the tal Elentals, which ans they will be moving around constantly."
"Using the hole or not using the hole makes no difference. It's all about luck."
Kyle scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, well," Kyle said. "I guess we're just going to use the hole. At least, we don't have to dig as much."
"Are you sure?" Michael asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to ask soone about it?"
"We don't have anyone better to ask," Kyle said. "I just asked the most experienced person around."
Naturally, the others didn't know about Theodor, which was why Kyle was so ambiguous when answering the question.
The others looked at Selene.
Yes, Selene was part of the biggest mining organization in the kingdom. There probably was no one more experienced available.
anwhile, Selene knew that Kyle was referring to Theodor.
"I an," Kyle said, "there's a bunch of tal Ether around, and as far as I know, tal Elentals are quite aggressive. They're probably all just moving around anyway."
"Honestly, at this point, planning just equates to wasting ti. No matter what we plan, in the end, we have to dig a hole anyway."
The others were not the biggest fans.
However, they also knew that it couldn't possibly be easy.
If it were, Ether Crystals wouldn't be so rare.
A mont later, Kyle and Selene went into the hole.
They were the best scouts for the job.
Additionally, as much as it sucked to admit, the two of them were stronger when they were alone.
The others didn't know about Kyle's or Selene's Aristocrat's Bodies, which ant they couldn't use them in public.
Ironically, team Sandstorm was at its strongest when only two mbers fought.
The two of them went into the hole.
The hole was pretty straight, and it had a width of about seven ters.
Naturally, it wasn't necessary to make such a wide hole, but the people who had created this mine in the past probably had soone with a big True Body.
A small hole wouldn't allow such people to properly fight.
"This seems familiar," Kyle said after a while.
"Our actual mine, right?" Selene asked, her voice no longer masked. "We also scouted that one. Sadly, we don't have Skyler with us today."
"Well, we also got quite a bit stronger since then," Kyle said.
"True," Selene said.
"By the way, are you already using Enchantnt Runes?" Kyle asked.
Selene nodded before removing a small plate from her shoulder, revealing a brown rune. "Earth's Defense. It makes my body more resilient to damage. I'm still in the process of mastering Fire's Power."
"Oh, right," Kyle said. "You were born with a Fire Affinity, but Skyler also gives you access to an Earth Affinity, right?"
Selene nodded.
"Why didn't you choose Fire's Power first? It seems more useful," Kyle asked.
"It's not easy to understand and use," Selene said. "Mastering Earth's Defense already took almost an entire year."
Kyle blinked a couple of tis.
"Is it that hard?" he asked.
"Yes," Selene said. "It's not a simple Spell. Due to the unique way Fire's Power works, the Injection process is very unusual, and it sses with the Shaping process as well."
Kyle just threw a weird glance at Selene.
"What?" she asked.
Then, Kyle used his tal Affinity to show the three Enchantnts he had on his body.
When Selene saw them, her eyes widened. Three?!
Kyle had three of them active at the sa ti?!
How was he handling the cognitive load?!
Also, didn't he just start learning about Spellcasting about a year ago?
How did he suddenly have mastery over three Enchantnts?!
At this mont, Selene felt like she had seen Kyle for the first ti in her life.
Kyle often said dumb stuff and approached problems in a very direct and thoughtless manner.
He was the epito of "eh, just do it. It's gonna work out."
Yet, comprehending and using Enchantnts required a fast and disciplined mind.
There was no way to cheat.
The fact that Kyle managed to get so far in Spellcasting in such a short amount of ti could only an that he was actually quite intelligent.
At that mont, Selene understood Kyle.
Kyle wasn't dumb.
He just did dumb stuff occasionally.
And the reason why he did dumb stuff was simple.
He just didn't give a shit.
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