Chapter 618 Finding Veins
Garan Continent, sowhere near the west coast.
The flying ship slowly flew above the clouds at an extrely slow speed.
The few adepts belonging to the Crimson Clan had already co on deck. They leaned against the bow and silently observed the mysterious continent below as it peeked in and out between the clouds.
With their strength and the enhancent of the Eagle Eye Spell, they could easily see through the thin layer of clouds and directly observe the amazing scenery of Garan’s nature and its plentiful plant life.
Sadly, the elves that they were trying to find were not as easy to discover as humans. Humans liked to cut down the trees near their settlents and use them to construct high, sturdy camps and buildings. That was why it was easy to find human villages. All one needed to do was wait for night ti and follow the light from fires.
However, the elves were known for their adoration of nature. They were a race that loved and cared for forests. They almost never cut down trees, preferring to place their villages and cities right up on those extraordinarily tall and thick ancient trees.
Treehouses. Those were the hos of all elves.
Elves also very rarely lit fires once night fell. Add to the equation the fact that they often lived in the dense forest and it was nearly impossible to find them with the use of a torch.
It was especially the case for Greem and the adepts. They were flying above in the blue sky and looking down upon the stretch of uneven, green sea of forests. It was hard to even find a color other than green. Trying to spot an elven village under such circumstances was no more than a dream.
As such, the only way to find elves here was to dive into the forest and traverse the terrain as the elves did. It was still searching for a needle in a haystack!
"Tymo, might you be able to recognize the geography here? I hope to hide this flying ship before starting a war with the elven court. You recomnd a place!" Greem took a quick look at the lush green forest and turned to ask the half-elven guide.
Of course, Greem couldn’t possibly place all his trust in this person that had joined them halfway. He silently brought out the map of Garan in his mind as he waited for Tymo’s answer, and compared it to the long shoreline beneath them.
Half-Elf Tymo couldn’t suppress his agitation, as if it had been far too long since he slled the magical aura of the Great Fantasy Forest. He crouched upon the bow of the ship and silently evaluated the forest under them.
"If I didn’t rember wrong, this place should be Whitecliff, slightly to the south of the west coast. The most obvious landmark should be a tall white stone cliff standing at the edge of the shore."
Greem followed Tymo’s descriptions and found a speck of white on the distant shore.
"This is the area of the west coast where the currents are the most complicated and the reefs are the densest. It’s the place least suited for large ships. Thus, the chances of us running into an elven empire patrol here is extrely small," Tymo pointed his finger in a certain direction of the forest, "Proceed forward in that direction from here, and we should be able to find an elven village after approximately seven days. Sorry, I was speaking about the ti needed to walk through this sea of a forest. As for this...this big guy, we probably only need half a day to reach the village."
"An elven village," Greem contemplated for a mont before shaking his head, "It’s not ideal for us to co into contact with the elves prematurely. We first need to find a suitable landing spot. Tymo, are there any large tal veins or mines in this west coast area?"
"tal mines?" Tymo opened his mouth wide in shock, "There seem to be quite a few in the center of Fantasy Forest, but here on the west coast..."
The half-elf lowered his head to think for a mont before gesturing uncertainly, "There should be a ratn mine sixteen days north of here. As for whether there are tal veins in there, I have no idea!"
"Then we will go there first!" Greem decisively gave his order.
A short mont later, the flying ship once again pulled up and disappeared into the cloud layer above. They quickly flew toward the north of the coast based on the directions given by the half-elf.
Once the gigantic flying ship had disappeared entirely, two elves draped completely in clothes made of green vines erged from the top of a tall tree.
Two elves–one male and one female–looked in the direction that the tal monster had disappeared. Their eyes were still filled with imnse and unconcealed shock.
"What is that? Is it another fearso monster the witches created?" The female elf’s voice was shaking. It was clear that she had yet to break free from her earlier horror.
"There’s no ti to think about what it is. We need to bring the news of the tal monster back to the village as soon as possible. Perhaps Grandpa Wenger can give us the answer we want." The male elf quickly made up his mind.
"Mm, let’s go."
The two elves disappeared into the treetops behind them in the blink of an eye.
Strangely enough, their silhouettes rged into the forest in a single instant, making it difficult to track them.
One day later, news of the appearance of a terrifying tal monster spread throughout all of the elven villages on the west coast.
............
Ratn Mine.
The sixteen-day journey that Tymo spoke of was no more than a day and a night for the flying ship.
If it weren’t for the uncertainty of the location to the entrance of the mine, Greem and his crew would have arrived here four hours earlier.
As the na Ratn Mine implied, a large ratman tribe lived in this black mine that was hidden within the forest. Only its slanted entrance was revealed for outsiders to see.
The elves were a race of individuals who placed trendous importance upon their personal image and hygiene. They would sooner die than work in dark and damp mines. That was why the forest elves had co to an agreent with the ratn inside the mine. The ratn were to offer up a certain amount of ores on an annual basis to the forest elves in exchange for the right to live within the mine.
Consequently, one couldn’t find a single elf within Ratn Mine. The only ones living inside it were intelligent ratn of one ter in height that walked about like humans and used all sorts of delicate tools in their work.
The frail bodies of the ratn didn’t allow for heavy armor. They usually only put a tal helt on their heads and lit a thick candle above that for illumination. This dim light was what they relied upon to freely move through the dark, dank mine.
The weapons of the ratn miners were usually shovels of so sorts. Stronger ratn warriors could also equip iron swords, spears, and other powerful weapons.
Judging from Tymo’s description, Greem figured that the strongest ratman here, their leader, was rely at First Grade. The other ratn warriors and miners were either advanced apprentices or pseudo-adepts. Moreover, they were of the trash variety that had no elentium powers, with only small sches and tricks to fall back on.
Greem couldn’t be bothered to send out the valuable adepts against such trash. He rely ordered a goblin technician to charge in with five Archers.
Greem and the others found a flatter spot outside the mine and set up a table and chairs. The battle inside the shaft ended before they had even taken three sips of the hot tea.
All two hundred ratn, including the rat king, had been dealt with and turned into sieves by the tal bullets of the magical machines. As for the tal crossbow bolts that the ratn shot out from the dark ditches? Neither their strength nor power was enough to deal with the thick tal armor of the magical machines.
Thus, the Archers very easily massacred the entire ratn tribe.
The goblin technician also brought back four or five ores that had been excavated from the depths of the mine.
Greem casually picked up one of the ores and weighed it in his hand for a bit. He then brought it closer to his eye for a more detailed inspection.
[Beep. Inspection complete. This is an ordinary ore. It contains 11% mineral components. The rest is scrap with no utilization value. Upon estimation, the mineral components of the ore are as follows:
[Chromite 1.42%.
[Olivine 3.27%.
[Pyroxene 2.86%.
[......
[tal content ratio lower than(unspecified)XXX%. No excavation or slting value.]
The Chip gave a final assessnt after providing a long list of mineral components.
The quality of the Ratn Mine wasn’t very high. Most of the minerals they offered to the elves were only low-grade magical materials that accompanied the ores, such as topaz, peridots, and agates. These things still had so value to the elves, but they were utterly useless to Greem, who only wanted to establish a foothold as soon as possible.
He inspected all of the ores that the goblin technician brought out of the mine and then waved his hand in disappointnt. All of the crew boarded the ship once again, and the flying vessel turned and sped away toward yet another mysterious mine in the distance.
It could honestly be said that Greem was ignoring all other precautions for the sake of finding a suitable tal ore vein as fast as he could. At any rate, this was only the fringe of the Great Fantasy Forest. The military force that the Elven Empire could extend here was limited and insufficient to dissuade their operations.
The allied army of the Dark and Pale Witches would be arriving at Garan by boat in another five or six days. They would be an even more conspicuous target then, who would also be easier to catch.
It was inevitable that the Elven Empire would be more willing to surround and exterminate them with their elite armies instead of futilely chasing after a flying ship.
In truth, Greem couldn’t be bothered with worldly mortal armies with his tough ship and massive cannons. The only things that would make him slightly concerned were the elentium users and fearso powerhouses amongst the elves.
However, Greem was currently only circling the edge of Garan. He hadn’t slaughtered or hard any elves. They were also continually turning back into the broad stretch of forest. Even Greem himself wouldn’t know what to do with this mysterious tal monster if he were placed in the shoes of the elven commander dealing with it!
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