Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 383 - 383 184 A Thorough Exploration

383: Chapter 184: A Thorough Exploration 383: Chapter 184: A Thorough Exploration Lokhak left with his attendants in a hurry.

Under the urgency of a swift departure without any trivial delay, Leon estimated that he could reach the main road through the woods and hurry back to Avalon before nightfall.

If things went well, the reinforcements could arrive by tomorrow, after all, everyone had reached this place by stopping at intervals along the Earth Vein; the actual distance from Avalon was not far.

However, Leon didn’t just sit around waiting; although he had no desire to continue mining, he still commenced searching the surrounding area for traces of Wild Goblins with Olivia, Kovis, and Treya.

Since the Wild Goblins could move in and out of the mine, besides the collapsed pit unexpectedly caused by Olivia, there certainly had to be another true entrance and exit nearby.

And considering the mining tunnel was so close to the surface, by the look of its course, it surely couldn’t be far.

Following the direction of the tunnel, the four searched between the woods at both ends and soon discovered a mine entrance supported by rough wooden beams on a gentle slope to the south of the pit.

But there were no constructions of an external mine site around, not only were the rails not extended out, but the surroundings were also covered by wild soil and trees.

It clearly wasn’t the real entrance to the mines, perhaps…

just a drift that was dug too far?

Leon decided to venture a little way inside, unsure if it connected to the collapsed tunnel they had encountered earlier.

He ignited the Earth Vein Spirit Lamp, Kovis activated his sword blade, Olivia and Treya lit their torches, and all four stepped in.

The illuminations they held dispelled the pitch darkness of the mine tunnel.

After only a few steps, seeing the abundance of Spiritual Vein Ore Crystals exposed on both sides of the tunnel, Leon was satisfied, feeling the venture hadn’t been in vain.

Moreover, once the Wild Goblins were cleared from this area and people were dispatched to utilize this ancient mining tunnel, it would spare the initial laborious step of opening a new mine shaft.

“Leon, look, there’s not only Spiritual Vein Ore!

There’s a lot of Iron Ore all around,” Olivia said, using the firelight to survey the tunnel walls, and as a blacksmith’s daughter, she naturally recognized the characteristics of these raw ores.

Only then did Leon notice the expansive dark rock bodies occupying more space on the walls lined with nascent Spiritual Vein Ore.

Kovis approached the tunnel wall, touched the distinctly mined traces, and turned to Leon with a smile, “It’s Black Crystal Iron, my lord, an extremely high-quality Iron Ore.”

Leon was somewhat surprised to hear this.

Although he couldn’t determine what kind of black ore the world’s tunnel walls were made of, Olivia and Kovis were definitely not bluffing.

What an unexpected find.

While the Spiritual Vein Ore couldn’t be realized in value in this age, an Iron Ore mine…

and one of high quality, was of immense value to humans of any era.

It was just uncertain how much of the high-quality Iron Ore was left after being mined by ancient ore-diggers.

Continuing on, it wasn’t long before the light sources in their hands revealed the end of the mine tracks ahead, with a severely rusted mining cart still resting on top.

Leon stepped forward, peered into the edge, and noticed some raw Black Crystal Iron Ore that had been chiseled from the rock walls still inside.

Exploring further along the mine tracks without encountering any diverging paths, suddenly, they saw sunlight from the surface ahead and realized they had arrived back at the hole Olivia had unintentionally collapsed.

“That’s enough for now, Kovis, set up a Guarding Technique here as a precaution against the Wild Goblins, and let’s go back up to the surface,” Leon halted and looked up.

The height was manageable…

no need to backtrack the original route.

Kovis moved forward a few steps, laying a horizontal Magic Technique across the tunnel, effectively cutting it in half.

Leon then beckoned Olivia, “Take a look, should I toss you up, or should you toss me?”

The young woman looked up to gauge the height, then extinguished her torch, flexed her shoulders, and said with a composed smile, “I’ll do it, I’m stronger, but be careful not to fall.”

After saying this, Olivia crouched down, her hands clad in Iron Gloves crossed to form a “platform” for her lover to step on.

Leon didn’t hesitate or fear injuring her; in their daily training, they often did the practice of tossing each other into the air.

This was also an important part of the advanced training in the Olivia School, practicing flips and leaps among other Body Techniques.

The young girl’s created Swordsmanship moves, which involved leaping high enough to strike vertically at vital spots on an enemy’s head, couldn’t be done without reaching sufficient height.

Leon backed up a few steps, took a short running start, and stepped onto the handhold Olivia had made, who with a light shout, flung him high upward.

Though not as graceful as the girl had been before, Leon still managed to firmly grasp the edge of the hole and pull himself up with a push.

Throwing down a rope, he helped his comrades up one after the other, and thereafter, Leon refrained from wandering further and set up camp nearby on the bare rock to wait for the reinforcements.

That night, while on guard, Leon heard the screeching sound of the Guarding Technique from within the cave.

This meant living creatures had crossed the “warning line” Kovis had set up during the day inside the tunnel.

Looking out from the hole, he saw the startled Wild Goblins fleeing back into the depths of the tunnels, revealing their presence after being disturbed by the loud noise.

These little creatures were indeed hiding inside…

For the remainder of the night, there was no further movement in the tunnel.

The next day, his brothers returned even faster than Leon had anticipated.

The sun had yet to reach its zenith when Lokhak led his troops back to the bare rocky area in the forest; nearly a hundred soldiers instantly filled the once quiet woodland with liveliness.

But since traveling through the forest required trekking on foot and could not be done by horse, Leon had also instructed Lokhak not to bring Uncle Brian, whose legs and feet were not convenient for such a journey.