Arathi Highlands is a land surrounded by mountains.
Except for the coastline suitable for building a port in the south of Stromgarde, which is under construction, the other places are basically either mountains stretching for thousands of miles or steep rock walls that are almost vertical downwards.
Since the Dwarvess have not yet started to build Darrowshire Bridge and Stone Dam, the connection between humans and the southern continent is very weak. They only vaguely know that there is a large land on the other side of the strait filled with swamps, ooze monsters, crocodiles, Fish-Men and Gnoll.
Such land is neither suitable for farming nor grazing, and has basically no value for occupation and development.
In comparison, the territory in the north is more fertile.
This is also the irreconcilable contradiction Root between humans and Trolls.
Looking at the surrounding steep rock walls and the mine dug directly in front leading to the interior of the mountain, Allen asked without looking back, "Is this right here?"
Lyle nodded quickly. "Yeah! That's right! This is the mine with the richest reserves and the highest quality of ore that we have mined so far. Before being forced to close the blockade, it could provide almost 70% of the iron ingots and steel ingots in the entire territory, and it could also forge additional weapons, armor, and agricultural products. The tools and arrows are sold to other lords or merchants. In addition, our miners have also mined some bright red ore here. It is said that the energy contained in it can occasionally give the weapon a glowing effect when attacking, which is especially effective against the powerful regeneration ability of trolls."
"Bright red ore? Bloodstone Ore?"
Allen The name of this ore instantly came to mind.
In other words, it should be called Lesser Bloodstone Ore.
It is an elemental ore that is relatively easy to produce in the mountains in the northeast of Arathi Highlands, and contains a considerable amount of Earth and Fire power.
If you mix it in a certain proportion when making a weapon and forge some special runes, you can make the weapon release hot flames and magma when it hits the target.
Of course, this is all thanks to Earth Princess who was sealed deep underground.
It was the leakage of her power that caused the mineral veins in the surrounding mountains to be exceptionally rich, along with Bloodstone Ore and other gold and silver gems.
"Yes! The color of those ores is indeed as red as blood." Lyle immediately responded in the affirmative.
To be honest, when he first saw the weapons that had successfully added extra attributes with Bloodstone Ore, he almost jumped up with joy.
The reason is simple!
If this territory could continuously produce such enchanted weapons, it would not be long before it would become extremely wealthy.
Because no noble would be willing to equip himself and his knights with such a weapon that could destroy the troll's powerful regeneration ability.
What's more, no one in the Empire, from Emperor Thoradin himself to the common people, does not know that the biggest threat to all mankind at the moment is Troll Empire Amani in the north.
It's a pity that now Lyle can only look at the empty mine and let out a sigh.
Those damn Kobolds directly shattered all his dreams and plans.
Seeing this young man who had been studying and training with him since he was a child, Allen couldn't help but smile and comfort him, "Don't worry, I guarantee that this mine will resume production soon. But before that, I need to talk to those Kobolds alone."
"You mean... negotiation? With those Kobolds!"
Lyle opened his mouth in shock, and even thought that his ears were hearing hallucinations.
"Why not? First, we need to figure out why Kobolds attacked Kuang Gong. Did we accidentally invade their territory, or was it for some other reason."
After saying this, Allen lit the torch and was the first to walk into the mine inside the Black Hole cave.
When the surrounding knights and soldiers saw this scene, they immediately followed behind with their shields in hand.
As the lord's private army, their most basic duty is to protect the lives of their lord and his family.
If Allen had any accident or was killed, everyone present would be severely punished by Emperor Empire, with the lightest being sentenced to exile.
In serious cases, you may be executed.
In this way, with twenty fully armed soldiers, Allen began to move slowly deeper along the low, narrow passage.
In some places, only one person can pass sideways.
Only then did he realize why absenteeism was already known as one of the most dangerous and strenuous professions.
Putting aside the heavy physical exertion and dangerous collapse accidents, the psychological pressure caused by being in such a dark and confined space for a long time is enough to cause a person to have a mental breakdown.
Similarly, Allen also praised his plan to use Trolls and Fish-Men slaves to replace humans to work underground in the mines.
Because at this stage, the most important thing for the Arathor Empire is to multiply the population quickly to ensure that at least 150,000 retired professional troops can be recruited in more than 20 years.
Only by reaching this scale can we ensure that we can defeat Forest Trolls in the decisive battle and completely sweep the name Amani into the trash heap of history.
Therefore, for a profession like mining with extremely high mortality rate, it is most suitable to capture Alien Race slaves to do it.
Just as Allen was walking through the darkness and thinking about what policies to launch next, a strange light suddenly lit up in the distance, and at the same time there was a low and jerky spell.
The next second...
Solid Ice, exuding a biting chill, flew out of the hole on the side that was only half a person's height, and hit him directly in the face.
There is no doubt that this is a Ice Bolt created out of thin air by Arcane Energy.
The soldier holding a shield on the side didn't even say a word, and immediately stood in front of his Lord Duke, trying to use his shield to resist the damage that Ice Bolt might cause.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that magic Ice Bolt does not rely on sharp edges to kill enemies.
Instead, it relies on the biting cold that erupts at the moment of contact with the target to freeze the skin, muscles and blood vessels to achieve the purpose of causing severe frostbite.
The result is no surprise!
When Ice Bolt collided with the shield, the flashing blue ice arrows exploded instantly, covering the soldier from head to toe.
His face, beard, hair, armor, and large areas of exposed skin instantly formed large patches of white frost. His entire body was like an ice sculpture, standing there for a long time unable to move at all.
Fortunately, he did not die, but the biting cold froze him alive.
Just when the sneaker started chanting the spell again and prepared to repeat the same trick, Allen suddenly raised his hand and shot out a ray of Life Energy line that was invisible to the naked eye. He strangled the little monster's neck on the spot and pulled it out of the low pothole that was about half a man tall.
Through the dim firelight, one could vaguely see that it was a creature with a rat tail, a huge jaw, and short and powerful limbs. It was only about half the height of an adult human male. It was staring at something like a candle, with a slightly rough iron pickaxe hanging on its waist.
You don't need to ask to know that this is World of Warcraft, one of the creatures with the widest living range and the strongest adaptability—Kobolds.
However, unlike those ordinary Kobolds, this one clearly exudes traces of magical energy and is a typical Kobold Mage.
It's just that unlike High Elf, who were born through systematic research and study, Kobold Mage mostly rely on natural awakening, and usually only have one or two relatively single magics.
But no matter what, if you can become a spell caster, your status in Kobolds Horde will definitely not be too low.
"Quick! Tie it up! Gag it!"
Lyle immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.
For magic, this young man is full of awe in his heart.
Because he once had the honor to witness the horrific scene caused by Allen's attempt to cast magic. Since then, he has had a strong psychological shadow on the energy of magic.
In the eyes of Lyle, magic is almost equivalent to Scourge, a force that mortals absolutely cannot resist.
But what he didn't know was that even High Elf's Archmage, few could do what Allen could, like Allen, who could launch a battle-level large-scale covering destruction spell with one person's power.
You must know that in the past twenty years, Allen has not been just hanging around, but has trained his body and magical power to the upper limit of what this body can bear.
If you want to go further, you must change your race, or find some "evolution" methods from other higher life forms.
After all, he knows better than anyone how dangerous it is inside this seemingly peaceful planet.
If you don't want this "Game Character" that you have cultivated with great difficulty to die inexplicably one day, you must be prepared to deal with various powerful enemies.
Following Lyle's order, the wolf-like guards immediately tied up Kobold Mage with three blows.
The force was so great that some joints made a chilling sound of fracture.
It was obvious that these soldiers were taking the opportunity to retaliate.
To avenge the losses caused by these damn little monsters' constant sneak attacks when they were clearing Kobolds in the cave.
Kobold Mage was obviously very frightened and kept struggling and trying to make a sound.
But in the end, because his mouth was blocked, he could only make a whimpering cry.
"Your Majesty the Duke, how about we just kill this guy? It would be a waste of food to keep him anyway." The knight in charge of leading the team suggested with a bloodthirsty look on his face.
Even as he was talking, he didn't forget to raise his sword and keep making gestures on Kobolds's neck.
With that posture, even a fool knows what he wants to do.
But Allen waved his hand gently to stop it. "Okay, don't scare it anymore. I think as a mage who is enough to understand the mysteries of magic, it should be very aware of its situation now."
"Woooooooooo..."
Kobolds, who was pinned to the ground, nodded quickly, his two small eyes full of fear of death.
There is no doubt that this guy can understand human language, at least he can understand the meaning or emotions expressed in human language.
After realizing this, Allen immediately bent down and removed the rag from its mouth, and asked with interest, "Can you understand what I said?"
"Woof woof woof! Yes... yes!"
Kobolds first made a canine-like sound, and then responded with an extremely awkward Common Tongue.
The barking bark before was the origin of their species name.
"Interesting!"
Discovering that the other party could really speak human Common Tongue, a satisfied smile appeared on Allen's face, and he continued to ask, "Tell me your name and where you learned human Common Tongue. Remember, don't try to lie in front of me, otherwise I guarantee that your death will be a hundred times more miserable than anyone else of the same kind."
"Kao! Kao is my name! I... my Common Tongue was learned from eavesdropping on the conversations of humans working in the mines."
Kobolds, who calls himself Kao, gave the answer very quickly, as if he was afraid that he would be killed if he answered late.
Compared with the tenacity and stubbornness of ordinary Kobolds, his courage is obviously very small.
But this is not surprising.
After all, the stubbornness of most Kobolds is caused by extremely low intelligence, and they cannot even understand what death is.
But the smart Kobold Mage is different.
Their developed brains and learning abilities are enough to allow them to understand what death is, so they will do their best to avoid death.
It's like most wealthy people with high positions or huge wealth are more afraid of death than ordinary people.
"Kao? You actually gave yourself a name!" Allen raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I'm... different!"
Kobolds, who calls himself Kao, has a hint of pride in his tone.
"So Kao, who is unique, tell me why you and your tribe attacked human workers and stopped us from mining ores here?" Allen asked straightforwardly.
"To... to protect the crystal! No one can get close to the crystal! Danger! Very, very dangerous!"
Kao obviously has very little vocabulary and tries to describe it with some short sentences.
Unfortunately, except for the words crystal and danger, everyone else was basically confused.
But Allen knew that the crystal should refer to the unknown black-red crystal used to seal Earth Princess.
In Arathi Highlands, there are several such crystal pillars, and they are guarded by a large number of elements and Giants.
You know without asking that Kobolds knows much more than humans on this matter.
"If we promise not to get close to the crystal, will you stop attacking the miners and allow us to mine the ores here?" Allen pretended to be willing to negotiate.
He was not prepared to release the princess of the earth in advance, but he just wanted to occupy this mine with rich reserves to satisfy mankind's thirst for strategic materials such as iron.
"If you let me go, I will bring the news back to Horde and let the tribal chief come and talk to you. As for whether he will agree, I don't know." Kao responded after thinking for a moment.
"Haha, do you think I'm a fool? If I let you go so easily, you will definitely escape back to the depths of the mine and never come out again. Let's do this! I'll do something on you. If you can bring the chief back, of course everything will be easier to say. If you don't come back, I will kill you immediately and mercilessly."
As the last word blurted out, Allen stretched out his hand and drew a mysterious symbol on Kobolds's heart.
moment!
Kao felt that something suddenly appeared in his heart, and his whole body became extremely nervous and panicked.