Dwarven Artisan

This battle in the mine finally made Roy understand one thing.

Not all Dark Moon Elf can become assassins...

Only the Dark Moon Elf in the Second Mine are true assassins; the Dark Moon Elf in the First Mine are just ordinary elves.

After emerging from the mine where the Dark Moon Elf were hiding, Roy hurried back to the mine entrance. More than thirty lightly injured Gray Dwarf were sitting on the ground leaning against the rock wall, while more than twenty heavily injured Gray Dwarf lay in the Mine Road, all of them having received simple bandages.

Some of the severely wounded Gray Dwarf continued to die from excessive blood loss.

The wounded Gray Dwarf turned ashen-faced as they watched their companions' corpses being Half-Elf.

There were only about 120 Gray Dwarf in the first mine, and now more than 60 cold corpses lay in the shaft, waiting to be hauled out of the Mine Road by slingshot.

These bodies couldn't be left in the mine; otherwise, they would rot and the entire mine would become foul-smelling.

Therefore, the body must be cleaned up as soon as possible.

Ten Dark Moon Elf Warrior continued searching the mine for any remaining Gray Dwarf.

After acquiring weapons and armor, the combat power of these Dark Moon Elf Warrior increased significantly.

Roy hadn't expected the Dark Moon Elf Warrior to slaughter the Gray Dwarf so badly...

He led a group of Half-Elf Warrior in a fierce battle against the Gray Dwarf in the mine for half a day, and only seventeen Gray Dwarf were killed in action...

The rest of the Gray Dwarf were all killed by the ten Dark Moon Elf Warrior, with each Dark Moon Elf killing about four Gray Dwarf on average.

It's not entirely fair to blame these Dark Moon Elf Warrior for their ruthlessness; they've been fighting the Gray Dwarf in the mines for decades, and they've long since lost all compassion.

"Boss, please come this way."

The Dark Moon Elf named Timothy moved silently to Roy's side like a raccoon dog.

However, regardless of whether they are invisible or not, their bodies will automatically become visible as soon as they get close to Roy...

Roy noticed that the Dark Moon Elf had a short dagger strapped to his leg. The hilt of the dagger was soaked in blood, and he reeked of blood. Thick blood was also dripping from the tip of the dagger's scabbard.

Presumably for ease of combat, Dark Moon Elf tie their hair up, revealing their pointed ears, and their skin has a dark blue hue.

They walk very quietly; if you're not paying attention, you can't hear their footsteps at all.

Roy didn't ask what had happened to the Dark Moon Elf. He followed the Dark Moon Elf through a winding Mine Road and arrived at a mine entrance with a stone door. A Carbide Lamp hung on the cave wall, and in the dim light, Roy could clearly see two Gray Dwarf lying in a pool of blood at the entrance.

He must have just died; the blood on the Gray Dwarf hadn't completely congealed yet.

Two Stone Hammer lay discarded to the side, one with a broken head and a snapped wooden handle, suggesting that the two Gray Dwarf had put up a fierce fight before their deaths.

Roy ignored the dead Gray Dwarf; he only cared about the living.

The mines dug by the dwarves were very exquisite, with perfectly regular entrances. However, the entrances were designed according to the dwarves' height, so Roy had to duck to squeeze in...

Two Dark Moon Elf Warrior stood guard at the entrance of the mine. When Roy entered, the Dark Moon Elf picked up the Carbide Lamp.

Roy released a ' Divine Light ', and as it slowly floated above the stone chamber, Roy realized that the chamber was actually a long and narrow warehouse. A row of pickaxes stood against the stone walls; although these pickaxes were not brand new, there were more than a hundred of them...

Besides a row of neatly arranged pickaxes, a narrow stone trough was also carved out of the cave, containing a large amount of dried mushrooms and Moss Cake. Roy even found some dried, skinned rats.

I never expected that the Gray Dwarf would dig up such a large warehouse and store so much food and tools.

The Dark Moon Elf Warrior led Roy to a Dark Channel Mine Road with Dark Channel signs of artificial excavation.

Roy was certain that the Dark Channel was the work of the Gray Dwarf. After walking a few steps inside, Roy noticed that the cave walls were somewhat damp. After walking a few more steps into the mine, he saw that the cave walls were covered with purple moss. Touching it, he found it to be cold and slippery. The moss grew very densely, and he could easily peel off a large patch with a simple grab.

Walking a little further ahead, Roy saw clusters of umbrella-shaped mushrooms growing on the ground, their color a brick red, confirming they were red mushrooms...

The Gray Dwarf actually managed to cultivate mushrooms in a mine, which means they did a good job of preparing for the plan.

At the end of the mine shaft was another warehouse, which not only had a heavy stone door, but also a narrow passage that could only accommodate one person at a time.

Timothy led the way...

As Roy passed through the passage, a crystalline red appeared before his eyes.

He saw the warehouse filled with top-quality spinel, each spinel with a jelly-like texture, and Roy was shocked by the vast wealth stored there.

Roy took two steps into the mine, stepping on the spinel scattered on the ground, but still couldn't tell how big the mine was...

However, Roy was certain that even if the First Mine resumed its normal mining rate and continued mining for two years, the Gemstone Mine mined might not be as much as that in the warehouse.

A large quantity of high-quality spinel was piled up in the mine, while some rare magical associated minerals were placed on a stone platform. The quantity was very small, with only a few pieces of some associated minerals and only one piece of some.

Roy casually picked up two Spinel Ore from the ground... It was clear that these spinels were of very high quality.

These Gray Dwarf have lived in the mines for decades and amassed a huge fortune, which isn't hard to understand...

If there's one regret, it's probably that I had the life to earn it, but not the life to spend it.

When Roy came out of the mine, his first thought was not how to deal with the spinel, but whether the Gray Dwarf in the Second Mine also had a treasure trove full of spinel hidden underground.

Roy suddenly remembered that the Gray Dwarf at the Second Mine had traded twenty barrels of spinel for a barrel of rum...

Those twenty barrels of spinel must have been the private stash of the Gray Dwarf at the Second Mine.

Roy emerged from the Dwarf Treasury, where the Dark Moon Elf named Timothy was already waiting outside the mine, clutching a tattered piece of parchment.

Despite being called parchment, it's hard and stiff; it's probably just a piece of dried fur.

Roy then noticed something unusual about the pelt: one end had a head, and the other end had a short tail... it must be a rat pelt.

Timothy handed the pelt to Roy and whispered, "Boss, we found this in this guy's hands!"

Roy took the pelt in his hands, ignoring the fur side and looking at the leather side instead...

Before it has been tanned, the fur is still stiff and covered with dirty grease and blood.

On this dirty fur, Roy discovered a Charcoal Pencil drawing! Calling it a drawing isn't quite accurate; the stiff fur was more like a blueprint.

The lines on this drawing are very simple. Roy can only make out one vertical line that represents a shaft. The other lines don't look like mine shafts, and there is a long diagonal line that clearly marks the angle.

"Where did you find this?" Roy asked Timothy curiously.

"In that mine over there..." Timothy replied, pointing to a mine next to the vault.

Roy walked toward the mine with the blueprints in his hand. A gaunt old dwarf sat slumped at the entrance, a heavy iron chain still fastened to his ankle, and a Dark Moon Elf Warrior stood guard beside him.

Roy stepped forward, looking at the old dwarf with great curiosity.

He looked somewhat different from the Gray Dwarf. The Gray Dwarf all had a light black iron-colored skin, but this old dwarf had a bronze-colored skin, and some of his facial features were also very different from those of the Gray Dwarf.

Roy didn't speak to him, but just stared at his face in silence.

The old dwarf appeared emaciated, with large joints, somewhat loose skin, and a pair of glasses perched on his large nose, one of which had a broken lens...

Roy held up the blueprints in his hand and waved them in front of the old dwarf.

"Is this the escape route you drew?" Roy asked directly.

The old dwarf raised his head weakly and said casually, "That's right, no need to test it anymore. This map is drawn by me. We plan to dig a tunnel from the bottom of the mine to escape. However, during the drawing process, I discovered a problem: after digging up thirty meters, we will encounter a Bedrock Layer. I plan to prepare some mild solvents to soften some of the excavated rock layers, but they want to break it open by brute force."

"But you don't look like a Gray Dwarf at all," Roy said to the old dwarf.

"Who said I'm Gray Dwarf?" the old dwarf retorted angrily. "I'm a dwarf craftsman from the Copperbeard Tribe!"

"..."

Roy never expected to encounter a dwarf craftsman underground in the First Mine. He didn't care which tribe the old dwarf belonged to; the word "dwarf craftsman" kept echoing in his mind.

"Keep an eye on him..." Roy instructed the Dark Moon Elf beside him.

Then he stepped into the old dwarf's mine, which should have long been converted into the old dwarf's dwelling. The dwelling was dark inside, but Roy had Divine Light, so the mine was immediately lit up.

The mine was dirty and chaotic, making it difficult for Roy to find a place to stand.

Roy endured the filth and mess in the mine and looked around. Sure enough, there were many parts scattered around the mine.

On a stone platform were several unfinished design drawings, a few simple tools, and a modified Stone Hammer. The hammerhead was even reinforced with two Stone Hammer hoops to prevent it from breaking prematurely in battle.

Roy discovered that the old dwarf was quite talented, because he could see the design drawings for the mine's support structure in those unfinished blueprints...

He calmly took the blueprints into his hand. In fact, Roy had been considering the mine support frame recently and had a preliminary design for it. But now that he saw the old dwarf's support frame structure, he immediately had a new idea.

Roy didn't rush to discuss the blueprints with the old dwarf. He took the half-finished blueprints and left the mine.

Roy then returned to the surface, where a lot of supplies, including food, tents, blankets, and linen clothing, were piled up in the inner courtyard of the mine, waiting to be transported down into the mine.

The Gray Dwarf corpses that were transported out were moved out of the fortress early on and placed on a gentle slope only 500 meters away from the mining fortress. This slope had a thick layer of soil, making it easy to dig.

The corpses of the Gray Dwarf were buried in rows on the gentle slope.

Roy assigned several Half-Elf to the mine to implement his operational strategy for the Second Mine. He planned to record the names of all the Dark Moon Elf and then write a letter to Viesel to inquire about their Dark Moon Elf.

If his sentence is served, Roy genuinely wants to restore the Dark Moon Elf' freedom...

During this time, Captain Lambert the First Mine awoke and expressed his gratitude to Roy through the Half-Elf at the bottom of the mine.

Roy then led a squad of Half-Elf Warrior down into the well. The Dark Moon Elf named Lambert was already able to walk slowly in the mine with the help of a cane.

Captain Lambert had already learned from the Dark Moon Elf at the Second Mine about Roy's attitude towards Dark Moon Elf.

During this period, the mine continuously transported food, tents, blankets, and clothing down into the mine. More than a hundred Dark Moon Elf had already set up tents in the mine and were all wearing linen clothes that were enough to cover their bodies.

With an ample food supply, the Dark Moon Elf recovered quickly, and their physical condition improved significantly.

They also knew that after this battle, the number of Gray Dwarf Gray Dwarf in the well, including the seriously wounded, was now less than sixty...

In the future, the Dark Moon Elves will gradually become the overseers in the mine. However, the number of Gray Dwarf who can still work has been reduced to just over twenty, so these Dark Moon Elf will also need to work underground.

Roy returned to the old dwarf's mine, followed by a group of Half-Elf Warrior.

The old dwarf was not surprised to see Roy walk in from outside the cave.

He sat beside the stone platform, polishing a piece of iron with a small stone. His glasses perched on his large nose, and his hands trembled slightly.

Roy sat down directly in front of the old dwarf and got straight to the point:

"If you agree to do something for me, I'll take you out of this mine!"

The old dwarf put down the whetstone, his gaze shifting from his glasses to Roy 'Roy face, and tentatively asked, "Do I have any other options?"

"Not at the moment!" Roy replied.

"I am just a dwarven craftsman, skilled in metallurgy and engineering machinery, not an elder who knows everything..." the old dwarf said to Roy.

"I happen to need a dwarf craftsman like you..."

Roy smiled at the old dwarf and extended his right hand to him.