Chapter 514

Digging a pit sounded easy enough, but doing it was another matter entirely.

Choosing the right location, avoiding soil layers that were too hard or too loose, avoiding underground water veins—those were the basics. Excavating the tunnel into a suitable shape, making it easy to enter and leave and convenient for hauling out earth and stone—those were required lessons. Reinforcing the tunnel as it was dug to prevent collapses—that was the highest priority.

All of these had to be done, and they had to be done well. Otherwise, either the digging could not continue, or an accident would occur midway through the work.

The most common accident, of course, was a collapse.

The most common—and the most terrifying.

Tunnels were buried deep underground. Once one collapsed, almost everyone inside was certain to die. Even professional adventurers found it hard to survive in a collapsed tunnel until rescue arrived.

Such accidents had happened more than once in Glimmerstone Town in the past, to the point that mining had become the profession people feared most. It was not until Mayor Philex arrived and ushered Glimmerstone Town into a new era that excavation techniques improved and this danger was avoided.

The price was that excavation costs rose dramatically, reaching at least three times what they had once been.

There were mineral veins around Gold Rush Town as well, but unlike Glimmerstone Town, its veins lay relatively shallow. They were generally open-pit or semi-open-pit mines. Mining itself was less risky, while the returns were slightly greater.

That was also why Glimmerstone Town had gradually declined in those days, while Gold Rush Town had managed to endure.

But every advantage came with a disadvantage. Because mining had been easy in the past, Gold Rush Town lacked experienced miners. In the trade of excavation, they could