Chương 301: Chapter 3

I step onto the stone platform at the mouth of the mine, and I immediately notice the gathered workers who stand in a half-circle around Foreman Luthor. I already got quite the scolding in his office—now, I know he plans for something else. The morning sun barely reaches inside this cavern, so most of the platform stays in shadow. The shift leaders stand on a ledge above everyone else, and I see them scanning the crowd with the casual suspicion that usually marks the start of each day.

I feel a tension in the air that tells me I am the focus of this assembly. I sense that the crews have been talking like wildfire about how I humiliated Clayton during the last shift. I wonder if Luthor is about to call me out in front of everyone. I do not have to wait long. Luthor folds his arms across his broad chest and speaks loudly.

"Listen up, all of you," he says.

"We have a quota to meet, and we are falling behind. I do not want to hear any excuses. If you slack, you can pack your things because plenty of desperate men can take your place." A few miners shift on their feet, and I see them avert their eyes. Luthor has always been the type of foreman who enjoys threatening his workers. Then he sets his gaze on me, and I immediately recognize that he is about to start trouble.

"Jacob Cloud," he says while he points a blunt finger at me.

"Step forward. I have an announcement to make about you." I feel hundreds of eyes turning toward me. It doesn't matter. I need money. I need to get a Mana Pool Skill, first, and then an Offensive Skill if I want to start killing monsters and getting a chance at becoming a Knight. This is just a big stepping stone for me. I walk into the open space and try to maintain a calm expression.

"Yes?" I smile.

"Did he mine that giant piece of silver out of a half-collapsed tunnel with a broken pickaxe?" A guy asks in a loud whisper.

"He must have cheated somehow."

"He was probably just lucky." I notice a few novices watching me with something like awe, although older miners wear grim or skeptical looks. Luthor paces a bit before he talks again.

"This man here," he says, "claims he mined a giant silver piece on his own." He narrows his eyes, and I sense he wants me to respond, so I raise my voice to address him.

"I did, Foreman," I say.

"I just did my assigned work, the same as everyone else. You have to thank Clayton for that. His guidance was fundamental." Luthor lets out a short, barking laugh.

"Well, that's a modest way to put it, Cloud. I also heard you got into a tussle with him after you supposedly did the impossible." He makes a wide gesture toward the crowd.

"Clayton happens to be one of our senior men, so you must think you are quite special, trying to embarrass him like that in front of everyone." I hear a few soft chuckles around me and see one or two men exchange knowing glances. I keep my spine straight and just smile.

"Embarrass him? Because he couldn't wield the pickaxe he gave me?"" Is that so?" Luthor asks, and he laughs again.

"Are you claiming there was no cheating or tampering with the pickaxe on your behalf? We take seniority very seriously here, Cloud." He wants to fire me. He's just making a show of it, I think. Luthor turns to the rest of the crew.

"I've decided to see if the kid here can do something else to back up his latest miraculous achievement." I watch as one of the shift leaders wheels a wooden cart onto the platform. The wheels squeak, and the cart contains a messy pile of ore lumps that look superficially like silver. I notice that most lumps are caked in dust, and I am sure some lumps are worthless, while others might be high-grade silver or standard silver ore. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent.

Report any sightings. Luthor pats the edge of the cart with an arrogant grin.

"This," he says, "is a batch of ore from deeper shafts. Some lumps are pure silver, others are trash, and a few might even be infused with Mana. If you separate them correctly, you'll prove you're not just lucky. You'll put the worthless lumps in one pile, standard silver in another, and any high-grade Mana-infused silver in a third pile. A senior engineer will then examine them to make sure." He levels his gaze at me.

"Of course," he continues, "it usually takes a trained engineer to sort these properly, or at least someone with a specialized appraisal Skill. But if you are as good as you claim, you should have no trouble doing it under our eyes." Whispers break out among the miners around me because they realize this is difficult… very difficult. Practically impossible. An older worker coughs and mutters, "Only the guild's appraisers can do this in minutes." Someone else quietly laughs.

I notice one or two novices looking at me with cautious sympathy. They probably assume I will fail. I approach the cart and run my hand across a piece of ore on top. This is exactly what I expect Luthor would do: a test designed to make me look incompetent. He desires for everyone to witness my failure, which would ruin my reputation from the last shift, potentially leading to my firing as well.

"All right," I say, "I'll do it." Luthor folds his arms.

"Then get started." I place my palm on the first lump of ore and activate my power. [Grimoire Material Scan] Sample ID: Ore-01 Identified Metal – Silver Metal Purity – 83 % Mana Saturation – 45 % Wow, that's impressive, I tell myself with a smirk. This would be worth quite a bit. I set it on the ground and pick up the next piece. This one is mostly worthless metal that only has a tiny trace of silver in it. I put it aside. I continue in this manner, and I sense the composition of each lump.

However, I notice that I end up creating multiple sub-piles. I sort them by subtle differences so I can finalize the correct groupings at the end. The problem is that anyone watching me from a distance sees a chaotic mess. Within minutes, I hear snickering.

"Look at him," a voice in the crowd says.

"He's making seven or eight piles instead of three." Another man smirks.

"He's clueless, or he's panicking." Luthor chuckles loud enough for me to hear.

"Didn't I say three piles, Cloud? Or is that too confusing for you?" I ignore the taunts and keep working. I finish examining one piece and realize it is worthless, so I set it in the trash pile. Then I pick up a strange-looking chunk with a faint shimmer beneath the surface. My skill tells me it is silver infused with a high Mana content. I keep it separate. After I finish sorting most of them, an older engineer who is known to have a basic purity-sensing Skill approaches Luthor.

He speaks in a low voice that I can still partially overhear.

"He's not guessing," the man says.

"He's doing something more detailed than you asked, boss." Luthor's smirk twitches, and he raises his eyebrows at me with a look of displeasure. He waits for me to finish, folding his arms as if he expects to pounce on the first mistake. I calmly shift the lumps into a final arrangement. At that point, I formed ten clear piles because I had consolidated the sub-piles with similar compositions. I step back and address Luthor and the watching miners.

"I'm done," I say.

"Feel free to check." A ripple of surprise passes through some bystanders. Luthor gestures at the older engineer.

"Go on, see if he did half as well as he claims—this clown wanted to make ten piles. If you find anything incoherent, tell me immediately." The engineer squats by the first pile and places his hand on a chunk of ore. He closes his eyes, focusing on his skill. Then he picks up another from a different pile and repeats the process. I see his brows draw together when he does this because each piece seems exactly where it should be. Another shift leader comes forward and tests a few lumps himself.

Meanwhile, the crowd's whispers intensify. I hear one miner say, "He sorted out the Mana-soaked pieces too? That's nearly impossible without special training." Luthor snatches a lump from the highest-grade silver pile and scrutinizes it. He runs his thumb over the surface and even tries chipping away some dust. His mouth presses into a thin line when he fails to find any discrepancy. He picks up a second piece and repeats the process. The result is the same, so he tosses it down in frustration.

I speak up because I want the crowd to understand the significance of this piece.

"Foreman," I say, going to pick it up, "this one here is a perfect example of Mana-infused silver." I point to a slight glow that traces along one edge of the metal.

"If you look closely, you can see the shimmer. That indicates how deeply the Mana has seeped into the ore. It's worth a lot more than regular silver. If someone missed that line, they would be mixing precious material with standard ore." I show it to the engineer, and he nods in agreement. By explaining this, I am also calling attention to Luthor's oversight. A few miners mutter that Luthor did not see the line at all, implying he nearly missed the biggest detail. The foreman's jaw tightens.

He forces a harsh laugh and steps back.

"You did well enough," he says in a grudging voice.

"I suppose you know how to pick apart ore. Next time, though, listen to the damn instructions and make three piles from the start, not ten. We only needed a simple demonstration." The crowd understands that Luthor's dismissal is his way of saving face. Several miners give me a nod that suggests they are impressed, while others keep quiet because they fear the foreman. Luthor lifts his baton and points it at the crew.

"I've seen enough," he says.

"Everyone, get to your stations. We are starting the shift now. If you fall behind, you answer to me. Any lateness, any shortage, any laziness: you'll regret it."

"What do you plan to do now?" Clayton asks, frustrated. Luthor speaks in a low tone to Clayton and one of the shift leaders.

"We're about to have a contest for a Silver Skill Crystal we uncovered, and Jacob is not only going to fail, but he's also going to die at the end of it."