Kyle followed some of the merchants and found a huge tunnel.
The tunnel was over 30 meters high and wide, and it led through the entire Dividing Ridge.
'Born too late to slug my way through the Dividing Ridge. Born just in time to enjoy the conveniences of capitalism,' Kyle thought with a chuckle.
He really didn't want to climb through the mountains and avoid endless clouds of Skysand.
As Kyle entered the tunnel, he saw a bunch of powerful guards.
The emblems of their armor showed a hammer with a pick, which looked very similar to Kyle's own hammer.
"Oh hey, that looks just like my hammer," Kyle said as he walked past one of the guards.
The guard was pretty relaxed and chuckled a bit. "That's the emblem of the Forthing Family."
"Neat," Kyle said. "So, are you a member of the Forthing Family?"
The guard broke into laughter. "No, I'm just a random Fighter that's been contracted by them to keep the tunnel safe. Don't cause any trouble, okay? Otherwise, I might lose my job!"
Kyle also laughed. "No worries. I'm just here to visit."
The two of them talked about some unimportant topics for a couple more minutes before Kyle continued on his journey through the tunnel.
"I remember the Forthing Family asking me if they are allowed to use my Mining Weapon as their symbol," Theodor spoke with annoyance.
"Did you give your permission?" Kyle asked.
"In exchange for a licensing fee, yes, but they refused. They said it was too expensive," Theodor spoke with annoyance. "Now that I'm dead, they can use the emblem without having to pay anything."
Kyle just chuckled.
"Speaking of," he said. "Should I keep my hammer hidden? What if someone recognizes it?"
"It is a risk, but walking around without a weapon is also a risk," Theodor said. "You are the one traveling there. You have to decide what you want to do. I'm not going to micromanage everything you do."
The stronger Kyle became, the less Theodor involved himself in his decisions.
Transcendents couldn't be artificially created.
They had to get to that point by themselves, and Theodor knew that.
The only thing Theodor could do was to point Kyle in the right direction, but he couldn't walk the path for him.
"Then, I'm going to keep my weapon," Kyle said.
Theodor didn't answer.
After an hour, Kyle finally reached the exit of the tunnel.
'It's crazy how long this fucking tunnel is,' he thought.
When he exited the tunnel, Kyle looked around, and almost immediately, his eyes widened.
"Whoa," he said.
Right now, Kyle was on an elevated road, which was about 30 meters wide.
And beside that road?
Nothing!
Kyle walked to one of the edges of the road and peeked over it.
"Brah," he said as he saw a drop of hundreds of meters.
The ground beside the road was hundreds of meters lower than the road itself!
On the ground, Kyle saw a bunch of powerful beasts digging into the Dividing Ridge.
He saw tens of these beasts and hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
They were all mining or transporting different kinds of ore!
"The Dividing Ridge is the biggest source of high-quality metal in the entire kingdom," Theodor said, "and the Forthing Family owns the exclusive mining rights."
Kyle gulped.
'No wonder the Forthing Family is so rich and powerful. They can mine whatever they want out of this gigantic mountain range.'
Kyle also saw a bunch of tunnels leading into Dividing Ridge.
'Oh, I think they are creating tunnels into the Dividing Ridge and mine upwards inside the mountains. Like that, they can avoid the dangerous clouds of Skysand!'
As he watched the gigantic mining operation, Kyle was reminded of his own mines.
Sadly, his two little mines couldn't compare to a mining operation of this size.
'Mining ore like this has to be so insanely fucking expensive,' Kyle thought. 'But I guess they're earning more than they are spending.'
Kyle watched for a while longer before he continued down the road.
The road didn't lead down, but it still approached the ground.
That was because the ground was coming closer to the road, not the other way around.
After some minutes of walking, the road and the ground became level again.
Kyle could feel the dense Earth and Water Ether in the air.
"Earth and Water? Not Metal Ether?" Kyle asked in surprise.
"A Metal Ether Spring creates more ore," Theodor said, "but the Dividing Ridge already has enough ore. Instead, the Forthing Family decided to create two Ether Springs. An Earth Ether Spring to increase the quality of the ground and a Water Ether Spring to promote the growth of the environment."
"Their mining beasts require a lot of food, which is why they are promoting the growth of wild beasts. The wilderness surrounding Forthing's Hold is amongst the most dangerous in the entire Kingdom. There are even more Monsters than on the peninsula."
Kyle took a deep breath.
He didn't feel as safe anymore.
"This is also the home of a Four-Weapons Guild, " Kyle said. "Do you think the power of the surrounding beasts has something to do with the Guild's strength?"
Theodor snorted. "Obviously! A powerful wilderness represents a trove of wealth and power. Any Fighter Guild that operates in such an environment will either die very quickly or become a mighty force. It all depends on their power."
Kyle remembered the map of the Guild territories.
The Four-Weapons Guild here was called the Wild Wardens, and they had the biggest territory out of all the Four-Weapons Guild.
Kyle had also heard that the Wild Wardens were the unofficial strongest Four-Weapons Guild in the entire Kingdom.
Their average power was so high that they could even compete with the singular Five-Weapons Guild.
"Do you think the Wild Wardens are working together with the Forthing Family?" Kyle asked.
"No Guild can possibly establish a foothold in this territory without the Forthing Family's permission," Theodor said. "It's almost certain that the Guild you're talking about is not even fully independent. It is probably just an extension of the Forthing Family."
"Someone has to hunt the beasts for the mining beasts, after all."
'Oh boy, recruiting Selene sounds harder and harder,' Kyle thought.
'Well, I'm already here. Might as well get this over quick and get rejected.'
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