Team Sandstorm went down the mountain to search for a good place to start digging.
The lowest spot they could find was at a height of around eight kilometers, and it was a bit away from the crater.
Surprisingly, when they got there, they found a couple of other holes, which had obviously not been made by beasts or nature.
They seemed suspiciously manmade.
"I mean, it makes sense," Kyle said as he looked at one of the holes. "We are probably not the first ones who got the idea of digging towards the Ether Essence. Wanna go into one of the holes?"
"Risky," Selene said. "Mines that have reached the Ether Essence are probably in use. If these mines are abandoned, I would assume that the miners met with misfortune. Probably a Metal Elemental."
"Question," Kyle said, "do Metal Elementals move around or do they stay in place?"
"I'm not sure," Selene said. "I know how the Metal Elementals in the Dividing Ridge act, but this is a completely different place. Different kinds of Metal Ether create different Metal Elementals. You should ask someone who's more experienced in these things. Someone like a Peak Master Artificer."
Naturally, Selene knew about Theodor since Kyle had told her about him.
"Then, consider this a rhetorical question," Kyle said.
"Metal Elementals," Theodor said, "act very differently based on Metal Ether. She's right in that regard. Some of them move around, while others stay put."
"I can't be entirely sure about how Metal Elementals operate, but at this density of Metal Ether, I would expect that there are a few of them. Compared to Earth Elementals, Metal Elementals are solitary. They do not like to have other Metal Elementals near them."
"I suspect there's a territory war going on between the Metal Elementals, which means they will be moving around constantly."
"Using the hole or not using the hole makes no difference. It's all about luck."
Kyle scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, well," Kyle said. "I guess we're just going to use the hole. At least, we don't have to dig as much."
"Are you sure?" Michael asked. "Wouldn't it make more sense to ask someone about it?"
"We don't have anyone better to ask," Kyle said. "I just asked the most experienced person around."
Naturally, the others didn't know about Theodor, which was why Kyle was so ambiguous when answering the question.
The others looked at Selene.
Yes, Selene was part of the biggest mining organization in the kingdom. There probably was no one more experienced available.
Meanwhile, Selene knew that Kyle was referring to Theodor.
"I mean," Kyle said, "there's a bunch of Metal Ether around, and as far as I know, Metal Elementals are quite aggressive. They're probably all just moving around anyway."
"Honestly, at this point, planning just equates to wasting time. No matter what we plan, in the end, we have to dig a hole anyway."
The others were not the biggest fans.
However, they also knew that it couldn't possibly be easy.
If it were, Ether Crystals wouldn't be so rare.
A moment later, Kyle and Selene went into the hole.
They were the best scouts for the job.
Additionally, as much as it sucked to admit, the two of them were stronger when they were alone.
The others didn't know about Kyle's or Selene's Aristocrat's Bodies, which meant they couldn't use them in public.
Ironically, team Sandstorm was at its strongest when only two members fought.
The two of them went into the hole.
The hole was pretty straight, and it had a width of about seven meters.
Naturally, it wasn't necessary to make such a wide hole, but the people who had created this mine in the past probably had someone with a big True Body.
A small hole wouldn't allow such people to properly fight.
"This seems familiar," Kyle said after a while.
"Our actual mine, right?" Selene asked, her voice no longer masked. "We also scouted that one. Sadly, we don't have Skyler with us today."
"Well, we also got quite a bit stronger since then," Kyle said.
"True," Selene said.
"By the way, are you already using Enchantment Runes?" Kyle asked.
Selene nodded before removing a small plate from her shoulder, revealing a brown rune. "Earth's Defense. It makes my body more resilient to damage. I'm still in the process of mastering Fire's Power."
"Oh, right," Kyle said. "You were born with a Fire Affinity, but Skyler also gives you access to an Earth Affinity, right?"
Selene nodded.
"Why didn't you choose Fire's Power first? It seems more useful," Kyle asked.
"It's not easy to understand and use," Selene said. "Mastering Earth's Defense already took me almost an entire year."
Kyle blinked a couple of times.
"Is it that hard?" he asked.
"Yes," Selene said. "It's not a simple Spell. Due to the unique way Fire's Power works, the Injection process is very unusual, and it messes with the Shaping process as well."
Kyle just threw a weird glance at Selene.
"What?" she asked.
Then, Kyle used his Metal Affinity to show the three Enchantments he had on his body.
When Selene saw them, her eyes widened. Three?!
Kyle had three of them active at the same time?!
How was he handling the cognitive load?!
Also, didn't he just start learning about Spellcasting about a year ago?
How did he suddenly have mastery over three Enchantments?!
At this moment, Selene felt like she had seen Kyle for the first time in her life.
Kyle often said dumb stuff and approached problems in a very direct and thoughtless manner.
He was the epitome of "eh, just do it. It's gonna work out."
Yet, comprehending and using Enchantments required a fast and disciplined mind.
There was no way to cheat.
The fact that Kyle managed to get so far in Spellcasting in such a short amount of time could only mean that he was actually quite intelligent.
At that moment, Selene understood Kyle.
Kyle wasn't dumb.
He just did dumb stuff occasionally.
And the reason why he did dumb stuff was simple.
He just didn't give a shit.
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