There were several stone structures at the foot of an inconspicuous mountain mine with a seemingly weak elder sitting in front, hammering some unknown metal.
Clank! Clank! Clank!
The clanks from the hammering were loud as they spread throughout the barren land of sand.
Sensing the presence of visitors, the elder looked up and scanned Mohai and his men but did not react. He then continued his smithing.
"Master Gaven," Mohai greeted as he walked up to the elder.
The elder's name was Gaven. When the game started, the players who came to the place thought he was just a normal NPC that collected ores, but in fact, he was one of the few top-tier masters who had mastered mining and forging.
On top of that, he was also a neutral NPC which was quite rare. He could enter the cities of humans freely and communicate with humanoid monsters. No monsters would even attack him in the wild.
"Do you know me?" Gaven looked at Mohai with furrowed brows.
Even though he had lived in Guggenheim for some time, he had never revealed his identity to anyone. It was impossible for someone to know his true identity. Not even people who knew Guggenheim from top to bottom knew him, let alone a bandit leader.
"I've heard about you from a Distant Sea Bird." Mohai took the conch shell from the bird as proof of his words.
Gaven was a famous neutral NPC in the game. A top-tier master like him was staying in front of a mine because he was waiting for something big to happen. Until then, players could receive a rewarding mission chain from him.
"That bird really has a loose mouth," Gaven frowned and grumbled.
He might have laid low in recent years but he had been quite famous in the past. He had a close relationship with the Distant Sea Birds as well, so if the bandit leader had heard about him from the birds, it was not surprising either.
"Speak, to what do I owe the visit? If you are looking for weapon forging, I'll have to ask you to leave. I don't have the forging tools with me and it's impossible for a bandit leader like you to afford it." Gaven's personality was quite easy-going, so he did not simply send Mohai off without a reasonable explanation.
"No, I'm actually seeking for a mining technique, and I hope you can teach me, Master Gaven. It won't take you a lot of time," said Mohai in a sincere tone.
He had no idea about other life skills, but he knew that a monster could learn to mine. The Burrower was the best example, and other than that, there was a certain kind of monster in the game called the Dwarf Miners.
However, the skill was not self-learnable. It must be taught by someone else. However, even if most of the monsters could learn, they would not waste their time because it was unnecessary. Other than some rare minerals or ores, most of the ores and minerals that monsters required could be found near their area.
As for the rarer ones, even if they could mine, they might not get it and the place to mine the ores would be far away from their own territory.
"Mining skill? You people want to mine?" Gaven found it strange.
He knew better than Mohai that mining was practically a useless skill to a monster. Only a certain type of monster would be forced to learn mining due to various reasons.
"Yes, we know of a way to become stronger using ores, but we can't find this ore in the Monolith Stronghold, so we came here to mine it ourselves," said Mohai. He was not lying. He really came all the way here to mine just so he could power up the team.
The second question that he had asked the system during the reward selection was how to make the bandit leaders stronger after revival.
The system had given him a recipe, and Mohai thought of Gaven after he scanned through it.
He decided to travel to the Quicksand Mines to learn to mine after the Black Witch teamed up with the Magma Golem.
The required ores from the recipe were not something the players could get in the foreseeable future, so he must do it himself.
He had to wait for the players to level up before he could kill them for more effective XP gains, and since he had some time, he might as well mine for ores and strengthen his team. Even if the players got stronger, his team would still be capable of taking them down.
"I'm convinced that you want to become stronger, but I don't think you have what it takes to make me teach you the skill." Gaven nodded.
Teaching the skill would cost Gaven a lot of his mining XP, so no matter how easy-going he was, he would not simply teach it to anyone.
"I know you are collecting amber ores. After we learn how to mine, we will deliver 10 amber ores after a month as a reward." Mohai was slightly nervous even though he expected the outcome.
"10 amber ores are quite nice, but I don't think you can get 10 amber ores within a month after learning how to mine. The mine behind me is quite abundant, but even I can only find two a month." Gaven shook his head. He did not want to accept a verbal agreement without any insurance.
"Master Gaven, what about this ring? I believe it's worth more than 10 amber ores." Mohai was prepared for this, so he took the Traveler's Ring out.
"Huh? This ring is not bad," said Gaven as he sized the ring up.
The Traveler's Ring should not appear on a low-level bandit leader and its value was far higher than 10 amber ores. He could easily trade the ring for more than 10 amber ores.
"Fine, I'll take the ring for now, but let me make myself clear. If you can't give me 10 amber ores within a month, I won't return the ring," Gaven agreed with the Traveler's Ring as a mortgage.
"Sure." Mohai heaved a breath of relief.
As someone who knew Gaven's secret, he knew he would strike this deal even before he came, but he was still worried about an unexpected turnout.
If something unexpected happened, he might have to turn against Gaven.
Mohai was not worried about Gaven returning the ring because he was one of the most trustworthy NPCs in the game. As a top-tier master in forging, he was actually a wealthy NPC. While the Traveler's Ring might be valuable, it was nothing compared to what he had.
On top of that, Gaven's mission chain was quite rewarding and he even verbally promised players extra rewards. If the players could meet his requirements, he would not be stingy.
The teaching process was quite simple. Gaven's hands glowed light blue, then he touched Mohai's hands and the lesson was complete. The same went for the other bandit leaders.
The mining skill was even at Level 2!
In Origin, the highest level of all life skills was 10. Gaven himself was on Level 10 of mining and forging.
Mohai remembered back then when the players had completed Gaven's missions, they were able to receive Level 7 mining and forging lessons from him, so Level 2 mining was really nothing to the master.
Even though it was just Level 2 mining, Mohai was thankful to Gaven. If Gaven wanted to save himself some trouble, he could have very well taught Mohai Level 1 mining.
When the Ghost saw Mohai and the sixteen bandit leaders get a new skill, he floated over excitedly and wanted to join the fun. "Me too! I want to learn it too!"
However, everyone responded with a pitiful look at him.
"What's wrong? I want to mine too," said the Ghost anxiously.
"Ghost, try to hold your staff with both your hands," said No. 13.
'Hold my staff with both my hands?' The Ghost was confused, but he tried nevertheless.
'W-what!? How is this possible?!'
The Ghost was shocked as if he had been struck by lightning. His body was plump and his hands were short, hence he was unable to hold the staff with both his hands at once!
"Ghost, stop fooling around and carry these pickaxes in your bag," said Mohai.
Mohai had bought more than a hundred plus pickaxes in one go. Since the Ghost could not mine, he would have to help by carrying things.
"Yes, Boss…"
Dispirited, the Ghost floated over and put all the pickaxes into his bag.
The Ghost was proud of his explosions and his kill count, but at this moment, he realized that he was plump, fat, in fact.
After spending two days getting there, the team finally went down to the mines!
Mohai was a little excited as he walked into the mines.
As someone experienced, of course, he would mine differently than other players.
In the past, he had been a mission-centered player and barely touched mining. Now, it would be a great opportunity to try out a popular spot that many players favored back then.