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The monsters in this dungeon were called Snakols, considered a devolved form of nagas. Standing only one meter tall, they had small arms and lacked the intelligence characteristic of their more evolved counterparts. Physically, they were weak, roughly equivalent to a high E-rank monster, but their venom made them incredibly dangerous.
Even a C-rank like Nelson could face death if not treated promptly. Of course, it would take an hour or more for him to die after multiple bites, but for F and E-rank hunters like Lucas and his friends, a single bite could be fatal within just ten minutes. That's why Nelson's bag was stocked with numerous antidotes, just in case his sister were to get bitten.
...
They had run this gate nine times without a hitch, and with Nelson leading the charge, it felt like a breeze. Lucas and the other two were covered in snakol guts and blood, having harvested around 300 D-rank crystals, along with snakol fangs and venom glands.
As they entered the gate for the tenth time, Nelson took the lead, exuding his usual cocky confidence. His staff glowed faintly as he scanned the area, already attuned to the lurking enemies. The mist enveloping them provided the perfect cover for the Snakols, allowing them to slither silently through the terrain.
They were well-acquainted with the snakol ambushes, knowing the dangers of the mist. As if on cue, a group of Snakols emerged, gliding stealthily through the fog, poised to strike.
Before the Snakols could strike, Nelson made his move. With a wave of his hand, the mist around them dispersed in a gust of wind, exposing the slithering creatures. The Snakols screeched in surprise as their cover was shattered.
In a swift motion, he swung his staff, releasing a sharp gust of wind like a blade that sliced through three Snakols at once. Their bodies crumpled to the ground, lifeless, before they even realized they had been spotted. Lucas had to admit that the first few times, it was impressive to watch Nelson navigate the gate as if the monsters didn't even exist. But after witnessing it repeatedly, the spectacle was starting to feel a bit stale.
"Pathetic," Nelson muttered, clearly bored with the dungeon. They had initially planned to clear this gate five times before moving on to another D-rank one, but Nelson had altered the plans, insisting they raid this one continuously.
"Stop dozing off like an idiot and collect the materials faster, you useless mules!" Nelson snapped, clearly irritated about spending his day doing chores for his family. He could have spent the day diving into a C-rank gate or relaxing in a club with beautiful girls.
Each time they cleared out a group of Snakols, they harvested valuable materials—fangs, venom glands, and the core crystals embedded in their bodies. While the venom had a range of uses, the core crystals were the real treasure. They powered everything from city defense weaponry to everyday devices. Though D-rank cores might not fetch much individually, in bulk, they were worth a small fortune.
Lucas wiped the sweat from his brow after finishing off another group. His muscles and back ached from all the cutting and skinning. He was so focused on his task that Nelson's sudden laughter startled him.
"Hahaha, the heavens really favor our family!" Nelson exclaimed, a broad grin spreading across his face. Lucas glanced over, confused. Nelson was running his hands along the dungeon wall, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"There's a cold iron vein on this wall!" Nelson declared, turning back to the group with sheer delight. A clamor rose among them at this revelation. Cold iron was one of the fundamental materials for crafting hunter gear. Infused with natural mana, it was ideal for weapons, armor, and tools requiring magical conductivity.
While not particularly rare compared to other minerals and metals found in gates, discovering a vein in a dungeon like this was a stroke of immense luck. This small vein could be worth tens of millions of credits—equivalent to the Mander family's annual earnings.
Nelson wasted no time. He reached into his dimensional bag and pulled out several specially made pickaxes. They gleamed faintly with a soft blue light, their edges sharp and reinforced with mana to effectively mine the cold iron.
"Get to work," Nelson ordered, tossing pickaxes to Lucas, Carl, Javier, and everyone else except Elena. "The sooner we mine this, the bigger your bonuses will be. And the more favor I'll earn back home."
Gates didn't have a strict clearing time, but eventually, the lock on the boss would unlock, allowing the boss to roam freely within the dungeon. If that happened, Nelson would have to kill the Snakol shaman; spending too much time after killing the boss could birth new, more powerful monsters to force them to leave the gate. This urgency drove him to hurry his companions; he didn't want to miss even a gram of the cold iron.
Lucas caught the pickaxe, surprised by its weight. Cold iron couldn't be harvested with ordinary tools; it required enchanted pickaxes designed to cut through the mana-infused soil surrounding it. Even with the right equipment, extracting the metal demanded significant time and effort.
The rhythmic sound of pickaxes striking the dungeon wall filled the air as tiny chunks of cold iron ores began to tumble to the ground. Lucas felt the cool, almost refreshing sensation of the metal as he picked them up, his fingers brushing against the smooth surface. Despite the physical strain, the thought of how valuable this iron was kept him motivated. Although their share wouldn't amount to even 1/10,000 of its true worth, they were still looking at a decent payday.
Cold iron formed the foundation of countless essentials in their world—crafting weapons, protective gear, and even advanced technology. When hunters embarked on exploratory expeditions to the wild, the armored vehicles they relied on were predominantly made of this material. Lucas would like to say the knowledge that they were unearthing something so precious to humanity's survival fueled Lucas's determination, but that would be a lie since the payday was all he cared about right now.
"This could set us up for a while," Javier said quietly, a rare glimmer of hope shining in his eyes as he chipped away at the wall. "If we bring back enough of this, we might not have to work two jobs anymore." Lucas nodded, the thought of financial freedom fueling his determination to work harder.
As they toiled away, Nelson wasn't idle either. He methodically dispatched the Snakols drawn to the noise of their mining. An hour passed, and they managed to fill several bags with cold iron. Lucas's arms ached, each swing of the pickaxe sending sharp pangs through his muscles, but he pushed through. Finally, they finished; they had harvested over 600 kg of cold iron.
Once the mining was done, Elena approached Nelson, concern etched on her face. "Brother, we shouldn't dive this gate again. We're violating the regulations by doing this. Don't you think it's dangerous? We could spawn a variant boss." Her voice sounded steady, but the unease in her eyes betrayed her.
Nelson looked at his sister with annoyance. "Why do you think I changed plans? I'm wasting a day here. Don't you think I deserve at least a tiny bit of action?"
Elena felt a chill run down her spine at his words. While creating a variant wasn't outright forbidden, it did come with strict regulations. To attempt it, they needed at least five hunters above one major rank of the gate. This D-rank gate required five C-rank hunters. She tried to reason with him, her voice laced with concern. "But brother, it's too dangerous for us. Wouldn't this jeopardize our farming?"
Nelson shot her a cold glance, his patience wearing thin. "Do you really think I can't handle a low D-rank gate's variant, boss? It would, at most, be a low C-rank." He slammed his staff into the ground, sending a strong gust of wind swirling around them. "Do you honestly believe that I, a peak C-rank, can't deal with such a beast?"
He stepped closer to her, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Even if we're unlucky, and it's a mid-C-rank, and I can't beat it, all we have to do is run while I slow it down. Once we leave the gate, we can summon more C-ranks from the family and deal with the variant. That would net us a lot more money." His eyes gleamed with a mix of ambition and determination, a stark contrast to Elena's worry.