As his classes finished, Arthur left the training ground after separating from Leon and Finn. After leaving the academy, Arthur turned toward a secluded area near the academy’s boundary.

With a quick sweep of his surroundings, he activated ‘Map’, expanding his awareness as a translucent projection appeared inside his mind. Every moving entity within range appeared as glowing dots in his vision, but none were following him.

Satisfied, he reached into his dimensional pocket and retrieved a sleek, black shuttle. The craft unfolded seamlessly, as he stepped inside, the interior lighting up in response to his presence.

“Active, stealth mode,” Arthur muttered as the cockpit interface came to life.

The shuttle hummed softly before vanishing from sight, its active camouflage and sound suppression field rendering it undetectable to the naked eye. With a slight tilt of the controls, he soared into the sky, leaving Brightwater behind.

…

The landscape below shifted rapidly. The dense cityscape gave way to vast stretches of forests, and rivers snaking through the land. Minutes passed in silence as Arthur guided the shuttle through the upper air currents.

Fifteen minutes later, the terrain changed. Ahead lay a rugged expanse of rocky outcroppings and jagged peaks. This was his destination, it’s where the Darksteel deposit was present.

Arthur brought the shuttle to a hover above a large, flat rock formation. With a mental command, the shuttle’s landing gear extended, allowing him to step onto the stone below. As he exited, he put the shuttle away.

The air was dry, carrying the faint earthy scent. Arthur gazed upward at the looming peaks before him. Somewhere within the heart of these mountains lay the Darksteel ore he sought.

Wearing his armor, Arthur engaged its thrusters, the energy vents along his back and boots igniting with a faint blue glow. With a controlled burst, he propelled himself skyward, effortlessly closing the distance between him and the mountain’s peak.

He floated above a high ridge, scanning the landscape. The Darksteel deposit was deep within one of the larger mountains. His HUD marked the precise location, nearly a hundred meters beneath the rocky surface.

With a deep breath, Arthur stretched out his hand, and with a mental command, summoned a swarm of nanobots. The microscopic machines poured from his dimensional storage like liquid silver, forming a shimmering, flexible mass in the air before him.

Arthur focused his mind, shaping the nanobots into the form of a massive drill, its surface rippling as the machines interlocked into a spiraling pattern. The moment he gave the command, the drill surged forward, its tip glowing faintly as it began its descent into the mountain.

The first layer was simple. But as the depth increased, the stone became denser and harder, requiring Arthur to continuously change the nanobots’ configuration, adjusting their frequency and rotational force.

The sound of grinding rock reverberated through the mountainside. He observed the progress through his HUD, watching as the depth counter increased.

10 meters… The drill carved through the outermost layers with ease. 20 meters… Dense granite started to appear. 50 meters… The rock became even more compact, but the nanobots adapted, shifting their structure to optimize efficiency.

He watched as chunks of rock were dislodged and compressed. The process was slow but methodical, ensuring the integrity of the mountain remained intact.

As the depth neared 80 meters, the texture of the rock changed, veins of metallic black ore became visible in the displaced debris.

Arthur’s eyes gleamed.

“Darksteel.”

With a quick command, he reconfigured the nanobot drill, shifting its focus from tunneling to extraction. The nanobots adapted instantly, latching onto the rich veins of Darksteel and carefully separating them from the surrounding rock.

Unlike common ores, Darksteel was much more dense. Arthur adjusted the nanobots’ collection method, ensuring only the purest fragments were extracted.

The first wave of ore emerged from the tunnel, appearing in neatly compacted cubes. Arthur extended his hand, and put the pieces into one of the SOH’s storage units, where they vanished into a secure compartment.

The minutes stretched into an hour as Arthur oversaw the steady flow of ore. His HUD displayed the growing tonnage of collected material, and yet the mountain’s supply seemed nearly endless.

After more than three hours the final wave of Darksteel was extracted from this area, Arthur deactivated the nanobots, recalling them into his dimensional storage. The drill shaft, now a perfectly reinforced tunnel, remained intact, ensuring no collapse would occur.

He took a step back, scanning the mountain range. There were still a bit of scattered ores but they would require much more time to collect so Arthur just left them be.

With a deep breath, Arthur activated his thrusters once more and soared back towards the flat rock formation. Then he boarded the shuttle and went towards the direction where the mithril ore deposit was located.

…

After securing the Darksteel deposit, Arthur set his sights on the Mithril vein. The process was nearly the same, locating the deposit, deploying the nanobots, and carefully extracting the precious ore. Hours passed as he oversaw the collection, making sure to leave the structural integrity of the mountain intact.

By the time he finished, the storage compartments aboard the Spear of Heaven were filled with Darksteel and Mithril, two of the strongest materials in this world he could currently acquire. There was still one more thing left to do, to collect the Mana Stones.

But there wasn’t enough time today.

Arthur glanced at the sky. The sun had already set, and night arrived. He decided against rushing the next step. Instead, he boarded his shuttle and returned to the academy before nightfall.

…

The Next Day

After finishing his academy tasks early, Arthur wasted no time. Leaving the academy, he once again activated his shuttle’s stealth mode and took off, this time heading towards the Drakmire Continent.

Unlike the previous deposits, which were hidden deep within rocky mountains, this one was located inside a dense forest. He had already pinpointed its location, and after half an hour of flying at hypersonic speed, he finally arrived.

The shuttle hovered over a vast expanse of lush greenery. Towering trees stretched towards the sky, their canopies forming a thick natural ceiling that filtered the sunlight into scattered golden beams. The air here was rich with mana, much more than Brightwater.

Arthur landed in a small clearing and stowed away the shuttle. The surroundings were eerily silent, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the wind.

He activated his datapad and located the mana stone deposit beneath the ground. Unlike ores embedded in mountains, mana stones formed in clusters, deep within the earth where mana naturally condensed over centuries.

Stepping forward, he summoned his nanobots once more. A shimmering silver mass emerged from his dimensional storage, rippling like liquid metal before reforming into a colossal drill.

“Begin excavation.”

The nanobots surged downward, twisting into the soil with precision. Within moments, they had penetrated deep beneath the surface, carving a tunnel towards the rich mana stone veins below. Arthur monitored their progress on his datapad.

10 meters… 20 meters… 50 meters…

As the depth increased, the more concentrated the mana became. Soon, faint glows began to appear in the displaced soil…mana stones.

A few moments later, the first stone emerged from the tunnel, carried by the nanobots. Arthur picked it up, examining it. It was a mid-grade mana stone, pulsing with pure energy.

He nodded in satisfaction and let the nanobots continue their work.

Time passed as the automated process repeated itself. His datapad displayed the increasing count. At the end of two hours he collected millions of low-grade mana stones, nearly 600,000 mid-grade ones and over 50,000 high-grade ones.

Arthur let out a low whistle. This haul was far beyond what he expected.

He stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders. That should be enough for now. Just as he was about to recall the nanobots, a voice broke the silence in a curious feminine tone.

“So, how much did you get?”

Arthur’s entire body tensed.

Goosebumps ran down his spine as he snapped his head around. He hadn’t felt anyone approaching, not even the slightest hint of presence. But now, standing just a few meters away, was a woman.

She was, simply put, the most breathtaking person he had ever seen in both of his lives. Not even the actresses and models could compare with this woman.

Her face balanced perfectly between innocence and maturity, with delicate features. A small beauty mark sat just below the corner of her right eye, adding to her mystique. But what stood out the most were her eyes, golden and slit like a cat’s eyes, glimmering with curiosity.

Her hair was a deep, dark purple, cascading down her back in waves. She was dressed in an intricate, gothic-style black dress with purple accents, hugging her form elegantly. The plunging neckline highlighted her décolletage, while long, lace-adorned gloves stretched past her elbows. A thigh-high slit revealed a glimpse of her leg, along with a garter belt attached to a mysterious accessory.

Arthur felt himself staring for a moment too long.

“So?” she asked again, tilting her head.

Realizing his lapse, Arthur coughed lightly, feeling slightly embarrassed. ‘Damn, that was unexpected.’

Regaining his composure, he met her gaze.

“Umm… who are you?” he asked cautiously.

The woman, however, didn’t answer. Instead, she narrowed her golden eyes playfully and repeated, “I asked you first.”

Arthur remained still. His instincts kicked in, this woman was dangerous. He hadn’t sensed her approach at all. That alone told him she was far stronger than him. How long had she been watching? And why?

Trying to figure out her strength he used ‘Analyse’ but he was met with an unexpected result.

//——————–//

[Error!]

[Target is using an ability to conceal strength. Unable to analyze.]

//——————–//

Arthur’s caution deepened.

Still, he reasoned that simply answering her question wouldn’t put him at risk. If she wanted to take his mana stones, she could have just done so already. So, he answered truthfully.

The woman simply nodded, looking completely unimpressed. As if that’s pocket change to her.

Then, she gestured towards the floating silver nanobots.

“And what are those?”

Arthur hesitated. Explaining nanobots to someone in this world would be like explaining quantum mechanics to a medieval blacksmith. He decided to simplify it.

“They’re small machines that follow my commands. I use them to dig, build, and modify things.”

For the first time, the woman’s composed expression shifted into an intriguing one.

“They can do that much?” she murmured, her voice laced with curiosity. Then, after a brief pause, she asked in a curious tone, “Can they build a castle?”

Arthur blinked. ‘What kind of question is that?’

Still, he answered truthfully. “If given the right materials and instructions, yes, they can.”

The woman’s lips curled into a smile. She muttered something under her breath, her golden eyes briefly flashing with annoyance.

Arthur could hear something like ‘Damn old geezer’ and ‘not giving me a house’.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. ‘What?’

Before he could ask, she suddenly turned her gaze back to him and spoke.

“Follow me.”

Then, without waiting for a response, she flew away.

Arthur’s eyes widened slightly.

This was the first time he had seen someone flying purely using magic. No wings, no visible artifacts just using mana. 

He didn’t know why she wanted him to follow, but he also didn’t sense any hostility from her. If she wanted to kill him, she could have done so already.

With a sigh, he donned his armor and activated its thrusters.

As he soared after her, the woman looked back and was surprised by what she saw.

She had expected him to run after her on foot as she could feel he was not that powerful, but the man took out something weird again. And instead, he started to fly after her.

For the first time, a genuine flicker of interest appeared in her golden slitted eyes.

Arthur, however, was still thinking about the bigger question.

‘Just who the hell is this woman?’

***

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