Shane couldn't allow himself to look like a desperate and needy individual who was in a dire situation in order to receive their support.

Because of that, he decided to ignore the replies for a few hours until his countdown reached exactly.

[27H:00M:00S]

He estimated that the Elus race was trying the same but they needed resources in order to build up a strong combat force to expand their power and exert dominance over other shelters.

This would increase the resources they could obtain, to sell or barter for more elemental crystals or other items required to increase their strength further.

It wasn't like they were desperately trying to receive certain items like it was the case with the Corvi race. It would still take some time for them to strengthen the newborn elementals for a new, stronger generation to appear, which Shane knew.

His words weren't detailed and a huge or small stock could mean a lot while the tag [Mortal] he added to the message indicated that Shane knew about their plans more than the others.

In the end, newborn elementals couldn't directly strengthen their affinity from 0 to 100 and they had to do it in small steps which made it mandatory for them to absorb Mortal grade elemental crystals.

They had never heard of a merchant called Orus but thinking that he had some connections to their race, a certain degree of curiosity was ignited within them. At the same time their desire for his mortal staged elemental crystals increased as a new generation of elementals were on the way to awaken.

Shane couldn't know for sure that the Elus race wanted to expand their business on a larger scale but it was obvious that purchasing resources had a certain meaning.

Furthermore, he was lucky to have lied to the Elus race with his connections to an Elus citizen which granted him the minimum amount of trust the race gave everyone who was connected to their brethren.

It was some kind of tradition, Shane didn't know about.

This tradition wasn't a secret but not many knew of it and Shane could be said to be lucky. He had only written an Elus 'citizen' and not something like a merchant, royal, or elite as they would have most likely cross-checked the facts before approaching him with more sincerity.

They would have most likely asked him for the Elus noble/merchant/elite's name, unmasking his lie, thereby severing the possibility of a trade agreement immediately.

Fortunately, Shane had been mindful about the possibility and only wrote 'Elus citizen.' The trust he had received was only minuscule, and not worth asking the name of the citizen as hundreds of millions existed, as opposed to a comparatively low number belonging to the higher classes.

Opening the system, Shane was taken aback because he had received more than ten messages.

The authorities hadn't replied to him but unknown merchants wrote to him and they were most likely ordered to make a deal with him.

Most messages asked about the number of elemental crystals he was able to provide in a short amount of time which Shane could only answer honestly with a small predicted number added to his calculation.

There wasn't any point in lying and though 10,000 basic elemental crystals seemed to be a huge figure but in all honesty, it was nothing, compared to the vast number of descendants that the Elus race had to nurture with the elemental crystals.

With 10,000 elemental crystals probably only 500 or so newly awoken Elus could be nurtured to a certain degree, more likely only around half of it.

In addition to the disappointing message, Shane only received a single reply from a merchant. This caused him to feel as if he was rejected by a beautiful girl only to notice that someone he didn't like had confessed to him.

But even so, the message he received was rather pleasing, providing him with a nice price list that was split into a long-term trading agreement and a periodic trading agreement.

While the long-term agreement was more pleasing to his eyes, Shane had to provide the merchant with a certain amount of elemental crystals each month, which wasn't his purpose, even though the price would be higher compared to the periodic trading agreement.

Both trading agreements would deal with the 200 item package system that he already knew from the previous trade of Nightshade flowers.

Each package consisted of 200 items and the price one had to pay for the transfer fee was a single gold coin.

Furthermore, the merchant's message was solely business-related and to the point.

→[Mortal] Basic (fire/wind/earth) elemental crystal

[Trash] 13 silver coins

[Common] 40 silver coins

[Uncommon] 1 gold coin 10 silver

→[Mortal] Basic (water) elemental crystal

[Trash] 14 silver coins

[Common] 45 silver coins

[Uncommon] 1 gold coin 20 silver

→[Mortal] Intermediate (magma/metal) elemental crystal

[Trash] 28 silver coins

[Common] 80 silver coins

[Uncommon] 2 gold coins 70 silver coins

→[Mortal] Intermediate (ice/thunder) elemental crystal

[Trash] 33 silver coins

[Common] 1 gold coin

[Uncommon] 3 gold coins

Message back as soon as possible,

Firug Grila[Rank-1 Elus Merchant]>

The message caused Shane to let out a whoop as he looked at the prices he had received.

Right now, he had mined around 1800 basic elemental crystals. The aqueous scales had provided him with energy to continue the arduous task without getting overly exhausted.

As he had received only a formal message from the Elus merchant, Shane sent a short and professional message as well.

Orus>

Without wasting any time, he sent out 9 parcels with a small-time variance to the Elus merchant.

Shane hoped he would receive his first income soon because he needed some funds to purchase a new, better pickaxe in order to harvest the elemental crystals all around him.

As he looked around, the entrance seemed to be almost completely cleared of crystals, while the sunrise could be seen from within.

Gazing outside, the scenery looked magnificent but Shane had no time left as he had an important mission to accomplish within the next 27 hours.

Shane wasn't excessively tired as he had received nourishment from the aqueous scales liquid. But that could change any moment he turned his guard down, so he had to remain fully observant and focused for now.

He continued mining elemental crystals for a while before the second pickaxe broke as well and he could only wait until the first payment arrived.

It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could change as of now. Shane decided to venture through the cave's upper layer once more in order to eradicate the threats that may have come up from the tunnels.

He would have done it sooner but his desire to mine crystals was much greater than he had expected in the beginning and his arms ached like hell.

Shane knew that he would have the pain and soreness for a long time after everything finished. As he looked around, he noticed a bunch of scaled lizards crawling up a small tunnel.

Right next to the tunnel was a pair of lizards copulating and Shane cursed in his mind, seeing these ghastly pictures in front of him.

Oddly enough, the bunch of scaled lizards gazed at the copulating pair of scaled lizards and approached them.

Shane didn't know what would happen but goosebumps could be seen spreading all over his body. He unsheathed his shiolite dagger and crouched down.

Sneaking up to the scaled lizards, Shane began to wonder if their hearing senses were just dull or if their urge to copulate was just too strong, causing them to not even hear the mining sounds in the cavern's entrance.

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