The moment Ian hired the Urk Han, he turned into a very, very poor person.

And with the leftover amount he had, he hired the less costing Ghor slave. Right after that purchase, Ian’s gold went down to 4 digits.

‘The remaining gold that I have is 8,000. I never knew that I could spend such huge amount… in such a short span of time. For the time left here, I’ll be seeing thousands in my inventory…’

With 8,000, it would be hard to find equipment that was meant even for a novice.

In any case, Ian who hired one Ghor, purchased another one of it to meet the necessary conditions of the mines.

And the system messages popped out.

Tring-

[You have met the minimum conditions necessary for running the mines.]

[Mining is possible now.]

[To open additional facilities, visit the management office once again.]

‘Additional facilities?’

There was no gold in his possession, so it was just a picture for the future, but Ian being the curious cat that he was, checked into the information of the facilities that could be further developed.

‘Uh… the magic mines… I thought it is a goose laying some golden eggs… but is it a gold-eating monster?’

Ian’s mine level was currently 1, and it was confirmed with the current information window.

The additional facilities that could be opened on the first level were the ‘mining equipment’ facilities and the ‘mineral warehouse’ facility.

The mining equipment strengthening the facility was literally a facility to strengthen the equipment that the slaves used, and the mineral warehouse was basically a storehouse that would increase the storage capacity of the warehouse.

And the gold required to open both of those facilities was 15 million gold and 5 million gold.

‘And, you need additional gold to raise the mine level and the facility too…?’

“This really is a monster eating away gold!”

Ian has begun to wonder if it would even be able to produce minerals that would be above the investment.

‘But since I’ve done it, I get to see the results later on. And if I don’t have enough money, I’ll just be stuck.’

In the recent years, there was never a situation where the gold was insufficient, he always had way more than needed, the only day he didn’t have enough gold was on the day he had begun the game.

When he got the 800 gold after hunting down an Ogre, he used that to pay for the tuition and then studied hard!

And after that the price of the gold fell down to half, even then the amount that could be earned was still different.

‘In the 20th division of the Devildom, I’ll take down the intermediate class monsters and sell their drops… will I be able to get 1 million gold per hour?’

He wasn’t so sure if the drop rates of the marbles would be high or low, but with the dropped items, he could easily earn about 2 million gold an hour.

Of course, if just one right item was dropped, then it would be possible to get 20 million gold, instead of setting for thousands.

‘Well 20 million gold isn’t anything but…’

Actually, 20 million gold wasn’t a bad thing.

It’s just that it was easy for Ian to earn the gold as he had went through the most contents in the Kailan.

If Ian had been more obsessed with getting the wealth, then he would’ve been able to collect not in billions, but in hundreds of billions.

Until now, what Ian had done with the money he got in the real world because of Kailan, was to buy the all-new capsule and made the room much bigger for its use.

Ian who had been thinking over moved out of the management office and bent his head.

“Maybe I should take a walk, I’ll check it over from the mining once, I guess?”

The location of the management office was at the entrance of the mine, Ian got out of the office and moved further deep into the mines.

Soon, the narrow space turned wide, and the wide mining space had appeared.

And right before that, there were two slaves that Ian had hired a while back.

Ian and the dwarf’s eyes met, and the dwarf Urk Han bowed his head and greeted Ian.

“First time meeting you, I’m called as Urk Han.”

A polite tone that didn’t feel cheeky.

Ian, however seeing the awkward introduction from the Urk Han slave, just nodded his head.

‘Well, does he really have an owner?’

“Please, do well, Urk Han. From here on now, help me strengthen this untapped mine.”

Urk Han briefly responded,

“I get it.”

Ian confirmed his unique ability, which he wasn’t able to see before.

– – – – – – – –

Mineral Processing Skill (Racial Inheritance) (Race Specialization) (Reinforcing)

– The ability to process minerals within 24 hours of mining, can be used only one time.

Using the mineral processing ability, it increases the grade of the mineral by a certain probability.

(Cooldown Time – 30 minutes)

(Depending on the grade and type of the mineral to be processed, the probability of processing will vary.)

Reinforced Gems (Rare Ability)

This skill is a passive skill, that only increases the chance of successful equipment enhancement by 30% for the subsequent equipment.

Designer Dwarf (Race Inherent) (Rare Ability) (Evolution Ability)

The ability to produce an equipment through the research of a certain period of time. When the Designer Dwarf ability is activated, no action can be taken until the end of its study, and the more time consuming the knowledge, the more excellent the equipment will turn out to be.

(Cooldown time – 24 hours)

(Evolvable)

– – – – – –

The unique powers of Urk Han made Ian a bit shocked.

‘Wha… there is no way to discard all the three unique abilities. A slave of unique grade…’

Ian whispered to Kaka.

“Kaka, maybe after the slave contract, could we take Han as a retainer?”

“Han? Ah, you’re talking about Urk Han?”

“Yeah.”

Kaka nodded his head.

“That is sure, master. But before that, my master will have to listen to Han.”

“Oh… is it so?”

A Retainer was different from slavery.

It wasn’t something that could be bought with money.

In fact, among the users, there were many who tried to get their ideal retainer.

‘Somehow, I need to know about Han before the contract ends.’

Ian, who was stubborn minded, began to start the mining and shut all his other thoughts.

And the moment the minimum requirements met, the mineral exploitation will proceed faster than expected.

* * *

At the one corner of the mine.

Kang- Kang- Kang-

The sound of pickaxe ringing in the silent area without rest.

And the source of the sound was Ian.

“Hmm…”

The dwarf who approached Ian spoke in a calm voice.

“You seem a little unique.”

Ian stood up and held his waist while wiping his sweat, then asked,

“What?”

Han shrugged his shoulders and responded.

“I have been to magic mines to fulfill my slave contract, and to be precise I’ve been to more than 10 mines. But till now, I’ve never seen a Master mine for himself.”

Ian picked up his pickaxe and responded,

“Once I understand the content. Before you mine, I need to get a look at it before you do it efficiently.”

At those answer from Ian, Han’s eyes shinned.

“Oho…surely, you are good. I don’t know what these contents are, but… if the employer does the work then they’ll be able to operate the mines efficiently.”

And in front of Ian, two lines of system message popped up.

Tring-

[The Dwarf ‘Urk Han’ is curious about you.]

[Affinity with the Dwarf ‘Urk Han’ increases by 2 points.]

Although it wasn’t intended, the affinity with his slave had increased, and this made Ian’s face bright.

“Han, I have said this before, in this mine the minerals that should be mined first are the high-grade magic stones.”

At those words from Ian, Han made a weird expression.

“Ah, Not that but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to ask you this before… why are you so obsessed with the high-grade stones? There are magical stones here… but it is true that there aren’t much who need it. they would be hard to sell.”

Ian smiled and replied,

“No, I won’t sell them. I will use them.”

In the eyes of the Dwarf, once again a light shone.

“Hmm…? Ian, then are you an alchemist?”

With the question from Han, Ian got another piece of information.

‘Alchemist? Indeed… there is a producing job called Alchemist, and a magic stone is used in Alchemy. So, it isn’t a mineral that is needed only for the Beast alchemy.’

Ian shook his head and answered,

“No, I’m not an alchemist.”

“Then…?”

“I’m a beast tamer. And to get the best on the battlefield, I need to get the highest grade stones.”

Han’s eyes wavered.

“A beast tamer…! I’m so glad to meet a beast tamer in here!”

And with those words, new system messages popped up.

Tring –

[The Dwarf ‘Urk Han’ is curious about you.]

[Affinity with the dwarf ‘Urk Han’ has increased by 15 points.]

Ian put a silly expression.

‘What? He is the easiest guy ever. Aren’t we getting too close too fast?’

Very well Han!

Urk Han was curious about Ian and started to speak with Ian with no hesitation, and soon Ian too began to respond to his questions.

In fact, it was possible because both of their interest were similar.

A feeling that he had when he met Cervian for the first time?

“Ohoh, so Ian, you think you will be able to create a powerful myth class with your Magical Beast Alchemy, and for the main body of it, a legendary monster is needed along with the marbles. And to increase the success rate, you will need high-grade stones.”

“Right. But it isn’t that simple.”

“Why is that so?”

“Firstly, the beast who is going to be the main body needs to be chosen as the best combatant among the legendary grade. And the beast who becomes the material needs to be chosen with a special ability for the special guy.”

“Oh… and the reason?”

“This is a bit complicated, but I’ll tell you.”

“Wow!!”

“I have been studying beast alchemy for quite a while, so my battle abilities have developed a bit along with the beast taming ability, but even though I have those abilities, I’m more likely to be confident if I have those high-grade stones with me.”

“Keu, a big task!”

“On top of that, this isn’t the end.”

“This so captivating. I want to listen to it.”

“Han, you are a miner, so do you know any minerals with such abilities?”

“I know. It isn’t a mineral that can be mined so frequently in this mine, but even I haven’t seen it many times…”

“The power stones will be like a flower that will enhance the beauty of the alchemy. And if I can get the power stones with the highest of the unique ability, I will be able to attach the abilities with that of my partner. And the stone is an item that can be obtained by not just mining, but also by hydo-cracking. And by putting this, there is a low chance of the ability to drop.”

“This, this is… the best story that I’ve heard so far!”

The two of them began to fall into each other’s stories.

[Affinity with the Dwarf ‘Urk Han’ increased by 4.]

[Affinity with the Dwarf ‘Urk Han’ increased by 7.]

Meanwhile, Ian had one or two minerals piled in his inventory.

Kang- Kang- Kang-

[You have succeeded in mining the minerals!]

[Insufficient dexterity has damaged the minerals.]

[Obtained ‘Lesser Iron Ore’ item.]

[Obtained ‘Minor Sparkle’ item.]

[Obtained ‘Lesser Soul Stone’ item.]

[Obtained ‘Lesser Spirit Stone’ item.]

And with such circumstance, the friendship of Ian and Han began to bloom.