Sora was currently walking through Var, pondering on what place he should go next. He already made up his mind to make a little bit of money for the future and many ideas were floating back and forth in his head. Preferably he wants to be able to level up and get loot while making money, that knocks out a lot of skill based options. As he was thinking he walked near a large man who was currently striking a piece of iron on a small anvil.

“Hoho, if it isn’t my new friend.”

“...Oh, Bubbles how are things going? Setting up your own shop already?”

“I need to start getting my name out there somehow, I figured that starting early was the best way.”

“Ah, that’s a good point, I just thought you would be at Frost Peak Mountain right now.”

“Hehe, I’m just a little blacksmith, what does a level 40 dungeon have to offer?”

“...You do know why they call it Frost Peak Mountain… right?”

“Is it snowy?”

“...Frost Iron Ore.”

“Hmm? Frost… FROST IRON ORE?!”

Nearly everyone around stared at the two men, attracted by the large man that seemed to tower over everyone else yelling something about some kind of ore. Most people were confused, but the blacksmiths that were around were looking at Bubbles with fire in their eyes after they heard what he had said. The quest to go from Beginner to Novice Mining was to mine 250 Frost Iron Ore, while the Beginner to Novice Smithing quest required a player to make 175 Frost Iron equipment. The word Frost Iron Ore has become a hot topic amongst players since nobody has seen them. The Frost Peak Mountain hasn’t even been found by anyone yet, all people know is that it was somewhere in the newly acquired territory which was filled with high level creatures. There was only one safe path through and that was currently had restricted access for players, anytime someone tried to use the path a royal guard would stop them from going any further. Bubbles got nervous as many blacksmiths stared holes through his body, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

“Hehehe, n-no sir I don’t h-have any Frost Iron Ore, but I can offer you some finely crafted normal iron equipment.”

Sora caught on quick and told Bubbles to follow him to somewhere more private, Bubbles quickly pulled his shop down and followed Sora. Sora led him to the same restaurant that he always goes to when having a meeting with Blossom and LeeLee. The restaurant had a few customers but Sora and Bubbles found a nice isolated corner and sat down to talk.

“You said Frost Iron Ore right? THE Frost Iron Ore?”

“Is there any other kind of Frost Iron Ore? There is an entire mountain filled with it to the West of here.”

“How did you get there? I heard that royal soldiers are blocking the main path and the jungle surrounding it has creatures from level 55 all the way up to level 80.”

“I snuck through the jungle, but I have a way to get us through the safe route.”

“Can we go now? Ah, wait let me go buy some repair hammers before we go.”

“Alright, I’ll give you some money if you don’t mind picking me up some hammers as well.”

“Forget about the money, you promise me Frost Iron Ore and I will use every coin I have to buy you repair hammers.”

“Alright, we will meet at the gate in 5 minutes then. Just pick up ten hammers for me”

Bubbles quickly ran to the blacksmith shop as Sora went to the gate to wait for him. Within 3 minutes Bubbles had arrived, he must have ran the entire time. Bubbles traded some repair hammers to Sora and Sora invited Bubbles to a party and they started walking to the village near Frost Peak Mountain. After the royal army had came the nameless village had gotten the name of Frost Peak Village and fell under the protection of the kingdom. There was no flight path to the village yet but there will be once the royal army has finished clearing the mountain.

…..

Sora and Bubbles were currently walking through Frost Peak Village, the village looked completely different now that the kingdom has decided to put it under it’s protection. The simple houses have expanded and many new shops and inns were being built. Sora walked up to a roadway that looked to be recently deforested and was being blocked by guards. When the guards saw Sora they did a small salute. As the person who killed the source of the corrupt power he had earned the respect of these guards. Sora and Bubbles easily walked past the barricade, leaving many players nearby shocked at the display.

The journey was smooth, after a 30 minute walk they had made it to Frost Peak Mountain. The royal army could be seen stationed all around the base of the hill, some medical tents were put up as soldiers went in and out of them with small injuries. The guards saw the newcomer and reported it to their superior, after Sora and Bubbles had just entered the camp they were already being called to a single tent that seemed to be where the commander resided.

As Sora and Bubbles walked in they were greeted by a robust man that looked like he was in his mid thirties sitting behind a desk, it was the commander that the king had sent with a battalion of soldiers, Veradon. When he saw Sora walk in he greeted him and offered for the two men to have a seat in the chairs at the front of the desk. Bubbles carefully inspected the man, knowing he was of some importance to be in his position. The man had short black hair, a little stubble as his facial hair, and he was wearing bulky armor that completely covered his body.

“So, it is Ethereal. My men would like to thank you for taking down that demon general.”

“It was only something that I wanted to do, there is no need for thanks.”

“No, it has truly saved us from losing a lot of good men. Please, let us thank you.”

“Then I will rudely accept your thanks.”

Bubbles was completely stunned, he figured Sora had done something huge but to think that he was the one who had defeated the demon general. Bubbles kept thinking that is was more and more beneficial to be on his good side as he learned of his deeds. He also couldn’t help but think about why this man who had taken down a demon general wanted to get on his good side just because he was a blacksmith. Bubbles decided then and there to make sure to work hard, or else he could easily be replaced with another blacksmith.

“Haha, much better. So, Ethereal, what brings you and your friend here?”

“Greetings Veradon, my friend here is a blacksmith and I was wondering if he could tap into some of the resources in the mountain before the other adventurers swarm the area.”

“Hmmm, well normally we would only allow adventurers to take resources on the outside of the mountain, there are too many creatures there for us to protect our workers anyways. Since he is a friend of yours I can let him take resources from inside the mountain on the condition that 10% of the ores he gets are turned in to help the kingdom. Does this sound acceptable?”

“I will leave this up to my friend here, I have business to attend to nearby so I will be going to do that. If he doesn’t want your deal then don’t worry about it.”

“I accept! Is it alright if I start right away?!”

“Hahaha! That would be fine, we cleared out the right wing of the cave already. Just follow each path to the right until you come across a cavern filled with Frost Iron Ore. When you want to come out all you ha-”

Sora walked out as Bubbles and the commander talked about the details of him mining. Sora had decided to kill Frost Elementals near the top of the mountain, the main reason being because they drop mana crystals. Mana crystals were the base ingredient to making mana potions, which has yet to be introduced into the market. If Sora is able to release the first batch of mana potions then he will be able to make a fairly large profit. Once the recipe starts to spread, the amount of players making them will increase to a point where Sora won’t have a business selling them anymore. Sora started to climb towards the peak of the mountain, just as he steps up the base he sees what looks like a tulip except it’s pure blue and shining with a white light. Sora pulls out his sickle and carefully cuts the plant at its roots.

[x1 Azure Spirit Flower obtained]

The flower was an ingredient that was not a main ingredient in alchemy. The flower could be added to already finished mana potions to create an extra effect of boosting your Spirit stat by 10 points for 5 minutes. This means that not only will you refill your mana when you drink the potion, it will also raise your mana cap by 100. Sora could spot a few more of these flowers up the mountain, he was actually surprised because he forgot that these flowers could grow here. Sora was so focused on the fact that the mountain was known for the Frost Iron Ore that he completely overlooked these little flowers. Sora continued to climb the mountain as he would occasionally stop to harvest a flower.

…..

Halfway up Frost Peak Mountain was the sight of a man with a silver cloak fighting against what looked to be pieces of rock covered in frost in the shape of some kind of humanoid shape. This was of course Sora fighting against a Frost Elemental. The elemental was a little trickier than fighting most creatures. Not only was it level 40, it also has some magic attacks that Sora can’t parry. The attacks could be seen coming but the attack was in a cone shape in front of the elemental, meaning Sora had to stick close by it so he could swing around the elemental when it uses it’s cone attack. The distance was a little too close though so he would have to take an attack every now and then. Sora decided to mix up his strategy a little and only attack after the elemental uses his cone attack, giving Sora a lot of opportunities to stack his [Vanquish the Weak] on it before using [Slash] to reduce the amount of hits Sora takes. The strategy worked surprisingly well, Sora would parry the elementals normal attacks and get an extra 80% to 100% damage when using [Slash] after it dodged the magic attack. The elemental fell apart as a small blue crystal dropped under it.

[x1 Small Mana Crystal]

The crystal was barely the size of a pebble and seemed rather pathetic, but the energy it emitted could be felt within one's palm. Sora stored the crystal away before continuing up the mountain. There were Frost Elementals while going up the mountain but the main location was within a cave located near the top. The cave would be filled with nothing but the elementals and there was even a mini boss located within the deepest part of the cave. Sora’s goal was that boss, since it had a 100% chance to drop the mana potion recipe, otherwise he would have to kill these smaller ones thousands of times before he would get the recipe.

…..

Two girls were currently fishing next to an old man with gray hair, it was the same man that Sora had fished with at Crater Lake. The man had a brand new fishing pole that looked like it was made from ice and a line that was completely black. The man had a smile plastered on his face as he watched a wooden fish come to the shore and transform into a chest.

“Hahaha, this new fishing pole is really great!”

“Hehe, I haven’t seen you this happy in a while grandpa.”

“Well, imagine having the one thing you love be taken away for so long and then suddenly getting it back.”

“I’m just happy to see you smile, I know it's selfish but I think I only told you about this because I wanted to see you smile again…”

The man looked over at his granddaughter and his smile turned gentler, he truly felt blessed to have such a caring granddaughter. He regretted being so bitter since he had to give up fishing, now that he saw how much this girl had wanted him to be happy he had wished he would have spent less time complaining and more time with her. He made a vow to enjoy the time he had with her, even if it’s within this game. The man snapped out of his thoughts and realized something.

“By the way, I don’t recall you having an interest in fishing.”

“Hehe, I didn’t at first but then someone guided me a little and I think I actually like it.”

“Hahaha, I knew you had some of my blood in you! Speaking of which, I also had someone guide me a little bit.”

“Huh? You're a master fisherman, what could you possibly learn from someone?”

“Well, I would say he didn't really teach me any new skills, he just gave me a little information and a path to walk on.”

“What’s his name? I will have to properly thank him for looking out for you.”

“I never asked for his name, hehe. What about you? What’s the name of this person who was able to handle someone as free willed as you?”

“His name is Ethereal, but me and LeeLee just call him mister fisherman!”