Green Bay's Mana Crystal Mine

The dark of night fell over Green Bay village. Akiol waited a bit longer to let the potential slimes work. It wasn't until he overheard a group of players that Akiol finally took action.

His ears steadily picked up the players conversation:

"Remember, slimes are slippery. They're prone to flee if threatened, but if backed into a corner they'll try to disarm you by absorbing your weapons. Unless you hit their core, they can't die."

"How are we to harvest a core if we're supposed to damage it to kill the slime?"

"That's easy! Just yank it out when you find the right opportunity. You'll have to find a smaller slime to make this easy."

Akiol remembered the times where his core was removed and he winced. A bit of pity and a sense of duty suddenly fell upon him. Holding a hand towards the location of his core he sighed silently.

It seems he had some slimes to save. As their Prince the protection of his race was prioritized over the players' desires. At most they could purchase a core from Wharm, those slimes were already gone. There was nothing Akiol could do for them.

Following the player group while in the shadows Akiol continued to pick up on their conversation:

"When we get this where do we go to?"

"The popular choice is Old Wemmings, but any enchanter will do. It'll be your first stop once you make it to a town."

The concept of village, town, city, kingdom progression seemed to be the same. Akiol noted this as he continued to listen.

"How much does it usually cost?"

"Wemming's price is about a hundred Bill. Any other enchanter will probably charge you about a hundred-fifty. Sort of expensive, but very worth it."

"A hundred bill! I just spent a large fortune on a new weapon!"

"I'd recommend you spend some extra time saving the cash then. Additionally try to not purchase any premade weapons from a blacksmith. They're not worth it, it's better to farm dungeons for upgraded gear before you start material hunting for custom equipment."

This was a bit of a strange thing to Akiol. In the central continent the idea of custom gear wasn't uncommon, but it was only suggested if you had the materials and funds on hand. Not something you should actively work towards. Not until you've ascended in Stage at least.

Considering his previous findings about the west having a higher quality level of gear this fact became more believable. It was likely the west simply held a higher standard compared to the other continents, thus only custom equipment could reach that standard.

Akiol wondered if this higher standard of equipment meant harder enemies and dungeons.

His focus shifted away from the conversation as his {Star Guidance} picked up on several creatures. Presuming this to be the mine Akiol slipped ahead of the traveling group of players. Flickering at the entrance of the mine he looked about.

Very tiny crystals were embedded at the entrance. Immediately Akiol could tell these were mana crystals, but their size was basically just flecks. Not worth digging out, and not worth for slimes to waste movement to consume them. 

Swiftly traveling further down the mana crystals grew in size steadily until the walls became blank. Several holes formed in the walls, making its surface very rough looking.

It was here that Akiol spotted his first foreign slime. It bounced and stopped. Immediately Akiol could tell the slime's focus was on him. It began to wriggle backwards out of an instinctual fear. 

This cloak really did hide races! Akiol controlled his body to absorb the cloak, revealing his Prince Slime self to the tiny slime. Immediately it stopped retreating and hopped forward.

A reverence feeling radiated from it. If the slime could bow or prostrate Akiol believed it would. Soon several slimes came barreling out of the mines winding passages, all coming to pay their respects.

Akiol kneeled and a faint pang rang in his heart. Wasn't this part of the Slime King's dream? To allow his race to once again roam the surface? 

Slowly Akiol expressed his desire for them to leave this place. Utilizing the slime's method of communication he expressed 'danger' about this location. The slimes undoubtedly listened to royalty and they began to scatter. Akiol spotted them slipping through cracks in the mine walls, returning to tunnels away from sight.

This was temporary. The slimes would need mana to continue to live, and as long as this mine existed they would continue to feast here until not a speck of mana crystal remained. That or they were hunted to extinction.

Even as a Prince Akiol did not have the solution to this problem. After all this was something even the Slime King was trying to solve. The slime was simply too weak and valuable. 

As the final slime slid through a crack Akiol sighed and dispelled the cloak. Slipping it back on he turned to the entrance. A glowing light flickered as the players searched about. Upon seeing Akiol they paused. The player who previously explained what to do spoke first, "Oh, any luck finding one?"

Akiol shook his head, "There's not a single one."

"Not a single one? No way, although the amount of slimes has been dropping there's no way its empty. Did one of the Sects come by and wipe the place clean?"

"I wish I had a clue.", Akiol expressed his condolences.

"That's really unfortunate. . . we'll take a look around for a bit longer. If you wanna join you can."

"Sure!", Akiol slowly slipped behind the group.

Recalling the previous conversations Akiol opened conversation with a question, "Are you a Guidehand?"

The leading player laughed hoarsely, "No not at all. Used to be apart of Rising Steel, the top fifteenth Sect. Unfortunately I crossed paths with that money grubber and she took quite a bit of my Prominence. I was forced to restart, the lost Titles made my ascent into Third Step impossible."

Right when he was feeling like he had the faintest grasp of the players another one goes and throws a wrench into the mix! Who was this money grubber, why was she capable of stealing Prominence? Did Rising Steel not even compensate players or was this personal beef?

What Akiol also acutely noticed was the fact that no player had noticed him being Third Stage! Was this also the cloak's effect? A part of Wharm's mention of 'keeping him inconspicuous'? Wasn't this basically a close copy of Dot's mask?

It was very likely the cloak wasn't nearly as much of a treasure as the mask. It simply held some basic masking abilities. The effects were amplified by Akiol's strange circumstance. After all whenever someone tried to pry too deeply they would be greeted with the infinite expanse of space, only to be accompanied by thousands of distant stars! 

These two things intertwined most likely made Akiol immune to any form of appraisal Skill. Or at least your average to above average appraisal! It was likely his race could still be identified if pried deeply enough. One thing Akiol was confident in was his stats not being found.

After all not even the Demon Lord's prying eyes could look too deeply into him, and that was in a weakened state in the real world! It was highly unlikely any player had the means of surpassing such a powerful ability especially when he was far more powerful in A World's Legacy.

With this knowledge at hand Akiol continued to blend in. The mine was empty, his warning rang across the entirety of the slimes and they had all gone into hiding. Since there wasn't anything else Akiol intended to glean a bit more information.

So he asked, "Money grubber?"

Another player laughed so suddenly they coughed, "There's only one person who fits that description. What's her Epithet again?"

The leader player made a face as they answered, "Unyielding Undying Avarice."

"Bhahaha, she truly lives up to her Epithet! I remember when the Guidehands thought it was another wandering boss."

"She's a real pain in the neck that's what. If not for the commission against me that money grubber wouldn't have bothered with a mere Second Step like myself."

"Which rich tycoon did you offend? Her prices are sky high, very few could afford such a thing."

The leader player tactfully dodged this question, "Her prices are like a black hole with how much she charges. But I have to say, it's worth every penny."

He spat suddenly before continuing, "And that pisses me off! What does she even need this much money for? I highly doubt a single player has even a fourth of her wealth."

"Does she take any request?", Akiol asked.

"Any! As long as you pay. It almost literally does not matter what you ask of her. Want her to hunt six thousand basic mobs? She'll do it if you pay her premium. She doesn't act unless she obtains half of the cost upfront. What's the most infuriating is that you can't argue with the price, she has like two failures total on her record!"

"Those failures are from the start of her career.", another player ruminated.

Noticing a number of the players were all somewhat knowledgeable Akiol pried for a bit more info, "You all know so much! Are you guys starting over too?"

"Most of us except the quiet one over there.", the leader pointed a thumb towards one single player.

Rolling his eyes the singled out player retorted, "You guys are talking about things I have zero idea about. What am I gonna say? You all are already carrying me basically."

Akiol recalled this voice to be the one asking the questions when he followed the group to the mine.

"I'm simply answering our found stranger's question. I have no comment on your unwillingness to join in on the conversation.", the leader player waved away the concerns.

The light from a held lantern hit a wall. Thicker mana crystals occasionally jutted out from the wall. Akiol noticed the walls had an occasional sign of a slime consuming a crystal, but it was very scarce.

The leader player snorted, "If we got lucky there might've been a Second Step slime here. Now that would've been a huge profit."

"Huge profit how? We're not even First Step.", the usually silent player questioned.

"Well of course. I don't mean we could hunt it for a profit, I mean we could sell the information for a profit. Second Step slime hunts are like the sole thing that money grubber won't accept as a request."

Akiol found himself asking, "Why is this so?"

"Because it takes too damn long!"