"Maja, are you sure that it will be fine if I come back later to rent a forging room? Wouldn't I be a nuisance when everyone is in the middle of renovating the Artisan house?" Taylor asked, tightly holding on to the perfectly normal pickaxe he leased for 1 Copper thaler.
He stood in front of Maja, the young and bright woman, who treated him like a close friend, even if they got to know each other less than five minutes ago.
"Yeah, no worries. We are always happy if someone wants to try becoming an Artisan. I feel like you will work hard so you can think of it as an investment," Maja winked to Taylor, not taking his worries seriously.
"Who knows, maybe you're even talented in the ways of a blacksmith? That would be nice, wouldn't it?" She imagined, still smiling brightly.
Taylor could only nod his head and smile back. He didn't want to waste more of Maja's time, which is why the Artisan house quickly.
When Taylor left, Maja looked behind him with a smug smile on her face. A tall, muscled woman emerged from behind the large door and her gaze fell on Taylor's broad back.
"That's the boy you just mentioned?" She asked Maja, who flinched before she turned around to look deep in the tall woman's eyes.
"Yep," Maja just said, turning her head in the direction of Taylor to take a last glimpse.
"I wonder if he will be as good as you predict…well you've never been wrong…until now," The tall woman said and Maja responded with a widened grin as she lifted her fingers lightly.
"And I won't be wrong this time either!" She declared as her eyes shone in bright silverish light.
**
"To be honest…I don't know if she was flirting with you, or if that's just her personality…" Eris mumbled, slightly confused as she followed Taylor.
She had encountered numerous humans in her life but a bright shining flower like Maja was rare…very rare, to put it nicely.
"Who cares? She is a nice girl, and she helped me to get my hands on a nice pickaxe of good quality!" Taylor didn't really care if Maja was flirting with him or not. She was quirky and kind but he didn't really feel romantically attracted to her.
However, that was only obvious because his mindset was not really focused on finding a lover but to earn money and make a living!
Taylor was heading in a specific direction, with quick steps as if his life depended on it.
"You'll turn into a miner won't you?" Eris clicked her tongue, clearly understanding what Taylor's 'grand' plan to earn money was.
Taylor smiled but he didn't answer directly.
"Basically that's true, but there is more behind!" He finally said after a while when he was sure that nobody listened to him.
The number of Guards had increased once again and Taylor felt like there were more Guards on the streets than civilians. This felt weird, especially with a Demon Queen by his side.
But the thought of the tasks he gave himself for today calmed Taylor because there was a lot to do!
His first mission was to use the mining pickaxe, enter a small cave and collect a bunch of ores that would be stored inside the firm linen backpack he bought the evening before.
"You do realize that you have no right to use the mines around Kial, right? You'll use the "fair-profit-share" method in public mines, won't you?" Eris asked, clearly dissatisfied. She knew quite a lot about the mortal realm, which was quite useful right now.
In the past, Eris attacked the mortal realm because of a specific reason, which is why she was quite knowledgeable about various things revolving around the mortal realm.
This was what she had told Taylor in the past, but he didn't know more about it either.
"The Fair-profit-Share regulation is precisely how I will be able to make a small living for the next few days. The Ufnir Iron Ore mine is the only public mine where anyone with awakened Ancient Powers can enter. It's close to Kial as well and the street to the public mine is well protected. Why wouldn't I grasp this opportunity?"
Ufnir Iron ore was considered the most common ore in the Guivenhall kingdom. However, that didn't mean it was cheap. In fact, Ufnir Iron ore was considered quite expensive because only those with Ancient Powers could be around places with raw Ufnir Iron ore.
'Normies', which was how some Awakened called humans, who didn't awaken any Ancient Power, would faint if they were exposed to Ufnir Iron ore for too long.
Only when it was reduced to Ufnir Iron would normies be able to touch, and wield anything formed out of the metal
Taylor's current situation basically screamed that he should mine Ufnir Iron ore, whether he would have to give half his loot to the government or not. This was the Fair-profit-Share regulation, one could enter the public mine whenever one wanted, but in exchange, one had to return half of everything collected inside.
The government would never do this willingly because they much less profit by allowing Awakaned to enter their public mines than they wanted.
However, there were simply too few Awakened who would willingly become Miners for life in exchange for a small salary, if the other choices were to hunt monsters, become teachers in renowned academies, turn into martial instructors, collect expensive ingredients of much higher value, or do various other things that were much more interesting.
In Kial, there weren't too many Awakened, who entered the public mine, and it was only when the Fair-profit-Share regulation was increased to a 50/50 split that a few more Awakened thought it would be profitable enough to enter certain mines.
"I understand that you want to be independent, but why don't you accept my help? You know that I could solve most of your problems, resources at least!!" Eris could tell that Taylor wanted to become an independent young man, but that didn't mean he had to reject her help.
A small financial push from her wouldn't draw any suspicion on her. It was not as if someone would start thinking that Taylor was connected to one of the four Demon Queens, just because he suddenly had some money.
He awakened his Ancient Power, which meant that there were numerous reasons for him to become rich over a single night!
"You know, Dad always said that one can only gain true strength from the tempering the hurdles you overcome to bring in your lifetime. The more hurdles appear in your way, the more you can learn from life." Taylor said with a gentle smile on his face as he walked outside Kial, following the path that led to the public mine as he continued to speak quietly,
"Taking the easy path might allow you to end up at your goal much faster than you expected, without shedding blood sweat, and tears but it may not give a better long-term result!"
"According to my father, I should never rely on others too much and gain my own strength. Apparently,I have it in my blood!" Taylor laughed lightly recalling his father's expression as he lectured him to be brave and to never rely on someone else too much.
-Before you realize it, others will betray you. There are only a few people who can stay unfazed at the sight of the benefits they can obtain for betraying you, including me and your mom!-
[Author Note: Please comment how you like/dislike the novel! I accept every type of criticism]