FL - Chapter 39: The Mana Marrow Mine

Two days later, Louis led Bradley, the master miner Valentin, and a team of professional miners along the mountain paths into the heart of Crimson Tide Territory.

Bradley remained skeptical. He still believed a large-scale Mana Marrow deposit had no business existing in a place like this. That Louis had exaggerated the truth.

They pushed through the forest, and the view opened wide. A massive mining zone spread out before them.

Outside the perimeter, several knights stood at full alert.

Clad in heavy iron armor, they swept the surroundings with vigilant eyes.

When they spotted Louis and Bradley's party approaching, the knights immediately bowed. "My lord, all is quiet in the mine."

Louis nodded and led the group further in.

The moment they truly stepped into the mine, everyone drew a sharp, collective breath.

The Mana Marrow reserves here were this staggering?!

Walking deeper into the vein, the temperature rose slightly above that of the outside world. The ore faces radiated a faint warmth.

The walls of the mineral vein were a strange, deep purple, faintly shimmering with a magical luster. Subtle pulses of energy rippled through the air.

Valentin, a seasoned master miner, reacted almost on instinct. He reached out and ran his hand across the rock face.

His fingers were trembling. His eyes burned with pure fervor.

"Good heavens…" He turned to Bradley, his voice thick with emotion he could barely contain. "This vein would rank among the top twenty Mana Marrow deposits in the entire Ironblood Empire!"

The other craftsmen were similarly stunned by the sight before them. Excited murmurs rippled through the group.

"This is an absurd quantity of reserves!"

"The purity looks high, too. If we mine deep enough, we might even hit high-grade crystallized Mana Marrow!"

"My lord… this is heaven-sent wealth!"

A few veteran craftsmen had fire in their eyes. Their hands stroked the ore walls with the reverence of men admiring an Imperial Capital courtesan.

Bradley's brow furrowed, and he barked a rebuke: "Quiet! Don't treat this place like a marketplace!"

The craftsmen hastily shut their mouths, but the excitement on their faces was impossible to hide.

As for Bradley, staring at all this Mana Marrow, his own heart was churning like a storm-tossed sea.

There really was this much Mana Marrow. Louis hadn't lied.

He began mentally reassessing the worth of this territory.

Mana Marrow wasn't just a raw material for magical explosives.

Its powder could be fused into weapons to enchant blades, letting them shear through iron like mud.

Alchemists needed Mana Marrow to brew high-potency elixirs.

And the core material for magic arrays was none other than high-purity Mana Marrow essence.

...

Its value far exceeded that of ordinary magical minerals. This was a strategic-grade resource. One that could reshape the entire balance of the Northlands!

The scale and worth of this vein went far beyond anything he or Duke Calvin had imagined.

Bradley spurred his horse closer to Louis and lowered his voice. "Young master, it would be best if news of this mine didn't spread too widely."

Louis looked at Bradley calmly, waiting for him to continue.

"House Calvin is one of the Empire's Eight Great Houses. No common thug would dare make a move against you." Bradley paused, his eyes sharpening. "But this is the Northlands. We're too far from the family. Its influence may not fully cover this region. There will inevitably be those willing to take the risk. And this Mana Marrow mine is worth that risk to them."

Having said his piece, he studied Louis's expression, wanting to see how the young master would react.

But Louis's face remained utterly composed. A calm smile even appeared at the corner of his lips.

"I understand," he said with a light nod, his tone perfectly even. "Aside from mentioning it to my father in my letter, I haven't spoken of this to anyone."

Bradley listened, then carefully scrutinized Louis's expression. He found no trace of deception. Only genuine discretion.

Only then did he nod. He made a firm mental note: he had to give the Duke a full and detailed report on the situation here and urge him to dispatch more knights.

This mine was worth it.

On the other side, Valentin was speaking to Louis. "My lord, based on the current survey results, the reserves in this mine are indeed staggering. But it's also far more dangerous than an ordinary mine.

I recommend we first map out the full boundaries of the mineral zone, identify the most stable sections, and use those as our initial extraction points."

"Good. I'll leave it in your hands," Louis said with a nod.

Valentin led the craftsmen into the mine shaft. They held their hammers to the rock walls, tapping carefully and listening to the echoes that returned from different sections.

"The ore here is a deeper shade of purple. That means the Mana Marrow content is extremely high." Valentin crouched down and pointed at a section of the wall where a faint, dark-violet luster glimmered through the stone.

"This crystallized zone in particular tells us this is a high-purity vein. But it also means the rock is fragile. A moment's carelessness and it'll shatter."

He then rapped on a nearby rock layer, and the sound that returned was low and solid. "This structure is stable. Suitable for excavation."

He walked a few steps further, changed locations, and knocked again. The sound came back hollow. "But not here. The geology's too delicate. Reckless mining here would almost certainly trigger a cave-in."

The craftsmen nodded along, marking the walls as they went.

Louis stood to the side with his arms folded, watching quietly.

He was hardly an expert in mining, but even he could tell that Valentin's level of expertise was extraordinary.

"It seems the craftsmen the family sent this time are all true professionals," Louis said, his tone carrying genuine admiration. "Your expertise is eye-opening."

Those craftsmen paused at his words, then puffed up with pride.

This was the field they excelled in above all others. Being praised for it personally by their lord was, indeed, something to take pride in.

Bradley gave a soft nod. His face remained as unruffled as ever, but inwardly, he was sighing.

This young master was no incompetent fool. He knew exactly how to win people's hearts.

Valentin continued his analysis. "Because Mana Marrow ore releases mana fluctuations, miners who spend too long down here risk mana poisoning. We must put a ventilation plan in place to prevent mana buildup inside the mine."

"How should we go about that?" Louis asked.

"We'll need to open ventilation shafts at different points to create air convection. Then we'll set up isolation channels inside the mine to stop harmful concentrations from gathering."

As he spoke, Valentin sketched a rough diagram on the sheepskin parchment he carried. "We'll use black birch for the support frames, one support point every sixteen feet, to ensure the tunnels don't collapse.

The main tunnel will be ten feet wide, the branch tunnels five feet. That way, transport won't get jammed."

"I can see your expertise runs deep," Louis said, impressed.

Valentin immediately puffed out his chest, a note of pride creeping into his voice. "Of course! I've been a miner my whole life. I could walk through a mine with my eyes closed and never lose my way!"

Louis smiled and clapped Valentin on the shoulder. "Then I'm putting the mining plan for this vein in your hands."

Valentin broke into a wide grin. "Then I thank you for your trust, my lord."