"Uncle, don't say that, my parents died early, and it is not easy for you to raise me. I don't dare to hope for anything more, but I promise you will have a good life in the future. ”

"Okay! Grow up and be sensible!"

Mick raised his glass as well, and drank it down.

The uncle and nephew kept drinking and chatting until late at night.

The next day, Mick went to the south side of the village and inquired about the dwarven craftsman Hope's residence.

After much searching, Mick finally found Hope's residence, and what Mick never expected was that the dwarf Hope actually lived in the largest and most luxurious house in the village.

Mick knocked softly on Hope's door.

"It's coming!"

A very normal voice came from inside the room.

Mick had always expected the dwarves' voices to be as shrill as their size. But what he hears is the voice of ordinary people.

The door slowly opened, and a middle-aged man came out, not tall, but only a head shorter than Mick, and even taller than a human dwarf.

The man's clothes were dirty, and his hands were all covered in black engine oil.

I don't know if the shiny back is deliberately or has not been washed for too long, and the fine stubble makes the charm of the middle-aged man undoubtedly visible.

Although his figure is not high, his body proportions are still very coordinated, and he looks very comfortable. This is a bit different from the dwarf in Mick's heart, and even Mick feels that Mr. Hope is a little handsome.

"Who are you looking for?" asked Hope.

"Hello, you're Mr. Hope, my name is Mick, and I heard you need a helper here. So ......"

"Come in. ”

Before Mick could finish speaking, Hope turned and went into the house, as if he had something urgent to do.

Mick walked into the house, the whole house was divided into two floors, for a normal person such a house if it was divided into two floors, it was indeed a bit depressing, but for Mr. Hope it was perfect.

There were a lot of things in the room, but they were very orderly, with muskets, weapons, handicrafts, and other small inventions that Mick couldn't name, which should have been made by Mr. Hope.

The most striking thing was a huge workbench where Mr. Hope worked, and at the moment he was lying at the workbench not knowing what he was studying.

"Mr. Hope, that's right, I want to go to the Academy of Light, but I don't have enough money, so I'm here with you. You get the idea......"

"Understood, I'll pay you, and I'll make you more money. But I ask you, can you endure hardship?"

"Yes!" Mick nodded without hesitation.

"That's good. I have a huge demand for metal, so I need you to help me dig for iron ore in that abandoned mine in the back mountain. You can now grab the tools. ”

"Good!"

Mick found an iron pickaxe and a basket in the house, grabbed the miner's lamp, and set out to go.

"Wait. Mr. Hope seemed to suddenly remember something.

Mick turned his head.

"The caves are not so safe, there are often a lot of fire poison ants, these ants are small and the size of a palm, a bite is enough to make you lose a piece of meat, and the acid in their mouths will make you feel the pain of fire, so you need to wear a weapon. ”

Mick thought for a moment and walked straight to the musket.

"You can't take this. ”

"Why?" asked Mick, puzzled.

"First of all, I don't have that much ammo, and secondly, this firearm is slow and loud, and it will attract other magical beasts! Hope explained.

"Oh!" Mick realized.

In the end, Mick can only choose a knife, but Shiasu's weapon is a knife, so I think Mick can also use it handy.

"Remember, the corpse of the fire ant should also be brought back, and its whole body will be useful! Hope reminded.

So Mick went like a mine in the back mountain.

The cave in the back mountain has been abandoned for many years, and according to legend, it used to be a Mithril mine, but the production of Mithril was really low, so it was abandoned after digging up the Mithril inside, and no one wanted to dig the iron ore inside. Perhaps only someone with a need for metal, Mr. Hope, would think of the mine.

Uncle Middlel was a miner here when he was young, and his disability was also smashed in the mine, so when he was young, Mick often followed his uncle to play here, so he was familiar with the location of the mine.

Soon Mick was in the mine, which was deserted.

There is a large sign at the entrance of the cave with a topographical map of the mine and the location of various ores, although some places have been blurred over time.

Mick made a simple note and set off. He followed the instructions on the map and quickly found the location of the iron ore.

He put down the basket and started mining.

"Bell!"

Despite his strong strength, mining was indeed an area he was not good at, and Mick smashed his pickaxe into the iron ore with all his might, but knocked nothing down except a string of sparks, and instead shook his arm to the point of pain.

But the learning ability of the human race is fast, and gradually Mick mastered the essentials and knocked it up one by one. But after a few knocks, Mick was already sweating, and he had to sit down to rest.

"It's so weak!" Mick sighed.

Just as Mick was resting, there was a sudden sound of laughter in the distance, and Mick hurriedly used the miner's lamp to shine in the direction from which the sound came.

It was a bright red ant, the size of a small arm, and it was crawling forward, and its tentacles were moving, as if sensing something. After seeing Mick's miner's lamp light, the ants did not run away, but rushed towards him, looking very aggressive.

Mick was taken aback, and he immediately took two steps back before drawing his knife.

"I'll cut it!"

Mick slashed at the fire ant's head, and the fire ant instantly died.

"Huh!

At this moment, the sound of hee and soo suddenly sounded, and Mick took the miner's lamp and shone a swarm of fire poison ants around him, trying to surround him.

Mick picked up the basket and ran, ran two steps and suddenly remembered something, then immediately turned around and picked up the corpse of the fire ant just now, and then continued to run.

Finally, he ran out of the mine, and the fire ants were no longer chasing, which was really thrilling. Mick also wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

That's when Mick realized that it was getting a little darker, and it was time to go back. Mick struggled to load half a basket of iron ore on his body, and since this was Mick's first time mining, his hands were already tired and trembling involuntarily, like sifting chaff.

He returned to Mr. Hope's residence and gave him the iron ore, and his harvest was very limited today, but Mr. Hope paid Mick some money.

"Mr. Hope, I also killed a fire poison ant. ”

Mick handed the corpse of the fire ant to Hope.

"Oh, I don't want this, you can sell it yourself, such a large one should be able to sell for a few copper coins, but I suggest you save more and sell it to the alchemy shops in the Bright Country, they should give a higher price. This should also be a lot of income. ”

After handing over the ore to Mr. Hope, Micmin did not leave in a hurry, he watched his work at Mr. Hope's house, which turned out to have a huge furnace behind Mr. Hope's house, which could smelt iron ore into iron.

After watching for a moment, Mick realized that Mr. Hope was a real generalist. Even if it is placed in the cloud top country, it is estimated that he is a great craftsman.

The second floor of Mr. Hope's house is like a library, with all kinds of books densely packed on the shelves.

After watching it get late for a while, Mick took the money to buy himself some meat, because he knew that sharpening knives was not a mistake for woodcutters, and only by conditioning his body could he have the strength to mine, and he was about to enter the Bright Academy to learn that his physical fitness was also in urgent need of improvement.

The next day, Mick was back in the mine, this time carefully in case the fire ants who had been chasing him yesterday were waiting for him on the road.

Fortunately, he didn't encounter anything along the way, and Mick came to the iron ore safely to mine.

Mick is in much better shape today than yesterday, and has dug up more ore than yesterday. Maybe it's because he's mining too loud, and today the fire ants found him again. He also killed one like he did yesterday and ran away with the corpse.

Over time, Mick also discovered a pattern, that is, the fire ants will send a few 'scouts' before each action, and Mick will run away before the 'big army' arrives after killing a few scouts.