“My parents called me Pluma. So, whenever I meet someone new, they ask me if I am a foreigner, or if my parents were foreigners… But in reality, they named me that because they met someone from another country once. They liked their culture so much that they named me after that random person they met years before they had me, I don’t even know which country that person was from… I hear that it is becoming more and more common for parents to do that, though…”

“...Commoners don’t want to imitate the naming conventions of certain nobles or the royal family, but the way people outside of Leynlornd do it is similar enough without being the same thing- Still, I've never met anyone else named like this! I am always the only one around with a weird name…”

After the river incident, Pluma became far more talkative, and she seemed to have a lot to say about her name, of all things. Sometimes, being unique wasn’t a good thing. Her foreign-sounding name attracted interest, and frankly, she greatly disliked being the center of attention. Hence, she tended to avoid people so that she didn’t have to tell them what her name was.

There was always the option of lying, but she felt that would be disrespectful to her parents. Furthermore, Pluma was not a shameful name in itself... It was quite pretty, actually.

On the way to the Golu Amethyst mine, nothing of note happened. They didn’t have to cross many forests, mostly open plains. The beasts could see them from afar and would run away. Not everything was as aggressive as Earth-Carrying Boars. In fact, even the predators were not as aggressive or territorial as they were.

Since the creatures only saw humans every fifty years, they were unwilling to attack strange, hairless beings that walked upright and looked pale, as though they were sick.

They were used to the Underwood Elves instead, who did look quite different from humans.

In any case, they did not encounter any other solitary disciple and ended up arriving at the mine as the sun was beginning to set. Just like the Tarkin White Iron mine, the entrance had been covered up by nature in the last five decades. The map was rather precise, though, so locating the way in was not too difficult.

Edrick and Pluma made sure not to disturb the vines and moss that had grown too much, keeping the entrance concealed from prying eyes.

Anoteros lit the way forward using a lantern, and it did not take long before their surroundings were filled with protruding, crystal-like formations from every side. Even the ground was covered in Golu Amethyst’s growth.

It seemed that even the mines regrew their ores over time. There was simply no way that this place had not been discovered before, considering that it was mapped. Purple gemstones were everywhere, so abundant that it looked like they had been left untouched by external influence since their formation.

Considering how large the pieces of amethysts were, Edrick didn’t even need to be careful about how he mined them. He could just use brute force, and the intact pieces he would get would be enough to make plenty of items of all kinds. But he still decided to proceed carefully. He didn’t quite get how minerals could just regrow in a measly fifty years, but he assumed that they would grow back better if they were carefully extracted instead of smashed.

Thinking about the Lodestone he had received from Haoyu, this realm wasn’t just a one-time opportunity for him. It was a giant treasure that he would be able to exploit as he saw fit in the future. Like an agricultural field, he should take good care of it so that crops will continue to grow and thrive.

Since he intended to spend the night here, he put his backpack down and pulled out the necessary equipment to sleep. The bag he carried was rather large. Even when carried by him, it looked oversized. A regular-sized person probably wouldn’t be able to properly carry it.

Filled with all sorts of tools and equipment, he brought out sleeping mats. The inside of the mine was free of any sort of insects or similar pests. Not to mention that it was cooler in there than outside. Although it was spring, it felt more like summer inside the realm. The sunlight was particularly warm and powerful, so even at night, the temperature would remain relatively high.

Once he was done with that, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work on a piece of Golu Amethyst jutting from the ground. Not only was it taller than him, but it was wider as well. Such large formations were said to be exceedingly rare outside of the realm, or at least, all of the places with pieces of such size were already occupied.

With that, you could power enormous arrays, or perhaps exceptionally powerful arrays…

You could also refine some sort of huge artefact with it. There were plenty of uses.

When it came to Golu Amethyst, all sizes were welcome since many things could be created with them. The smaller ones could be put on rings, for example.

“...Should I help with something or…?” Pluma was feeling a bit awkward. It was Edrick who had brought her here, for ‘safety’ he had said, but that was clearly unnecessary since he could deal with inner disciples on his own. Pluma was purely a weapon cultivator. She had no expertise in mining or gathering materials.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, you can just sit down and wait” he simply replied, making Pluma feel even more awkward. Now, it just felt like she was useless.

But since trying to help was likely to only amount to getting in the way, she did as he advised and sat down on the sleeping mat. She alternated between looking in the direction of the entrance and toward Edrick.

Though her gaze stayed far longer on the latter... It was quite interesting how delicately and precisely he was working. You wouldn’t expect that from such a big fellow, especially when his hands resembled those of a lumberjack or blacksmith more than anything.

Eventually, sitting here and doing nothing, Pluma ended up closing her eyes for a bit too long... And suddenly, she woke up feeling a bit drowsy.

She hadn’t slept for long, and as such, after rubbing her eyes, she turned toward where Edrick was working. He had moved a little bit, and several pieces of Golu Amethyst were now gone, having been carefully extracted.

One small difference, however.

Anoteros was no longer wearing anything on his chest. His torso was bare, and the beads of glistening sweat were clearly visible as they rolled across his muscular back.

She cleared her throat quietly to get his attention without taking him by surprise.

“Maybe you should take a rest? You walked all day already…”

“You’re right” he agreed, and quickly, Pluma found out that she should have kept her mouth shut, as a shirtless, young and seductive noble, who was the husband of one of her best friends, was now lying right next to her.

‘Why does his sweat smell so… Attractive? Isn’t it supposed to stink? Why do I like it? And why am I thinking about this?!’

“Say, Pluma” he turned to her, his facial expression shrouded in darkness as the lantern was placed somewhere behind him.

“Y-Yes?”

“I forgot to mention it on the way here, but I am certain that Hui encouraged you to come work in our residence. Have you thought about that?” he asked.

“Oh, that! Mmh… I don’t really know. I don’t quite know how this all works. I used to think that the best thing I could achieve was becoming an elder of the Myriad-Arm Sect, but Hui tells me that I aim much higher if go work as a maid. I don’t get that. Isn’t being a maid worse than being an inner disciple?”

Edrick smiled. That was quite an innocent way of thinking, and it wasn’t exactly wrong to think like that. Maids were servants, they had to obey orders and perform tasks. It sounded quite removed from cultivation.

“You see, Pluma… I am not a typical noble. If I just wanted maids, I could hire them anywhere, and I would just take mundane people. But I believe in building something great... An oasis of sorts, if you will”

“And for that, I need exceptional maids, not just servants, but talents in all sorts of fields. I think that you are a talented cultivator who fits this category”

“Really? I… I don’t think I am that exceptional. I can only cultivate one technique at a time, and I have yet to master my current technique…”

“Trust me, you have talent… And unlike at the Myriad-Arm Sect, I will make sure to nurture it… In fact, I can show you my goodwill right now. What do you think? Do you want to experience the main benefit of being a maid at my residence?”

Pluma blinked.

“Sure, why not? What is that benefit?”

“I think it’s best if I do a demonstration…”