Age of Adepts
Chapter 76

The mine number seven was a Blood Stone mine that was located deeper than the deepest mission site.

The most abundant resource in that place was a unique mineral called a ‘Blood Stone’. By itself, a Blood Stone didn’t have much use, but it was frequently used as a catalyst in all kinds of magical experiments. The powdered form of Blood Stone was highly sought after in the black market, since it purified and extracted magical medicine.

However, apparently, the training camp wasn’t looking for Blood Stones. The ambush planned by Kevin’s team was actually for the gem that accompanied Blood Stones: the Blood Garnet. As a kind of gem, once Blood Garnets were given to Master Jewelers, they were modified into all sorts of magical accessories. The jewelers did everything possible to draw out the mysterious energy contained inside of the gem, which provided the magical accessories with marvelous power.

For example, the Resuscitate Earring which Greem had found previously was crafted from Deep Peridot, which was another kind of magical gem.

Blood Stone, even if it was only the elementary Blood Stone that went through the initial extraction, would sell for 10 magic crystals per kilogram in the black market. In order to become rich by trading it, the elite apprentices of the training camp would have to hire a large group of underground merchants. Only then could they carry them away.

The accompanying gem, Blood Garnet, was only the size of an egg, but was sought after by swarms of merchants and Adept families, who were willing to purchase it at the price of 200 magic crystals per kilogram. So, after evaluating the profit, Hulk decided to launch an ambush to the mine number seven and set their goal as looting the Blood Garnet supply, which had been stockpiled for nearly half a month, but not the overly heavy and cheap Blood Stone.

In the past, the battle of the Underground World was more like a chess game.

The resource sites and mines occupied by both parties were almost fixed, and both parties had a clear understanding of each other’s overall strength. Therefore, it was like ‘you brought your team and ambushed one of my resource sites today, tomorrow I’ll bring my men and ambush your team on their way back.’ The roles switched sides every time and both parties fought savagely in the dark underground tunnels, shedding blood like water.

But, there was one rule both parties followed strictly; never once had they broken this rule. No matter how they fought, no one was allowed to maliciously destroy any resource site or mine!

Strictly speaking, for both Adepts from the surface and Fallen Adepts, a large portion of their interest depended on the constant supply of these resources and minerals. Once somebody set an example by maliciously destroying the opponent’s resource site, it would also be hard to keep their own resource sites from being destroyed at the same time. Therefore, in order to avoid a total disaster, through the constant battles over more than few hundred years, both parties had developed a kind of unspoken rule.