Chapter 75
Cane stopped walking in the middle of this barren land, where you could only see countless huge rocks around you.
The mining site was an expansive butte, an isolated hill near the mountain Goffa and the terrain around here was very different.
There was no vegetation at all, only rocks. It had precipitous sides with a smaller summit area, while on the mountain, you would be canopied by huge trees and branches, once you started moving uphill.
The reason why there was no vegetation in this butte was thanks to the magic stones.
“I want you to find water stones, only them,” Cane said, as he stopped walking.
There were only the two of them here, while Will didn’t follow them to the mining site and the other mining slaves were far away from them.
“What?” Iris frowned. She looked around her. “But… there are a lot of magic stones here.” She was still confused why they couldn’t find those magic stones easily, when they were literally surrounded by them.
“Then it will be easier for you to find them.”
“No.” Iris shook her head. “This only makes me more confused.”
It was fine to guess between three stones, but distinguishing each stone from a hundred or thousand others would be too much. Her senses would be beyond overwhelmed.
“I can’t.” Iris shook her head.
“Try. We will not go anywhere until you succeed at least once.”
“What?” Iris had to squint her eyes because the sunlight was so bright, it hurt her eyes. “How about I find fifty magic stones for you?”
“No. I want you to sense the water magic stones,” Cane said firmly.
Iris lowered her head, thinking hard and an idea did come to her mind, but before she could voice it, Cane tapped her shoulder, so she lifted her head to look at him.
“Don’t even think of finding a random stone until you find the right one.” Cane seemed to read her pretty well, because that was what was in Iris’ mind and this left her flustered.
“No, I am not thinking that way.” It was clearly a lie, but the alpha didn’t call her out on it. He simply nodded his head to tell her to go ahead.
Iris trudged the barren land, frowning, trying to focus on what they were looking for, but she was having a hard time sensing the difference.
She heaved a resigned sigh and breathed in the dry wind laced with earthy smell. She stretched her hand and touched every rock with her palm, trying to distinguish the magic stone behind it.
This process was exhausting.
“I think here, there is a water magic stone inside,” Iris said, as she pointed her finger at a sturdy rock next to her. “I don’t have a tool to dig the magic stone out.”
Cane signed her to move aside as he raised his hand. Sharp claws emerged from the tips of his fingers and like what he did the other night, he clawed the rock, as if it was as soft as butter.
Big chunks of rock fell to the ground and Iris took one of it. The magic stone was inside, but the rock was too solid for her to get it out, so she gave it to Cane.
“Here, the magic stone is inside,” Iris said, handing the stone to him. Cane took the stone and used his claws to take it out. “You will damage the stone…” but when she watched how skillful Cane was, she clamped her mouth shut. “Never mind…” she muttered.
It was proven that years of doing this had made him an expert. Should she praise him for that? But looking how serious he was right now, Iris swallowed back what she wanted to say.
“This is an earth magic stone,” Cane said, as he raised the magic stone and appraised it. He tossed the magic stone to Iris, who unfortunately, was unable to catch it. “Find another.”
Iris picked the magic stone from the ground and looked at Cane’s back sullenly. She couldn’t understand why he insisted on her finding a water magic stone. Maybe if he gave her a reason, she could be more motivated, but she knew that was something that would never happen.
Therefore, she focused more on her search.
The second time she felt the magic stone, which she thought had the water element, Cane did the same thing, but as it turned out, it was an earth magic stone again.
“Find another.” Cane dropped the stone into her hand this time. “We will only return after you find three water stones in a row.”
“What?” Iris widened her eyes. She was already too dizzy to concentrate on finding the magic stones that surrounded her. The more she focused on this peculiar feeling, the more intense it got and the more she felt so drained of energy.
The sun was slightly tilted to the west when she felt her stomach grumble. She was thirsty and hungry, but she said nothing because she was afraid that Cane would find her a nuisance for being so weak.
For now, she had found four stones and all of them were earth magic stones. This was annoying.
Iris trudged the barren land, concentrating on her surroundings when she felt something touch her cheeks and she jumped out of surprise. She couldn’t hear anything, thus it could be something dangerous that had touched her.
But, as it turned out, it was just a flask. Cane offered her his water.
“Thank you,” Iris said, as she took the flask and gulped down its whole contents, which made Cane frown.
“Did you finish it all?” He took the flask and turned it upside down, but there was only a pitiful drop of water that fell to the ground.
“Hm… yes.” Iris blinked her eyes. She was not sure what she had done wrong. “You gave me your water,” she said in a matter of fact tone.
Meanwhile, Cane glared at her without saying a word.
Why did he look so angry?
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