The blades on the earlobes of the Elf Commander who was in charge of handling intruders at the location quivered as she cursed herself for allowing these crafty Arafellians to place them in such a difficult situation like so.
Usually, the Kingdom of Arafell kept to themselves. This was mainly because although they had some of the strongest soldiers in the entirety of Angaria due to the unique bloodline of the giants, their population was very low.
With only around 1.5 million inhabitants, it was only due to the legacy passed down that they were able to maintain their sovereignty beside being a small nation.
Yet, hearing a command which came through the communication trinket in her ear, the Elf relaxed before smiling at the Arafellians.
"You are welcome to come inside."
Saying so, she turned around and walked back to the site of the discovery.
All those present in the clearing saw the clear change in expression and attitude of the Elf.
Although Daneel suspected that something may have changed at the site, he could see in the panel that that wasn't the case.
Thus, even though the other forces were puzzled, they hastened to get to the site.
When the maces were lifted into the arms of the giants again, the stone spears disintegrated into dust as if they had never existed in the first place.
Nodding at Cassandra with a smile, the green robed man first gestured at the other humans in his group before taking off at a quick trot.
Through the panel, Daneel was quite surprised to see that despite their size, the giants moved agilely, as if the bulky armors on their bodies were no hindrance at all.
After deciding that they truly were a troop which needed to be analyzed, Daneel waited for them to reach the site.
The stalemate right now was mainly due to the fact that the entrance into the Ker Gem mine was too narrow. Any one force which dared to try and enter would easily be backstabbed by the others.
As for using other means to increase the entrance, this was out of the question as Ker Gem mines were special locations which were actually quite delicate in nature.
Formed from a combination of natural factors, any disturbance in their natural state from the outside would result in the Ker Gems turning to dust.
Thus, the only way to retrieve them was to send someone inside who could use precise tools to mine them.
After the Arafellians arrived, 5 people gathered in front of the hole.
"An equal split. That would be best."
It was Luther who said these words, making 3 others nod while the last, who was the Elf, shook his head vehemently before saying, "You know very well we paid an exorbitant price to be here. We want at least 60% of whatever is inside. The rest, you can share amongst yourselves."
A short silence ensued, during which the other 4 sources looked at each other as if considering whether to ally amongst themselves in order to drive these arrogant elves away.
Alas, none of them trusted the other parties enough to do so. Although Lanthanor and Arafell might ally, it would simply push the other three to join together.
Seeing the negotiations going on, Daneel wished he could be at the location. Using the system, he would be able to teleport underground safely to reach the Ker Gem Mine. Then, he would have been able to calmly mine them away while the others bickered above ground.
The statement said by the Elf pulled him from his thoughts.
"You don't agree? Very well then, take the whole thing. The Kingdom of the Elves bids you a good day."
With a smirk on his face, the elf took out a round trinket from his pocket before crushing it decisively.
The space at this location had already been locked by each and every force after they arrived to ensure that no one would be able to teleport inside in order to take them by surprise.
Thus, when they saw all the Elves disappear from their locations in an instant, the first reaction was bewilderment.
Yet, as seasoned commanders, each of the individual present recovered in a fraction of a second.
In fact, it was Luther who recovered first. Jumping forward in a quick movement, he smoothly entered the hole while the other commanders hastened to follow.
As the image on the panel turned pitch dark, Daneel wondered just what the hell was going on.
After trying so hard to keep others away, the Elves simply chose to leave?
The only reason they would do so was if….. the Gems had already been mined.
As Luther activated a light trinket, Daneel saw that his supposition had been true.
Cuts could be seen on walls which still shone with a red hue that was characteristic of the Ker Gems. On the ground, a few fragments were still littered around, while a single misshaped gem could be seen rolling in place as if it had been left behind in a hurry.
Bending, Luther picked up this gem and a few shards in an instant before putting them in his pocket and acting as if nothing had happened.
Daneel hadn't even given the order, so he was happy to see that this stoic commander was also in possession of a cunning mind.
As the others entered, Luther banged his fist on the rock wall as an extremely frustrated expression appeared on his face which was soon mirrored by the commanders of the 3 nations which had come all this way to obtain nothing.
…..
Meanwhile, in the sky above.
After watching this situation unfold, the man first held a leather-bound book for a second and closed his eyes before opening them again and getting up.
As he walked to the snoring lady, each step resulted in a cloud condensing under his foot which enabled him to walk in the air.
"Miss Danielle, please wake up. The mine has been exhausted and the other forces are taking their leave."
At first, he tried speaking calmly to try and wake her up.
When this didn't work, he let go of his austerity and resorted to shouting loudly.
Yet, seeing his shouts become engulfed by the overpowering snores, he had no choice but to gingerly stretch his arm forward and touch the shoulder of the lady.
Even though it had only been a moment of contact, the man flinched back as if he had been electrocuted.
"Ah… oh? It's done? I was just dreaming about cake…."
Waking up, the woman said these words woozily before turning around to see that her companion was hunched on the ground, writhing.
Hurriedly running over, she pointed her finger at him, making a tiny snake of what looked like black lightning exit from his body and enter hers.
"Sorry, Jerax. You should have conjured something to wake me up instead!"
Cursing in his head remembering the last time when he had done so, the man rose up and regained his calm expression before saying, "I have made the report. The Elves received the information quite a long time before the others, which allowed them to send someone inside who was adept at concealment. Later, after the information was leaked, they left and came back right before the others arrived, acting as if it had leaked right after they obtained it themselves. All this time, they were successfully mining the gems, after which they used one-time trinkets which are comparable in value to the ones made by Champion level powerhouses to break the space lock and leave the location. Still, over all, they made a profit. One can only blame the other 4 forces for not checking sooner, but they simply couldn't trust the other parties to not backstab them. The smartness of the Elves must also be appreciated. Regardless, no new individuals who have the potential to be scouted by the Big 4 have been spotted, and the strength of the forces of Central Angaria still remains the same despite changes in leadership. I-"
Seeing that the woman was about to doze off again, the man stopped his explanation and said, "We can go back!" in an exasperated tone.
"Oh! Great! Just in time for lunch! Good teamwork, let's go!"
The man could only sigh before dispelling the air pocket and teleporting away, leaving an empty patch in the sky which looked no different from the rest.
…..
Meanwhile, Daneel was holding the shard that Luther had brought back.
Although the others in the room were disappointed because Lanthanor had gotten nothing, the King was smiling as if he was the one who had profited most from the situation.
This was because of the notification that had just sounded in his mind.
[Trace remnants of High Grade Energy Signal found. Please place the Natural Energized Training Chamber at the origin of this shard to increase the speed of production of Ker Gem grade energy.]