Soren had used his Soul-steel dagger for days, equivalent to years.

He knew Soul-steel when he saw it.

The moment Vinegar touched it and it lost its color, it fell off the whale's body, as if unwanted and pushed out by its cells.

It fell to the ground below. But stopped mere inches from the earth, suspended there.

A characteristic of Soul-steel Soren had seen himself when the Soulbound knights came to his town.

The carriage they brought with them also did not touch the ground.

Old man machos had told him that the purer and greater the quality of the Soul-steel, the higher it will suspend from the ground.

This was what the empire used Soulbound warrior criminals for.

To mine resources like Soul-steel from Eldritch creatures.

Vinegar pointed out that not all of these whales had Soul-steel; for some, it was aether, the greatest and purest fuel in the world.

The presence of the Soul Mecha acted as bait, luring the Eldritch, and the Soulbound warriors mounted its body to harvest the ore.

All they had to do was send a bit of their soul energy into the ore, and the Eldritch's body will reject the ore, as it's now thought to be corrupted.

While the knowledge was a shocker, it was actually not that big of a problem to do.

In fact, it looked very easy.

However, as if knowing his thoughts, Vinegar spoke up. "It's not as easy as you think."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of them." She pointed to the creatures climbing out of the hole the ore had fallen out from.

They were slimy, with uneven bodies covered in thorns.

Their heads had a long vertical line cutting across the center that crackled open and closed, decorated with an assortment of toothed appendages.

Each one of these creatures was easily the size of Sausage Neck.

As if their looks were not abnormal enough, they had four arms. Some arms were so long they pulled against the ground.

Three had come out from the hole. One of them opened its mouth.

SPIT.

A projectile shot fast.

Vinegar tilted her head to the side, dodging it.

It landed right in between Soren's legs.

Sizzle

Acid spit.

Soren's eyes widened.

The creatures fired again, six times this time around.

Still, back facing them, Vinegar dodged.

Effortlessly.

"This is Blackfield." Vinegar stated. "There are only two options in the mines. It's either you learn Blackfield, or you die learning it."

"Fortunately, the antibodies only attack the person that touched the ore." Handler suddenly chipped in from behind.

"However, while killing them is an option—" he waved a hand, and his shadow launched at one of them like a blade.

Burst

A disgusting, horrid mixture splashed on the ground.

However, before Soren's eyes, it slowly began gathering together, reforming the creature again.

"Yeah, they always do that." Handler said casually.

Screeech...

The creatures continued to attack Vinegar, but she dodged every attack without looking.

When looking at her, even when her hands were just resting on her waist, his instincts told him that she had no spots he could exploit in a fight.

This was the same feeling Sausage Neck had given him when they fought.

Without a doubt, Soren had only gotten that first punch in because Sausage Neck had greatly underestimated him.

After that first punch, Soren had been struggling for his life.

After his battle with Ivory, he thought he had gotten strong.

Or at least strong enough to defend himself against most in this cruel world.

Oh, the delusion.

If it was Vinegar he faced, she would have knocked him out faster than he could process.

Even now, she was toying with the Antibodies.

Handler pointed ahead of them, to the other Eldritch soul whales in the sky.

"Firstly, from the size of the whale, one can know its age and the quality of ore produced. But that is further broken down into three.

Tail region, center region, and head region.

Ores at the tail region, where we are currently, are of the lowest grade. As one progresses towards the head region, the ore quality increases.

But so does the threat level.

At a point, the Antibodies will not wait for you to touch the Ore; they will come for you the moment they feel your presence, and they are very unforgiving."

Handler gave his advice like a grim warning.

Then again, this much information answered some old questions Soren had in his head.

After all, Soul Steel was still used in the creation of the trash mecha he had used back home.

But it was entirely different from the one that was used to make the carriage that carried the Glassbreaker.

And it was definitely different from the one that had been used to forge the daggers they used.

Soren remembered that the Soul-steel armor for the Trash Mecha was a Type IV Soul-steel. While functional, it dragged.

Even old man Machos had looked at the aged Mecha and called it trash.

Soren could not help but wonder if it was called trash because it had been made with Soul-steel ore that was of a low quality.

But then again, seeing how Soul-steel was mined, it was safe to say that during the third Generational War, that quality of Soul-steel was probably the best they could achieve at the time.

While in thought, the Whale suddenly rocked.

It was like an earthquake, except the earth underneath them did not break open, but Ratler did fall on the ground.

Soren looked ahead.

Far off in the distance, Lance was facing off against the attacks of the Whales.

Handler pointed out that the goal of the Soul Mecha was not to kill the Eldritch.

This was the first time Soren was hearing such words. But Handler explained the reason.

According to him, if the whale dies, then the Soul Steel Ore on its body instantly becomes useless, losing all its incredible properties, including its antigravity.

No one knew why. It had always just been this way.

However, if what Handler said was true, then why was the empire using Lance for such a mission?

(Author's note: Rising Star is Ending soon. A gift would go a long way about now. Thank you.)

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