The second one

Keyle answered my question about first ores.

Most sell it to buy better tools. I kept one for my workbench, though. It's good to have a reminder of why you started.

I had already given my first one away. A city order wanted it, and I did not think twice.

So I told Keyle I would go back down and pull a second one, and that one would stay with me.

Good luck. Keep that second one safe, and don't let the city rush you out of it.

Then I went. Down into the cave, to a vein in the dark. It took one try.

It is not the first. The first is out in the city somewhere, doing whatever ore does once someone else has it.

But this is the one I kept on purpose. A miner told me why, and I went and did it.

It is in my pack now, next to a pearl and a vault full of decks. The heaviest small thing I own.