Chapter 46 (2 of 2) Demon, Dungeon and Delivery. (Patreon)

They stayed completely still as the monster seemed to ‘look’ from one person to the other, the ring of metal around its red gem whirring and clicking. Then the gem began to slowly glow brighter.

“Er… this is just a thought, but Conlan…” Anthony began, “How do tunnel borer machines work in this realm?”

“…they melt stone to form tunnels,” Conlan said in a low voice.

All of a sudden, a loud high-pitched screaming sound emanated from the monster. Conlan’s eyes widened.

“DODGE!”

They dived to either side as a beam of searing fire mana shot out from the red gem, liquifying the ground where they had stood only moments before. Aware that the battle had now begun, they all split up into their positions, Conlan as the main tank, Liliana as a long-range attacker, Catherine as the secondary front liner, and Anthony to fill in the gaps in their team, his abilities being very different from the rest of them.

Conlan dashed forward and struck a leg of the symbiont with his longsword.

[-150 Damage]

“Great, its CON focused,” he muttered. He stepped back to avoid the wide swipe of the monster.

Now that Conlan had gotten the creature’s attention, Liliana was ready to begin attacking it herself. Quickly holding up her bow, she pulled the string taught and launched her magic metal-tipped arrows towards the monster, the metal enchanted to do x2 more damage.

The three arrows lodged themselves in the gaps in the monster’s makeshift armour but hardly did anything.

[-50 Damage]

[-50 Damage]

[-50 Damage]

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 14700/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

Catherine struck out with her flame-covered spear, the metal turning red where the flames grazed it.

[-200 Damage]

“Hey! I told you you’ll draw aggro if you don’t time your attack!” Conlan shouted.

“My bad!” she said with an evil grin as she ducked under the metal beam swinging towards her.

As Liliana readied her next shower of arrows, Conlan deflected a twisted whip of metal and struck the black gem in the centre of the symbiont’s chest. The distorted screaming sound grew louder, and a flash of black pushed back his blade.

He clicked his tongue. “We need to disable one of its main weapons! I don’t like the look of that curse!” he called out. “Anthony!”

“Already on it!” the man replied. Anthony dodged the metal beam heading towards him and threw a strange sort of metal net over the monster’s ‘head’. Small orbs within the net stuck to the monster and the glow of the red gem decreased slightly, but still slowly began to brighten as it readied itself for another beam of fire mana.

“They’re supposed to drain mana but they’re not made for monster mana!” Anthony said. “It’ll only delay the attack!”

“It’s enough!” Conlan called back. His blade lit up with a golden haze as he activated his light-element sword skill. “Incomplete Mana-Blade – Light!”

The glowing sword struck the massive fist of the symbiont heading towards him.

[-900 Damage]

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 13656/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

“If we keep this up we’ll be good!” Conlan said.

He got shouts of affirmation in return, and they kept up their shower of attacks. Occasionally the high-pitched noise from the monster would begin again, and they would quickly dodge the stone-melting beam fired at them. But they still had yet to see what the curse would do when it was finally cast.

Anthony regularly threw out several small bombs and other devices he had made with his blacksmithing class, his warrior class just enough for him to last in combat without protection. Liliana began coating her arrows with water mana, the elemental reaction with the monster’s fire mana-charged gem allowing her to do more damage.

Eventually, they whittled its HP down to the halfway point.

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 7499/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

“Halfway done!” Conlan shouted. “Be careful though, because when a Dungeon Boss feels threatened it-”

Suddenly, the black gem in the chest of the symbiont released an ominous black light, and the curse runes distorted and blew up to larger sizes. The air crackled with near-palpable magical tension as the monster activated its second ability.

BOOM!

A wave of dark mana burst out from the symbiont and washed over them all, sending prickling pain through their bodies as the dark mana conflicted with their affinities. Conlan was hit harder, being the person closest to the gem and the one with an affinity for light, and his limbs trembled when he felt the dark mana, but he firmly gripped his weapon.

The dark curse mana faded, revealing the symbiont’s metal plating to be covered by the curse runes and its red gem slowly heating up again to fire at them, but nothing else had happened. No pain nor strange effect could be felt by them.

They traded glances and Liliana opened her mouth to say something. But nothing came out. Her eyes widened and she watched as the others tried to say something too, but couldn’t. They were silenced. Conlan looked at her and Catherine and then held up his hand to sign using the Navy’s hand signals.

‘Liliana, go help Anthony,’ he told her. He signed something to Catherine and they began attacking the monster again.

Liliana moved over to Anthony, helping him fend off the twisted beams of the creature with a few arrows here and there. She knew Anthony couldn’t signal to anyone as he didn’t know the Navy’s hand signals, so she aided him in attacking the monster and prevented his situation from getting too difficult.

Closer to the monster, which had begun to show a few chips in its stone and metal body, Catherine was still fighting. But her spearhead’s flames had dimmed and were flickering slowly, their vibrant intensity gone. Catherine looked pale and was breathing heavily.

Liliana knew Catherine didn’t do well with protracted battles yet, as her mana wasn’t high enough. Her current strengths lay in quick battles and a fierce outpouring of attacks, her movement speed increased by her second affinity for wind. Unfortunately, when up against a monster with high CON such as the symbiont, she grew tired quickly.

Then the ear-piercingly loud scream of the fire gem released from the monster, quicker than it had the last few times. The beam of fire mana shot out early, flying towards Catherine, who had a delayed reaction because of her tiredness.

Conlan noticed and grimaced, before dashing towards her. He grabbed Catherine and dodged the beam, throwing her to the side. Then he whirled around and ran back towards the monster. His golden mana surrounded him and formed the temporary battle aura he had used in the Navy.

That made Liliana worried because Conlan had told them that the aura had a long cooldown. He wouldn’t be able to use it for the next few weeks if he didn’t want to overdraw his mana and hurt himself. But as his blade struck the side of the symbiont, it was clear it was working.

[-2700 Damage]

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 2999/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

The large amount of damage made the monster release a loud roaring noise and fiery cracks spread out from the red gem on its head. The heat from its body distorted the air around it and the edges of Conlan’s battle aura warped. He grimaced and quickly stepped back.

As the monster took another swipe at Conlan, Liliana raised her bow and tried to shoot a few arrows imbued with water mana at it to do some more damage, but the amount of fire mana emanating from the creature was enough to disperse what little added help her mana did to the arrows.

[-25 Damage]

[-18 Damage]

[-21 Damage]

The arrows didn’t stay in the symbiont, bouncing off of it. Anthony tried to run forward and do some damage with his longsword but had to step back, the heat being too strong for him.

Catherine noticed that they weren’t getting anywhere, as Conlan was preoccupied with defending against the monster’s physical attacks, and gritted her teeth. With a sudden flare of more fire mana, her hair flickered with windswept flames and she charged forward again.

The air vibrated in some way to let them know she had activated a skill, but what skill was unknown as the silencing curse was still active.

Conlan glanced at her and his eyes widened. He hastily tried to sign to her, ‘No, Cathy, don’t-’

[-1000 Damage]

The flaming spearhead collided with the monster’s black curse gem and it let out a mechanical roar. The dark and fire mana flashed and crackled as red and black mana twisted about the symbiont. Screaming black runes that had been there from the very beginning let out a horrendous screech before fading, the dark mana dissipating. The monster went still.

Catherine, swaying slightly from exertion with her hand struggling to keep its grip on her spear, gave a grin of victory.

Then the creature bellowed and its entire brown-green monstrous aura turned a searingly bright red, the stone melting beneath its glowing stone feet. Fire mana radiated off of it as it leapt forward with violent strength, bounding towards Catherine with steps that shook the cave.

Catherine was too tired to run away from the monster, and Liliana watched in horror as the symbiont attempted to grab the redhead in one of its glowing heated claws.

But Anthony quickly dashed forward and swung his sword at the claw to deflect the monster, shoving her out of the way. The monster, angered that its prey had been taken from it, roughly shoved into Anthony, sending him flying with an audible crack as his arm snapped and he crashed into the wall of the cave, unconscious.

Conlan took that moment to launch himself up and stab his sword into the back of the monster.

[-2500 Damage]

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 503/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

The monster twisted its head to look at Conlan and faced its red gem directly at his face, the gem glowing orange as it prepared to fire its melting ray at the man’s face. But somehow, whether it was due to mana exhaustion or damage, or some other reason unknown to them, the gem flickered off and failed to activate.

Conlan didn’t waste a moment and raised a mana-clad fist to punch the gem of the symbiont.

SMASH!

[-550 Damage]

[Dungeon Boss: Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[HP: 0/15000 {+122.7/1m}]

[User Conlan Griffin has slain Lesser Cursed Iron Symbiont – Lvl. 99]

[Dungeon Boss of the Dungeon of the Cursed Gem Mine has been killed]

[Exploration Progress +5%]

[New! Exploration Progress: 99%]

The symbiont crashed to the ground. Its cracked stone pieces fell apart, the disjointed metal plates falling to the ground. The heat from it disappeared and the air vibrated again as they received varying levels of experience equivalent to their contribution, increasing their levels. They felt dark mana dissipate from inside their bodies, the silencing curse removed.

Catherine, Conlan and Liliana all took a moment to register the death of the monster, breathing heavily. Liliana ran forward to help Catherine up, who used her spear to support herself. Conlan, still wary, raised his blade and looked around to check for any other monsters, but when a few minutes had gone by and nothing else was there, he sighed heavily and sheathed his sword. He glanced at Catherine, then Liliana, and then Anthony.

“Liliana, go check on Anthony,” he ordered.

She quickly nodded and ran over to the man, who seemed to be bleeding and had his skin badly burnt on his broken arm. However, she could tell he wasn’t permanently hurt, and could probably be healed with a potion. She took one out of the pouch on her belt and poured it into his mouth.

Anthony spluttered as his consciousness returned, and the air around his broken arm and where he had his cuts glowed briefly before dimming. Liliana could tell the arm hadn’t completely healed by the way the man winced as he moved it, but he was at least able to move.

“Not my most amazing experience,” he said with a chuckle.

“Do you think you can get up?” Liliana asked him.

He nodded, so she stepped back to let him stand. They both walked back over to Conlan, who was investigating the walls of the cave for some reason, while Catherine sat down on the ground, taking a break.

“Conlan? What is it?” Liliana asked curiously.

“I’m looking for…” He paused and nodded. “Here it is.” Flicking a lever that was hidden behind some rocks, the cave rumbled for a second, before rocks suddenly came falling down above their heads.

[Exploration Progress +1%]

[New! Exploration Progress: 100%]

They hurriedly stepped back to see a hatch open up above them, and a series of metal steps extended down, to be used as a ladder to climb up to the next level. The three of them looked at Conlan.

“Our exploration progress wasn’t 100%, so I figured there must be a hidden area,” he explained.

Catherine slowly stood up and walked over. “Wouldn’t the logical thing be to think we missed a spot earlier in the Dungeon?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Conlan glanced between her and the steps and smirked. “But there was a hidden area.”

Catherine considered it but shrugged after a moment. “Sure, whatever I guess.” She looked at the steps. “So… do we head up? Or find the core first?”

“We can always find the core later,” Conlan replied. “The Dungeon can’t move its core without its Boss Monster.” He glanced at Liliana. “I think you should go up first, Lili. Anthony and Catherine should go last, and between you and me, you’re the lightest.”

She nodded and gripped the two railings of the metal steps. Slowly climbing up, she stuck her head into what looked like a crafting workshop of some kind, lit up by dim and grimy mana lamps on the walls. She checked the room for monsters and then walked back over to the entrance to call down, “I think it’s clear!”

The others climbed up, one after the other, and viewed the room curiously. Anthony walked over to a strange metal gauntlet placed on a workbench and played with the knobs and switched on it with interest.

“Looks like it’s made to shoot a projectile of some kind,” he said. “Wonder why they chose a gauntlet for the base.”

“Hey, uh… Conlan, aren’t these cannons?” Catherine called from the other side of the room.

They all looked over and saw the massive metal tubes embedded with gemstones sitting in rows along the edge of the room, some disassembled and missing plates, all of them incomplete or unfinished in some way. They came over and inspected the devices.

“These definitely look like long-range weapons of some kind,” Anthony mused.

“Is… the Empire supposed to have technology like this?” Liliana asked hesitantly.

Conlan rubbed his chin as he bent to take a closer look inside a cannon. “The dwarves of Rocht’guardes have similar devices, but the Empire’s Battalions didn’t start using them until magic engineers were a thing, I’m pretty sure. Something to do with the difference between dwarven runes and human runes.”

He turned to look at them and placed a hand on the cannon. “But the Coalition is the Empire’s main manufacturer of magical cannons and long-ranged weapons. And because they are such important weapons to the Metal-Borne Coalition… the crafter who made this must’ve been pretty high up in the crafter hierarchy.”

There was a moment of silence as they looked around at the workshop, wondering what that would mean. Conlan eventually shook his head and gestured to the room. “There might be valuable tools, weapons or equipment the guy left here, so let’s check everywhere to see what we can find.”

They nodded and all split up, searching through incomplete machinery and discarded gems to find anything interesting. Liliana spoke up after a few minutes, “Hey, Conlan?”

“Yes?” he replied distractedly, digging through a large wooden chest of sorts.

“Why would there be a workshop like this in a gem mine?” she asked curiously.

“I’m not sure. The Adventurer’s Guild said nobody came near this mine for the last 200 years, which was why the Dungeon could return to its full strength after its core was last shattered several centuries ago,” Conlan explained. “But the noble family who owned this place became fallen nobles, as you said earlier, so I doubt it will be a problem for us in the long term.”

Conlan looked down at the chest and stopped moving for a second before a broad grin appeared on his face. He pulled out a heavy leather-bound tome and waved it in the air. “Guys, I found something!”

The rest of them came over curiously as Conlan walked over to a workbench and placed the heavy book down. Catherine read the title engraved on the front. “Mana-Charged Metalworker’s Foundational Manual: Ordnance and Artillery? And that is supposed to be… what exactly?”

“Ordnance means military supplies, mainly weapons,” Anthony explained. He opened the book to a random page filled with diagrams of weapons and mana-circles. “This is an interesting book.”

“I think this is a crafter’s inheritance journal,” Conlan said. They all looked at him as he smiled and explained to them, “This is probably a manual used by the less experienced crafters to evolve their class to a specialised role. The Coalition has the most standardised methods of teaching crafters techniques than anywhere else in the Empire.”

“So… this is valuable?” Liliana asked.

Conlan nodded. “Yes. It contains a section of a completed path of progression. So now we need to decide who this goes to.” Conlan glanced at Anthony, who was still reading the book. “But I think this should go to Anthony.”

Liliana and Catherine looked at the man. Anthony blinked and looked up when he saw everyone was staring at him. “Hm? Sorry, what was that? I became a bit too absorbed in the manual when I discovered it has blueprints for several hand-held weapons.”

“Anthony, you said you’re good with guns, right?” Conlan asked.

Anthony rubbed his neck. “I mean… I’ve had some experience with them, yes. I used to practice shooting a lot for fun. My granddad still had a few from before the first break and energy usage became a thing.”

Conlan smiled. “How would you like to have the manual then?”

The man with red-blonde hair stared. “Me? The manual?” He looked down at the book on the table. “I… would love to, if I could. The skills and class it gives seem perfect for me.” He looked at them. “But doesn’t anyone else want it? I’m not even a permanent party member of yours. We’ll be splitting up after this.”

Liliana and Catherine looked at each other. Catherine shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m not the crafting type myself, and I’m not worried about money. Better for it to go to someone who can use it.”

Liliana nodded. “And I think you deserve it after saving Catherine,” she said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter that you’re not going to be with us permanently.”

“If you’re still hesitant to accept,” Conlan said with a smirk, holding out his hand, “Then let’s make a deal that you join our party permanently once we leave the Navy.”

Anthony glanced between the book and Conlan’s outstretched palm, nodded once, and then shook hands with Conlan. “It’s a deal then.”

Conlan smiled. “Then let’s pack up anything valuable, break the Dungeon Core, and get out of here.”

They all nodded until Catherine hesitated. “Wait… why was the curse of the monster to keep us all silent?”

They traded glances. Liliana thought for a moment. “Don’t you think it was because the young noble who cast the curse tried to get his friend to shut up?”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The forest’s treetops rippled in the soft wind, the dark green undergrowth only filled with the sound of small birds and beasts on the ground. Sunlight of the late afternoon streamed through the trees, and all seemed calm and peaceful, not a thing out of place. In a wide clearing within the forest, a group of armoured men sat, chatting amongst themselves.

“-and I’ll bet anything that the Guild Master will have Saden’s head when we get back to the Guild Headquarters,” said one man with tanned skin and a war axe resting by his side.

Another man cleaning a bloody longsword on his lap with a rag snorted. “As if Mistguard’s going to let that fly. If Saden even dares to harm his precious little prodigy’s status he’ll threaten to up and quit, and Mistguard’s presence in the Guild this year has expanded it by a whole 30%. Saden wouldn’t risk that.”

“Hmmm…” the man with a war axe turned to the third member of their group, a heavy-built man with a thick scar going down from his left eye to his jawline. “Sir Firedal, what do you think?”

Firedal raised his eyes from the ground in front of him and gazed solemnly at the two men. “I’d suggest putting more effort into coming up with ways to hide from the Shadow Blades' detection than discussing what-ifs.”

The men went silent, both grimacing. The man with a war axe scowled and slammed his fist into the ground beside him. “Dammit. So you think the rumours are true? That the King employed the Black Hand for this battle?”

“I saw the envelope informing the Guild branch first-hand,” Firedal replied. “Without a doubt, it’s them.”

“Just our luck,” the blonde man with a longsword muttered. “Finish the battle with an overwhelming victory, and find out our traitorous little king employed the most famous mercenaries just to stab us in the -” He saw a flicker of shadow pass through the treetops and quickly stood up, raising his longsword. “Who’s there?”

Nobody responded. The men behind him watched carefully as the blonde-haired man slowly stepped closer to the clearing’s edge, eyes darting from one tree to another.

“Anything there?” the man with the axe asked.

The blonde-haired man slowly sheathed his longsword. “I don’t know. Seems like there’s not, but-”

A shadow dashed out from the opposite side of the clearing and pounced on him. The man with the axe widened his eyes. “Vard! Watch out-”

Blood spurted out of the back of the blonde man as he collapsed to the ground, dead. The true form of the figure manifested from the shadow and was revealed to be someone completely covered by overlapping thin plates of metal, pitch black in colour, their helmet’s visor a sharp downward pointing arrow. Their shoulders were covered by a light cloak that spread out on either side behind them, almost like wings. The end of their cloak drifted with whisps of black smoke as they held their thin silver longsword.

The axe-wielding warrior stood up and charged forward with his weapon, roaring as he slammed it down onto the figure. The figure’s form rent in two, the darkness splitting into two shadows. They re-coalesced behind the man and their sword sliced through his unprotected neck, beheading him. They turned around to face the final man sitting down on the ground behind them.

“Don’t you think that was a bit cruel? Letting them get betrayed by their Captain as well as their King?”

Firedal gazed solemnly at the figure. “Raven’s Wing.”

The figure stepped forward and flipped up their visor, revealing bright blue eyes. “I’m slightly curious as to what you want, considering you didn’t tell them I was there even though I ran right past you. It’s almost like you wanted to discuss something privately.” Their voice seemed to be distorted behind their armour, an enchantment of some kind disguising their identity.

The man slowly got up as they came closer, guarded but not in a position suggesting he was hostile. “This kingdom’s only a small corner of the realm but my Guild likes being a big fish in a small pond. I’d rather jump ship to somewhere with better prospects.” He nodded to them. “I heard someone with a token from the Black Hand is allowed to skip the entrance test.”

They tilted their head. “So, you want my token? But what about you makes giving you one worth it?”

He slowly unsheathed his longsword. “Would you like me to prove myself?”

The figure’s eyes showed they were smiling as they crouched and raised their sword. “That sounds fun.”

A loud clang sounded as their weapons clashed, the armoured figure forcing Firedal back. He gritted his teeth at the unexpected strength and pushed back with a growl, disengaging their weapons. They slowly circled each other for a few seconds before the figure charged forward again. Metal rang against metal as they began to speak casually to the mercenary.

“So, Firedal was it?” they said. They aimed a sharp blow towards the man’s neck and he blocked it with a swipe of his own weapon. “You seem to know who I am.”

“Of course,” he said through clenched teeth, dodging another quick strike from his opponent. “The Black Hand’s Shadow Blade Division became my Guild’s opposition. It’s important as a Captain of my Guild to know who my strongest enemies are.”

“The Guild you’re planning on betraying,” they replied, sending a slash towards his side.

He hissed as he failed to dodge it completely and it left a shallow cut across his skin. “The king betrayed us first. And I was planning on leaving the Guild anyway.”

“Leaving to try to enter the enemy Guild of your own Guild, just because they’re better,” the figure commented. They sent a sharp kick towards Firedal’s abdomen and he doubled over, wheezing as the air was knocked out of him.

“…your… ha… point… being…?” he said, through harsh breaths. He straightened up and readied his sword again. “I never heard of the Black Hand having a moral standpoint.”

“I don’t really have a point. I was just making conversation.” The figure abruptly took a few steps back, then tilted their head as they watched him. “Hmm… well, I believe I’ve seen enough of your abilities to make my decision. But I do have to say something.”

With a flicker of black light, they disappeared only to appear right in front of him. Firedal’s eyes widened as he tried to take a step back but they rammed their elbow into his neck with sudden power, revealing that they had never been using their true strength. He fell to the ground on all fours, coughing and spluttering.

“It’s true that members of the Black Hand receive four tokens to give people during their lives,” the figure replied casually. “However, I’ve already given out three of mine. I only have one left, which I don’t want to waste.”

They pointed their blade at Firedal. “And… you don’t make the cut.”

He hastily scrambled back, trying to avoid the weapon. The figure came forward with confident steps and jabbed towards his neck. He raised his sword to block the blade.

“Wait! Okay, let’s forget about me joining the Black Hand. It’s my Guild badge you want, right?” he asked hurriedly. He tore off the metal on his shirt and threw it at their feet. “There, now you can give them that as proof of my death. You don’t need to kill me.”

The figure paused. “That’s a very quick change in attitude. Why are you- oh.” They glanced at the badge, then turned back to him. “Ha. I see now. You wanted to kill me to take my token, if you failed to prove yourself to me.”

His face turned white. The voice of the figure turned cold. “Unfortunately for you though, you’re too weak.”

They sent a slash towards the man, the ends of their blade flickering with blue and dark mana. The attack cut him deeply across the chest, killing him instantly. The clearing fell silent as his dark blood leaked into the grass, along with the blood of the other two dead bodies. The other two dead bodies disintegrated into white light.

The figure walked back to the edge of the clearing and sighed as they removed their helmet, revealing long wavy black hair framing a woman’s face. She glanced at the bodies with disdain. “The Aeternus plane’s Guilds haven’t used nameplates as proof of death in thousands of years. Why use those when we have Quests for authentication?” She shook her head and walked into the forest, helmet held under one arm. “These backward planes, honestly.”

She looked up and saw the sun drawing closer to the horizon. She replaced her helmet. “Time to head back,” she murmured to herself.

…

“-Barbosas, even if you’re her sibling, I can’t just give you the letter meant for her.”

“And I’m telling you that I’m basically an honorary member of the Guild, so why can’t you just let me read it already?!”

“No, Mr. Barbosas, the point is that even if you were already part of the Guild, we are not allowed to hand out personal letters to anyone other than the one they’re addressed to!”

In a large hall, many people were paying attention to the argument occurring between one man and a woman. The woman, wearing a uniform and seated behind a desk like many of the other staff in the hall, was gazing exasperatedly at the man who had his hands slammed down on the desk, glaring at her. The man in his had messy nut-brown hair, green eyes and a spear strapped to his back.

When it was obvious the woman wouldn’t budge, he groaned and stepped back from the table. “Come on, Larena never gets any letters! You can’t just tell me that someone came to the Black Hand’s branch in this city and delivered a letter for her, then not tell me what it’s about!”

The woman sighed. “Please just wait until your sister is back to read the letter, Mr. Barbosas.”

He clicked his tongue. “Larena took on a mission this morning. She might not be back for a few days yet.”

“I’m proud to know you have such high expectations of my abilities, Garthe,” said a sarcastic voice.

They turned to see a woman dressed in dark plate metal coming closer, a helmet held under her arm. Larena came up to the desk and placed an arm on it as she faced the clerk. “So, what has my brother been nagging you about this time?”

“A courier from the Aeternus plane delivered a letter for you,” the clerk explained. She pulled out a key from her dimensional inventory and unlocked a drawer of the desk. Then she picked up the thick envelope with a blue seal of an insignia of three coins on the front. She handed it over to Larena.

“From the Aeternus plane?” Larena looked at the letter curiously. “This looks like it’s from the Alichanteu of the Commission.”

“Why would they be contacting you?” Garthe asked, coming up beside her and trying to see the letter better.

Larena shoved him away and opened the letter, using a bit of dark mana to undo the seal. “I don’t know, so let me read this first.”

She went quiet for a moment as she read it. Then she smiled. “It’s from Efratel.”

“Efratel?” Garthe blinked and looked over her shoulder to read the letter. Then he pointed to a line on the page. “Hang on, doesn’t that say… ‘Lucille’…?”

They fell silent, read the line, and then traded glances. Then suddenly, Garthe gained a broad grin and raised his arms in the air. “We’re going to be rich!”

Larena whacked the side of his head. “Just because she’s now his sponsor doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to use her money. But this outer plane… I like the sound of this,” she said as she read the letter again.

Garthe nodded. “And it would make up for you rejecting the Shadow Blade Captain’s offer of coming with her to aid the Genest Duchy’s expedition on that dark elemental plane. I still don’t get why you ever rejected it. The dark element natural treasures would’ve increased your strength massively.”

She gave him a dismissive wave. “It doesn’t matter, especially as it means we can now do this. Because this outer plane event has been offered to other nobles, I’m sure some of them have already commissioned missions from the Black Hand for this.” She turned around and walked away. “I’m going to check out these other missions’ details to collect information, then I’ll work on clearing my schedule for this meeting we’re having with the others.” Larena glanced back. “I assume you’re taking his offer too?”

Garthe smirked and crossed his arms. “Of course. What adventurer would ever give up a chance to explore an abandoned plane’s ancient ruins?”