"You're the one who said that I shouldn't interfere but you woke me up?"

"My bad, using soul fire triggered some destruction and it woke you up."

"Whatever, I'm gonna go back to my beauty sleep."

"Yes, it's always better if you're silent. Just conserve energy there, our destruction is limited with this frail body."

"..."

I didn't receive any reply. It seems that he went back on hibernating. Destruction takes too much mana from me and I can use a decent amount a day without fatigue but it isn't enough.

Using destruction is like using soul fire ten times at the same time. It takes too much energy and mana that I'll prefer using soul fire instead of it.

Destruction has the ability to consume anything and everything, it's basically an upgraded soul fire but using it is harder and much more complicated.

To use it you would need to use a bit of aether that is vivum and somehow reverse it to trigger the flames and multiply it to the rest of the vivum making the fire.

It's complicated but this body is already familiar with using it so it has not been difficult for me. Even though I'm supposed to be unable to use vivum or aether in this form, I somehow can because of this body.

If I just figure on how to reverse this thing and use vivum myself, then maybe I can save Sylvia. Vivum is the branch of life and existence and the opposite of this is destruction.

If vivum has an opposite, is it possible for the other two branches to have an opposite too?

I exited the dungeon alone after I cleared it and disposed the bodies of my former teammates with destruction. Even the blood burned away from existence and didn't leave a single trace that suggests that a bloody corpse was formerly there. The poor boys who I think are around my physical age got killed by scumbags on what I assume their first or second dungeon raid. It's unfortunate but it's also their fault for being weak and not choosing a better team.

I used multiple eclipse steps until I reached the nearest portal to Xyrus and immediately got in as I made my way to the adventurer's guild.

I didn't even enter through the front door. Using eclipse step, I traveled to Caspian's room and saw him doing some documents.

'Is he the lesser, weaker copy of Agrona? Heh'

I mused as I made my way towards him without him noticing. I grabbed a random document and lit my index finger with a small fire and wrote over the already written document.

I slammed the paper on his desk and this made him draw his sword but I just swatted it away.

"Here"

He recovered for a bit and slowly grabbed the paper and read it.

"Make it that they cleared the dungeon and they got killed outside."

"Did all of you clear the dungeon?"

"Just me"

"So where are the cores?"

'ate it'
"Burned it"

"sigh It's possible to do that but I don't have the authority to-

"Do it or you'll have eleven lances left."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing, you know what? Just take this."

I gave him an AA-rank core of an ice drake or something like that as I don't know if that's what really is hiding inside this core. It looks like an ice drake's but there is something inside that's making me uncomfortable. Is it maybe a will? Maybe but I don't care, I already have a beast willl and the others won't be needing it.

"This is?"

I eclipse stepped not having any motivation to talk anymore.

But I came back to his office again just after a second.

"W-what is it again?"

Caspian said confused about why I returned.

"What's the best inn here in Dicathen?"

"Why are you speaking like you don't live here? And it's the Regia inn located in Xyrus. Only high nobles can afford it and it's rare for them to have customers as it's in the far left side of the city."

"How much per night?"

"It depends, it's one gold per night at the lowest floor and it's ten at the top."

"Hmm, I see. Then how can I identify this inn?"

"You'll recognize it once you see it."

"Then how much will an S-rank core be if I sell it here?"

"That would be a ton of gold Mr. Ath. Why are you asking?"

"Just asking."

“Ah! Mr. Ath. Take this. I would need to call you sometime or maybe you'll need something for me.

It is a communication scroll. I grabbed it and stored it in my ring. Apparently this is expensive here in Dicathen but this guy seems to have a lot of it. Maybe it's the perks of being a manager of the best adventurer guild branch in the continent.

“Well then goodbye."

I eclipse stepped for who knows how many times and reached the left end of the city. Caspian isn't wrong, I'll recognize this building once I see it. Four floors and a shining finish on the walls. This definitely is the inn that he mentioned.

Its architecture is not bad but they definitely focused on making this building shiny. The building is built with white and gold designs and has guards on the side of the main door.

I walked inside and the guards didn't stop me, maybe because of my outfit. I looked down on myself and yes it looks damn expensive.

I headed towards the receptionist who was a brunette woman who's quite tall for a Dicathian. Maybe because of the Vritra blood in them, Alacryans have a higher height compared to Dicathen in both men and women.

"Hello sir, how may I help you? "

I didn't answer and dropped a pouch full of gold. She looked shocked and opened the pouch and started counting.

"Sir, may I ask what floor do you want to stay in?"

"The top"

"Then you can stay there for five and a half days sir."

"That's okay."

"May I ask what your name is?"

"It's Ath"

"Last na-

"I don't have one."

"Then what is your occupation? We need this so we can ensure that you didn't steal this amount of money."

"I am an AA-rank adventurer."

"Oh! That makes sense. Adventuring pays high but it has a lot of risk involving it."

"Hmm"

"Adventurer Ath, you can now go to the fourth floor and your room is the third one from the hallway."

“What about the key?"

“About that, the key is on the door handle. It's the fourth floor so only four rooms are in there. They're usually rich so they won't care about breaking into an unlocked room. Of course, once you get the key you can keep it until your rent time is out."

“I see"

“Enjoy your stay sir."

“I will"

Not wanting to lengthen the conversation, I entered the elevator. It's the first elevator I've seen here inthis world. It still works around a pulley but the rotation of the pulley is done by mana. The design is... white again and the supposed button is a lever. I pulled the lever up to the number four and it started going up.

The elevator probably is made for those in the top floors not to interact with those in the bottom. Even though it's just a few gold difference, one night on the top floor is ten while the bottom is one gold and the difference for that one night would be enough to feed a normal family for at least a year and a half.

Reaching the top floor, I left the elevator behind and entered a huge hallway. There are only four doors and only the three first doors have it's keys on the handle.

I walked to the third door and grabbed the key hanging on the handle.

click

Someone has opened their door before I even got the chance to open mine. I snapped my head in the direction of the last room and saw someone I'm quite familiar with before.

(Guess whoooo?)

“Are you the adventurer?"

“Pardon?"

“Are you the Adventurer who stays in that room?"

She asked while pointing to the room behind me. She still is the same as before but it seems she has worsened a bit.

“Yes, I am."

“Rank?"

“AA"

“...”

“...”

This has gone awkward. Why is someone like her even here? Isn't she supposed to stay at where the council is staying?

“uhh... Hello?"

“On what core stage are you at?"

“That's a secret."

“I am a light yellow mage and since I can't sense your core that means you're at least silver."

“As expected of the princess, you are smart.”

“I am not a princess anymore.”

“Maybe, but you are still a princess."

“Are you a conjurer? Or an augmenter?”

“I am the former."

“Then do you want to join my party?”

Huh?

“...Huh?”

“My father won't allow me to go adventuring unless I have someone who's AA rank above joining me."

Kathlyn Glayder, one of the two children of Blaine and of course his only daughter, of course he wouldn't allow you to.

She still is the same. But she got taller, at least half a foot smaller than me but that is tall for a girl her age. Her voice matured more and is still as cold as ever.

“Why me? There definitely is someone with more experience and as strong as me."

“You're about my age and I think you will fit in our party.”

“Unfortunately I think I'll pass. I prefer being alone."

“Raiding a dungeon alone?"

“Yes"

“I'm willing to compensate you with money."

“May I ask first why you're doing this?"

“Doing what?"

“You're in the middle of the war and you are a princess. You should know that the enemy will likely go after you to take you as a hostage."

“...”

“sigh If you really want to help this continent then just support your father in the council."

I finally opened the door and was about to enter but a cold small hand grabbed my wrist. I sighed and looked back at Kathlyn.

“I don't care about this continent at all. I just want to repay a friend for his sacrifice."

“...Continue."

“My friend is the first one who fought the Alacryans who've invaded this continent and until now he is still missing. We think that adventuring and killing corrupt mana beasts will at least lessen our guilt."

This is the first time I saw Kathlyn talking this much and being emotional. But to think she considers me as a friend.

“What is the point of repaying someone who won't even return?"

“Arthur will return."

She didn't call me Grey. Quite a surprising sight and also refreshing. No one has called me Arthur for years even though this one isn't really directed to me.

“How many are you in the party?"

“Seven, including me. We have two conjurers and five augmenters. One of the augmenters specializes in ranged attack."

“How much?"

“twenty gold per every dungeon finished."

“ten gold every raid."

“Why is that?"

“I know that twenty is a reasonable price for you but I don't care. If the dungeon is too dangerous then we'll fall back. That's why you'll still pay me even if the boss isn't dead."

“I accept."

“Well then can you let go of me?"

“Ah..."

She got a little embarrassed and finally let go of my wrist.

“Just knock on the door if you're calling me. I rarely go out."

“Hmm"

With that, I entered my room. What even can I say about this room because it's white, like white every corner. How can I even sleep with all this sparkling furniture all over the room?

Well seems like I have no choice. Oh I think I have one.

I summoned black thin sheets of metal and used it to cover the whole room. At least with this, the room has gotten dimmer.

I plopped down the bed and it's as soft as the one I have in Alacrya. Finally something good in Dicathen. As I was getting comfortable, I felt a small sting on my finger and it seems like something is happening inside my dimension ring.

I checked what it is and Caspian is calling me through the scroll. I opened it and saw Caspian's face on the scroll.

“Adventurer Ath, can you come here for a moment?"

“I'm about to sleep."

“It's the middle of the afternoon. It's also very important and you'll get a ton of money.”

“I see. Then I will prepare and head there."

“Thank you Mr. ath."

This damn continent is too busy. If I'm in Alacrya I'll probably be on my bed right now. Well at least there are no fellow snakes in this continent. They are annoying.

I took off my top clothing and replaced it with the same thing but color black. My sense of fashion got affected by the snakes so much that almost all my clothes are dark colors. I should stick with white more.

With a snap of my finger all the black metal disappeared and the room turned back to its white shiny appearance again.

I opened the door and it seems my neighbor did the same at the same time. I got out of the room as I looked at her as she looked at me.

“Are you going somewhere Adventurer?”

“Yes, I'm about to go to the adventurer's guild."

“I am in the same boat. Do you want to accompany me?"

It seems her vocabulary and sense of humor changed too. Five years is really a long time.

“Do you have a carriage? Or something?"

“No."

“Then allow me."

“Huh?”

I grabbed her near me and used eclipse steps until we reached the adventurer's guild. After sometime we have finally got inside and I let her go.

“Just what just happened?"

“Magic"

“You obviously used magic but what is that?"

“It's a secret"

She grumbled a bit and I walked to Caspian's office and she followed me.

“I have a business with Caspian. You should wait a little."

“Asking a girl to wait is not good."

“I don't care."

I entered Caspian's office and Kathlyn entered as well. Caspian welcomed us with a smile and stood up.

“Adventurer Ath, princess Kathlyn I'm glad that you two are here at the same time!”

“Wait, he's Ath?”

“Always has been."

“Ah yes he is."

“What is this about?”

“Mr. Ath, the Glayder family wants the core that you got so they bought it for miss Kathlyn."

“I may be the one who brought that here but that is not my problem. I'm leaving."

“Wait! Adventurer Ath, we will share the profit!”

“Okay”

“Wait, it's that easy? He's a very strong and cruel guy. I didn't think he'd budge with that."

“ Then miss Kathlyn, please receive this."

It is the core I gave Caspian earlier today. Kathlyn received it and stored it inside her ring.

“Thank you Caspian. But I didn't expect someone I just recruited to be the one who sold this core.” She said looking towards me.

“I also did not expect it to get sold immediately but I'm glad it's you. That core may have a will inside."

“Are you serious?”

“Yes"

“Ehem! The Glayder family have bought the core for a thousand gold coins."

Hmm I expected it to be more but it seems the economy here dropped. Well we're in war so it makes sense but that's just unfortunate of me.

“With the taxes included then Adventurer Ath will receive 450 gold."

Seriously?

“I will call you again after we receive the money Mr. Ath.”

“No need. Just send it to the Regia Inn that's where I've been staying."

“I understand. Thank you for doing business again Mr. ath and to you too Miss Kathlyn."

“Hmm"

“I'll be leaving."

“I will come with you. I also don't have any purpose here.”

“Suit yourself.”

The two of us walked on the empty hallway away from Caspian's office. We arrived in the lobby which was very empty but Kathlyn stopped walking.

“Do you have a beast will?”

“Why do you think that I have?"

“Intuition."

“I do"

“Then is that how you teleported like that?"

“Yes"

“I see, then can you help me assimilate?”

“Depends on my mood.”

“I see"

Yeah it's really awkward talking to this girl. But my position right now isn't that bad. Just this past few hours I'm a simple adventurer. Now, I'm connected with the royal family of Sapin. And just a little more, I will reach the other royal family. Isn't that amusing.

“Don't worry about the money. I'll surely pa-

“Kathlyn?"

I snapped my head towards the voice who had cut her off. And I saw some old familiar faces.

It is her brother, Curtis. Behind him are five people who I also know. Claire , Theodore, Doradrea, Feyrith and who is this again? Hmmm... I remembered he's Tessia's simp, Lyde? Clyde? I don't know but yeah he's the guy who shoots arrows.

So this is her party huh. The five augmenters are Claire, Theodore, Curtis, Doradrea, and Clyde who is the special one. Honestly he's not really special he just shoots arrows. While the two conjurers are her and Feyrith.

It's a good party but lacks fire power that's why I'll just use fire whenever I'm with them.

“Who is this Kath? Is he harassing you?" Classic Curtis who's always protective glared at me.

“No he's not. He's the new party member I told you guys.

“Hoh? A pretty but scrawny boy again I see. He reminds me of him." Doradrea said walking up towards me.

“That's enough Doradrea." Theodore's low voice stopped her from getting close to me.

“Heh so mind introducing yourself? I'm Claire by the way. I'm the party leader.”

“I am Ath, AA rank adventurer. I'm 18 years old.”

“An AA rank adventurer yet you're younger than us? Are you taking this seriously?”

“Stop it Clive, he's telling the truth. I just didn't know that he's my age. I thought he would be at least my brother's."

Oh... So Clive is his name.

“Tsk"

Suddenly my body became extremely heavier and this made the ground below me crack. I didn't even bulge and just stood there straight.

“Hmm not bad. I accept him to be in the party." Theodore said as he cancelled his spell.

“Well I'll introduce myself again. I'm Ath, 18 Dual elements of Fire and Earth, Conjurer, Mid silver. Nice to meet you.”

___________________

I have finally written a 3000 word chapter. I'll continue to do this and finish this fic in like 30 chapters? I don't know. I won't have any upload schedule now as I'm busy with my school. My grade only averaged 93 this quarter and I need two 98 to reach a 95 overall average so imma need some miracle to reach that.

02-25-24