It takes a few more hours for Elydor and Obelia to hash things out. It seems like Elydor used Obelia and her guild to get there, offering them support and promising her a percentage while withholding a lot of information from her, sharing it only now.
He most likely did this out of fear that the information would fall into the wrong hands.
So, Obelia and her guild examine the star-shaped mana stone under the watchful eye of a member from Serpent's Eye, and then they discuss.
While we wait, I continue to practice trying to etch coordinates into the mana stone. Sophie notices and joins me, sitting by my side and watching the process while giving her opinion on it.
There's also one woman, apparently named Eve, who keeps eyeing Tess with hateful eyes. When I ask Tess about them, she just tells me not to bother, so I do just that.
“Did you guys try selling mana stones to the system shop?” I ask when Sophie and I take a break.
“Almost as soon as we got some. You need to sell so many of them to barely get some shards that it's not even worth it,” she examines the mana stone in her hands and hands it back to me after making some suggestions, “We also tried to go into high-end shops, touch expensive items, and try to sell them. It didn't work; the system didn't consider us as owners of the item to sell it.”
“How about buying common and uncommon gear and selling it?” I ask.
If we become rich enough, we could buy plenty of them to get some easy shards.
“That did work a bit better. You can buy common gear from the shop for 20 shards, but buying a common sword here and trying to sell it to the system shop would usually get us only around one or two shards. If you buy an item from the system for 20 shards and sell it back, you get 10 shards.” Sophie pauses and glances at a group of two big guilds talking.
She turns back to me, “We have a theory that it's either the system limiting our ability to exploit it this way, or there are requirements we don't know about, or the system simply considers us getting these items too easily, so that's why it's low.”
“We should try creating our own items; they could be worth more than items already existing on the 4th floor,” I say.
Sophie thinks about it for a moment, “I think you're right.”
I hand her the mana stone and continue to think. It's a shame; it would be nice to get some easy shards, but obviously, the system will hold us back. Even the epic items I got from the 3rd floor are worth only 200 shards, while the system sells them for over 4 thousand. There's still so much to examine.
“Get ready, we will head out!” one of the men from Serpent's Eye shouts, and immediately the atmosphere changes. Everyone becomes a bit more tense and on guard.
We've known about Calamities only for a few days, so I wonder how it is for the natives of these floors who grew up hearing about them, about the people these calamities killed.
Yet, they are still here, a group of humans motivated by greed and willing to risk their lives. Some things don't change no matter where you are.
We move closer to the city while still keeping a long distance between us. Following a map left on the mana stone, Elydor leads us down the hill and then sideways towards one of the cliffs nearby. Near the bottom of the cliff, we stop.
Multiple members of both large guilds start scanning the area with their senses, and mana to try to detect something.
Out of curiosity, I use my [Perception], but not knowing what to look for makes it even more difficult. Yet, I continue to try and even consolidate my [Focus] to do so.
And then I feel it. A tiny, weak mana signature on the side of the cliff. The signature is extremely faint, but the mana I feel from it is so different from any mana I've felt until now, so I detect it.
I cancel my skills and then continue to recreate the signature in my head, examining it. I do so for a few more minutes, and that's also when a notable member of Serpent's Eye finds it. The man was the one who laughed the most when Elydor came to visit us so unexpectedly.
“Good job, Varrik,” Elydor smiles proudly, seemingly poking fun at Obelia because his guild member found it first, whatever it is.
We then wait another hour while he approaches that tiny dot of mana signature and places the star-shaped mana stone on it. There seems to be a special method he needs to use, so that's what takes him a while. When he finally does, only a flash of mana is sent into the area and nothing else changes.
The man then puts his hand on the side of the cliff, and it burrows inside as if there's no wall at all; the hand just disappears into the stone.
“Okay, good, everyone get combat ready!” On his order, people shed some of their bulkier clothes and even take out their weapons.
Some start strengthening their bodies, others start charging their skills. There are a few with eyes that start shining or tattoos appearing on their skin, charged with mana.
And I don't know where to look; it's all too fascinating to observe.
“You, brat, go in first,” Elydor says with a cruel smile, pointing at Min-Jae.
That gets some smirks from some of his men, and Varrik, the one who found the entrance, visibly smiles. Obelia and her guild remain silent. They don't seem to enjoy the spectacle as much as Serpent's Eye, yet they do nothing.
Min-Jae, on the other hand, starts to panic a bit and freezes on the spot, unable to respond.
“Are you deaf? Come here and…”
“I will go first,” I interrupt and step closer to the guild master of Serpent's Eye, the man named Elydor.
He looks surprised for a moment but then just nods, “You're the one who keeps controlling his mana, aren't you?” He stops in front of me and places his hand on my shoulder.
“Go on, get in,” he pats my shoulder a few times and then pushes me towards the entrance, “you have one minute to examine what's there and then get out.”
But I already ignore him and gather mana inside my body. I don't even glance at Min-Jae to see his expression. I'm sure it would be annoying.
Taking a step, I pass through the stone and immediately form a mana orb filled with thermal energy to illuminate the surrounding area engulfed in total darkness.
It's a tunnel.
Just a somewhat regular-looking tunnel with surprisingly smooth walls, floor, and ceiling, all made from the same material.
After releasing my mana into the area and receiving no feedback, I send my orb ahead. The tunnel continues for a surprisingly long time, moving straight ahead, and at the end, there's a twisted staircase leading downwards, also made of the same material as the rest of the tunnel.
I create a few mana projectiles and position them in front of me. I even activate [Mana Domain] and, as a final test, leave an anchor behind, taking a few steps to check for traps.
Finding nothing, I return to where I came from before the minute passes and step back outside.
“Oh, good job, maybe you can be our scout,” Elydor says with a smile, his eyes challenging me to react.
But I just nod, “I'll do it,” I respond while sinking deeper into [Focus].
When all of us enter the tunnels, I don't summon my orbs. Instead, others light the area while I keep observing Elydor and his men.
Could I kill him? Most likely yes. His men and he at once? Also, probably yes, but it would be close. With Obelia and her guild, along with a few dozen more people, my chances are slim, not to mention the risk of them killing someone from group 4. So, if I'm not absolutely sure I can protect them or that we can confront them together without someone getting killed in the crossfire, it's better to keep myself calm. I can wait for a better opportunity.
Ignoring the looks from Group 4 and making my decision, I start walking first. My mana is constantly cycling through my body, ready to explode at any moment, and my regulator is converting eighty percent of my mana regeneration into strengthening my body.
The expedition continues to walk through the tunnel, our steps echoing. After reaching the stairs, I begin descending, constantly sending my mana ahead.
My mind is sharp, and there's no hesitation in my steps. As always, during such situations, I'm weirdly calm.
We spend a few minutes on the stairs, and I constantly sense other people sending their senses ahead or all around. They too are checking for traps or anything suspicious.
Yet there's nothing. The stairs end, and the tunnel changes its direction, this time heading right towards the city and slightly slanted downwards. The material it's made of remains the same, but this time, the tunnel is a bit wider. It's tall enough even for a lynthari to walk without bending their head and wide enough for ten people to walk side by side.
The longer we're in the tunnel, the more I notice things.
[Perception - lvl 35 > Perception - lvl 36]
The walls aren't just simple stone; there are veins of a strange material embedded and running through them. Every time I try to examine them, I feel my skill being deflected, as if the material is being evasive.
Some sort of camouflage? To hide the tunnel leading under the city? I suspect that they are circuits that used to be filled with mana, creating some sort of effect, perhaps enhancing the tunnel's ability to conceal itself. But right now, they are nearly empty, with just weak wisps of mana flowing through them.
In almost absolute silence, we walk for several hours, with only the occasional conversation. Nerves are at their peak, and I can sense the ways others change how they use skills over time — they become more careless or increasingly irritated, wasting mana.
Some even start to use their skills more frequently, more nervous than ever.
I, on the other hand, become calmer and calmer, and my steps quieter. The longer we walk, the more I rely on my skills to warn me in case something happens.
But there's nothing. It's easy, and when we reach the end of the tunnel, everyone hesitates, a shared sentiment evident on their faces.
It's too easy.
More mana flows from their bodies as we continue to climb another set of stairs. By the time we reach the door, it feels as though they're about to explode.
“What the fuck!” one of the men nearly screams, “how is it so...”
“Shut up,” Elydor turns to him, and the man instantly quiets down. No one else dares to speak.
The guild master of Serpents Eye appears calmer than most of them. He walks past me, approaching a door that has a similar mana signature to the entrance on the side of the cliff.
“This will take a while,” he says, moving past me to address his men.
Biscuit gets in his way, and a short blast of mana sends the corgi flying, even though he tries to defend himself with quickly created purple tentacles. The piece of dried deer meat that Biscuit was excitedly bringing to give me falls down and with a whimper, the small corgi lands on the ground.
“Get that fucking creature away from me,” Elydor simply says and turns to his men.
[Focus - lvl 36 > Focus - lvl 37]
Biscuit looks around, stress evident in his eyes, and then he moves toward me, slightly limping. He pushes his head against my leg, and I reach down to pet him.
“Just hold on a bit longer, okay? As I said before, don't attack them yet,” I whisper so only he can hear and continue to pet his head.
(Hurt.) sounds in my head while he limps a bit. Not knowing what to do, I just continue to pet his small head.
I look up and see Tess holding back Lily, and Hadwin doing the same for others. It seems most difficult for Sophie, who has to physically restrain Isabella from doing something stupid.
My eyes shift slightly towards Elydor, who is talking to Varrik, his strongest man, seemingly indifferent to what just happened.
One of his men makes a joke, and Elydor laughs briefly before shaking his head. He then returns to showing them the star-shaped mana stone and discussing how to unlock the door.
[Focus - lvl 37 > Focus - lvl 38]
It takes a few more hours for Elydor and Obelia to hash things out. It seems like Elydor used Obelia and her guild to get there, offering them support and promising her a percentage while withholding a lot of information from her, sharing it only now.
He most likely did this out of fear that the information would fall into the wrong hands.
So, Obelia and her guild examine the star-shaped mana stone under the watchful eye of a member from Serpent's Eye, and then they discuss.
While we wait, I continue to practice trying to etch coordinates into the mana stone. Sophie notices and joins me, sitting by my side and watching the process while giving her opinion on it.
There's also one woman, apparently named Eve, who keeps eyeing Tess with hateful eyes. When I ask Tess about them, she just tells me not to bother, so I do just that.
“Did you guys try selling mana stones to the system shop?” I ask when Sophie and I take a break.
“Almost as soon as we got some. You need to sell so many of them to barely get some shards that it's not even worth it,” she examines the mana stone in her hands and hands it back to me after making some suggestions, “We also tried to go into high-end shops, touch expensive items, and try to sell them. It didn't work; the system didn't consider us as owners of the item to sell it.”
“How about buying common and uncommon gear and selling it?” I ask.
If we become rich enough, we could buy plenty of them to get some easy shards.
“That did work a bit better. You can buy common gear from the shop for 20 shards, but buying a common sword here and trying to sell it to the system shop would usually get us only around one or two shards. If you buy an item from the system for 20 shards and sell it back, you get 10 shards.” Sophie pauses and glances at a group of two big guilds talking.
She turns back to me, “We have a theory that it's either the system limiting our ability to exploit it this way, or there are requirements we don't know about, or the system simply considers us getting these items too easily, so that's why it's low.”
“We should try creating our own items; they could be worth more than items already existing on the 4th floor,” I say.
Sophie thinks about it for a moment, “I think you're right.”
I hand her the mana stone and continue to think. It's a shame; it would be nice to get some easy shards, but obviously, the system will hold us back. Even the epic items I got from the 3rd floor are worth only 200 shards, while the system sells them for over 4 thousand. There's still so much to examine.
“Get ready, we will head out!” one of the men from Serpent's Eye shouts, and immediately the atmosphere changes. Everyone becomes a bit more tense and on guard.
We've known about Calamities only for a few days, so I wonder how it is for the natives of these floors who grew up hearing about them, about the people these calamities killed.
Yet, they are still here, a group of humans motivated by greed and willing to risk their lives. Some things don't change no matter where you are.
We move closer to the city while still keeping a long distance between us. Following a map left on the mana stone, Elydor leads us down the hill and then sideways towards one of the cliffs nearby. Near the bottom of the cliff, we stop.
Multiple members of both large guilds start scanning the area with their senses, and mana to try to detect something.
Out of curiosity, I use my [Perception], but not knowing what to look for makes it even more difficult. Yet, I continue to try and even consolidate my [Focus] to do so.
And then I feel it. A tiny, weak mana signature on the side of the cliff. The signature is extremely faint, but the mana I feel from it is so different from any mana I've felt until now, so I detect it.
I cancel my skills and then continue to recreate the signature in my head, examining it. I do so for a few more minutes, and that's also when a notable member of Serpent's Eye finds it. The man was the one who laughed the most when Elydor came to visit us so unexpectedly.
“Good job, Varrik,” Elydor smiles proudly, seemingly poking fun at Obelia because his guild member found it first, whatever it is.
We then wait another hour while he approaches that tiny dot of mana signature and places the star-shaped mana stone on it. There seems to be a special method he needs to use, so that's what takes him a while. When he finally does, only a flash of mana is sent into the area and nothing else changes.
The man then puts his hand on the side of the cliff, and it burrows inside as if there's no wall at all; the hand just disappears into the stone.
“Okay, good, everyone get combat ready!” On his order, people shed some of their bulkier clothes and even take out their weapons.
Some start strengthening their bodies, others start charging their skills. There are a few with eyes that start shining or tattoos appearing on their skin, charged with mana.
And I don't know where to look; it's all too fascinating to observe.
“You, brat, go in first,” Elydor says with a cruel smile, pointing at Min-Jae.
That gets some smirks from some of his men, and Varrik, the one who found the entrance, visibly smiles. Obelia and her guild remain silent. They don't seem to enjoy the spectacle as much as Serpent's Eye, yet they do nothing.
Min-Jae, on the other hand, starts to panic a bit and freezes on the spot, unable to respond.
“Are you deaf? Come here and…”
“I will go first,” I interrupt and step closer to the guild master of Serpent's Eye, the man named Elydor.
He looks surprised for a moment but then just nods, “You're the one who keeps controlling his mana, aren't you?” He stops in front of me and places his hand on my shoulder.
“Go on, get in,” he pats my shoulder a few times and then pushes me towards the entrance, “you have one minute to examine what's there and then get out.”
But I already ignore him and gather mana inside my body. I don't even glance at Min-Jae to see his expression. I'm sure it would be annoying.
Taking a step, I pass through the stone and immediately form a mana orb filled with thermal energy to illuminate the surrounding area engulfed in total darkness.
It's a tunnel.
Just a somewhat regular-looking tunnel with surprisingly smooth walls, floor, and ceiling, all made from the same material.
After releasing my mana into the area and receiving no feedback, I send my orb ahead. The tunnel continues for a surprisingly long time, moving straight ahead, and at the end, there's a twisted staircase leading downwards, also made of the same material as the rest of the tunnel.
I create a few mana projectiles and position them in front of me. I even activate [Mana Domain] and, as a final test, leave an anchor behind, taking a few steps to check for traps.
Finding nothing, I return to where I came from before the minute passes and step back outside.
“Oh, good job, maybe you can be our scout,” Elydor says with a smile, his eyes challenging me to react.
But I just nod, “I'll do it,” I respond while sinking deeper into [Focus].
When all of us enter the tunnels, I don't summon my orbs. Instead, others light the area while I keep observing Elydor and his men.
Could I kill him? Most likely yes. His men and he at once? Also, probably yes, but it would be close. With Obelia and her guild, along with a few dozen more people, my chances are slim, not to mention the risk of them killing someone from group 4. So, if I'm not absolutely sure I can protect them or that we can confront them together without someone getting killed in the crossfire, it's better to keep myself calm. I can wait for a better opportunity.
Ignoring the looks from Group 4 and making my decision, I start walking first. My mana is constantly cycling through my body, ready to explode at any moment, and my regulator is converting eighty percent of my mana regeneration into strengthening my body.
The expedition continues to walk through the tunnel, our steps echoing. After reaching the stairs, I begin descending, constantly sending my mana ahead.
My mind is sharp, and there's no hesitation in my steps. As always, during such situations, I'm weirdly calm.
We spend a few minutes on the stairs, and I constantly sense other people sending their senses ahead or all around. They too are checking for traps or anything suspicious.
Yet there's nothing. The stairs end, and the tunnel changes its direction, this time heading right towards the city and slightly slanted downwards. The material it's made of remains the same, but this time, the tunnel is a bit wider. It's tall enough even for a lynthari to walk without bending their head and wide enough for ten people to walk side by side.
The longer we're in the tunnel, the more I notice things.
[Perception - lvl 35 > Perception - lvl 36]
The walls aren't just simple stone; there are veins of a strange material embedded and running through them. Every time I try to examine them, I feel my skill being deflected, as if the material is being evasive.
Some sort of camouflage? To hide the tunnel leading under the city? I suspect that they are circuits that used to be filled with mana, creating some sort of effect, perhaps enhancing the tunnel's ability to conceal itself. But right now, they are nearly empty, with just weak wisps of mana flowing through them.
In almost absolute silence, we walk for several hours, with only the occasional conversation. Nerves are at their peak, and I can sense the ways others change how they use skills over time — they become more careless or increasingly irritated, wasting mana.
Some even start to use their skills more frequently, more nervous than ever.
I, on the other hand, become calmer and calmer, and my steps quieter. The longer we walk, the more I rely on my skills to warn me in case something happens.
But there's nothing. It's easy, and when we reach the end of the tunnel, everyone hesitates, a shared sentiment evident on their faces.
It's too easy.
More mana flows from their bodies as we continue to climb another set of stairs. By the time we reach the door, it feels as though they're about to explode.
“What the fuck!” one of the men nearly screams, “how is it so...”
“Shut up,” Elydor turns to him, and the man instantly quiets down. No one else dares to speak.
The guild master of Serpents Eye appears calmer than most of them. He walks past me, approaching a door that has a similar mana signature to the entrance on the side of the cliff.
“This will take a while,” he says, moving past me to address his men.
Biscuit gets in his way, and a short blast of mana sends the corgi flying, even though he tries to defend himself with quickly created purple tentacles. The piece of dried deer meat that Biscuit was excitedly bringing to give me falls down and with a whimper, the small corgi lands on the ground.
“Get that fucking creature away from me,” Elydor simply says and turns to his men.
[Focus - lvl 36 > Focus - lvl 37]
Biscuit looks around, stress evident in his eyes, and then he moves toward me, slightly limping. He pushes his head against my leg, and I reach down to pet him.
“Just hold on a bit longer, okay? As I said before, don't attack them yet,” I whisper so only he can hear and continue to pet his head.
(Hurt.) sounds in my head while he limps a bit. Not knowing what to do, I just continue to pet his small head.
I look up and see Tess holding back Lily, and Hadwin doing the same for others. It seems most difficult for Sophie, who has to physically restrain Isabella from doing something stupid.
My eyes shift slightly towards Elydor, who is talking to Varrik, his strongest man, seemingly indifferent to what just happened.
One of his men makes a joke, and Elydor laughs briefly before shaking his head. He then returns to showing them the star-shaped mana stone and discussing how to unlock the door.
[Focus - lvl 37 > Focus - lvl 38]
