Chapter 71 (2 of 2) Scavenger’s Drought Isle. (Patreon)

“Conlan, where are we going?”

The man with golden eyes paused to look back at his redhead and green-eyed follower.

Catherine had a slight grin on her face. “I’ve been itching to fight some monster scum the moment we got on this island.”

“Well, I’m not here for monsters,” he said with a smirk. “We’re here for treasure.”

“Oooh, treasure?” Catherine’s eyes lit up. “I like the sound of that.”

“It’s not the kind of treasure we could use ourselves,” he warned her. “Magical beasts don’t tend to use items, so what we’ll find is a ‘natural treasure’.”

Catherine screwed up her face as she thought about it. “So one of those crazy powerful plant or stones from this realm? ‘Kay then. Not a weapon, but it’s still treasure.” She shot him a curious look. “What do you want something like that for? And why do you know it’s over here?”

“If we hand over the treasure to our Captain then she might be more happy with us,” he replied casually. “And shouldn’t it be obvious that the centre of the lair is where the monsters keep their most powerful treasures?”

“I guess, but…” Catherine seemed to give up thinking and just shrugged. “Whatever you say, Con. Not sure why you want Captain stuck-up to like you but if that’s what you want I’ll go through with it.”

Conlan paused for a moment and then kept moving. “If our Captain is happy with us, won’t she let us do what we want more?”

“Isn’t it trust you need for that? Not just her ‘liking’ is?” Cathy asked, confused.

“I want both.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, well I know for sure that doing this won’t get on her good side.”

Conlan smirked again. “It’s fine. No matter what I do, she’ll never get rid of me.”

“I don’t know where you get your confidence from.” Catherine shook her head with mild exasperation.

She never kicked me off the crew the last time around, so why should I assume she’ll do it now? It’s why even though she pretended to never give me an inkling of attention, I knew I was important to her somehow.

She just loves playing hard to get. Which is why I’m going to get her to snap out of her prickly attitude towards me as quickly as possible in this timeline.

Conlan crouched as he approached the tropical fern undergrowth and gestured for Catherine to do the same. He placed a finger on his lips. “We need to be quiet now. I can sense monsters nearby.”

“Woah, I still can’t sense them!” Cathy said, looking impressed. “How do you have such good senses?”

“It’s a natural talent,” Conlan replied with a calm smile.

The sound of moving bushes to their right pricked their ears and they turned to see two women heading their way. One was the dirty-blonde-haired Dais Twyla with a thick braid going down her back. Something about her eyes looked slightly crazed and a little wild, and a low growl was escaping her lips.

Charlene Junem carefully followed Dais, a small levitating orb floating near her that functioned as a catalyst – a replacement for a staff.

“I smell them,” Dais growled when she met up with Conlan and Catherine.

“How many are guarding it?” he asked in a low voice.

“Three… no, maybe four,” she muttered. “The Scion is asleep, but not deeply. If one of its descendants gets close enough to warn it, it will wake up and wreck havoc on the island.” The tendons in her hands went taut as she gripped the ground with them, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on the stony beach in front of them.

Conlan gave her a side-eye. “You seem on edge.”

“I smelt blood,” she spat. “Human blood. One of our crew-members got injured. It’s a weak presence. They’ll get preyed upon easily.”

“Injured…” Conlan frowned and looked back to see the tropical jungle-covered mountain, but he couldn’t spot anything from his distance. “They must’ve been close if you detected their scent.”

Dais didn’t say anything but let out a guttural sound in her throat.

“Hey, if they’re hurt then shouldn’t we do something?” Catherine asked with slight shock. “Help them back to the ship or something?”

“Um… no, that would be a bad idea,” Conlan replied with a slight smile. “Not with Dais how she is right now.”

Catherine blinked and studied the woman. “…Dais?”

Dais seemed to be suppressing something because she was still staring at the opening that led out to the beach.

“Ah, I forgot that most of you wouldn’t know this, because Conlan mentioned it so casually to me,” Charlene mentioned with surprise. “Cathy, Dais isn’t fully human. She’s actually a-”

Conlan raised a hand and everybody fell silent. “Shhh. They’re coming closer.”

They all listened intently for the telltale sign of footsteps that would indicate a monster approaching them. Soon the sound of breaking twigs and ferns being pushed aside made it to them.

Dais turned to give Conlan a wide stare and he nodded. “Go.”

With a roar, the blonde-haired woman’s body sprouted fur and bones restructured themselves into a bipedal shape. The giant wolf that appeared in her place let out a howl and bounded off onto the beach.

“Nobody interrupt while she fights that monster in her wolf form,” Conlan ordered. “We’re going to make a break for the cove and enter the main cavern through the underwater tunnel. On the count of three.”

He held up his hand. “One. Two. …..Three.”

All three of them sprung up and dashed for the opening. When they made it to the beach they dodged the many boulders and sea life encrusted rocks, heading for the bend in the path ahead of them.

They ran past the scene of Dais battling five smaller turtle-like creatures with parasitic coral and barnacles attached to their shells, and mouths filled with natural teeth-like lumps of bone. She was showing no problem as she grabbed one in her jaws and threw it against a nearby rock wall. The shell of the turtle monster cracked.

“Dais is doing well, so ignore her and keep running!” Conlan shouted.

They kept running, nearly to the cove. When they rounded the bend they had to stop because there was no visible cave entrance except for a small opening where the rock face met with the water.

“Jump,” Conlan ordered. “We need to go into the water to access the cave.”

“…Conlan, are you sure about this?” Charlene asked with worry.

Before he could reply, Catherine placed her spear into its holder on her back. “I trust him. I’ll go first.”

She jumped in with a loud splash and swam for the small opening. Her head disappeared from view as she went under to enter the cave.

Charlene eyed the water hesitantly.

“I’ll go after you,” Conlan told her.

She took a deep breath and then jumped in, swimming for the cave.

Conlan spared a glance behind him to check on Dais, who was running towards him in her wolf form. He nodded when he saw the destroyed remains of the monsters and dived into the cold water himself.

He shot towards the opening and his head broke the water’s surface on the inside of the cave. In front of him, Catherine and Charlene were just climbing out of the water.

He swam to the edge of the water and clambered out, water sliding off the waterproof material of his uniform. Rippling reflections of the water’s surface coated the roof and his footsteps and splashes echoed dully.

“All good?” he asked the girls.

Charlene rang the water out of her hair while Catherine gave him a thumbs up with a big grin on her face. “A-Okay!”

“Right then.” He looked around the cave that echoed with the slightest vibration. “I’ll go on ahead to scout out the area beyond this while you two wait for Dais here-”

The sound of a gasp escaping from someone interrupted him and he turned around to see Dais Twyla climbing out of the small pool that connected with the sea. Her braid was messed up and unravelling, and blood washed off her uniform to dye the pool red.

“Are you injured?” Charlene asked her, holding up her hands in preparation to cast a healing spell.

“Nope. Ah, wait.” Dais spat out a globule of blood onto the cave floor and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Got a nasty cut on the inside of my mouth during the fight. It’ll heal in fifty seconds, tops.”

“I’ve never had the chance to heal you, you know,” Charlene said with a smile. “Your monster lineage regenerates you too quickly.”

“Nothing to be jealous of when you’ve got to fight strange cravings every time I use my wolf form.” Dais piled her long braid up on her head and tied it into a haphazard bun with a bit of twine she had on hand. “Alright, are we done with the chit chat or are we going to head deeper in?”

Conlan nodded. “Let’s go. Dais, you guard the rear, while I’ll lead from the front.”

“Got it.”

With Conlan in front, Charlene and Catherine in the middle, and Dais at the back, they began to walk through the wide open tunnel that led deeper into the cave system.

The redhead behind Conlan frowned slightly. “Monster?”

“Werewolf,” he informed Cathy. “The only group who have a monster bloodline.”

Her vivid green eyes widened. “Wait, werewolves exist?!” She paused to consider it. “What about vampires?”

Charlene blinked and turned to Catherine. “Vampires? You mean those of the Evernight March?”

Catherine looked stunned. “I can’t believe it… even vampires are real.” She hesitated and abruptly narrowed her eyes at Charlene. “Do they sparkle in the sunlight?”

“I… what?” The healer looked utterly confused. “No? Why would they sparkle?”

“Ha, take that, stupid book series, the bane of my teenage years!” Catherine yelled, startling the woman. “I always told my friends it was a dumb concept!”

Conlan nearly facepalmed but was distracted when the tunnel suddenly opened out to an enormous cavern. Based on their location, he could estimate that they were directly under the main mountain of the island.

In the centre of the cavern was a giant monstrous turtle, with a powerful aura emanating from it. Blue light gleamed from its dark green scales and their eyes were attracted to the source. A conch shell the size of their heads was emitting the light, and was positioned right next to the enormous eye of the monster’s head, resting on the damp surface of the cave floor.

“…that’s our goal,” Conlan whispered to the others.

“…how do we get it?” Charlene quietly asked.

“Let me think…” Conlan crouched and studied the position of the conch, looking out for any other monsters near the Monster King Scion.

“I feel like there’s a better plan than using the natural treasure to lure the other monsters out,” Dais Twyla grumbled. “Captain Riftmire told us to not take unnecessary risks, and I’m pretty sure this is considered an ‘unnecessary risk’.”

Well, that’s because, in truth, I just want the natural treasure. If we bring this back to White Squall Fortress, Adrianna will be accredited with the success and our crew can take on more important jobs. I want to move my plans along.

“We’re here now,” Conlan replied. “If this succeeds, our job will end up being much easier when the time comes for the ship’s cannons to activate.”

Dais frowned. “I guess…”

“If there are no more questions… then here’s the plan.” Conlan turned around and pointed to Charlene. “You need to stay by the entrance. We can’t risk our healer becoming injured and you don’t have the AGI to sneak the conch out from under the Scion’s nose.”

Charlene Junem nodded as he turned to Catherine. “Cathy, I want you to be the one to steal the conch away from the monster. You have the highest AGI out of all of us.”

In truth, I have double her AGI, but I can’t let that get found out when they all think I’m a warrior with high CON and STR.

“Dais, I need you to head back and guard the pool to make sure no monsters spring up behind us,” he said.

Dais narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t give me orders, Griffin. It’s clear that Sherwood is your friend and Charlene has never been the outspoken one, so I get why she hasn’t said anything, but you are not our official Squad Leader.”

Her attitude irritated him but he forced himself to dip his head apologetically. “Sorry, I’m just used to being the head of a party when I go adventuring.” He gave her as sincere a smile as he could manage while being frustrated at her. “Could you please guard our rear by the pool?”

The werewolf woman rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

He clenched his fist but let out a short sigh instead of commenting on her statement. “And I’m going to guard the other exit over there,” he said, pointing, “To ensure nothing gets out. Let’s get into our places.”

The three women dispersed, with Charlene waiting near the tunnel, Dais walking back to watch the pool, and Catherine cautiously walking forward to wait closer by the conch. She crouched behind a pile of boulders covered in bleached barnacles.

Conlan crept over to the other exit and when he was in position, he gave Cathy a firm nod.

Catherine took a deep breath and then bolted out from behind the boulders, making a break for the conch. She scooped it up and dashed back in the direction of Charlene and the tunnel.

Good, she’ll make it-

Conlan’s eyes widened. Oh no.

The monstrous turtle’s eye snapped open and fixed itself on Catherine. The redhead was unaware and held the conch high to show it off to Charlene. She grinned. “Look, I got it!”

Charlene’s face paled when she saw the turtle was awake and then the creature raised its head skyward and bellowed out a roar. The cave shook with enough force to dislodge many of the stalactite structures on the roof and they rained down on the cave floor like barbed hail.

Catherine glanced over her shoulder and went white as a sheet as a stalactite pierced the floor only inches away from where she had been.

“Throw it to me and keep going!” Conlan shouted from across the cave.

The redhead spared him a glance and nodded, chucking the conch at him. She and Charlene ran into the tunnel to meet up with Dais.

After he caught it, Conlan, now alone in the cave, watched the turtle to see if it would notice him. The monster had keen senses and whipped its head back to stare at him. It let out another roar and startled moving over to him, its flippers sending shocks throughout the room every time they collided with the floor.

He didn’t waste a second and dashed down the tunnel, hoping to find an entrance to the beach before the monstrous turtle Scion caught up. He came to a stop when fifty-odd lesser monster descendants stumbled down the tunnel from the opposite direction. He glanced back and could see the giant monstrous turtle trying to reach its long neck into the tunnel, its body too big to fit.

He was struck with indecisiveness over what to do.

Should I ditch the conch? But I don’t want to lose it after all the effort I went through to get it… and even if I try to distract them with it, they’ll probably catch up to me anyway. It’s not worth it.

A new tremor shot through the floor and he was thrown against the back wall when a powerful force of some kind blasted through the tunnel’s side. He coughed and waved his hand to clear the dust and soon noticed that an entrance to the outside had been blown open. He ran out and slowed slightly when he saw a familiar lightning-coated eagle fly over him.

Wait, she had created that construct this early on?! I never knew that!

But it doesn’t matter. Did she use a spell to create a new tunnel for me? Ha, if she truly never cared then she would’ve left me for dead.

He smirked but couldn’t stall for any longer. He brought out his sword to cut away any jungle vines and ferns that blocked his path and made for the beach, hoping to meet up with Catherine, Charlene, and Dais.

Something whistled past his ear and he dived into a bush, just in time to avoid the flaming hot molten stone that shot past him. He looked back to see the swarm of monsters that were escaping the hole in the mountain being pelted with spells of fire and metal mana, letting out cries of pain as their bodies exploded into monster miasma.

He looked up and saw the lightning eagle surrounded by a flock of molten orange birds. Their feathers rained down on the turtles, eradicating them by the dozens.

Monstrous Stymphalian constructs? A bit exotic but if it works, it works, I guess. Was Adrianna keeping an eye out for me?

The thought filled him with satisfaction but then he spotted Catherine, Charlene, and Dais on the beach, running away from a second swarm of monstrous lesser turtles that were being bombarded with molten bronze feathers.

Oh, so she was just keeping an eye out for our group in general. Always doing her job as Captain. Well, I never really expected her to be on the lookout for me specifically just yet.

Several turtles of the monster swarm behind him managed to separate from the main swarm that was facing the strongest attacks and shuffled after him. Nearly nipping at his heels, he made a split-second decision to dive into a roll to quickly roll down the short slope onto the beach. He sprung up and dashed after his other group members, ending up even closer to their chasing monster swarm than they had been.

The monster swarm that was exiting the hole in the mountain merged with the second swarm on the beach and combined, they let out an ear-splitting cry that nearly tripped him up as he kept running. He did trip and fall on his face when a furious quake shot through the entire island.

The side of the mountain shattered and sent a landslide cascading down to the beach as the turtle Scion broke through the cavern roof. Its mana-infused bellow made Conlan’s ears ring and his balance was off as picked himself up from the beach and kept on going.

He met up with the other three when they slowed after finding themselves before a steep slope where the beach fell away to form a cliff face. White-peaked waves crashed against the sandstone and slowly eroded the beach where they were standing.

“The… tide… is rising…” Charlene said through deep breaths, leaning her hands on her knees.

“All this for a stupid shell,” Dais muttered.

Conlan winced.

Crap, she’s not going to like me from now on. This might end up making things harder in the long run.

But that wasn’t his priority then. The monster stampede was catching up and they clearly were the main predators when it came to the water. If they entered, they would be killed within seconds.

Conlan turned around to watch the stampede approach and the other three did the same. They all slowly backed up, but their boots were sinking into the water-logged sand as the sea began to splash against the shoes.

“Conlan… what do we do?” Catherine asked nervously.

“Conlan? You’re really going to Griffin again in a situation like this?” Dais said angrily. “You need to think for yourself! Whose plan was it to get that seashell in the first place?! It was his! All his! Does he even still have that stupid shell with him!”

“I-” He put a hand into his pocket and his expression froze as he realised it fell out when the blast occurred.

Dais noticed his reaction and barked a short laugh. “We didn’t even get the damn shell in the end! Well folks, I hope you’re all ready to experience your first death. It’s not an enjoyable experience, I can tell you that.”

No… no. I can’t die here. I’ll lose 100 levels and will need another six months before I’ll get my strength back. I can’t let that happen.

He brought out his sword. Dais smirked at him. “You plan to die an honourable death by fighting ‘til your last breath?”

He gritted his teeth and ignored her aggravating statements as he charged forward. He activated his incomplete battle aura and sword aura, fully intent on using all of his power to escape the situation. Just as his sword split the skull of the first monster-

A pack of giant wolves bounded out of the jungle and tackled the monstrous turtles. They looked up to see Adrianna jump down from her Sky Eagle and hold out her staff. Indigo mana floated around her and the star-like streaks in her curly hair glowed with bright light.

“Get on,” she said in a frigid voice.

“…do you want us to get on the eagle?” Charlene asked hesitantly.

“I don’t like to repeat myself,” Adrianna stated coldly. “If you wish to die here and waste a resurrection, then be my guest, but I won’t let a liability back into the crew.”

Charlene and Dais quickly climbed onto the back of illusionary construct, but Catherine was pale.

“I-I don’t like heights,” she stammered.

Adrianna turned to stare at her. “Then Sherwood, you have a choice. Either get on my eagle and deal with a height that can be ignored by just closing your eyes, or get mauled and eaten alive by the swarm of monsters greedily eyeing your flesh only ten metres away from us. You have ten seconds to make your decision.”

Catherine closed her mouth and climbed onto the eagle. She stumbled slightly when the monster construct rose up but she was caught by Charlene and Dais who both grabbed her arms to steady her.

Adrianna turned to narrow her eyes at Conlan. “Griffin, get on the construct.”

“…Captain, I want to stay here and fight with you,” he argued.

Her gaze went cold. “No. Get on the eagle’s back.”

He shook his head. “Captain, even if you have your constructs, your CON still wouldn’t be high. Let me stay beside you and protect you in case anything goes-”

“Elite Officer Conlan Griffin,” she stated, her intimidating ice-blue eyes gazing at him with a look that said she wouldn’t take no for an answer. “Get on my illusory construct and leave here before I kill you here myself for disobeying my orders.”

Conlan went silent as he studied her and then let out a short sigh. “Fine. I’ll listen, but only because it’s you, Captain.” He smirked at her. “You’re the only one I’ll obey in this crew.”

Her brow creased as she gazed at him but he walked past her and climbed onto the back of the eagle. When he had done that, Adrianna jumped up herself and the eagle shot into the sky.

“Captain, I smelt human blood when we were outside the cave,” Dais Twyla informed her. “The other team might be in trouble. We didn’t try to find them at the time because my bloodlust was heightened by the scent and we didn’t want to risk anything.”

“Officer Zhang Mingxia has already led them back to the ship on my orders,” Adrianna replied apathetically. “Due to Wilden Leutia having an affinity for the dark element, it was best for them to be healed by Winrich.”

“Don’t tell me this whole mission was a failure then,” Catherine said grumpily. “What was all that effort to get the conch for if the other group had to go back too?”

Adrianna turned to stare at her and Conlan winced, as he hadn’t want the tall woman to know about the natural treasure yet. But before she could say anything, a massive mana-infused roar escaped from the mouth of the turtle Scion, aimed at them.

Adrianna spun around and pointed her staff at the monster. A mana-circle three times her height formed at the end of the staff and her signature cry of the Monstrous Drake King sounded out, clashing and conflicting with the call. The Sky Eagle’s illusory form distorted slightly but restabilised itself before anything could happen.

Several lines of semi-translucent scales on the Scion’s neck glowed bright green as a force built within its throat. It opened its mouth and shot a ball of sizzling acid at them.

Dais and the other two girls stepped back but Adrianna swung her staff to the side and deflected the attack with an illusory tentacle that had manifested from her mana. She pointed her staff at the sea below and her Morphic Kraken appeared from the waves, its mouth filled with rotating blade-like teeth screaming at the monsters. It was only a third of the monstrous turtle Scion’s height but it was enough to keep it distracted.

“…I’m glad you’re our leader, Captain Riftmire,” Charlene said with a pale face. “None of us would’ve been able to deal with an attack like that. If it wasn’t for you, we might have died there.”

Adrianna frowned slightly as she watched her construct battle the Scion. Conlan could tell her mana consumption was high because her kraken’s limbs and body were being destroyed and reformed at a rapid rate.

“This Scion is stubborn,” Adrianna murmured. “It didn’t let Griffin go even when he dropped the conch. The Dawnlight will be chased all the way back to the Fortress if we don’t end it here.”

Conlan paused to stare at her. She knew I had the conch?

Adrianna’s kraken was completely dissolved by the acid of the monstrous turtle and instead of reforming it, she snapped her fingers and the illusion mana returned to her. The speed of the Sky Eagle picked up as she enhanced its power. “As soon as you get back to the ship, heal your injuries and prepare to man the ship within the first half hour,” Adrianna ordered. “We’re going to be in for an exhaustive trip back to the Fortress where we aim to kill this Scion while keeping everyone safe. Junem, heal this group when we-”

Something caught her attention and she turned back to observe the island. Conlan and the others did the same and they were just in time to see a fiery force decimate the rest of the mountain. The monstrous turtle Scion screamed with pain as tons of stone landed on its back and half-buried it under the weight of the destroyed landmass.

Rounding the edge of the island was the M.W.S. Dawnlight. Zhang Mingxia and Caspian were waving from the forecastle deck, mouthing something. Conlan presumed Adrianna could detect what they were saying because she turned to them.

“Change of plans. The main cannons of the Dawnlight dealt a heavy blow to the Scion,” she stated coolly. “We’ll fight the entire battle in the waters of Scavenger’s Drought Isle. Junem, you’ll have little time to heal these three when we get back to the ship. Spend the time firing the cannons and obeying Quartermaster Vima’s instructions instead.”

The light-element healer nodded and the Sky Eagle let out a cry as it shot towards their ship.

Adrianna jumped down as soon as the eagle was close enough and pointed to Maeva. “Winrich. Catch.”

The blue-haired woman blinked and stared as a large glowing blue conch shell landed in her hands. Conlan’s eyes widened.

She got the conch?!

Adrianna glanced at Zhang Mingxia and marched over. “You brought the ship over?”

“I perceived the awakening of the Scion just as we were leaving the island, Captain,” the Sect heir replied calmly. “Vice Captain Wharifin agreed that we should reinforce you.”

The wild-haired woman nodded. “Well done.” She walked off and left the stunned cultivator to her own devices. Instead, she stormed up the stairs of the forecastle deck and pointed with her staff.

“Everyone, man the cannons!” she shouted. “By tonight, we’ll be returning with the head of our first slain Monster King descendant!”

The rest of the crew let out cheers and ran to their positions. Conlan clenched his fists but did the same.

‘Well done’ she says. ‘Well done’, but not to me. Not that I want her praise.

He gained a dark smirk and fired his cannon at the vile monster giant on the island.

After all, all I want is for our positions to be reversed. For her to be desiring the attention of the most powerful Guildmaster and User in the Tower.

___________________________________________________________________________

The door to his room unlocked with a click and he flung it open. The navy-haired mage trudged into his messy apartment and slumped in the chair behind his desk. He tilted his head back to sigh.

Then five seconds later he was rummaging in his dimensional items for a specific artifact. He carefully placed the solid gold jewellery casket on the table and its ruby-encrusted key right next to it. Then he brought out a large magnification glassware item to study the engravings and language written on the artifact in greater detail.

“Now, let me see if these are translatable runes…”

He jumped as his front door burst open and four other people marched in.

“There! Caught in the act!” Garthe shouted, pointing a finger at the golden box.

Marellen’s eyes widened and he snatched the casket and key to scamper back against the wall. “What are you doing in my house?!?”

“That would be me,” a blonde-haired man replied, casually raising a hand as he peeked out from behind Garthe. “I had already planned for us to meet at your house once you got back.”

A snow elf with silvery-white hair and turquoise eyes came forward to give the navy-haired mage a judgemental look. “So it is true. You did bring that artifact with you.”

“Cursed item more likely,” Larena muttered.

“Well, it’s my cursed item,” Marellen stated shortly. “If you went and told the Artificers about it then our whole group would get in trouble for hiding artifacts from them.”

Larena groaned and ran a hand down her face as Efratel walked up to the desk to give the casket a curious look. “Perhaps you could show our sponsor when we visit them.”

Marellen paused. “Sponsor?”

“A visit?” Roa asked with interest.

Efratel nodded. “I’ve been in touch while you were gone. It’s officially scheduled for July.”

“Three months…” Roa mused. “It feels too long.”

The Commission manager shrugged. “They have a debut planned out and we’d be heading to the Commission at the same time as a bunch of powerful nobles, so it’s best for us to wait.” He gave them a wry smirk. “We might end up meeting Archmage Merkenia otherwise.”

Larena, Garthe, Roa and Marellen all considered it. They gained uneasy expressions.

“Yeah… I’ll stick with waiting a few more months.” Garthe sat down cross-legged on the ground after clearing himself a space. “So, our plans for the meantime?”

“Technically, you’re all free to do as you please, but if you wish you may return to the Allbright plane shard,” Efratel informed them as he leaned against Marellen’s desk.

Garthe scratched the back of his head. “Well… I kinda want to take the examination for entering the Black Hand, actually…”

Larena stared at her brother. “What? You finally want to do it after so long?”

He clicked his tongue. “I just thought I’d get around to it, that’s all.”

Larena turned back to Efratel. “I should probably complete some more work for the Black Hand too.”

“So, going back to the Old Era plane as a party is off-limits then,” Efratel said, crossing off a sentence on a small notepad.

“I, for one, would not mind continuing to party with Marellen,” Roa announced. “The few times we were able to collaborate together to study artifacts and magic, I felt myself making much more progress than usual. If we could continue to study together it may be worthwhile.”

Efratel turned to his cousin. “Marellen? What do you say about that?”

“Eh? Oh, um…” The navy-haired mage blinked. “That’s fine with me, yeah. But where do we go? Roa isn’t a mage of the Athenaeum so she can’t stay on this plane for long.”

Roa turned back to Efratel. “Is it against the rules for us to return to the Sundown continent plane shard?”

“No, but…” He hesitated and then sighed. “It’s not the safest, but I guess you have experience with the plane now.”

Roa nodded. “There is much I wish to have studied in depth that we could not due to time constraints and Larena and Garthe. Marellen and I care much less about monetary value and I believe the facilities there would still allow us to have a successful time researching artifacts.” She gestured to the casket still gripped by Marellen. “Such as that.”

They all turned to gaze warily at the casket, like it might grow teeth and limbs at any moment, but it didn’t do anything. Efratel shook his head. “Alright then. That’s all sorted. Now, to divvy up the remaining artifacts into what are your rewards, and what will be sent to the Commission Head…”

__________________________________________________________________________

“We want to go to the Demon Realm,” Lucille stated.

Vincent stared at them. “…what?”