272 The Aler

"We should be quite close to our destination now, right?"

'Senior' Mountain asked Sean as he looked ahead, seemingly in anticipation of what we might find…

"Yeah, we should be there in less than an hour…"

'It's really just close to Battle City…'

[ 'Demon Base Locator' has been activated… ]

'I don't know if I hit the jackpot or I'm just unlucky…'

[ Alert - A demon base has been spotted within a diameter of 10 Km! ]

As it was already one of the major targets that I had to take care of within the 'Demon's Advent' quest which was quite similar to a main quest on its own, it was obviously a good thing to know the location of one of the bases that were in this domain, but…

'The situation isn't that great…'

Not only was I heading there right now without any preparation, but I was also going with three others who are unlikely to refuse to go back for now when they are this close to what they believed would be a great sect's 'Legacy'...

Going in along others that were decently skilled was also not a bad idea, but it was unknown how they would fare against demons who were physically overpowered and had a natural talent at using the dark element.

'Well, depending on how I use it, this can actually be an opportunity…'

With how there were supposedly about two 3rd stage earth practitioners on the team, with one of them being both elemental practitioner and greatsword user, alongside the dual element sword user, this was actually not a bad team with me in the center…

'I wanted to wait a bit, but…'

Taking into mind the fact that once I trained an 'Elemental Control' manual, I would be able to breeze through base destruction more easily, I had planned on waiting out the search for bases while I learned some of the techniques found in the sect that I would join, but the situation was already out of my control at this point…

'I will just have to plan it out properly in the time that's left before we find it so that we won't screw up…'

While I could just lash out and leave with my crossbow which seemed to be needed to give access to the 'Dark Nest' that's masking the demon base, there was no way to make sure that all items were needed, meaning that they could potentially be the key for giving a path out for the infiltrating demons…

Not to mention that it was unlikely for the hot headed Mountain to leave me alone knowing that I must be back at battle City before 10 days, so it wasn't really a wise choice to go for…

'Using the situation to my advantage is the current best decision that I can come up with for now…'

I wasn't as weak as I was back then when I first entered a hidden base to die just from failing, I could always find my way out in the worst case scenario, besides, I did know a lot of details concerning demon bases…

'This should work out well…'

`~~`~~`~~`

"We should be at the right place…"

Sean stopped his horse and said as his sister woke up, supposedly from the shock of the stop, but as we looked around…

'As expected, it's hidden as well…'

At this point and after knowing some of the secrets from the last gate, I wasn't completely sure if the illusory formation that was actually installed by those who sealed the base that I entered in the Light Domain to hide it so that no foolish human would become the stupid key that would bring along destruction, or if it was done by the demons who didn't want any humans that might endanger them and foil their plan if he entered like I did…

"Oh, there's nothing here though, should we head back?"

Thinking that this might be an easier way to spare myself the trouble for now, I tried to see if it was possible for them to give up this easy since they weren't really completely sure about it...

"Wait a sec, let me check the notes once again, I think I might know how to find it…"

Unlike the last gate that was hidden inside a thick random forest, we were currently in an open field with not that much green in it, it was a half desert-like plain of some sorts…

'I guess it's worth it if he can find it…'

Knowing that I will probably reach killer level boredom if we returned just like that, all I needed was to see the current reaction that they weren't willing to return this fast yet, as that meant that they were at least willing to invest some serious effort, which was more than enough for me…

'Let's just hope they won't act hot headedly and won't be stone-stubborn about everything…'

While Mountain seemed like a decent man with some intellect, his hot headed nature were things that could possibly bring his doom faster than the rest of the group's, even though he was supposed to be the strongest out of this trio…

"Hmmm, according to the notes, there should be an apparent sign of vegetation which would be the key to finding the way into the ruin…"

After searching in his notebook for a few minutes, Sean looked around as he told us what he has managed to collect from the scrambled notes…

'Well, let's see…'

Dreading the boredom of waiting, I looked around as well, while even Mountain started searching with his eyes which only left one person standing in her place, it was actually Clara who stood there with her eyes closed, seemingly not concerned…

'Found it.'

It didn't take me long to notice a small stick that was abnormally protruding from earth thanks to my perception stat, but it was instateous as it wasn't actually that close, being at the border of my 'Sensory Area'...

However, just as I was wondering if I should reveal it that fast…

"Brother, it should be there…"