......
Shin looked at Alice and instantly noticed that something was different from her. She still had the same appearance, but the aura that she was emitting was completely different from what she had before entering the dungeon.
He knew that it was not because of the acquisition of the new elemental spirit, but because of something different. Her aura and demeanor were way stronger than before. She now carried a mysterious air around her.
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He then suddenly noticed the mysterious book that she was carrying in her left hand. A single glance at it was enough for Shin to realize that it was no ordinary item. He could tell that it must be an inheritance item or something similar.
"I guess she also gets an unexpected bonus inside that dungeon," he mumbled as he walked over to her and greeted her. "It looks like everything goes well. What is our next plan then?"
Alice exhaled deeply as her feet touched the ground. Keeping the Levitation Spell active for quite a while was quite exhausting for her. She was not sure how much time had passed outside, but she felt that she had been unsealing the iron chains restraining Gaia for a very long time while keeping herself floating at the same time to avoid being distracted by the intense tremors within the dungeon.
It took her quite a lot of concentration to keep her mind sharp while unsealing the sealing runes imbued with the iron chains.
But thanks to that, she became more familiar with the runes that she had learned from her new legacy skill. It was like having a practical test after a long session of studying.
Recovering herself, she turned at Shin and smiled. "It is fine. The Quest Scenario has already been triggered, so I will have a lot of bonuses when facing the demonic seed. My elemental spirit companions will also help me with their boosted state, so I will be fine."
"You can go ahead and submit your quest now. It will also be a part of the Quest Scenario if things go wrong. The commander of the Storm Fortress will be the last line of defense and will deal with the finishing blow to the 'Flora of Death' if it successfully sprouted."
She then paused and looked at her Elementals before saying. "Although, I doubt that he will get the chance since these guys are too eager to show their true power. It has been a while since they have returned to their peak forms – even if it is only temporary."
Shin stared at her for a few moments before nodding his head. "I see. Then I'll leave it to you."
Alice smiled under her veil and said. "You can count on me."
After that, she suddenly floated in the air before flying in a certain direction.
Swoosh!
It only took her an instant to disappear from Shin's vision.
Shin stared in the direction where she flew, sensing that there was a huge cluster of Demonic Aura coming from there. He stood still for a while before turning around and sweeping his gaze at the surroundings.
The monster horde had already stopped since the dungeon entrance had already disappeared. The monsters scattered and went back to their respective next while the stray ones started fighting against the dark monsters that were corrupted by the demonic seed.
After cleaning the battlefield one last time, harvesting all the Mana Cores from the bodies of the monsters, and gathering the rare materials that he could get, he went toward the Storm Fortress to finally submit his quest.
***
Not long after, Shin returned to the Storm Fortress and reported everything that he had investigated to Commander Taiga. He did not miss any details and even reported his encounter with the members of the Pandemonium Descendants, addressing them as believers of Demonic Churches.
Commander Taiga was silent for quite a while after listening to everything that Shin had reported. He stroked his chin as he fell in deep thought before turning to Shin. "I see. I understand. It seems like we have to increase our defenses to prevent any unexpected ambush from those filthy people of Demonic Churches."
He then paused and said in a grave tone. "But regarding your suspicion about the Dark Could Kingdom, I am afraid that I can't help you with that. You have more concrete and irrefutable evidence before I can help you present it to the Imperial Court."
Shin smiled under his mask as he nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, Commander Taiga. That is exactly my plan for coming here. I plan on collecting more evidence against those guys."
"This involves diplomatic and national conflict after all, so we have to be discreet on our decisions," he added.
Commander Taiga nodded his head and said. "Don't worry. I will do everything I can to support you, Sir Envoy."
Shin nodded once again as he said. "I can never be thankful, Commander Taiga."
*Ding*
At the same time, Shin had also received a notification from the system, informing him about the completion of his quest.
There was also a beam of light that enfolded Shin, which only players could see. It was the indication that he had leveled up. It was not only once, but twice!
"Sweet~!" he whispered as he stood up and said. "There is another favor that I want to ask before leaving the fortress, Commander Taiga. Can't I stay here for a short period and rest?"
Hearing that, Commander Taiga smiled. "Is that all? You can stay here for as long as you want! You are already our brother after everything you have done. It is not a problem at all."
Shin nodded and thanked the commander before leaving the office.
...
Outside, while walking through the corridor, Shin checked on the rewards that he had gotten from completing the quest, particularly the new title that he received.
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Title: Storm Raider
Astaroth, on the other hand, stomped his foot on the ground and summoned a tall and huge platform, spanning the whole area that was protected by the barrier.
He then controlled the platform before erecting different pillars and smaller flatforms, transforming the region into a huge temple. Then, at the center of everything, stood a lone altar meant for the dragon egg.
Solus also got busy as she started writing a series of rune sequences and magic circles in different parts of the temple, filling everything with mysterious arrays that Shin could not recognize.
Then, a huge magic formation was formed at the altar, filling the place with a mysterious air.
Solus then turned to Shin and said. "You can now take out the dragon materials, my liege."
Shin completed and took out all the materials that he had harvested from the green dragon while Solus took everything and started polishing the magic formation.
Shin felt like his heart was bleeding as he watched Solus use everything without any restraint. Those were precious materials that could be used to create top-class equipment, yet it was being 'wasted' like this.
The blood of the green dragon was even used to heighten the lines and runes within the magic formation. Given the size of the formation within the altar, it would not be long before all the blood that he had harvested would be exhausted.
Fortunately, he set aside an entire bucket that he would be using for the creation of his 'True Phantom'.
Meanwhile, the rest of the materials were scattered in different parts of the magic formation, filling everything.
Hong! Hong! Hong!
Not long after, Shin could sense that the movements of the mana filling the air changed. They gathered toward the altar before being filtered by the magic formation.
The entire magic formation shone brightly before specks of jade-green light filled the entire place. Upon closer, inspection Shin realized that these were concentrated mana of Nature Element.
"It is done," said Solus as she wiped her invisible sweat before turning to Shin. "You can now put all the Mana Cores that you have harvested at the center of the altar, my liege."
Shin walked toward the center of the altar with heavy steps before reluctantly pouring out all the Mana Cores of Nature Element from his inventory into a tall pile, resembling a small mountain.
At the dead center of the altar and the magic formation stood a stone table filled with ancient runes, emitting a dim light. It was absorbing all the Nature Elemental Mana from all the Mana Core around.
Shin did need to know what to do next as he quickly took out the egg of the green dragon from his inventory and carefully placed it at the next situated on the top of the stone table.
Hong! Long! Long!
Shin then heard a humming sound coming from the dragon egg as it greedily absorbed all the Nature Elemental Mana in the surroundings, particularly the ones that the stone table was providing it.
Standing beside Shin, Hanzo stared at the dragon egg for quite a while before connecting. "It seems like the little guy is starving for centuries to produce such a reaction."
Solus also nodded before sweeping her gaze before saying. "It needs to soak itself with such 'mana pool' for an entire month (in-game time) before it fully hatches. These Mana Cores should be too excessive."
Hearing the latter part of her words, Shin suddenly became excited as he found that there might be a chance to keep a few of the Mana Cores.
But his newfound hope instantly collapsed after hearing the next words of the Fallen God Elemental Spirit.
She then paused before continuing. "But since it will be undergoing the baptism of the nature element immediately after to transform into an Elemental Dragon Spirit, the residual Mana Cores and energies should be enough to support its transformation."
Seeing the dejected look of her lord, Solus quickly patted his back and comforted him. "Don't worry, my liege. In exchange for all of these, you will get a powerful elemental in return."
"If my estimate is right, then it will most likely be on the same level as those two young tiger twins at the very least," she added.
"Eh!?" Shin felt alive once again when he heard that and turned to her. "Really?"
"Really! How can I lie to my liege?" said Solus with a smile.
"If that is the case, then everything will be worth it!" said Shin as he stood up straight before remembering something. 'Though, I feel like Arthur will become even more upset when he learns about this. He will surely sulk for a very long time after this.'
Regardless, what was done was done. He could not take it back now.
He then glanced at the digital clock from the corner of his eyes and realized that it was already time to log out. "It is this late already!?"
He then turned to his Reaper's Retainers and said. "I will be going back. You guys can stay here for a little longer so that you can recover yourselves. I will summon you again when I get back."
Solus hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. She felt that she could unlock more of her powers after all the transformations that Shin had undertaken. She could use this time to consolidate her strength.
It was the same for the others which was why they quickly went to their respective regions to train.
Hanzo did not say anything as he tacitly agreed. He just turned around and left for his designated region.
Meanwhile, Astaroth was still the same as ever. "I will engrave your grace into my heart, my lord! I will pay it with my life."
Shin shivered when he heard that before quickly leaving the Reaper's Realm as if he was running for his life, then returned to the Storm Fortress.
He then logged out.
...