309 Mess
The increase rate of dungeon appearance was mostly affecting the region around the Three continents, and Somaria was the least affected out of all the Five Continents.
At the Mage Association Tower,
Some of the Elders were having a meeting, about this very scenario right now, where one of the reputed mage was giving his opinion about this.
"Isn't this situation a proof that mana density and its balance is closely related to appearance of the dungeons," He proposed his idea.
Mage Tower was highly invested in researching about dungeons, which were one of the biggest mystery in the history of mankind.
Even now, nobody could predict why Dungeons appeared and why they had specific gates like Blue, Yellow and Red.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence, we have seen a few shares of Dungeon Breakouts over past 100 years," One of the Elders spoke up.
Edward Amaris, one of the Elders was also present here, as due to the dungeon breakouts, some Guild requested a team of Mage of different ranks for support.
And Edward was discussing this very matter in the meeting, when the discussion drifted of from the main issue to the reason behind this situation.
"But if we just take the balance into equation, the dungeons appearing aren't S Rank or above," Another person spoke up.
"Well, that I don't know, but this situation is enough to prove that the disappearance of those SSS Rank monsters is responsible for the situation we are facing right now," He replied.
"We are drifting too much from the original reason we are having this meeting," Edward intervened as the meeting was going off rail from the topic they gathered to discuss.
"Chairman is busy with recovering his mana, so we need to come to decision how much mages we will send," Edward added.
As the Dungeons were mostly ranged below the S Rank, the need for higher rank mages decreased greatly.
"If the Guild has contribution to the Mage Tower, we can send the support but we can't spend too much resources when we were just done with the Monster Tide," Another Elder suggested.
A balance was needed to maintained so that the Mage Tower itself remained operational no matter the situation.
The amount of resources that was consumed in Mage Tower were very high, as all Mages needed quite a lot of things for their research and training.
And sending those mages to Dungeons had its own pros and cons.
Depending on the support sent by the Mage Tower, the profit from the Dungeon would be shared and sometimes, Mage tower would even take the artifact for compensation.
Normally, smaller guilds would avoid asking for assistance from any of the associations but right now, they lacked the people to actively go inside the dungeon that were appearing.
The meeting went on, with some on of the Elders that were against sending too many mages out so suddenly.
Dungeons were always a risk, and there was always a chance of a hunter dying inside.
A single mistake could cost the whole team's life. Not all the Hunters were taught in World Academy, with the finest of resources and Professor's and most of them weren't close to the strength level that the Students that graduated from World Academy had.
All these students would go into some of the Top Guilds, while most of the students with average background would join World Association.
From the outside, joining World Association was a better deal, as Guilds like Abyss Guild or the Moonlight Guild had an established Hierarchy that was hard to climb.
Your talent and strength was the only thing that mattered in a Guild.
The meeting was over, and Edward left towards his personal library, that he was provided on one of the Higher floors due to his status within the Mage Tower.
Arriving in his room, he looked at the mess that was present on his table and it was all about his personal research and due to the work he needed to do with the absence of Silvus for the time being.
Edward just like many others that had a good position and information network knew that all the SSS Rank Hunters that went to Belvoria hadn't came out and were training and recovering.
"So much problem, all because of this," Edward sighed as he looked at report that was about Zephyr.
It was the first time, such a thing had happened where someone challenged the whole High Council in such a way.
"And there was the trip from World Academy as well," Edward looked at the permit documents that he received from World Academy.
The reward for the Rank 1 team was delayed and he needed to send this permit so that once the situation was calmed down, the students that wanted to use their reward could do so.
At the World Academy,
Asher inside in his room, as he was observing the data that Tom had sent him, and it was about the reaction of every single person that signed a contract with Aztech.
Now that he had those guys under control, it was time for him to slowly step in that market without being too intrusive.
Aztech was nothing but a forefront for Zephyr, and it would become a shell for Zephyr to operate.
"What about the deal with the Black Market?" Asher asked as they were yet to transport the whole amount of Pure Mana Crystals.
"We have sent the last batch, and if I am correct they will do the entire transaction in this month," Tom replied as he looked at the information on his screen.
"Suddenly, their movements became faster, as if the client they had are rushing them." Tom said.
"Keep the original plan, tell me if the situation change," Asher said he disconnected the call.
With Tom confirming, that the deal was almost done, the next mission for Dane and Kai was nearing, and Asher could start focusing on other things now that everyone was busy with the current mess.
Even Asher knew that people like Alfred, Helena and other High Council members would be able to sense the disrupt in the flow around them.
It wasn't hard for them notice that something was wrong, and while they figured out what was happening, Asher could move freely.
"He might become a variable I need to watch out for," Asher muttered as he remembered about Nathan.
Nathan was the only person, Asher had no clue what his next actions would be.
But Asher knew that Nathan would use the Mana Gem in the near future and depending on his progress, some part of Asher's plans might change.
"It should be enough to keep them occupied," Asher muttered as he looked at the number of Dungeons that had appeared suddenly.
This much was enough to keep the Guilds focused on the Dungeons, and some clash between a few guilds were bound to happen.
Guilds like Abyss Guild and the Moonlight Guild, were unaffected by this, but smaller Guilds would target the new dungeons as a lot of money were involved if a Dungeon had a rare resource or a valuable artifact.
Ping!
Asher received a notification, but wasn't something official but a message from a certain person.
His eyes looked at the name and it was Reece Williams, that wanted to have conversation with him.
Asher looked at the message, as he told Reece the time and the place to meet.
In the Fourth Year Area,
"So he took the bait," Reece looked at Asher's reply.
He was sitting in his training room in the Fourth Year's Ranker's Dorm.
Reece wanted to wait more before contacting Asher, but the current situation where he might not get a good chance, he decided to go for it.
"Let's see what got Leon so worked up," Reece said as he put his weapon aside, and left the training room to get ready.
Around the Outer Sector, in a Private Meeting Area where only people that wanted to discuss a trade or Assignment met, two young men were sitting in front of each other.
"Let me introduce myself once more, I am Reece Williams," Reece introduced himself maintaining his calm look.
"Asher Greville," Asher replied.
"I know, I know, I guess there is nobody in the Whole Academy that doesn't know your name by now," Reece said with a small smile on his face.
"So why did you wanted to meet me?" Asher asked as his indifferent eyes looked at Reece.
For the first time, Reece felt pressure while conversing with person around his age.
He only felt like this when he saw his Father talk with others.
"Now, now Let's not be too hasty," Reece said.
"I have a few things I want to talk about," He continued.