Cave

In front of a cave stood two figures, one was staring at a map with confusion while the other inspected the cave entrance. They stood at the base of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, around them was a rocky plain that seemed very desolate.

"This used to be the place the artifact was in?" Damon asked as he checked for any clues, from footprints to leftover items, and found nothing...

Erza checked the map again and shook her head, "Based on the request, the artifact was sealed in the cave by a wizard saint. The entrance shouldn't be open which means..."

"It was stolen as the request states." He finished her sentence as he stared at the cave, "We need to enter the cave and search for clues, we have no idea who stole it."

Erza nodded and put the map away, Damon continued, "You said that the only clue detected by the wizard saint's magic was that the thieves were a few dark wizards. Based on that, we can safely assume it was a dark guild."

Damon began walking in, "Makes sense..." she muttered as the darkness inside swallowed his figure.

Erza followed behind thinking, 'He is surprisingly intelligent...'

Damon casually picked a stone and carved a very simple rune on it, "Alter Enchant, Lumos, Level 1."

The stone began glowing a bright white, lighting up the cave. He observed the walls with interest, "These marks... This was most definitely an ancient cave that an ancient kingdom used to seal something. I think the wizard saint probably broke the seal but redid it later."

Erza inspected it, "From my understanding, these should belong to centuries ago, it is hard to tell since my understanding of history is limited."

Damon walked further in, "Anyway, Let's look for clues..."

The cave was empty as if it was just like any other natural cave, however, the marks and paintings on the walls suggested something else...

As they went deeper, the air grew thin and the atmosphere got creepy.

Damon's instinct warned him as he stopped advancing, "I think we should be more careful." He stated with caution.

Erza nodded as a sword appeared in her hand, Damon also gripped Zangetsu, ready to fight. They slowly began moving deeper, step by step.

They reached a massive gate that was half-open, there were many symbols on the gate, they were surrounded by rocks and the cave formation on all sides besides the way they came in.

He tried moving forward but Erza grabbed his hand, he looked at her with confusion, "You stay back, let me go forward. Follow me." She whispered and walked in front of him.

Damon felt strange, 'Well, she is the S-class...' He simply followed her, still vigilant.

As the gate was opened by Erza, the view inside grew visible. Beyond the gate was a massive dome with the walls and ceiling being made of stone, a pyramid-like structure was in the middle with a set of stairs in front of them that led to the top.

'I get Indiana Jones vibe...' Damon thought as he gulped while he followed Erza up the stone stairs.

They reached the top and found an Empty altar, "The artifact is gone as expected, there is nothing here. We need to track it down," Erza murmured to herself.

Damon, on the other hand, was more interested in the Alter and the writing on it. He was surprised to discover he could understand some of the writings strangely, "I think I can read these..."

Erza was surprised by his declaration, "You can?" She watched him observe the altar carefully.

Damon frowned as he asked with an uneasy tone, "Erza... Is this Quest S-class?"

Erza shook her head, "No, Master said it was urgent and sent me. But he assured me it wasn't S-class. Otherwise, I wouldn't have brought you..."

Damon gulped nervously, "It says here that the altar is an Offering to Hyperion, the Mildian god who rules over light and the sun..."

Erza's eyes widened seemingly to have remembered something.

He continued, "The god blessed the people with luck and fortune, and the people crafted him a crown of light Mythril and offered it here as thanks. The god then later blessed them again with runes carved on the crown so that they could study it and learn how to use magic. The people learned from it and then left it here as a sacred artifact, then sealed this place with magic."

Damon retreated as he looked at Erza, she said, "The Mildian mysteriously vanished, and thus this place was forgotten... But how can you read it?"

Damon looked at his hand unsurely, "I don't know... In any case, this quest is S-class... Who would want such an artifact except for a very powerful wizard?"

Erza face turned grim, "It seems master was mistaken, this is related to a Decade quest."

Damon asked with curiosity, "What decade quest?"

Erza answered as she began descending the stairs, "It was a quest to search for the light of Hyperion, the same artifact you talked about. It holds great knowledge for research. The request was from the magic council with a pay of 8 billion Jewels and the title of Wizard Saint. The wizard saint who came here in the past must not have been able to read that language and thus didn't discover it. The quest has not been completed for 3 decades now..."

Damon murmured, "He probably mistook the item as just some artifact capable of absorbing magic or something... As for the second wizard who came..."

She nodded then looked at Damon with a frown, "The wizard who came here was able to unseal the entrance and gate which means he or she was on par with a wizard saint. There must have been other security measures put here by the Mildians that the wizard had most definitely overcome. This is beyond our level..."

The duo quickly left the cave, Erza said grimly on the way, "We need to convey this information to Master, a dark wizard with such power now holds a priceless artifact with magical knowledge secretly hidden on it. Who knows what the wizard will do with that knowledge... This is lost magical knowledge with great power."

Damon sighed inwardly, 'This is not good, it seems trouble follows the main cast no matter when and where. I shouldn't go on jobs with them...'

They quickly returned to the guild, Damon stood on the side as Erza talked with Makarov about their recent findings.

Makarov touched his beard up and down in thought then said with a sigh, "This is very troublesome... I will go to Era. Watch over the guild while I am gone." He said to Erza and looked at Damon with acknowledgment, "Well done."

He simply nodded unsure about how to act. Makarov immediately left for Era.

Damon scratched his head as he turned around with disappointment, 'No money for me. A waste of time... Well, I should take another quest. How was I able to read that language?' He wondered then seemed to conclude something, 'Maybe my appearance in this world has something to do with Hyperion?'

He felt Erza's hand grab his shoulder, "Thanks for the help, we wouldn't have discovered the dire situation without you."

Damon shrugged it off, "It's nothing... By the way, how do you train your magic power?"

Erza looked at him as if he was an idiot, 'How are you a wizard if you don't know? You mean to tell me he grew that strong without knowing?!' she thought with exasperation.

"Well..."