Journey begins...

*14 days till the end of the task period.*

"40 kg." Lord Arcid shouted, "It doesn't matter whether you are a slave, a slave handler or a mercenary. If you want to walk out of the mine, at least that much has to be brought by each of you. Otherwise…"

The giant man on the podium didn't finish his sentence, but Aiden could see the slave standing beside him shuddering in fear. Looking at the blood tattoo on his body, Aiden understood that the person might be a slave of 'so-called' Lord Arcid.

Aiden wasn't alone. Almost 200 people were around him. Some with blood tattoo, some with slave shackles, some were covered in a robe.

And there was Lord Kaiser on the podium who was chosen as the leader of the mining team. Kaiser was on his right, and the leader of the mercenary fraction was on his left.

"You can take as much as you want, as long as you deliver at least 40 kg of mana crystals." Lord Arcid ended his lengthy speech.

There wasn't much to worry about inside the mine, according to Jewel. There's an occasional appearance of mana beasts inside the mine, but they haven't been very strong.

The deadliest accident inside the mine occurred two years ago when a part of the mine collapsed. It killed three while injuring nearly seven people.

Last night, Jewel repeatedly reminded him to be cautious. After exchanging the mana cultivation techniques, he said, "Other than the occasional mana beast, you need to be aware of two things."

"You should be more careful of humans than the mana beast. Don't believe anyone but Kaiser and the slaves who are going with him. Nobody knew how others would act as soon as they entered the mine."

"And the most important thing you need to be aware of is the mana itself. The concentration of mana so high that man would have gone mad under the influence of mana."

"Although the chance is very low for those who have absorbed the mana beast essence. Things could be the same for you, too. Still, it's better to be safe than to be sorry."

"Aiden, we should enter," Kaiser had come to him. He said, "You should always stay close to me."

Besides Kaiser and him, there were two other slave traders and twenty slaves. Total 24 of them moved along the crowd. Because he wasn't too confident about his ability to fight, Jewel stayed in the city.

Aiden touched the belt on his waist, which contained the potions and the many other necessary things. It was all provided by Jewel. Aiden checked everything for one last time as he followed them.

They were already in front of the giant tree stump, but there was a lengthy queue in front of the entrance.

There was nothing like a mine, but there was an entrance. It was only when Aiden looked closer that he understood that the giant arch, beneath the tree stump, was part of the old building that was buried beneath the tree.

"Do you know how it looks like?" Aiden couldn't help but ask Kaiser.

"No one else than the city lord guard had ever entered the cave before. It's the first time for all of us."

'It's just like our planet, too. Mana crystals are a closely guarded secret.' While he was contemplating, he never missed a single detail around him. There wasn't a lot to see, though.

Apart from the giant shadow cast by the colossus tree stump and the slanted entrance to the old building, everything was clean.

"Come on quickly. We don't have the whole day." The closer they get to the entrance, the more city lord guards there are. It was more chaotic with hundreds of people. Soon Aiden and others followed Kaiser to the doorway.

"Show me your chest," yelled a guard. They were a little stunned, not knowing how to react to such an absurd instruction.

"We haven't had the whole day. If you're going to enter the mine, show it," he shouted again.

And the first to react was Kaiser, as the others did the same thing. Of course, Aiden did the same thing, too.

After Kaiser showed his chest, he moved to the side of the guard. He put something in his hand and asked, "Brother, what's the matter? Why are they trying to check the chest?" Aiden was still in the queue, but he could hear them.

"Don't know that. It was an order from the lord of the city. We've got to find a man with a scar on his left chest. They will even check every man in the city."

"Why is that? Is he a criminal, huh? "Kaiser asked him and put something in his hand again.

But the guard shook his head and said, "I don't know that. But he's very important. "He whispered the next words, but Aiden could still make it clear," It's something to do with the lord of the oracle."

"What the hell are you doing?" The scream brought Aiden back. But the yelling did not stop, "What are you hiding? Move your hand."

Only then did Aiden realize that he was covering his chest. Aiden was quick to take off his hand. When the soldiers saw the spot, he said, "What did you hide? Are you afraid of showing you strange coloured nipples?"

Listening to his words, Aiden did not understand whether to laugh or cry. He quickly put on his clothes and moved along. He touched his neck by instinct. Even though it can't be seen, there was a necklace on his neck.

This was one of the things Jewel had given him. He also said, "This is an illusion necklace. Since you're not from here, it's better to hide your identity."

'Good thing that I used it.' Aiden sighed in his heart.

"Are they looking for you?" Kaiser whispered in his ear.

Aiden shook his head and said, "Other than you, I don't know anybody. How could I know the city lord?"

"Then?" Kaiser was very curious.

"That is what I also want to know." Aiden was curious, too, but, "How can there be only one person with a scar on his chest in the entire city?"

Kaiser nodded, "It's good that Jewel has given you that. Let's not wait any longer"

Kaiser led everyone through the big entrance, and the darkness swallowed them all. The mechanical voice woke up inside his head before Aiden could see anything.

[The mana concentration is increased by 32%]

[Mana circulation rate increased by 37%]

[Mana recovery rate: 2 mana/minute]

Aiden could feel the surrounding change even without these notifications. Even if the wind wasn't blowing, he could still hear the wind could still. He was a mage of the wind, he could still feel the abundant presence of the other mana.

"Take out the mana crystals." With Kaiser's order, everyone took out one, and the whole area lightened up again. And Aiden wished it would have been better if it hadn't happened.

The wall was the first thing Aiden noticed. Even after death, the roots of the tree had not withered, and it had covered the walls and the roof. The only exception was the ground underneath.

At first, he thought the uneven ground was due to the roots, but as he looked down his heart, he skipped a beat. A white hollow skull stared at him. And there wasn't just one.

The entire floor was made of human skulls and bones. And it wasn't loose. The bones and skulls were tightly tied together.

Aiden had not even dared to think about what had happened. And Aiden wasn't the only one, it scared the whole group.

"What are you scared of? They're already dead." Kaiser's voice was stern, "You're under the 'World Devourer Tree.' Don't you know how many it had killed? What else are you expecting? A flowery path, huh?"

Aiden wasn't sure if it was because of Kaiser's charisma or because of the blood tattoo, but the group calmed down. But it was not effective for the groups that had entered before or after them. All they could do was to move forward.

'It's almost 100 meters away, but...' Looking at the skull encrusted path, Aiden couldn't help but shiver a little. 'How many people did it kill?'

They've been walking for a long time. The brick walls were gone a long time ago and one could see muddy walls under the roots. And crystal was coming out of it from places to places.

[Earth Mana Crystal

Grade: C]

'And it is just the entrance.' Aiden sucked lungs full of chilly air. 'It would be no surprise if there were S grade mana crystal inside it.' And he was right.

Soon they reached the cavern and the entire place lit up. It was so bright that Aiden was forced to close his eyes.

Blue, green, red, yellow, grey, purple. There were too many colours around him, all of which came from mana stones. They grew out of the ground, the walls, and the roof.

And the most prominent of them were hanging from the middle of the roof. Unlike any other, it was giving off a white aura.

"It is too beautiful." Aiden wasn't only one who was too mesmerized by the beauty. Looking at it, some of them were smiling ear to ear, some were crying, and some were even trying to get an enormous chunk of mana crystal out of the ground.

[The mana concentration is increased by 57%]

[Mana circulation rate increased by 62%]

[Mana recovery rate: 5 mana/minute]

'Can it have such an effect on humans?' Aiden has no idea about it nor he can do anything about it. He waited with the group until all of them had reached the cave. Only when everyone reached the place did Lord Arcid speak again.