A new Quest

***

Jewel-like stones jutting out from one of the walls of the cave.

Mana Stones.

These Mana Stones reflected the light attractively and were one of the treasures that could be found inside dungeons.

Although each stone possessed a lower amount of magic energy compared to a Magic Crystal extracted from a monster, they almost always were found in large quantity, so if one were able to mine them, one could earn a substantial profit.

'I probably can get more than usual if I add up today's drops with the Mana Stones but this is still far from it. Well, can't expect much from a D rank Dungeon.'

'And they say, a man's greed knows no bounds….'

Arata shook his head wryly.

A slight tremor.

"Lets quickly gather these Mana Stones! Whatever we can scrape off the bodies of these wolves, we will take it as well! The Dungeon is about to close soon!"

***

RUMBLE…..

The tremor had become stronger than before. It was now the time to get out of the dungeon.

RUMMMMBBBLLLEEE….

Their time was clearly running out.

"Collect everything you can! We're leaving!"

After splitting up the Mana Stones between every member, which even Arata received a portion from, the group stepped out of the gate.

It was then, a drop of water suddenly fell on his face.

Splash, splosh.

Arata raised his head.

They were raindrops falling from the sky that had been gradually getting darker as the afternoon rolled by.

After the party split up and left, Arata also prepared to head back as well.

There was still something he needed to do before anything else.

***

Later in the evening.

In the middle of the living room, only a lone silhouette could be seen. Arata had left the Magic cores and Mana stones from the raid in a corner of his room. There was something of more importance he needed to settle first.

Arata looked at the screen projection in front of him. He was still in his Magus Mode, because there was no telling what exactly this Quest entailed.

[A Quest has been generated.]

[Would you like to accept?]

[Yes/No]

'Hmm, this isn't like that Daily Quest which requested me to exercise.'

"Lemegeton, do you have any idea what kind of Quest this is?"

[Sorry Master but I am unable to answer that question.]

'Figures...guess I will just have to see it for myself then.'

This was something completely unknown to him. Arata had no idea what this Quest was or whether it would bring him to somewhere strange. But, if he wanted to get stronger, there was only one option available for him.

And that option was...

"Yes."

As soon as Arata said that, the whole living room was suddenly engulfed in complete darkness.

Right as that happened, a massive circle engraved with hieroglyphics lit up beneath Arata, illuminating the surroundings again.

The next moment, the circle flared up in a brilliant explosion of light.

[This is a teleportation circle! One wrong move and we might end up stuck between space and time. Get ready Master, there's no telling what's waiting for us on the other side!]

Lemegeton shouted out a warning just as the light enveloped around Arata.

After a few seconds, or maybe even a few minutes, the light finally began to fade.

However, it could be said that the room was now completely empty, without a single trace of life.

***

The drawn scenery was a Stygian sky lit up by a warm purple light that shimmered faintly and seemed to cover the entire sky

A heavy oppressive air that seemed to suck the strength of a person permeated.

However, that was not the thing which caught Arata's eyes as he shifted his gaze forward.

A large castle-like building was erected in front of him.

Extensive grounds that covered a large distance, large glass windows fitted around the building and even several ruins could also be seen peppered across, as though part of the building had collapsed.

The building really resembled a castle.

At the center of this castle-like building, was a metal gate over three meters high.

'Where is this place? Did I teleport to another dimension?'

However, even if his mind was currently preoccupied, his subconscious was continuously sharpened.

Preferably, he didn't want to notice but Arata noticed it completely.

His sense tingled and at the same time, his mind immediately cooled down...

'Guess we are not alone here.'

At that moment, several black miasma started leaking out from the ground around Arata.

The black miasma started to condense and morph, and soon, it started to take a solid form.

However, Arata wasn't afraid nor worried. Rather, he felt a certain sense of excitement.

The characters on his body started to glow as Arata uttered a single word.

***

[Conception]