Mana stones

Mana stones, a gem that can boost the flow of mana in the user's body, making it something like an energy drink, but with more obvious effects.

Although Kevin didn't know all the information about the mana stones, it was said that a medium-sized stone could increase a person's power to the fullest eligible potential, which was usually a three smaller stages upgrade.

However, if the person absorbed too many mana stones into their body, the result could be disastrous. Although the after-effects of using mana stones are not as bad as soul crystals, they can also be considered dangerous.

Mana stones are not that valuable, but during a battle, one of these stones can save one's life or even many lives, meaning that they also have their value.

Such stones are usually found deep underground, as it is the place where mana has been brewing for centuries, allowing it to take on a form of its own. However, the amount of mana stones is usually meager, as they don't have enough time to root properly.

This makes Kevin wonder... why is this place so full of such stones?

Not only are they in abundance, but they are huge on their own. Moreover, the color of the stones is almost completely red, which means that one of them can be enough to satiate a superhuman level human for the entire battle.

"Why aren't you working!!!" a female voice reached Kevin's ears as he was distracted from his thoughts. Rolling his eyelids towards the source of the noise, Kevin managed to perceive a demon coming towards Adriel at an adequate speed.

The demon was, without a doubt, a female. The long, dark hair befell onto her body, neatly covering every part of the demon's skin. The female demon, unlike the other monsters, wore no armor, making her stand out from the crowd.

"I asked you a question!" the woman exclaimed, her completely dark eyes flickering with deadly intent. She let her hand slide through her own dark, scaly skin as dark fire sparkled.

Sensing the intense killing intent, Kevin finally came out of his daze.

'Damn it... I should have ordered Adriel to mingle with the demons earlier,' Kevin cursed inwardly as he ordered Adriel to defend himself.

"Why are you ignoring me!" the female exclaimed again with a displeased look on her face as the dark fire rose on her palm. Keeping her eyes fixed on Adriel's face, the demoness seemingly wanted to shoot the dark fire out in front.

"Stop Mara!!!" Before the demon could attack, a faint voice reached Kevin's ears, who looked to the side curiously.

"He's one of the guardians, he doesn't need to excavate mana stones, just leave him alone!" another demon could be seen standing right next to the commotion as he easily lifted a huge bat out of the ground.

The demon looked entirely different from what Kevin had ever seen before. It had an oddly shaped head covered in a metallic helmet, while its entire body was left vacant, revealing a masculine, dark body.

'Is that because of the different bloodline?' Kevin thought before listening further.

"I don't care who he is!' He'll pay with his own life for ignoring me!" the female demon replied as her eyelids glowed with dark fire.

"I don't care what he did, you're going to have to leave him alone," the other demon answered as he glanced at Adriel with one eye before returning his gaze, "You've already killed almost fifty demons just because you didn't like them, if you keep this up I'm going to have to tell the queen that you're messing up her plans."

"Tch...You're as annoying as ever, Vetis," Mara calmed down after hearing the part about the queen as she took one last glance towards Adriel before turning around and leaving.

"Try not to piss her off in the future if you want to stay alive," the masculine demon said as he shifted his gaze to the workers. Without bothering to say anything else, Vetis walked away while dragging the giant bat behind him.

'What did I just witness?' thought Kevin as he tried to memorize those names into his brain. From the looks of it, they both seemed important and strong, which meant they might not be such bad future servants.

'So the demons are regulated by a hierarchy system...The more power one has, the more authority he gains,' Kevin thought as he ordered Adriel to move to the left, the other way from these bizarre demons.

The whole area was filled with dark creatures, most of them working with stones. It was clear that the workers had a different status than the others, as they were treated like some sort of slaves. The guards, on the other hand, were handled with respect.

Those two strange demons seemed to have an even higher status, but the phrase 'Queen' was mostly engraved into Kevin's brain. By the looks of it, this queen was the one behind all these actions on this island.

'I need to find out more,' Kevin ordered the servant to proceed while minimizing his presence. It's better to act quickly and find out more about this place before any demons decide to disrupt him again.

With each step Adriel took, an even greater scene opened up. The number of mana stones only increased along the way as did the number of rogues.

Fortunately, the guards were fewer and none of them seemed bothered by the walking Adriel as he passed them without a hitch.

Looking ahead, the path was divided into three routes, each of them studded with different types of mana stones that shone all over the area.

The size of the cave itself was massive, as it seemed that the paths were later divided into more routes which were covered in gems as well.

The only difference between all these routes was that the middle one was guarded by two menacing-looking guards, holding huge dark swords. The two weapons faced each other in the middle of the path, making it impossible to enter.

If looked further, one would notice that behind those guards, no mana stones could be seen, making it somewhat dark and gloomy.

'Considering that this place is guarded, it probably contains the most secrets,' Kevin thought as he ran his eyelids over the place. Although many demons could be seen transporting mana stones around the extent, it didn't seem like they would interfere with Kevin's plans.

Fortunately, all the other guards didn't appear to even bother a glance towards this place, apparently scared?

Kevin understood that the probable reason for their awareness was those two strong guards, but that only put a smile on his face.

'It's all up to you, Adriel'

Adriel, fueled by the Master's words, suddenly stormed at the guards at maximum speed. The demons were slightly confused for a second when they saw Adriel charging towards them.

However, that confusion didn't last long as their eyes flickered with killing intent. The swords in the demons' hands moved as they pointed them forward.

Before Adriel could even do anything, his head was pierced by the huge sword as he fell to the ground with a slight bump. The speed of the attack was too fast for Adriel to possibly react.

The workers, who were startled by the sudden commotion, returned their gazes back to the stones in frustration. However, some of them, including the guards, could not take their eyes off Adriel's lifeless body.

The reason for their confusion was simple...there was no blood to be seen flowing from the dead figure. Furthermore, an unusual dark smoke was rising from Adriel's head, seemingly vaporizing it?

"AHHHH!" one of the guards suddenly screamed as he grabbed his own neck. Startled, his partner fixed his gaze on the screaming demon who was eagerly grabbing at his throat. However, the armor covering every inch of his skin made it impossible to comprehend what was happening.

While everyone's attention was focused on the struggling guard, Adriel's body completely dissolved into nothingness. Stealthily, Adriel reappeared right behind the guards as he immediately blasted along the path without even bothering to look back.

'That was a nice combination,' Kevin thought, rather impressed with the intelligence of his servants as he continued to overlook the display of Adriel's eyes.

The path was even darker than it looked from the outside. Adriel's vision was completely obscured in the endless darkness of the area.

Despite constantly stumbling over the medium-sized rocks that escaped Adriel's view, he kept getting up and proceeding, stimulated by Kevin's watchful gaze.

Finally, a change in the surroundings occurred. Far in the distance of the infinite darkness, a faint trace of white could be seen. The white color was constantly moving in an oval shape, forming a unique circle.

'What the hell is that?' wondered Kevin as the circle grew closer with each step Adriel took. After a few moments, Adriel stood directly in front of the ashen ring inspecting it more closely.

'It appears to be ..a gateway?' Kevin recollected his thoughts as he ordered Adriel to touch that whiteness. Adriel didn't gush any nonsense and extended his hand forward.

As predicted, Adriel's hand went right through it as Kevin ordered him to stick his head out. Kevin sensed a hint of fear building up in Adriel's emotions.

However, it was unthinkable to question his own Master as Adriel stuck his head forth. Immediately, a completely different sight opened up to Kevin as sweat formed on his own body.

The first thing he noticed was a massive hill that was getting bathed in afternoon sunlight directly in front of him. While right below that mountain, hundreds if not thousands of demons could be seen looking at him their eyes filled with confusion. All of them were gripping mana stones in their hands, which were reflecting the sun's rays directly into Adriel's eyes.

"Hmm...what do we have here?" a voice suddenly rang out from above as Kevin rolled up his eyelid. A purple creature could be seen flying directly over Adriel, its dark eyes full of curiosity.

The creature was, without a doubt, a demon. However, the skin that was covered in purple scales and the two small wings on its back would make most of the humans think otherwise.

"You're not a demon," the demon glared down at Adriel from above as her eyes sharpened, "What are you?"

As the words befell Kevin, he felt an inexplicable danger emanating from the surroundings. Despite his own body being in a completely different place, Kevin still felt as if that gaze was aimed directly at his own soul, striking it.

Before Kevin could sort out his mind, the demon snapped her fingers, and Adriel instantly disappeared into nothingness.

"Survey the island, something fishy is going on here!" the demon shouted to the thousands of demons below her as they all rushed towards the white gate.