12 - Dragon Bone's headquarters

Dain stepped toward Aria's unconscious body, kneeling beside her with careful precision. He pressed two fingers against her neck, holding his breath for a moment before feeling the faint rhythm of a pulse.

"She's still alive… but what the actual hell was that?" His thoughts raced, replaying the events from moments ago.

Footsteps approached from behind. Leon and Rhea came to stand beside him, their gazes fixed on Aria.

"Well, let's get her out of here," Leon said, exhaling as he crouched down. "Best we report this to the Dragon Bone Guild. She belongs to them, and they'll know what to do." Carefully, he lifted Aria into his arms, making sure not to jostle her.

Rhea crossed her arms, eyes lingering on Aria's unconscious form. "I mean… what else can we do?" She hesitated before adding, "…Whatever that was, it won the fight for us. We should probably be grateful."

She wasn't sure if she meant it—but one thing was certain. What they had witnessed was beyond anything they'd ever seen before.

With Aria unconscious in Leon's arms, the three made their way back to the dungeon's gate. As they stepped through, the familiar chill of transition washed over them before they emerged into the real world. The fresh air felt almost unnatural after what they had just experienced.

Waiting outside was a man clad in dark armor, the emblem of the Onyx Guild displayed on his chest. Leon recognized him instantly—one of his guildmates. The man's eyes flickered to Aria before shifting back to Leon with silent curiosity.

Leon wasted no time. "I need you to contact the Dragon Bone Guild—tell them we have one of their members here. Something happened in that gate, and they'll want to know."

The man gave a short nod before stepping away to make the call.

Twenty minutes later, a sleek black car pulled up, and a well-dressed man stepped out one of the manager of Dragon Bone. His sharp gaze swept over Aria before landing on the group.

"Thank you for looking after her," he said, his voice smooth yet unreadable. Then, after a pause, he added, "For now, I must ask you all to keep her identity a secret."

Leon, Dain, and Rhea exchanged glances. He didn't offer an explanation, but they didn't need one. They had seen the knights—or guardians—inside the gate. Whatever had happened to Aria, it wasn't normal. And if Dragon Bone wanted to keep it quiet, there had to be a reason.

Without another word, the manager took Aria and carefully placed her into the passenger seat before driving off toward Dragon Bone's headquarters.

Upon arrival, the manager wasted no time handing Aria over to the nurse, instructing her to check Aria's vitals thoroughly. The nurse nodded and got to work, running every test necessary.

An hour later, Aria's eyes slowly fluttered open. The nurse, noticing her being awake after a few minutes, approached her. "How are you feeling?"

Aria blinked, taking a moment to register the question. "…Fine, I think."

"Do you remember anything that happened inside the gate?"

Aria hesitated, then shook her head. "I remember going in with a group, fighting the spiders, and arriving at the boss. Anything past that and now... It's a complete blank. "

The nurse frowned slightly but didn't push further. Instead, she ran Aria's vitals again—just to be sure she was fine. 

That's when she noticed something different.

Aria now had a mana core. The nurse's eyes widened in surprise. When Aria had last been examined, she had lacked one entirely—an anomaly in itself. But now, not only did she possess one, its color was… unique, it was dark purple. It was a color the nurse had never seen before. 

Quickly, she accessed the database, running a cross-check against every recorded mana core color in their hospital list. Nothing matched. The doctor with the Database Search skill—who could have verified it instantly—was currently on leave, leaving her with limited resources.

Something was definitely not normal about this.

Without wasting another moment, she turned to the manager. "We need to call in Halstein."

The manager wasted no time pulling out his phone and dialing a secure line. After a few rings, a deep, authoritative voice answered.

"Halstein speaking."

"It's me. We have a situation." The manager's tone was calm but firm. "Aria Noctis, as you probably know just returned from her first gate raid. When she was last checked, she had no mana core. Now, she does. I know mana cores can manifest randomly, but the incident I was told and this? I doubt it's sheer luck."

There was silence on the other end.

The manager continued, his tone steady but laced with urgency.

"The nurse ran her vitals twice to be sure—her mana core has indeed fully manifested. But here's the problem: the color is something we've never seen before. As we all know, the standard mana colors are blue, yellow, and green, with very rare exceptions like crimson, pink, and even bright gold. The nurse would like to speak in person whenever you have time."

Another pause, then a quiet exhale.

"I'm on my way," Halstein finally said before ending the call.

The manager slipped his phone back into his pocket, his gaze flickering toward Aria. She still looked disoriented, unaware of the significance of what had just been discovered.

Ten minutes later, Halstein walked into the infirmary, his sharp gaze settling on the nurse as she gestured for him to come over.

"Take a look at this," she said, clicking a few keys on her computer. The screen displayed a detailed scan of Aria's mana core—its color a deep, dark purple, matching her hair almost perfectly.

The nurse exhaled, folding her arms. "I ran a search through every database I have access to within the entire USA—and not a single recorded case in the past seven years shows anyone with any shade of purple for their mana core. Not even once."

She leaned against the desk, her expression serious. "And here's the other thing—every person who's ever had a unique mana core color, whether it be crimson, pink, bright gold, or any other rare shade, has always been at least A-rank or higher. Without fail."

She turned back to Halstein. "So, what do we do about Aria?"

Halstein stood silent for a few moments, arms crossed, deep in thought. Then, after a long exhale, he made his decision.

"I'll call a driver for Stiles, SteelArm, Dante, and Kiera. Three of them were there when we found her—I want their thoughts on this before making any moves. I don't want to misjudge the situation."

Pulling out his phone, he dialed a direct line to Japan, arranging for a driver to pick them all up. Once the call ended, he turned back to Aria, who had been quietly listening.

"For now, just stay in your room until I call for you," he instructed.

Aria nodded without question, and the nurse moved to remove the IV drip and the other monitors she had placed to check her vitals. Once she was disconnected, Aria left the infirmary and returned to her room—waiting.