Arrival

3 days later…

Countless mountains, rivers, vast stretches of forest, and six mission sites later, the airship finally arrived in the Dagon region. The precise location was the Kerala mountain range, a place filled with vast resources and beasts. 

"Follow me."

There was someone waiting for Greem, Mary, and the three other apprentices with missions here before the airship even landed. So as soon they got off, they knew where to go. 

After bowing to the Body-Refining Adept and exchanging some very respectful words with him, the Advanced Apprentice started walking towards the city and took the time to explain things.

"I'm called Kevin.But everyone calls me Black-hand Kev."

'These nicknames… first Mary and now this guy. Should I give myself one?' 

Unlike Greem who kept his thoughts in his head where they'd go unheard, one of the visiting apprentices, a Pseudo Adept in luxurious yellow robe and covered head to toe in magical items, decided to voice his opinion. 

"Black-hand Kev? Don't tell me you have a brother called White hand."

Greem had to exercise his abnormal self-control to the fullest to keep from facepalming. 'Beyond stupid and not even funny.' 

The eyes he stopped from rolling nearly popped out of his head when the idiot followed up his comment with a spell.

'What the fuck is wrong with this guy?' 

He of course knew what was wrong. The Pseudo Adept was feeling disrespected by being led around by someone of lower rank than him, so he wanted to "teach the ant a lesson."

As soon as the first few words of a chant rolled off his tongue, Black-hand Kev disappeared from his position in front of them and reappeared behind the fool, two daggers grasped in each hand.

Greem and the others had long given the idiot a wide berth when he gave in to the stupid, so Black-hand got enough room to act.

Demonstrating how good one's Spirit was at detecting their immediate surroundings, the Pseudo Adept noticed the guiding apprentice's movement immediately and activated a defensive electrical web at his rear.

Then, with the calmness of someone who'd been in his fair share of battles, he turned and held out both palms, firing thick beams of blue colored electricity at the enemy who'd been caught in his paralysing web. 

He'd just begun to wonder if killing a fellow apprentice immediately upon arrival was a wise decision when his face contorted in pain and he looked down to find the reason.

Sticking out of his chest was a pitch black knife, held by none other than Black-hand Kev. 

Immediately upon realising this, the Black-hand stuck in the lightning trap broke into pieces and dissolved into nothing, the real one having been in his original position all along.

"Pseudo-Adept means nothing in this place. Remember that next time you provoke someone you don't know."

Uncaring of the apprentice's plight, Kevin removed his knife, cleaned it on the former's yellow robe, and resumed the journey, the others catching the hint and following after him.

Greem spared the idiot a brief glance, noting the potion he drank and poured over his wound before shifting his focus back to Black-hand.

The trick he'd used was an illusion, one that could fool all five… well six senses. Spirit was a sense too.

Kevin's probably special or innate ability allowed him to project false information to anyone that perceived him. Greem's masterful control of himself allowed him to detect this, both in his Spirit and all five senses. 

Moreover, his actual Spirit was higher than the guy's, so the only reason he got caught in the illusion was that he let it happen. And even if the assassin apprentice had somehow managed to bypass this and affect him, he'd have been able to sense and cut the connection, so to speak.

As for why he let it happen, Greem didn't believe there was any benefit to letting another apprentice know that he could understand the nature of his ability and outright cancel its effects.

What if he had to fight the guy in the future?

Granted, his meta knowledge said otherwise, but he wasn't going to trust it wholeheartedly due to the butterfly effects his mere presence caused and the fact that people were people.

Anything could happen. In a high magic world like this, that statement was the truest it's ever been.

So Greem kept mum and followed Kevin to a shabby stone room in an Adept tower not far from the Underground world's entrance. 

After ensuring their group met the people in the room, Black-hand left without a word, probably to go get the tower master. In the meantime, everyone introduced themselves and it was just as Greem remembered. 

The group they'd come to meet arrived 2 days ago, and they'd been waiting since then. 

Out of their combined and total group of ten, three were Pseudo Adepts and the rest were Advanced.

Sabrina, Marcus, and Leo, the guy who fucked around and found out, were the Pseudo Adepts. Greem, Mary, Shila, Matthew, Leander, Isaac and Bruce were the Advanced Apprentices. 

Despite the general categorisation, every apprentice here was wildly different from the other. For instance, Greem was the only body-refiner, a fact which got him, not quite pointed, but noticeable looks. 

Another thing was how varied their origins were, a difference that showed in their clothing and would be more emphasised in the kind of spells they'd use in the coming days.

While he mentally went over the reasons why Body-Refining apprentices rarely or if ever chose this mission, the Adept Black-hand went to fetch finally arrived. 

He was a middle aged man, wearing a white robe and pointy hat not unlike Anderson's. 

"Looks like everyone's here. Perfect. I don't have to explain things twice. The mission duration is 3 months. You ten are responsible for patrolling and visiting five inspection sites located at various points in the underground world. 

This should be done every ten days. When you're done, you report to me to complete the mission. If you happen to chance on any black bastards and kill them, bring their heads for extra rewards." 

Ending his long introduction there, Adept Angus swept his eyes over the silent apprentices, waited a few seconds, and just… left. Right as he exited the door, the apprentices sat down to discuss what they'd just heard.

Sabrina, having arrived two days ago and obviously interested in being team leader, added to Angus's explanation some information she'd gathered earlier.

Apparently, the locations of the five mission sites were all deep underground, the furthest being around ten miles deep.

On flat, exposed terrain, seven to eight minutes would be enough for them to complete the patrol and inspection mission. However due to the winding tunnels, collapsed mines, rift valleys, and large cracks, the completion time had multiplied a hundred times over.

They were also a mere three days away from the first patrol, something that set a few of the apprentices on edge, though none of them complained. 

"We need to come up with a detailed plan today," Sabrina said and looked around, her normal and mechanical left eyes looking over the small gathering.

She immediately noticed the stare, Greem's calm, interested stare.

Behaving like he hadn't just been checking the mechanical apprentice out, Greem silenced everyone with his words. "We'll take the site closest to the surface."

That got him a few odd and derisive looks, probably about how someone who mainly fought in close quarters wanted to venture into such a dangerous place.

The three of them—Greem, Mary, Sabrina—did not care about the garnered reaction as the young, black haired Pseudo Adept who'd taken the burden of leadership nodded to show she understood.

For the rest of the meeting, Greem tuned everything out and spoke to Mary via spiritual whisper about what to do in the coming days. Even with his strength, he would not underestimate the dangers of the underground world. 

All the while, he split some of his attention to focus on the beautiful mechanical adept out of the corner of his eye.

Why? 

An emotion he'd only begun to experience incrementally in recent days towards the vampire by his side currently assailed him in full force, leaving him bewildered.

Immediately upon setting eyes on Sabrina, Greem felt a strong attraction to her. There was just something about her supermodel level beauty half-obscured by the metal mask and her long flowing black hair that got him going.

One might suggest he ignore this attraction since he already "had" Mary.

But the truth was from the jump, Greem only indulged the vampire due to compassion and the possibility of getting someone with her fierce and loyal nature on his side.

Despite her breathtaking (clothed and unclothed) appearance, he'd only begun to feel some level of attraction toward her. And this was only due to the long periods of time they'd spent together. 

With Sabrina however, the feels hit him at full power as soon as he laid eyes on her. Had his self-control and the sword hanging over his head not been so great, he might have approached the young woman after the meeting.

But he tempered himself. There were more pressing matters to consider. Relationships at this point where he'd gotten close to step one in his Adept ascension plan would do nothing beneficial for him.

He'd rather wait until he surmounted that hurdle first, then he'd allow himself to relax and focus on pleasure. 

 ☀☀☀ 

3 days later…

Trudging forward in a single file, every member of Greem's team held a torch up high and kept silent on their first journey into the dreaded underground. 

Their footsteps, breathing, and the occasional scratching of their arms or clothes against a rock wall had never been so loud.

Thirty minutes of this haunting and mind-numbing experience later, they arrived at their first stop on the inspection route. The location was the actual divide between the real world and the Underground world and the starting point of their various journeys.

"Alright. We'll split up here. Try to finish the missions as quickly as possible and return here. Good luck," Sabrina looked at everyone and said. 

There were no other pleasantries and send offs. The group of ten split up into five different teams and went into their respective mission directions, everyone except Greem and Mary clad head to toe in thick black robes. 

The robes were to prevent their auras and body heat from leaking and drawing the attention of the various critters and beasts littering the Underground world. 

Greem's control of his aura and body was unparalleled, hence his refusal to wear something that would hinder him in combat. Mary had come to this strange and hostile world with the intent to obtain large amounts of her favorite nourishment. 

Hiding away from the tens and hundred of death seeking creatures who would undoubtedly and mindlessly throw themselves at her was counterintuitive to that goal.

Besides, as a vampire she could assume a temperature that was lower than normal. No form of infrared would pick her up if she didn't want to be found. She'd be no different than a human shaped stalagmite. 

With this mind, the duo dressed head to toe in tight black leather entered a dim tunnel and began their seven mile journey. They both killed and stored their torches before adjusting to the pitch black environment in their own unique ways.

Greem retrieved a pair of gnome goggles he purchased back in the Swamp Tower from his storage belt and equipped them, elevating his already impressive low light vision to the dark vision creatures like vampires naturally possessed.

Continuing their journey and getting used to the new modes of vision and foreign world around them, the confident but careful duo exited the tunnel into a cave and met their first ambush.

In a small section of the cave's walls, a crack that served as the resting place of a large Rock Python became empty as its sole inhabitant lunged at Greem with its jaws wide open.

Not taking his eyes from their route, the alert body-refiner caught the ambushing reptile by whatever counted as necks for snakes and squeezed, crunching it and ending the creature.

He then paused his stride and threw the dead but still wriggling reptile to Mary, who caught it, made a small but deep incision on it and before weaving signs with her free hand. 

The dead snake's blood responded to her call, thin red mist rising from the cut and coalescing above the now grasping hand. 

After about a minute, the mist no longer rose, all of it having formed a crimson, pebble sized crystal in the hand of the smiling vampire apprentice.