“I never imagined someone would find this place before us. I didn’t expect that at all!”
The owner of the voice was Luke Markner, the cheerful Adventurer.
Wearing the same amiable smile he usually did, he addressed Jun.
“Huh? But that’s strange. Mage, weren’t you always with that handsome guy? His name was…… Aiden, right?”
“You don’t sound like you’re asking because you don’t know.”
When Jun pointed toward the Barrier behind him, Luke shrugged.
“I really was curious…… But how did you know about this place?”
“Who knows…….”
“Phew. I don’t understand why Mages are all so obsessed with acting mysterious. Hahaha.”
At Luke’s grumbling, Jun turned the question back on him.
“Why didn’t my Detection Magic pick you up?”
“Ah…… Is that why you’ve been so wary?”
Luke reached toward his waist as though it were nothing important.
[Shield]
CLANG!
Orange sparks scattered across the blue barrier that appeared in an instant.
Something struck the ground beneath it with a light clatter.
A crossbow bolt.
“Haa, Luke. Your problem is that you’re naive and stupid.”
“How can you blame me just because that Mage is sharp?”
The person who appeared from behind Luke as he muttered indignantly was his twin sister, Lucy.
“Did you forget that you said ‘we’ with your own mouth just now?”
“Huh? Uh…… Did I? Hahaha…… Right. I did.”
At her rebuke, Luke admitted his mistake and awkwardly scratched his head.
“But…… I really am curious. How did you find this place?”
“Answer the question I asked, and I might tell you.”
“You mean the Detection Magic?”
Naturally, since Jun and Aiden usually operated alone together, Jun had also remained wary of the other team members.
There was no telling when betrayal might occur if they discovered an extraordinary treasure.
That was why Jun had believed he was using Detection Magic without leaving any gaps.
“Wouldn’t an experienced Adventurer carry at least one item like this?”
A ring glowing violet adorned Lucy’s finger.
Since Jun had never seen it before, it seemed to be an Artifact she had kept concealed until now.
And Jun knew exactly what the ring was.
“Tsk. The [Hermit’s Ring].”
It was an Artifact useful to Assassination-Type Classes. True to its name, it reduced the wearer’s presence and disrupted Detection Magic beyond a certain distance.
‘I need to learn higher-tier Detection Magic as soon as possible.’
Jun still lacked the means to obtain large quantities of books related to magic, so he pushed the regret from his mind.
“Then could you answer our question now? How did you manage to find this place?”
“Let’s just say knowledge isn’t necessarily the exclusive property of you Adventurers. For example…… an ancient text Azure Cloud found in the Temple of Beasts.”
“……?!”
While the two Adventurers froze in shock, Jun unleashed the Mana he had been secretly gathering.
[Detecting Target]
[Wind Cutter]
They had fired the first bolt.
Granted, it had not been aimed anywhere close to a vital point, but the twins had still been the first to demonstrate hostile intent.
It was reasonable to assume that there was no longer any room for discussion.
Jun’s spell erupted without warning, but Luke reacted swiftly.
He raised a shield large enough to cover his small frame and blocked Jun’s magic.
‘The fact that he already had that shield ready means he came prepared to fight me, a Mage.’
Luke normally fought with an agile style using twin swords.
Apparently, however, he was sufficiently skilled with a shield as well.
The shield in Luke’s hands stopped Jun’s spell completely.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!
The raging wind battered the shield mercilessly.
Aside from being pushed back slightly, Luke did not allow a single attack through.
However—
“Lucy. Is this really power a Low-Rank Mage can produce?”
“……Of course not.”
The shield had been reduced to tatters.
In terms of raw power, such an attack was not necessarily impossible if a Low-Rank Mage accepted the risk of Overheat and poured a massive amount of Mana into a single spell.
But a spell cast this quickly had produced that much power?
If Low-Rank Mages were ordinarily capable of such a thing, they would never have been looked down upon so thoroughly.
‘Phew. That was close.’
But the two of them had misunderstood.
Jun had already begun secretly circulating his Mana the instant he heard Luke’s voice.
It was a trick he had learned while desperately trying to survive under a master who coveted his heart.
“Anyway, this shield is finished.”
Without showing any attachment to the ruined shield, Luke threw it aside and drew his twin swords.
Blue Aura rose from both blades.
‘As expected. He really is Level 3.’
It made sense.
Azure Cloud itself was based in a Level 3 field.
Starting from Level 3, people with exceptional talent occasionally awakened Aura.
‘I can’t even run away now.’
The twins were already blocking the exit, but more importantly, that Aura was powerful enough to tear apart the Barrier behind Jun.
“Hahaha, there’s no need to look so frightened. We’re not going to kill you.”
Luke prepared to charge with his Aura-clad swords while Lucy drew back the string of her crossbow.
Jun deployed [Shield], but with [Keen Eyes], he noticed something.
He immediately cast another spell.
[Enchantment-Type: Elemental Armory]
[Enchanted Attribute: Wind]
Wind wrapped around Jun’s feet as he swiftly moved out of the way.
It was the correct choice.
The [Shield] that had stopped Lucy’s first bolt was pierced this time without offering the slightest resistance.
A brown liquid glistened on the tip of the bolt embedded where Jun had been standing moments earlier.
“Even Basilisk Blood? You came well prepared.”
Basilisks possessed an innate resistance to magic.
The blood coating the bolt explained why Jun’s barrier had been pierced so easily.
“……You really are an observant Mage.”
What had alerted Jun was the bolt’s fletching, which he had never seen her use before.
Lucy normally used blue-fletched bolts.
This time, she had suddenly loaded one with red fletching.
FWOOSH!
While Jun burned the bolt embedded in the ground to prevent it from being reused, Luke moved.
“But magic won’t do you any good against my Aura!”
He was right.
In such a narrow space, a Swordsman who could use Aura was exceedingly dangerous to a Mage.
Jun cast [Wind Cutter] in response to Luke’s approach, but this was where the strength of an Aura-wielding Warrior became apparent.
SHRAAAK—
The flying blade of wind was torn apart by Luke’s Aura-clad sword.
This was precisely why Mages found it difficult to gain an advantage against Swordsmen who possessed Aura.
A spell that took effort to manifest could be rendered useless before Aura.
‘It might be different once I learn higher-level magic.’
For now, however, Jun had no method of overcoming that Aura directly.
And Luke was a far more accomplished Swordsman than Jun had expected.
Judging from the distance he covered with each step, he was reinforcing his body with Mana as well.
‘Most Swordsmen who have only recently awakened Aura struggle just to maintain it.’
Luke, on the other hand, was skilled enough to distribute his Mana elsewhere while maintaining his Aura with relative ease.
Just as the distance between them was about to close, Jun moved while casting another spell.
[Rock Hold]
RUMBLE—
It was the same earth-binding spell he had once used against the Outer Wolves.
Jun had no time to project as detailed a mental image into the spell as he had back then, so its power was weaker.
Even so, it succeeded in restraining Luke’s feet for a moment.
“Ah! Lucy, help me!”
The restraint would last only an instant, but Jun was already preparing another spell.
Luke had sliced apart one blade of wind, yet his expression was grim.
He had awakened Aura only recently.
Maintaining it while reinforcing his body and cutting through magic like this meant he could last only twenty or thirty seconds at most.
Lucy was therefore supposed to distract Jun with ranged attacks from afar.
Yet for some reason, no assistance came.
“This won’t work from here! He’s a cunning Mage!”
Just as Lucy said, Jun had continuously exploited the terrain.
At first glance, the narrow, straight passage seemed advantageous to the twins, especially since they controlled the exit.
But Jun had deliberately kept Luke positioned directly between himself and Lucy.
As a result, Luke repeatedly blocked Lucy’s firing line.
If Luke moved against one of the walls instead, he would simply make himself an easier target for Jun.
“I’ll join you up close!”
Concluding that she could provide little assistance from range, Lucy put away her crossbow and drew a Short Sword.
She could not use Aura like Luke.
However—
[Gentle Breeze]
She possessed a skill learned from a Skill Book.
Wind enveloped her body, and the figure that had been standing far behind Luke reached him in an instant.
No matter how capable Jun was, he would have no way to survive if both of them reached him.
Especially when he also had to protect Aiden’s Barrier behind him.
“Phew.”
As though left with no other choice, Jun pulled a small flask from his clothes and hurled it into the path of the approaching twins.
SHATTER!
It was a Virulent Poison Potion that he had secretly prepared during their independent exploration periods.
He had designed it to vaporize the instant it came into contact with air.
Sure enough—
Violet mist spilled from the shattered bottle and filled the narrow passage.
“Poison!”
“Ah! That’s cheating!”
Neither had imagined Jun would resort to such a method.
Even so, they were experienced Adventurers.
They hurriedly pulled dark brown beads from their clothes.
‘As expected. They even brought Poison-Warding Beads.’
An Artifact that granted resistance to poison merely by being held in the mouth.
Its price varied enormously depending on its grade, but even the lowest-grade version was quite expensive.
It was something a Level 1 player could not even dream of owning.
But befitting Level 3 Adventurers, the twins carried an assortment of useful items.
Jun’s plan, however, remained unchanged.
He had anticipated this possibility to some extent.
More importantly, what he truly wanted was time.
He began casting.
And he started filling the spell with a mental image.
What scene did he picture?
“Lucy! Another spell is coming!”
“Stop talking and run!”
They charged straight through the poisonous mist.
Unlike Luke, who had Aura, Lucy had no method of cutting through Jun’s magic.
Luke therefore extinguished what little Aura he had left and exploded Mana beneath his feet.
Lucy repeatedly used [Gentle Breeze] to leap forward as well.
The two burst through the poisonous mist and reached Jun almost simultaneously.
Jun grinned.
“Too late.”
[Dig(Dig)]
Just before their swords reached Jun’s head and chest, a sudden sensation of weightlessness engulfed them.
“……?!”
“Ah!”
The source of the weightlessness was the vanished ground.
A pit so deep that its bottom could not even be seen had opened beneath them like an enormous maw.
The two fell without the slightest chance to resist.
Then another spell followed into the open pit.
[Rock Hold]
The earth-binding spell.
The hole gradually closed.
When the ground finally settled, Luke and Lucy were visible only from the neck up, both unconscious.
Jun had pushed himself rather hard.
He had spent the entire day exploring the dungeon and fighting monsters.
Without resting afterward, he had gone on an independent exploration while continuously using Detection Magic.
And then he had been forced to fight two Level 3 Adventurers.
‘Fortunately, their equipment was terrible.’
Despite their actual ability, the twins had only been using Level 2 equipment.
Their attempt to conceal their affiliation with Azure Cloud had ultimately saved Jun’s life.
Otherwise, he would never have subdued the two of them this easily.
“So…… you’re telling me those two are Adventurers from Azure Cloud, and Azure Cloud is the reason the dungeon has gone to hell like this?”
“Right.”
“And you subdued two Level 3 players. By yourself. Even though you’re a Low-Rank Mage.”
“That’s right.”
“Good grief…….”
Several dozen minutes later—
Colton had followed the traces left behind while searching for Luke and Lucy, who had suddenly disappeared amid the dungeon’s drastic change.
His expression was one of complete disbelief.
His reaction was understandable.
Low-Rank Mages were so vulnerable in combat against other people that they could even lose to Level 1 Warriors.
Jun’s casting speed might have been unusually fast, but even so, defeating Level 3 players—one of whom could use Aura—should have been realistically impossible.
“Are you actually an Intermediate-Rank Mage?”
“I’m close to that level.”
Even without considering [Mana Incarnate], Jun subjectively believed his magical ability had nearly reached the Intermediate Rank.
‘Part of the problem is that I haven’t been able to obtain 4th-Circle Spellbooks, and I haven’t taken the formal examination either.’
Those were problems he would eventually have to resolve.
But they were hardly the most urgent issue now.
“So…… just how much do you know, Mage?”
“Everything from the overall problem with this Conquest Operation to what we’re going to face from here on.”
“Urgh.”
Colton’s face twisted fiercely.
“This has turned into one hell of a mess. But when is that friend of yours coming back out?”
Colton pointed toward the black Barrier behind Jun.
A bead of cold sweat formed on Jun’s face.
“Maybe…… a day?”
Even Jun did not know the exact duration.
“But he’ll definitely come out before a full day passes. I’m certain of that.”
He had never known the precise time, even in the game, but he clearly remembered that the trial had always ended before a full in-game day passed.
“Fine. Then start telling me everything you know, Mage. And I want to hear what you intend to do with these two as well.”
They were effectively responsible for the current disaster.
From Colton’s perspective, killing Adventurers who might act unpredictably was far safer.
However, Jun had been the first to recognize what was happening, so Colton asked for his opinion before acting.
“We keep them alive for now. Whatever they’ve done, if we want to survive, we’re ultimately going to need the strength of the Raid group.”
“Tsk…… Then I suppose we have no choice. Why the hell did these bastards suddenly pull something like this……?”
“They probably wanted to regain the attention of the noble sponsoring them.”
Jun had not heard that directly from Luke or Lucy, but he knew the general circumstances surrounding Azure Cloud.
‘I’d forgotten because it’s been so long. Azure Cloud was an Adventuring Group that appeared in the game’s setting too.’
The relevant events had taken place several years before the starting point of the game.
To know about them, one had to deliberately investigate the background lore found within the game.
Since Jun had never cared much about the story itself, it was no wonder he had failed to remember immediately.
“Azure Cloud might look like a prosperous Adventuring Group backed by a noble, but apparently the reality is quite different.”
Repeated failures in exploration.
Members who had stagnated for far too long without advancing.
Naturally, the noble who sponsored them had begun losing interest.
What did Azure Cloud need if they wanted to win back their patron’s favor?
There was no need to ask.
This Conquest Operation was the answer.
Clear the Hidden Stage of the Black Forest Conquest Operation, a secret that had remained undiscovered for hundreds of years.
What could possibly give their noble patron greater bragging rights than that?
‘Of course, I only learned this from a historical chronicle I read in the game, so I don’t know how accurate the information is.’
Regardless, it did not change the fact that Azure Cloud was responsible for the unexpected variable affecting the current Conquest Operation.
“So they gambled with our lives?”
“More or less.”
Naturally, neither Jun nor Colton cared in the slightest about Azure Cloud’s internal difficulties.
They were simply furious that the group had placed them in such danger.
“Phew…… This has become complicated. Even if we know the truth, isn’t the biggest problem that we have no way to prove it?”
Colton also understood why Jun had remained silent until now.
How were they supposed to explain the current situation to the other teams?
If they handled it poorly, it could look as though they were openly rebelling against the Raid Leader.
“Don’t worry about that.”
Jun smiled and waved the ancient text in his hand.
“I already prepared the evidence.”