Let’s Hunt the Ice Dragon!

Luckily Miles hadn't encountered any other monster that could give him trouble. A couple of other F-Tier monsters wanted to eat him, but they weren't as fast as the goat, so Miles was able to ditch them with the help of his speed.

After a few days walking, he was finally back in G-Circle. When Miles first went to the arena he didn't notice, but after he pseudo-awakened Energy while fighting awakened dead, he realized F-Circle was a lot more comfortable. It was like walking from spring weather to tundra. It felt colder, drier, and lacked that mysterious thing that made one comfortable.

When Miles arrived at the Earth, Coin rang him up, "There is a message from Cody."

"What does he want?" Miles asked with a frown. After he saved Cody from the monster when he was looking for the mysterious cave that vanished into thin air, Cody was so excited and called him his best friend all the time.

At the time Cody said he wouldn't let him go if he didn't share his number, so with no other choice, he gave him the anonymous one he attached to his alter identity's AI. Marooner needed to make calls after all.

"He says he has good news, but cannot reach for two days now. He will call you at 20:00 pm every day." Coin said.

"Alright, let's call him now. It is 18:00 pm already." Miles said and asked Coin to call. Not long later, Cody picked the call.

"Marooner! Where have you been? I have been trying to reach you for two days now. I thought you had died!" Cody's enthusiastic voice was heard in Miles's ears.

"What do you want?" Miles asked with a husky voice.

"There are major developments in the stronghold. The ice dragon's lair has been found and a joint hunt will be held. People can join in teams and every team has to sign up, and can fight in turns." Cody explained with zeal.

"THE ice dragon?" Miles asked in surprise.

"The one and only," Cody confirmed and explained. "I came to an agreement with a team that had booked up a place already. They were looking for strong fighters so I signed up for both of us but I didn't give your name. They agreed to let us take the orb if our team kills the monster."

"That is suspicious. Why would they want to hire us and not take the orb?" Miles asked, he was wondering if Cody really gave his name or not.

"You don't know anything, do you?" Cody said with a condescending voice.

"Cut the crap, and explain," Miles said with a cold voice.

"Okay, okay." Cody said and started, "Ice Dragon has been hunting for the last two decades. He had killed more than thousands of humans and only God knows how many monsters. Its lair is filled with orbs and cores, and the team that kills the dragon will have everything in the lair."

Miles stood on his ground when he heard what Cody said. It was true. Who knew how many monsters and humans the ice dragon had killed. There could be close to hundreds of orbs lying for humans to pick, there. After all, although monsters could consume cores, they hated orbs.

"How do you know it hasn't consumed the cores already?" Miles asked mistrustingly.

"Even if it consumed all the cores, orbs are still there. You have to take a chance like this!" Cody tried to persuade Miles.

"Alright, arrange a meeting with the team," Miles said after pondering for a while.

"I already did. They will wait for us in a little cave near the lair the day the lair will be opened." Cody said.

"Who is organizing it?" Miles asked. Cody said teams would enter orderly.

"Army and one of the criminal organizations. It was the criminal organization that found the lair but they couldn't stop people from entering on their own so they made a deal with the army. Three strongholds are working together on this one. The entering order is already booked up to thousands and it is virtually impossible to save up a place now. Most of the strong fighters teamed up with people who had reserved a place." Cody's words made Miles think. It was a similar situation with the humanoid vampire, but in the end, all three strongholds were tricked by Starve Cleric girl.

'Must be a coincidence.' Miles thought and agreed to meet with Cody. After he left the train, he entered the headquarters. He was planning to use the fourth strengthening serum now. He had already adjusted the fourth mind serum and now was even able to make use of energy. The only reason why Form-Rank hunters were able to use Strengthening Serums was because of the energy helping them repair their muscles and reduce the pain. So, although even peak Form-Rank hunters were afraid to use the Fourth Serum, Miles thought he should be able to use it.

But Malcolm and Evelyn said they wouldn't let Miles use the serum on his own and that he had to use it under their supervision. Miles had no problem with that. As long as they weren't stopping him from using the serum, he was more than happy to receive their support. He only had one life after all.

Normally, Uncle Roger would be with him while he took the medicine, but sadly, he passed away in the attack. Miles had a good relationship with Roger, and he had the perfect ultimate to help Miles in case something went wrong. But he sacrificed himself to save Evelyn. Although Miles knew he had a crush on his mother, he was still confused by his actions.

****

In the next chapter of Into the Portal: Monster Invasion we will see the outcome of the fourth serum. Will Miles awaken his superpower? Stay tuned, or visit my Patréon page to see more!

If you like to read 20 draft chapters ahead, you can visit my Patréon! Please support me if you like my work, and as always, HAVE FUN!

patréon.com/GodonAHill