Busted?

Today, I only wrote and edited this, and hopefully tomorrow, I will do the same and finish the last missing chapter.

The problem is that now I am late on the chapters from my other novels XD.

Well, I hope my Patrons don't skin me alive.

Peace!

As always, check my other stuff!

Stuff being my Novels and Discord.

And if you are a Bro, why not... P@treon?!

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/About an hour since the Great Hunt began…/

'Deep in the complex labyrinth of caverns, a group of 4 students could be seen resting around a magical bonfire that burned in an odd blue light.'

'All around them were tools and equipment, from a sword to something akin to heavy armor.'

'They all wore different sets of armor, but all of them had the same theme. A mix of blue and black and one of them had a marine cap on his head, covering his face with it.'

'3 guys and one girl, one guy with a thinner frame, his face hidden by the cap, one big guy with big muscles, his clothes were modified to fit his bulging arms.'

'The last guy looked like Prince Charming, with golden hair shining on his head and yellow eyes that seemed to shine brightly under the blue light of the bonfire.'

'The girl on the other hand seemed tired, sleeping in a carefree way. Her dark-green hair spread all around the ground.'

"Hm?"

'Suddenly, one of them raised their head, looking at the only dark corridor that led to their room.'

/Click click click!/

'Upon hearing a series of clicking sounds, the big guy got up and walked into the dark, and soon after, he came back with a confused and pensive expression.'

'Noticing his expression and strange mood, the prince charming asked:'

"What happened?"

"Outpost A-32 has been breached but we didn't lose it to another group."

"..."

"ZZZzzz."

'This made the other guy raise his head in interest, but his face was still hidden by the cap, on the other hand, the girl continued to sleep without a care.'

"Is that all?" Asked their leader without showing much interest in this matter

'It was just an Outmost at the topmost section of the caverns and hence, it held no intrinsic value to them.'

"Yes, it seems this was done by an unidentified student from the Fifth year." Said the big guy

"..."

'This time, the blond leader remained silent thinking.'

'There is only one possibility when a student can't be identified, and it's when they aren't a student in the first place since they already know all of the students there are.'

'Among the few 5th-year classes, how come a new student would suddenly pop out?'

'To this, the man who had his appearance hidden by the cap opened his mouth and said for the first time:'

"Could it be someone else's guard or private soldier they brought? It can even be a sudden transfer student, those appear from time to time and leave after they are done with what they came here to do."

'The big man shrugged.'

"It's not over yet."

"..."

"Oh? Is there more to it?" Asked the man with the cap, curious

"Upon cross-checking the description of the appearance of the man behind this incident, we have found who it was."

"That was fast!" Joked the man with the cap

"..." The blond man remained silent

"It doesn't seem as if he was trying to hide from the beginning, but in a sense, there was only one lead that connected it all." Said the big guy as he showed them a piece of paper

"... This is?" Asked the leader

"It's a copy of a contract in the Nexus… And it was posted by 'that brat'."

"Which one? There are way too many brats in this academy." Joked the man with the cap

"The prince of the Red Mountain."

"..."

"..."

"Holy shit…" Said the girl as she opened her eyes for the first time

"You awake?" Asked the man with the cap

"Of fucking course, how can I sleep when you guys keep blabbering by my ears?"

'The man with the cap just shut up, it was beyond him to argue with this girl.'

"How does Ermilian fit into all of this?" Asked the leader

'The girl smiled and said with scorn:'

"I'm sure you heard the rumors about how Ermilian and his bitch were beaten up. I bet the guy that attacked us is the same guy who beat him up, am I right?"

"..."

'The big guy said nothing, but he nodded.'

"HA! It seems someone interesting knocked on our doors… So? When are we going after him?…"

'But the leader interrupted the girl:'

"We won't."

"EHHHHH?! How boring!"

'The man with the cap also said:'

"Please, try to think for a moment, we are talking about someone who put the prince to his knees, he's definitely not someone to mess with over an Outpost."

'The girl rolled her eyes and went back to sleep in boredom.'

"You are all so boring, someone attacked us and we can't even counter attack."

"... I just told you to think… You are saying that we should risk everything we came here to do over a measly Outpost on the Upper depths…"

"Bla bla bla! I don't care anymore." The girl said as she turned around on the ground and went to sleep

"..."

'The man with the cap let out a sigh, pulling his own cap down to cover more of his face.'

'After thinking for a moment, the leader asked:'

"... What does the contract say?" Asked the leader

"! Oh yeah!" Said the girl as she turned back up

"Captain?!" Asked the boy

'But the leader only raised his hand without saying much, telling them to stay silent.'

"The contract is pretty simple, it is more of a wanted bounty post than a contract."

"Whoever brings information about this man will be rewarded, and those that bring solid proof about beating him or capturing him shall receive bigger rewards…"

/Whistle…/

"It seems the Red Prince is an~gry." Said the girl playfully

"Say that louder… If you say that any louder I bet even the other groups are going to hear it."

"Is that a dare?"

"... Treat it as if I didn't say anything…" Said the boy with the cap knowing that girl was about to scream

Crazy bitch...

'The girl mumbled something about him being spineless and looked at her leader with hope.'

"Are we going? Pretty please…"

"..."

"What do we know about him?" Asked the leader

"Don't tell me you're considering it?" Asked the man with the cap

The big man just shook his head and said:

"There isn't much about him, however, there is another incident he took part in."

"A few minutes before he… Disciplined the Prince, he actually got into a conflict with the son of Duke Ves."

"..."

'The Continent was pretty big, and with many races and kingdoms all around, it was extremely hard to keep track of who was who.'

'It took years of learning for a Noble to properly memorize the names, positions, the crests, and more details of the many Noble houses across the continent.'

'But when a Noble starts his training, they normally learn from the top to the bottom.'

'And in the Human hierarchy, right below the Emperors lays the Kings, and below them, the Dukes.'

'So once Duke Ves was mentioned, everyone recognized who it was. Especially since his son was quite famous… Or better put, infamous.'

"How did the fucker get his hands in this mess?" Asked the girl with an annoyed expression

"Surprisingly, for the very same reason the Prince… From what we know, this man recently joined the Academy as an Advanced Course student and went to give a class…"

"Ohh I see, that guy and 'class' aren't things that should be said in the same phrase." Said the girl ironically

"... The rest is history and in the end, he was disciplined right in front of the class by this man."

'The girl opened her eyes wide!'

"His balls are massive hahaha! That's how it's supposed to be! First a Duke's son and now a Prince? What's next, the son of the Emperor?! Haha…"

'But she soon realized everyone was silent.'

"This isn't funny, on the contrary, it's quite the problem." Said the boy with the cap

"The scale of this event screams that we shouldn't interfere with it, no, we should remain far away from this man just in case."

/Tsk!/

'The girl tisked and crossed her arms.'

"What happened to our guards at the Outpost?" Asked the leader

"They were knocked out and left there, nothing much happened after that, they were lucky since they were found by other members of our groups who were nearby."

"They went to the Outpost to check in on a contract and they found them unconscious… But that is about it." Said the big guy in a calm tone as he went to sit back near the bonfire

"..."

'Their leader remained silent for a minute before he got up and said:'

"Enough rest. Let's continue."

"So we aren't going after them?" Asked the girl in disappointment

"No."

"Eh?! We are or we aren't?!" She asked as she jumped back up

"... We'll continue on our way and we'll have the others keep an eye on them, after we finish what we came here to do, we'll seek them out."

"That's a promise!" Said the girl as she got up and grabbed a long staff from the ground, running towards the dark caves

"... At least she is motivated now." Said the big guy as he extinguished the flames of the bonfire

"Sigh, it's the better option but I would prefer if we were as further away from all of this as possible…"

'The 4 got ready and went on their way, would their paths cross with Philip?'

…

/7 hours later…/

"Enough rest, let's continue!" Said Viera with a bit of excitement

"Sure." Replied Philip as he got up

'It had been 8 hours since the Great Hunt began, and around a third of its total time had already passed.'

'Many students had already left due to many reasons, and some were currently resting, they had 24 hours after all and few could fight and keep their guard up all the time.'

'Some left due to injuries, others left since they got what they wanted, but many still felt as if they could do more.'

'And it was the same for Viera.'

'In the past 8 hours, a lot happened. Philip continued to lead Viera through the confusing tunnels, killing and butchering every creature and beasts in their path, filling up his inventory space very quickly.'

'He slowly showed more and more of his capabilities to her, and as expected, she was indeed surprised at how strange his abilities were.'

'Well, Philip isn't a user of Magic, nor a conventional warrior that strengthens his own body through Aura or something similar.'

'But instead, the only energy he specializes in, comes from another Universe…'

'Besides that, Philip tried his best to remain on course after the daughter of Fabrin, but that proved to be hard.'

'Not only was she diving straight to the deeper grounds, but she was also pretty fast, to a point that it was starting to make Philip worried.'

'Not because of the danger of the place, but because of the time it would take for him to rush after her in the circumstance something happens to her.'

'And how would he know something bad happened? Simple, his contract would warn him regardless of his position in the underground.'

'Just like teachers are warned in case a student launches an SOS signal, Philip will be signalized in case the girl gets in a very dangerous situation.'

'But he is dubious if he would be capable of saving her in time due to the distance…'

"What else do we need?" Asked Philip towards Viera, even though he knew exactly what their contracts were

"Hm… There are still 3 more contracts, but they are all on the way. If you want to, we can get more after them, or just free hunt, however, I would feel bad to call it a day." She said as she looked forward

"But perhaps, we could do the contract you are hiding from me?"

'When Philip heard her, he stopped for a moment before letting out a sigh, continuing on his walk with a smile.'

"... Ha. So you noticed? Since when?" Philip asked with a carefree smile

'She seemed a bit disappointed upon seeing his reaction...'

"Is that how you react?" She asked with a small smile

"Well, I wasn't really trying to hide it from you, but I thought it would be too much to bring it to your attention from the start after I saw how… Volatile you were."

"Really? Volatile?" She asked with a frown

"How else should I describe you? You almost left without a word just because I had an expensive box."

/Chuckle/

'She chuckled slightly, looking at his face this time and saying:'

"Alright, you win… So? What is this about? Perhaps it's related to how you aren't a student?"

"Wow! Throwing all of your cards at once are we?" Philip said with a big smile

'She also smiled, and said:'

"Strike while the iron is hot or so they say… So?"

"..."

Looks like our relationship progressed a little bit and at least she isn't completely against me or on the defensive now that she figured everything out…

"I didn't lie about my name at least."

"That's something, but barely enough to pay for your sin."

"What sin?"

"The sin of lying to me!"

'Philip suddenly grasped his chest dramatically…'

"Such a heavy crime…"

"I'm being serious!"

'The two laughed a bit before Philip continued:'

"Well, allow me to present myself again."

"Philip Vinten, Advanced Course student."

"Yeah, I noticed you were a bit too old to be a student."

"#! Come on! I am only a bit over 20…"

"That's what they all say."

"... In any case, I'm currently contracted as a bodyguard." Philip replied as he ignored her joke

'This made Viera almost cry.'

"Fo-For me?!"

"No."

"At least try to be more sensible!" She said as she swung her staff at his legs

'But Philip barely even felt it.'

"You are really asking me something you already have the answer for, so don't be dramatic."

'She rolled her eyes, after all, wasn't he being dramatic just a moment ago?'

"So who is it? Is it the reason why…"

'But Philip interrupted her and said:'

"Yes yes yes… You are very smart and have already figured everything out… Yes, I understand that you are very perceptive and..." Said Philip in a robotic tone

"Stop joking around… For real this time."

"You keep asking for it." He said playfully

"..."

'Viera opened her mouth to argue, but she kept silent.'

"Pretty much, someone asked me to make sure their rash daughter doesn't get herself in trouble in this place."

"However, the same person told me that I wouldn't be able to do it if I went inside as an official worker, so I disguised myself as a student since I met the criteria."

'Viera kept silent for a few instances and said:'

"I see."

"You don't seem too happy about that."

"Well, I figured as much." She said smugly

"As we delve deeper, I already started to see a pattern, from how we got much lesser credits per contract to how you always took a passive stance to most creatures and students that crossed our path."

"All of those are actions a higher tier personnel would take if they were here with me, so I just had to fill in the gaps."

"Besides, you are too physically strong for someone in their Fifth year, even for the strongest students."

"If you truly were a student, there would be no way someone like you would have remained anonymous for 5 years."

"Okay okay, what else?"

'She looked at him with an annoyed expression.'

"What do you mean by what else? That is all!"

"What a shame, It's not everyday I am praised so much by a pretty girl."

"Wh-! Stop that!" She said with a slight blush

Dammit…

'But Philip remained focused, saying:'

"Okay then, since my identity has been revealed I guess there is no reason for me to hold back anymore."

'As he said that, he cracked his neck and knuckles, his sword even seemed to faintly blink.'

"I guess so…"

I am also pretty interested… In how he looks when he gives his all.

"Let's hunt the next few Danger beasts and rush towards an Outpost, from there, we'll pick a few contracts on the way to my own contract… Of course, if you are okay with it."

"Humph, don't try to be polite, I know very well that if I reject you, you'll be in massive trouble."

"Haha… You got me." He said as he scratched the back of his head

If she refuses and leaves, I won't be able to participate anymore as I need a team to be able to enroll as a student in the Great Hunt.

Otherwise, I will have to go as an Advanced student and that comes with its own responsibilities that may block me from accomplishing my contract.

Besides, I would like to remain at her side for a bit longer to find that damn item!

"Shall we go?" Asked Viera as she looked at Philip

"Of course." He replied as he took a step forward

…

/5 hours later, deeper in the caverns…/

/FWOOSH!/

/BAM!/

/THUD!/

"Ha… Da… DAMMIT!" Exclaimed Ivia, the daughter of Fabrin as she exhaled turbid air

'Bellow the girl was the body of a massive creature that looked like a crocodile, but it had a pair of 'wings' on its back, however, they only looked like wings as they were more of muscular arms with two hands than wings.'

'It was truly a scary and bizarre creature being over 9M long from head to tail… And yet, it fell to this single girl and her blade.'

'Although… Surely not without a fight, judging by the scratches on the solid walls of the Dungeon caverns and the few craters all around her.'

"It may not have been… The most suitable match for my abilities, but so is life…"

I won't always meet the perfect enemy... Being ready for any situation and the average between those situations is my strength.

It was at least a Rank 6 Danger beast but subterranean creatures tend to be stronger than the ones on the surface so it's probably below that…

(N1)

'She clenched her fists and thought:'

But that's the extent of its power… It's barely in the Middle levels of the food chain of this place.

And if I were to put myself in its place, where would I be placed?

'She stayed silent for a little longer before she pulled a knife and started to carve out pieces of the monster, storing them in her pocket.'

"I previously thought this would be enough… But after I met that guy my plans have changed."

'The girl gazed at the dark caverns, being this deep, most forms of infrastructure had already disappeared and at most, a few faint lights could be seen in the ceiling from time to time.'

'This was where the true danger lay, the wild zone where these creatures clashed everyday. In here, if you weren't ready, you may suddenly die to a creature much stronger than you.'

'Just because a creature is strong, it doesn't mean it needs lots of food, so its very possible that one may be pushed aside from a territorial war in the deeper areas where energy is more abundant, coming to the upper areas to pray on weaker creatures.'

'And she can only pray that it isn't her…'

…

/At the same time, a few hundred meters from her position.../

"Really now!" Said Viera in an annoyed tone

"How much further are we going to follow her?!" She asked as she pulled Philip's shirt

"I told you, now that we caught up to her, we'll remain in the backlines taking care of other monsters until she gets in a dangerous situation and requires our help..."

"Since we can't just appear next to her and say that we are her bodyguards." Philip replied as he ate a beef jerky

"And you... How can you eat beef jerky in such a place?" She asked him

'Viera looked at his carefree eating as if he was some sort of unknown creature, not only was the beef jerky extremely unpleasant to eat, but this place was smelly and humid making the condition to eat terrible…'

"When you are in such a place, you need to always conserve your energy, and everytime you spend some, you need to replenish it somehow. It may be unpleasant, but there may be a point where you'll need that extra bit of energy."

"And between losing a leg because you reacted too late and having diarrhea tomorrow due to eating this shit, I prefer the latter.'

'Besides, these will never cause you diarrhea since that can also kill you in such a situation, so I made sure to pack some decent rations."

"..."

'Viera gazed at Philip as if he was an alien… But he wasn't done.'

"Aside from that, we won't remain here for long, so even if these were unsanitary to eat, which isn't the case, I would still do so as I know very well that I can leave this place wherever I want."

"AND if we were to push further I could say that even in the situation we were unknowingly trapped in this place, this food wouldn't cause me future damage and…"

"ALRIGHT I UNDERSTAND! Please stop with the explanations…" She said as she covered her ears

"..."

'Philip let out a small sigh, taking out a small bag from his inventory.'

'It was a bag of very aromatic and delicious cookies of many flavors!'

"... Why are you eating that when you had such cookies?" She asked with a poker face

'But Philip only replied with a bit of scorn.'

"... Emergency food, cookies aren't really going to cut out when the situation presses for it, besides, they work more as mental medicine than food because if we get in a pinch, we can eat them and recover a bit…"

"Alright alright, enough excuses, I know very well you bought them from the canteen before you came here right? Who do you think I am? I've been in the Academy for 2 years already…"

"Just tell me you're trying to look cool."

"... Damn, you got me…"

'Philip smiled a little, making Viera look at him with an ugly expression.'

"..."

'As Viera thought about how annoying he was Philip also thought about her.'

Half a day… It's been over half a day and no sign of my objective.

Perhaps… She didn't bring it with her.

So I thought of some possibilities...

I'm pretty sure she has no idea of its value, or perhaps she has but is beyond capable of keeping her composure.

Or perhaps she is simply comfortable with me since I have no indication of looking for it…

Whatever it is, after 12 hours, she is either hiding it pretty well, or I've been simply staring right at it and not realizing it this entire time.

The other solution is that she either didn't bring it with her as I said before or perhaps... She has yet to get it.

What if my actions resulted in her not acquiring it?

Apart from that, I have a better idea of who Viera Ert Almon is.

A commoner from the Northern side of the continent, meaning, she is a Human that grew together with other races…

In consequence, she has a great understanding of what racism is... Being a victim of it and all.

She was born in a very poor village at the edge of the Human territory, and the biggest reason why her village was poor was because of the Taurons that lived near it.

Taurons are a race of Humanoid bipedal creatures with massive physical strength and they look like your typical Minotaur, being on average 1.8M tall and have massive muscles.

Most Taurons are actually rather sociable, so much so that a Human could go to their cities and trade easily without being ripped off, but they have strict social rules.

Stick to their rules, rise within their rules, thrive within their rules... Else, wither.

Although it isn't right to say that they are completely unbiased to Humans… As their rules get a bit… Harsh when they are dealing with us.

Like most Northern races, to be honest, they do have some sort of grudge that comes from the past...

And this grudge was released onto her village...

Being forced to move and live in a place with rather unfertile soil in a just as dangerous area, the poor farmers who had no one to defend them had it rough to cope with the extreme taxes of the Taurons.

And if they couldn't pay it through money and food, they had to do it through other means that held value, and simplest was slaves.

Slaves had value, and despite slaves from other races being banned in the Southern half part of the continent, they aren't here in the North due to the traditions and rules of each race.

It would take forever to convince or make every race understand the impact of slavery on all aspects of society and how much better it would be if they didn't exist.

And in any case, the other races don't really care, nor do they have a government system where freeing slaves would do anything positive to it.

Besides, most of them don't slave others for profit but more as to show off their power and quench their grudges with each other.

Sometimes it's just a consequence.

That is why the North is such a chaotic area, with so many races where everyone seems to hate each other, it is simply impossible to maintain peace.

Now back to Viera herself…

Amidst one of her monthly taxes, Viera's mother and father ended up being sold to pay off the village's debt, and in order to not fall into their same destiny and carry on their will and perhaps even revenge, she worked to the bone until her master saved her.

The reason behind it is unknown, and I find it even a bit dubious. Mainly because its too coincidental.

Her master saved her and her village, but from her own words, it seems as if she reached a truce of some kind with the Taurons…

But no sort of word or clue was given to Viera about her parents, and the only thing she knew about their condition came from her master's mouth.

That they are out there somewhere, but they were sold somehow further away and that her master couldn't do much about it.

In the following years after that, Viera was taught by her master in magic until she enrolled her in the Academy so she could continue on her own magic path.

The reason for that is also unknown to me, but what I know is that her master disappeared not long after leaving her here.

Considering the fact that Viera said that her master is pretty strong, even when she is on the verge of making her 5th Circle, tells me that she was either a 6th circle or higher ranking magician.

That is high enough to have an important role in this place, as the 6th circle is high enough to be an Archmage.

Yet, her master is nowhere to be seen?

In the first place, why was an Archmage in the middle of the countryside?

Worst of all, how did such a countryside girl got in possession of such an important item?

One of the possibilities is that her own master gave it to her, and that might be related as to how she disappeared.

Perhaps there is a dramatic story here…

Questions without answers…

At the end of it all, it doesn't matter to me. I only need to confirm the item's location and secure it for myself, and after that, I can continue to the next part of my plan.

I am already prepared to execute it, but as long as I don't have that item, I won't progress since once my plan starts, I doubt I would be able to return to normal day to day life in the Academy.

Besides, I was promised some training by that cheeky man, so I better learn the most I can from him.

He made me remember that I am not fucking invincible and that I have many flaws for how strong I was supposed to be, so I need to sharpen my edges before I get another Class.

Before I increase them further.

As the older masters of Cultivation love to say, a tower cannot be built on top of a wobbly foundation…

'Once he was done with his thoughts, Philip refocused and… Saw the red face of Viera.'

"Hum?"

"..."

"..."

How long was I looking at her?

'Without realizing, Philip had turned his gaze to her during his thoughts. It wasn't for long though, only a few seconds, but that was enough to make Viera's face red.'

'Philip thought process was super fast, and hence, all of those words in his head went past while only a few seconds went by in the real world.'

'The problem was how his focused face stared right at Viera, and despite her asking, he didn't reply and only stared at her, making her embarrassed once more.'

"Sorry for that, I was a bit too focused…"

'He was about to make a joke saying he was trapped in her beauty, but he remembered she was only supposed to be 16 or so years old, so he didn't joke anymore and remained silent.'

"N-N-No I…"

'For the next few seconds, Viera tried to say something but to no avail…'

[Mission target is in danger!]

"!"

'But before she could finish her words however, the Nexus beeped and alerted Philip that it was time to move!'

"She's in danger!" He said as he got up, startling Viera

"Wha…"

"Focus! Time to go!"

/Fwush!/

"Wait!..."

'And like that, he grabbed Viera like a princess and rushed forward like a lightning bolt, leaving behind only faint mist…'

.

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Notes

N1

So? What is a Danger beast?

Monsters, that is what they are.

I am mixing in the names from time to time, but I showed in the first few chapters that there is a naming system and classification system for these creatures.

It won't matter much, but it can help us in understanding the context.

Danger beasts and many other monsters are divided into Stages, just like people are divided into Levels.

It's more of a verbal classification and not what is actually happening.

From State 1 to 10, we give them a rank of 1. From State 11 to 20, we give them a rank of 2… And so on.

But sometimes, a creature may go beyond that, it isn't uncommon to see a rank 2 beast kill a rank 3. Although it is very rare to see a rank 8 killing a rank 9.

The words from the chapter where I showed it.

In here we saw the lady kill a creature that she assumed to be rank 6, or in other words, to be between state 51 and 60.

However, since underground creatures tend to be stronger due to how fierce their environment was. She said there is a chance it might be of a lower level.

Of course, it could very well have the power of a Level 55 but only be 49. Just like how our Mc is Level 1 but can fight above his Level, is a matter of specs + abilities + Skills + more factors that = to your final combat power.

PS!

I could've made a few mistakes in regard to lore in these recent chapters, a lot changed in regards to my final idea of what is happening, and even more, time has passed since the last time I read those earlier chapters.

So a few terms may have changed and perhaps even some concepts, so things like hints and foreshadowing may have just broken in the middle...

Oh well.