| Questioning and Answers |

POV:Ráel

As soon as we got out of the doom Elijah had created, the first thing I heard was a thundering roar that rumbled throughout the cavern, shaking a few stalactites loose from the ceiling.

"What now?!" Elijah groaned, asking out loud.

"It's okay, guys. It's just my contracted mana beast," Arthur told us to calm us down.

Before us stood a tall, black creature, about 8 meters tall, with obsidian-black scales reflecting the light from the dungeon. It had two horns sprouting out of its head, dragon-like wings but with pitch-black feathers, and blood-red spikes produced along its spine. It exuded a menacing, if not baleful, aura.

"So this is the pet dragon of Arthur," I thought to myself as I got a good look at

her.

"She is an important character in the grand scheme of things. She is the reason Arthur was able to become that strong after getting his core destroyed," I thought in my head.

Suddenly, her snake-like tongue shot out as she licked Arthur in the face with enough force to lift him from the ground.

"My God, your breath is foul, Sylv," he sputtered, barely able to keep himself upright.

"-Is that a wyvern? But it has four limbs. I-It can't be, right? Is that a d-d-d-"

"I'm pretty sure she's a dragon," I finished for the dumbfounded Elijah.

He stared up at the sight of the fearsome beast, his face filled with more horror than when he had seen the Elderwood Guardian.

Jasmine, who had already known about his bond, was still trembling at the sight of his juvenile dragon as she clutched Samantha close to her chest.

" Hey, guys, this is my bond, Sylvie," Arthur told us as he stretched his hand and started to pat her head.

Turning to face us, he put on a grim face.

"Jasmine already knew about this, but I want you guys to promise to keep this a secret as well. Dragons have been thought to have been extinct for centuries now, so if anyone were to suddenly see Sylvie... well, you know what greed can do to someone." Arthur said.

Elijah nodded frantically in response, his glasses hanging loose on his crooked nose. I

only nodded in response.

"We need to hurry, though. It worked out well that Sylvie came when she did. Let's move Samantha on Sylvie's back," he said.

And so, we finally arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. Arthur and Samantha were riding on top of the dragon, and Elijah,

Jasmine, and I followed behind.

"Guys, why don't you go to the guild hall and inform them of what happened here and get help while I and Samantha will stay here," Arthur suggested to us, and we all nodded.

At this time, I decided to take out the beast core as I showed it to them.

"Don't tell me that is-" Elijah asked, shakingly.

"The Elderwood mana core," Arthur finished for him as he continued to say, "Hold on to it, and once we are in the city, we will sell it and split the money."

"Are you kidding me?" Elijah shook his head.

"I don't want it."

"Me neither. You both deserve it, Arthur," Jasmine agreed.

"What? You guys don't want-"

"I'm just happy to be alive. I think it's fair that those who killed it get to reap the rewards," Samantha whispered, her consciousness wavering.

"I also don't want it, but be careful," I said as I tossed the mana core at Arthur

"What do you mean?" he asked, sounding confused.

"That mana core has a beast will. As you already know, it is a pretty strong beast, so the will inside will be very useful, but I would not recommend you use it or give it to someone," I responded to his question.

"Why isn't that a good thing?" he asked again, sounding even more confused.

"Normally, yes, it would be a good thing, but this core is corrupted in some way. Didn't you find it strange that it changed color at the end, turning into a gray mountain of

veins?" I answered him.

"Now that you mention it, that was pretty strange," he thought for a bit, then agreed with my idea as he asked a question, "so you mean to say that this core is unusable?"

"Not entirely. You can absorb the mana from the core, but not the beast will. That will is like a poison to us, so be careful," I said as I pointed at the gray rune-like things on the

core.

We left Arthur alone as he started to absorb the mana from the core. As he accidentally released his killing intent, obviously thinking about Lucas and his betrayal.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Five hours later on the guild hall

POV:Kaspin Bladeheart

After escorting the runt of the Wykes House, I arrived back to my seat, tempted to burn the towering stack of paperwork that had accumulated over the past few days. After taking a deep breath, I slid a parchment from the top of the pile when the faint creak of the door tugs at my attention

It was that adventurer, Note and his party

Closing the door behind him, his warbled baritone voice whispers out in a barely-discernable sound.

"Mr. Bladeheart, you haven't forgotten what you said about wanting to truly help me, correct?"

A sharp chill runs down my spine; his seemingly harmless words stabbed into me like a looming threat. Ignoring my angst, I held my stoic facade, straightening my glasses before responding. "Of course . Your personal connection to Mrs.Flamesworth, as well as your own potential, had been regarded favorably by the Guild.

The masked adventurer, whose identity-or even age-I could not guess, nodded his head . I knew he was somehow connected to the Leywin household but even a thorough background search had turned out fruitless

"But what is even more frightening is the other adventurer named Lucifer. Till now, he hasn't said or done anything. I don't know anything about him. It's like he just appeared here and joined us.

He is even more dangerous than Note. His aura alone is immense; he has a dark but calm aura around him. Even after everything that happened, he didn't say anything, and I can't even see his mana core level. He always did missions on his own and was able to achieve AA rank in just a span of a few years. Truly a mystery."

"Adventurer Note, I would like you to come with me and solve the matter regarding Lucas," I said, wanting to solve this thing as fast as possible.

"So can I go now?" asked Lucifer in a cold voice, after which I just nodded at him and asked the secretary to escort him outside the guild.

.

———————————————————————

POV: Arthur Leywin

After a seemingly endless moment of unnerving silence, one of the elderly men that was taller than the four beside him stood up and cleared his throat

"On behalf of the Adventurer's Guild and the panel that is present here, I hereby declare the conjurer, Lucas Wyes, formally stripped of his A class ranking for sabotage and endangerment of his party members during a dungeon excursion.

Furthermore, he is prohibited from re-enlisting as an adventurer until otherwise stated by the Guild .

You may now hand in your card .

A thick-bearded panel member beside the one that had just spoken banged his gavel, creating a loud echo across the room as Lucas begrudgingly handed his enchanted card.

While normally, the sentencing would be filled with anxious family and friends, Lucas and I were the only ones present besides the judges .

I had come to the conclusion that this was to keep news that could slander the Wykes

House's name contained, but after hearing Lucas's verdict just now, I thought otherwise . Normally, what Lucas had done, down at the Dire Tombs, would be enough for him to be sentenced to imprisonment-on top of getting his title stripped .

However, the vague addition that the elder made at the end, about him being prohibited from becoming an adventurer until otherwise stated left for a lot of loose ends

"Next to be put on trial is the augmenter, Note Faced with the clear enmity with Lucas Wykes and possible the whole Wykes Family displayed by the act of aggression against Lucas, on behalf of the panel and the entirety of the Adventurer Guild"-the judge glanced at his peers to his left and right-" hereby declare a temporary ban from Xyrus City during the entire duration of Lucas Wykes' attendance at Xyrus Academy .

The gavel, once again, boomed throughout the room. To my right, I could feel Lucas's gaze bore into me as he waited for my reaction. Putting on my best angry voice, I leaned forward on the podium. "Sir! I object to this punishment! Why am I to be reprimanded for Lucas's betrayal at the dungeon?" I slammed my fists down on the bench in front of me. All the while, even from my peripheral view, I could see Lucas's anxious face turn smug from my discontent.

I knew revoking his license didn't mean much to him and with me "out of the way, he didn't have to worry about anything.

"This is not a discussion! We are aware of the circumstances, which is why we chose not to revoke your license . You will be allowed to continue being an adventurer as long as we do not catch you near Mr. Wykes or his family. "

The judge's stern face glowered fiercer as his sharp gaze pierced through my mask.

"Wait! What about his identity? Wouldn't he be able to easily take his mask off and slip through inside the city and potentially harm me or my family?" Lucas raised his finger at me, now confident enough to push me down even further.

"We have already decided to have his identity recorded once this sentencing is over, Mr. Wykes You will not be allowed to know of Mr. Note's identity for obvious reasons of ill intent against him or his family while select Guild Hall mages will keep tabs on Mr. Note's whereabouts, masked or not .

This is not up for debate. This sentencing is over, another judge declared . All five of them stood up and left before either of us had the chance to refute

After all this ordeal i finally could leave the guild and for now end my carrier as an adventurer.