Chapter 35: First Mission. (4)

Alseace wandered inside the mountain and he couldn't feel any more powerful presence inside. He wondered if he was on the wrong mountain, but then he realized that there was nothing else but wyverns inside. He then thought that maybe dragons and wyverns weren't friendly to each other since they were different races.

He decided to leave after he grabbed the black dragon's teeth and decided to go up the mountain. He wanted to check if there was another mountain that had a dragon flying above it. But when he reached the peak and looked at the distance, he couldn't find anything like that. There were dozens of mountains around him, and checking them one by one would take a week at most.

"I didn't have much time..." Alseace said to himself and looked around. "Should I go and test the Shadow Movement skill?" Alseace looked at his status screen.

Alseace looked at the shadow at the back of the mountain and when he stood on top of it, he activated his [Shadow Movement] skill. He was surprised by how the world looked like inside the shadows. It was like a flat mirrored, upside-down world where he could see which area that was covered in shadow or not.

He started to move without having to be bothered by the obstacle, and he didn't have to bother if it was going up or down. The shadow world was flat like a vast field with nothing inside, only darkness and a bit of light. As long as he was on the dark side, he could keep moving inside the shadow world.

"What now? The shadow was on the other side and I don't think jumping over would solve it. I guess I'll find out," Alseace said as he walked through the white surface and ended up going back to the real world. "This is really nice skill. I never thought I would have gone this far," Alseace looked at how he had traveled kilometers away in just a few minutes.

He started to travel in the shadow world again and noticed that he could sense more than when he was outside the shadow world. He could sense every monster kilometers away from him, and it was really helpful because he didn't have to move further away to sense them.

(On the other side)

Renata and the others managed to kill all the monsters that approached them. They were exhausted and managed to find a safe place for them to rest for a bit before they went to catch up with Alseace.

"Who would have thought that 12 hours have passed? Do you think he would make it in time?" Chris asked Renata who was removing her gauntlets to wipe her palm.

"He will because Miss Gratya believes in him, and I have seen how strong he was. He's going to make it," Renata answered with a serious expression as she stared at the sunset in the distance. "Let's eat and we can start moving at night because the monsters should be less aggressive at nighttime," Renata said as she wiped her hands.

The night came, and they started to move quietly to the mountain where they saw the wyverns. They thought the wyverns were resting since they couldn't find them in the sky anymore. But when they arrived at the base of the mountain, they saw dozens of dead wyverns on the ground.

"Is this... did he kill them all on his own?!" Leonardo asked with a shocked expression.

"Not only here, but up there as well," Renata responded as she pointed at the mountain and saw dozens of wyvern dead bodies being impaled by spikes. "I think he killed all of them," Renata said.

"If he did, why don't we see the notification? He should be alive since there's no notification about him dying. Do you think he's still fighting the dragon raider inside?" Chris asked Renata.

"I think so, let's help him," Renata answered and started climbing the mountain.

It took them 3 hours to climb the mountain and saw the mouth of the mountain in front of them. They went inside and immediately were welcomed by the smell of blood. They looked at dozens of corpses, and those wyverns were twice as big as the ones they saw outside.

"This is a massacre," Renata said as she covered her nose and watched the wyverns either lose heads or parts of their bodies.

They wandered around and finally, they found the black wyvern's dead body. It was the biggest wyvern they had ever seen, and they were too scared to approach it even though it was already dead. The aura that was emitted from the size of the body was enough to terrify them.

"I can't find him anyw- holy shit that's big!" Hiltwin said and took a step back as he looked at the black wyvern. "What's that? Is that the dragon?" Hiltwin asked as he slowly approached Renata and the others.

"No, it's a wyvern. It only has two legs and the wings are its hands," Mirella answered as she pointed at the wings and legs. "This isn't the place, and Alseace knew it. That's why he's not here, he's out there looking where the dragon is. The wyverns have been long dead as well," Mirella pointed out as she looked at Renata and the others.

"Yeah, I think so too. We should go and try to catch up with him. Let's move," Renata said as she walked past the others.

They came out of the mouth of the mountain and tried to find out where Alseace went. Seeing there were so many possibilities, it would be impossible to find him, and they didn't know where to go.

They decided to wait until the morning as they waited at the peak of the mountain, hoping there would be any sign from Alseace.

The morning came, and Alseace came out of the shadow world after exploring the whole area. He looked at the mountain in front of him and felt the strong presence inside the mountain. It was far on the other side where the wyvern's nest was, and it took him a whole day to reach there.

"8 hours is the limit, huh?" Alseace said as he sat down and caught his breath.

Alseace started climbing as he caught his breath and grabbed his backpack to take a flare gun. He looked at his surroundings and was hoping the others could see it once he shot it into the air since the sun hadn't been up yet.

When he was high enough, he shot the red flare at the sky and he believed that it was bright enough for Renata and the others to see it. Not long after he shot his flare, he saw a red flare going up from the other side of the area. It came from where the wyvern's nest was, and he was surprised that they were there.

They shot another flare and this time it was a green flare, and that meant they were going to catch up on him. With that being said, Alseace decided to wait for them and took the time to rest and prepare his MRE for breakfast. After that, he decided to take a nap because he was tired and sleepy.

Alseace awoke because he felt a presence coming toward him, and it turned out it was Renata and the others. He looked at the sun and it was noon already even though he felt like he just closed his eyes.

"Were you sleeping?" Renata asked as she sat down on the rock next to Alseace.

"Yeah, I felt your presence and woke me up," Alseace answered and looked at the others. They were all exhausted from their journey and he believed they were running all the way to meet him.

Before they could even enjoy their resting time, they heard a loud roar coming from the mountaintop. The roar was loud enough that the whole mountain started to tremble and the pebbles started to roll down the mountain. They had to take cover behind a giant rock because the bigger rock started to roll.

"I think it's enough to confirm that was the dragon," Renata said as she took cover next to Alseace.

"I can't imagine how big the dragon is if the roar was enough to shake the whole mountain. I think we both know that this isn't an A-Rank vortex. This is an S-Rank vortex," Renata pointed out and she looked terrified.

"We're not killing the dragon, we're going to kill the dragon raider. As long as we kill the dragon raider, the quest is complete, but yes, we do still have to deal with the dragon as well," Alseace answered.

"Can you do it?" Renata looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Why do I ask you that question," Renata chuckled as she shook her head.

"I might be the strongest here or in Dasmein, but out there, in the other world, I might be just average. I also believe there's a world where I might be the weakest," Alseace said as he looked at the rolling rocks that started to decrease. "That's why I became an Agent of Emissary so I can become stronger," Alseace continued as he stood up.

Renata watched Alseace climb the mountain, and she decided to follow him from behind. The others didn't have a choice but to follow them even though they were still exhausted.

They found the mouth of the mountain and when they stood in front of it, they were petrified. They couldn't move a muscle because they were inflicted by fear. Their bodies were shaking like crazy and they could only move their eyes, but then Alseace walked passed them and wasn't affected by it.

"I'll quickly get this done, just wait for a bit," Alseace said as he entered the cave and disappeared into the darkness.