A great disaster struck the world that day.
The disappearance of a Catastrophe-Rank monster was not a common thing. It was something that could be passed down many generations as a nightmare story.
Many still couldn't believe it, The Storm Dragon Veldora had disappeared. At least that was what most thought.
The true powerhouses of the world knew the truth. They could still sense a faint lingering aura containing a trace of the Storm Dragon. This led them to one of two conclusions:
1. Veldora had been weakened enough to fall into a state of sleep, where he would eventually perish.
2. Veldora had willingly stopped leaking any aura or magicules.
However, the Western Nations, completely unaware of this, were in total disarray.
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Location: Kingdom of Blumund, bordering the Great Jura Forest
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One such individual under quite a lot of stress was Fuze, the Guild Master of the Free Guild in Blumund.
Blumund is a small nation bordering the Jura Forest, with a population of about a million citizens. As such, it heavily depends on the Free Guild and it's adventurers for protection against the monsters from Jura.
Being a multi-national organisation, the Free Guild has local guild masters in every nation, Fuze was one such person. The Free Guild as a whole had the Grandmaster at it's top. The man known as Yuuki Kagurazaka, an otherworlder.
He was also the one to establish the modern ranking system. A truly remarkable individual.
Back to Fuze, over 3 months had passed since the disappearance of Veldora and right now he was resting in his office in the Free Guild Headquarters of Blumund, after a long day of reviewing documents and mission requests.
However, he could not afford to rest any more. Today was an important day. He was scheduled to meet with a very important individual. This would not be their first meeting however. That had happened the same week that Veldora had disappeared.
This individual was 'Shizue Izawa' also known as the 'Conqueror of Flames'. She was a widely known Champion in the Western Nations, said to be above A-Rank in terms of power.
Their last meeting was still very confusing to Fuze.
Fuze had just returned from a meeting with the Baron of Veryard, a minister of Blumund. He had been exposed to some frightening news.
'Due to Veldora's apparent disappearance, the Eastern Empire is predicted to begin a military campaign into the West.'
The Eastern Empire was generally known as the strongest human nation, with over a million-strong army at it's disposable. It also had a history of annexing and absorbing many kingdoms in it's conquest.
The only thing stopping them from marching right to the Western Nations, was Veldora. His presence in Jura, which was their only major path to the Western Nations, served as a deterrent. They were afraid of accidently releasing him from his seal.
But now, there was no such thing left. Veldora had disappeared.
This had left Fuze very concerned about the near future. His meeting with the Baron had concluded when Fuze promised to send some adventurers of the Free Guild to investigate the cave of Veldora's sealing.
Right when he was about to call for the adventurers he had chosen for the mission, his secretary had interrupted.
'I'm sorry for the intrusion, but a very high-profile individual has requested an audience with you.' his secretary reported.
Confused about the identity, Fuze replied, "Send them in immediately."
He was very surprised upon seeing the identity of the person.
"Oh my! What brings a champion such as yourself here, Shizue Izawa?"
"I apologize for the sudden visit, Guild Master, but this is of utmost importance."
"No need to apologize, Izawa-san, please tell me what you're here for."
"Do not send anyone to Veldora's cave or anywhere near Jura for the next 3 months." Shizue stated with authority.
"!!! Surely you jest, Izawa-san. How do you expect me to do that?! This will be a vital investigation that will determine our next course of action!!" Fuze exclaimed.
"I'm completely serious, Guild Master. I can't tell you my sources, but please believe in me. I have gained some vital information regarding the disappearance of the Storm Dragon Veldora. This is for the sake of not only this kingdom, but humanity itself. There is no point in sending in the adventurers right now, they will be subjected to immense danger."
Still in disbelief, Fuze asked, "Then what do YOU propose we do, Izawa-san?"
"I ask you to wait for 3 months, and then I will personally lead a team of adventurers into Jura for investigation. Please accept this proposal!!" Shizue said.
*Sighhh*
"I will have to pull many strings to make this happen Izawa-san. I hope you know what you're doing..... I'm only considering this because its you who is asking." Fuze replied, his tiredness showing.
This was the Champion's reputation at play. Champions like Shizue were regarded as the protectors of humanity, their word holding more weight than most nobles and aristocrats.
The second reason for Fuze accepting the request was Shizue's promise to personally lead the expedition into Jura. This amounted to a blessing for Fuze. There was no one even close to Shizue's level in the Blumund branch of the Free Guild.
Shizue surpassed all 7000 members of the Blumund Free Guild by a wide margin. So her personally aiding the mission, Fuze was immediately sold on the offer.
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Back to the present time,
*Knock* *Knock*
"Please Enter"
"It is nice seeing you again, Guild Master"
"I hope you won't give me a massive headache like last time, Izawa-san."
"Hahaha.... I see you were caused a great amount of trouble, I'm sorry. However, the time has come to repay my side of the bargain. Please assign me a small team of adventurers. I will head out immediately."
Fuze was surprised by her forwardness but agreed regardless.
"Very well, I shall call for a team of 3 adventurers to accompany you, will that suffice?" replied Fuze.
"That will be more than enough, thank you for abiding by my unreasonable request." said Shizue gratefully.
"Don't worry about it" Fuze replied. But he was just putting up a front. The ordeal had caused him many sleepless nights, trying to convince the Blumund Nobles and Free Guild officials to listen to him.
But alas, it came with his job.
"Karin, can you please call for Elen, Kabal and Gido to come to my office." Fuze told his secretary.
"I shall call them immediately, sir" she replied.
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I was swimming in a small pond in Jura, when Rigurdo teleported near me and asked me to come into the [Soul Realm]
At first I was confused but then I understood as he started speaking. I slowly got out of the pool as he was explaining the situation. It went like this--
The mining team which was diligently working in the [Soul Realm] had reached a major milestone. They had just touched the mysterious mineral that I had sensed in the ground.
Their tools, which were made with the [Create Material] skill, couldn't even scratch the ore. After all, the strength of objects created with that skill was proportional to the strength of the user.
And the ogres had been successfully able to mine the magic ore inside Veldora's cave. That meant that this ore far surpassed the magic ore, at least in terms of durability.
'I hope the tools I make with [Create Material] will be able to mine the ore.'
Regular Magic Ore is formed when a mineral ore, like iron, is subjected to condensed magicules. It is extremely valuable. It's main use is for the production of 'Magisteel'.
Only around 3-5% of magisteel can be extracted from magic ore. However, a piece of magisteel is 20 times more expensive than it's weight in gold.
Magisteel is the primary component of higher-level weapons, due its extremely good magicule conductivity.
I was very excited at the prospect of having a resource potentially more powerful AND valuable than magic ore at my disposal.
I then teleported to the [Soul Realm] along with Rigurdo and he led me to the site of the mine.
It was just at the base of a mountain, and I could see many ogres gathered around the entrance.
"Welcome, my Lord. My name is Goblol, and I am in charge of the mining operation as per your orders." An Ogre spoke to me.
{A/N: Lol}
"Is that so. Well, Goblol, update me on the situation here." I told him.
"Yes my Lord!"
He then began to give me a brief summary of the whole thing. It seems that there was more than the mysterious ore to be found here.
To be exact, there were deposits of Iron, Nickel and Copper in abundance underground. The iron and nickel veins were intertwined with the mysterious ore, suggesting that they had some connection.
I already knew that Iron ore could transform into Magic Ore through exposure to magicules. It seemed that this mysterious ore worked in a similar way.
The ogres had also prepared various soil samples from various levels of the underground. Upon running an Analysis with [Great Sage], the soil composition was very similar to the overworld's, just with a very high magicule concentration.
Eventually, I made my way down the mine with Rigurdo and Goblol. After a few minutes of walking, we reached the first mystery-ore deposit.
*SCHWING*
I immediately created a pickaxe with [Create Material]. It's grade around Unique.
*CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK*
I put a considerable amount of strength into the hits, with no technique whatsoever.
And thankfully, it worked. Chunks of the mineral started to fall out with every hit.
I kept mining until there was a lot of broken ore on the ground. Deciding that it was enough for the time, I picked up a piece.
'Hey [Great Sage], run a thorough Analysis on this.'
<...Received. This ore is most similar to the material known as 'Adamantite' from the archives of the Unique Skill [Archiver]. It appears to be a Unique material with the same magical wavelength as you. The most probable theory is that it is the result of magic ore mutating due to long-term exposure to the unique atmosphere of the [Soul Realm] which is filled with your magicules.
It is predicted that refining of this ore will lead to attainment of Adamantite.>
'Hmmmm... Adamantite if I remember correctly is a Bio-metal type of material which composes many of the character's exoskeletons. It can be called a living, flexible material surpassing the strength of Magisteel which can bond with a living being. This is VERY impressive.'
Also, what does it mean by 'Long-term' exposure?? I haven't even had this skill for 4 months yet.
Wait--?? Could it be related to the Time-Travel thing?? Then is this bracelet also made of this thing??
'OH MY VELDANAVA!! I just had an idea!! Didn't I get a skill called [Consumption] through one of my Legionaries??'
[Consumption] is an Extra Skill that allows the user to mimic the properties of the inorganic substances they consume.
If I can somehow consume this ore, can I potentially get it's properties??
"DAMMIT! I really want to evolve this skill. Unfortunately I don't have the means yet."
'Anyways, at least we have such an invaluable resource at hand.' I thought.
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After that, I created a few more pickaxes for the mining crew before leaving the mine.... However I still stayed in the [Soul Realm], because I had some more work to do.
It was actually of vital importance, for the future development of the Legion. I had thought of some applications for the skills I had gained from my recently named Legionaries and was excited to try them out.
'Hey [Great Sage] can you explain the skill [Organic Web Network] again?'
The skill was surprisingly very useful. Both aspects were could be insanely powerful if used properly. The information transfer and the material transport abilities could be amplified with the use of Space Manipulation magic and skills, especially using the [Soul Realm] as an intermediary management center.
But as of now, only Arachne had this skill, the others' bodies were not compatible with this skill. Maybe after the Spiders evolved into 'Acromantulas' like Arachne, they would also get this skill.
But even when only two people including me had the skill, it could still prove to be a trump card. Before planning further, I called for Arachne through the Soul Circuit.
She instantly appeared before me bowing her head, cuz she couldn't actually physically kneel due to the spider-like body.
'I have answered your summons my Lord.' she said.
"Sup, I called you here because wanted to discuss some applications of your new skill and plan for the future. It will be essential in the development of the Legion."
As soon as the words left my mouth, an overjoyed look emerged on Arachne's face
{A/N: My autocorrect changed her name to 'Acne' 💀, I only realized when I was proofreading.}
"I am overjoyed at this opportunity, my Lord!! I shall give my very best and live up to your expectations!!"
My Legion really adores me huh?? I should be grateful for having this beautiful thing going for me. Not many would be lucky enough to have a chance like this. Or maybe this happens to everyone after death? Doesn't matter anyway, I've got something special, and I'm gonna cherish it.
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A/N: As you can see, I changed my mind.
New chapter today itself!!
Some content from the Western Nations, feel bad for poor Fuze.
Don't forget to REVIEW and drop some POWER STONES!!!