Chương 329: Burn It Down

Aether coins were the currency of the A and S Ranks. Each coin had a monetary value of 1, 000 platinum, but their true value was in the raw magic they contained. Once a person advanced past C Rank, the ambient mana in the air became insufficient for most mages to draw in to increase their capacity or power. Because of this, mages sought out higher concentrations of mana to absorb and increase their magic power.

Demonic Beast cores were one answer to the problem, but finding cores of the right affinity and Rank was not always easy. The solution most resorted to was to train for long periods in high Rank dungeons or labyrinth floors. The most optimal path though, was to use Aether coins. The raw and unaligned magic in a single Aether coin was greater than the concentration of mana in an S Rank Demonic Beast core, allowing any mage that acquired one to train for quite a while and raise their power substantially.

For Damion, who did not have easy access to high Rank dungeons to train in, eight Aether coins would more than make up for it. They would likely be enough to propel him well into A Rank. Of course, he was not as bad off as most mages. The Mana Absorption spell helped a great deal, but if he could apply that spell, which could absorb more mana based on what he touched, to the Aether coins he could advance considerably faster.

"That is quite the reward," Damion managed after a few moments.

"Yeah, but since you are coming inside with us, you have to live to spend it. And I'm not making any promises," Mage Flores said with a hearty laugh.

"You ever been in an A Rank dungeon before?"

"The Crimson Waste in Saung," Damion answered.

"That's a pretty tough dungeon. But make no mistake, wild dungeons like these are often much harder. They haven't reached the point of a dungeon break yet, but the longer a Breach goes uncleared, the more Demonic Beasts can build up inside. At a certain point, the dungeon can't hold the creatures in anymore and that is when you get a dungeon break."

"I'm familiar with the theory," Damion told Mage Flores. Silver Spire Magic Academy had taught Damion a great deal about dungeons and the theories on how they worked and why. He would not call himself an expert, but at least he knew more about them than the first time he was ever in one at 15.

"Good," Mage Adair said.

"Now, as much as we want profit, if you get in danger, don't hesitate to use Exile or whatever else you have in your arsenal to keep yourself from getting hurt. Some of the team will get breaks, but as long as you aren't hurt or low on mana, I want you to go through each Breach with us. Maximize our profits."

"Sounds good to me," Damion replied. How could he say no. This was an opportunity he had been waiting for. The only thing he would pass this up for would be finding and containing a labyrinth. One by one the team passed through the shimmering portal of the Breach. On the other side they found themselves in a clearing about ten meters across surrounded by a dense forest. The size and the look of the trees reminded Damion of the Benault Forest. They had the same dark coloring and were quite tall.

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"Alright, looks like this Breach we don't want to dilly-dally around with," Mage Adair said after taking a look around. Damion still had his auto-mapper, so he took his tablet out and pulled up his newly made map of the dungeon. The forest around their clearing was not just thick, it was bordering on impassable. The trees grew so thick together that not only would they likely have to squeeze between them and there was only one winding path that led from the entrance clearing through the forest.

Throughout the forest Damion could see shapes moving around, Demonic Beasts of some sort, but it was hard to tell exactly what type of creatures were lurking in the forest. The winding path eventually led to what Damion could only assume was a farm. From the map, it looked like a clearing about three times the size of the one they were in, but it had several areas fenced off in symmetrical rows, reminding him of how Mr. Galen had walled off sections of his fields to protect the crops.

"Here, take a look," Damion offered his tablet to the Mage Adair to look over the map. The Fire mage took the offered tablet and looked over the map. His brow furrowed as he eyed the area Damion thought was a farm. Then he began tracing his finger through the winding path from their clearing to the other and frowned.

"Only one path through the forest and you can bet we will have to fight our away along the entire route."

"The trees are close together, maybe we can climb one and then make our way through the branches to the other clearing," Mage Flores said.

"No, whatever is in that forest is probably very well adapted to fighting in the trees," Mage Forlani countered.

"We are better off flying over the trees to the clearing. See this dot in the middle of that clearing, surrounded by those Demonic Beast's, I bet that is the core. We take that out and we can get out of here fast."

"I thought you would have suggested we tunnel under the forest," Mage Levine told the Stone mage.

"We can't fly, not all of us have flying artifacts. And we can't tunnel, that is too far and there is no telling how deep the roots of the trees go," Mage Adair said firmly.

"What if I blink over to the other clearing and open a Portal back for you all?" Damion asked, trying to be helpful, however, his suggestion was met with blank stares.

"I thought you were experienced, Mage Picard?" Mage Levine said, breaking the others out of their stunned silence.

"Did your teacher never tell you a single thing about how Portal works?" Mage Adair asked.

"I only have a D Rank Spatial affinity. I've had to figure things out mostly on my own," Damion told him. It was true, his Spatial affinity was low Rank and aside from the skill descriptions the Magic System provided for his magic seals, he had basically figured out his spells by trial and error.

"D Rank, and you know Exile?" Mage Levine said in disbelief.

"Casting Portal inside a Breach would have the same effect as opening a Portal inside a spatial stretching space. It would rip the Breach apart. It could kill us, send us who knows where or maybe just spit us out. But no matter what happens to us, the Realm Breach will be completely destroyed," Mage Adair informed Damion.

"Well, it is a good thing I have never tried then," Damion replied, trying to sound cheerful. He had in fact considered opening a Portal in a Breach before. Now he was thankful he had not been that foolish.

"But what about Exile? Why doesn't it cause problems in a Breach?"

"We aren't Spatial mages, but from what I understand, Exile just opens a one-way hole to wherever it goes. Portal opens a bridge between two places and in an area where the reality is already stretched or distorted that bridge causes problems."

"Wow, you really know your stuff boss," Mage Flores teased their team leader.

"Can it, I fancied a Spatial mage once, she liked to go on and on about how her spells worked."

"Well, since flying is out, tunneling is out and portaling is most definitely out, that leaves us with what? Chopping down the forest or marching through?" Mage Guptill asked, trying to get the conversation back on the subject of the dungeon.

"There is one other option," Damion said, all eyes in the party turning back to him. After his last suggestion they were not sure if his next would be good or another sure path to suicide.

"We can burn the forest down."