Chương 76: Expedition

"Astonishing," Manager Halsey said as he examined the Demonic Cores.

"These cores are quite a bit smaller than normally found in Demonic Beasts. And with Aerico being so passive, it is not any wonder why everyone believed them to be Ferocious Beasts and not Demonic Beasts."

"Since we have confirmed they are Demonic Beasts and given the years the Aerico have been showing up in the area, it is clear they are coming from a Stable Breach," Ms. Teft said as she examined one of the cores herself.

"I take it you found the Breach?" Manager Halsey said looking to Damion.

"Maybe," Damion answered.

"I found a cave with a pit filled with Aerico, with more Aerico coming in from another passageway. When the pit fills up, it looks like some of the Aerico are able to climb out and reach the surface. I think that is why they appear in the area so sporadically."

"Logical. Tell me more about the cave."

"I killed around fifty in the pit, but more started coming in shortly after that. As much as I wanted to explore and find out for sure where they were coming from, I didn't think it would be a smart choice to do so alone."

"Quite prudent of you," Manager Halsey said.

"Knight Wells, go get some rest. In the morning report back here. I will put together a special team to go and search for the dungeon in this cave.

"Since you killed at least fifty Aerico. I'll record that you completed your mission twice, don't worry about turning in the proof." Manager Halsey said when Damion was about to speak.

"Once we get to that cave, we'll be collecting the Demonic Cores, those that you killed will be considered yours, as are these that you have turned in. You will be compensated, but we have to study them a bit, to be completely certain they are in fact Demonic Cores and not something else. This will also let us determine their value."

"I understand sir," Damion said as he stood from his chair.

"I'll be here first thing in the morning." Damion turned to leave, pausing for a moment for his teacher to join him, however, Ms. Teft remained seated. Taking it as an indication that she had more to discuss with Manager Halsey. Damion wanted to mention to her about the Falks Guild members that had attacked him and that someone had apparently put a price on his head, but since she was staying behind this made it difficult for him.

When Damion thought about it on his way home, he decided he would not worry about the bounty or worry Ms. Teft with it. If the Falks Guild wanted to keep throwing their members away he would let them. There was no telling how long the mission with Manager Halsey would take, for now he would be quite safe. At home Damion saw his mother busying about the house. Sharon was several months pregnant at this point, but Damion did not think she was showing.

As an only child, in his past life, Damion did not have a lot of experience around pregnant women. He was not sure if he should stop her from doing these normal chores, or if he should be doing other things for her. When Damion's mother saw him standing there watching her clean, she threw a dust cloth at him and told him to get to it. Damion was not sure if this was an answer to his dilemma, or just his mother getting him to do help with chores, either way, he started helping her clean the house.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. The next morning Damion headed to the Adventurer Association and was greeted by the same young clerk, Tilda, again.

"Knight Wells," she greeted him.

"I'll take your pack. Please follow me." Damion followed the young woman through a doorway and into a room not far from Manager Halsey's office. Tilda left Damion at the door and lugged his heavy pack somewhere, Damion guessed to wherever everyone else's gear was being held. Already in the room were several seasoned adventurers. Two appeared to be knights, but the rest were mages, one of whom, Damion recognized.

"Good to see you again Mage Fletcher," Damion greeted Arica's master. Damion did not see Arica anywhere, but if this mission was to find and secure an unknown Breach, Damion suspected all of these people were specially chosen for the task.

"Hello to you as well," Fletcher answered with a smile. Mage Fletcher at least appeared happy to see Damion, the other adventurers in the group seemed to be annoyed by his presence. Damion could only guess that this group believed he did not deserve to be in this meeting or on this mission, since he was so young and obviously inexperienced. Luckly, before anyone could voice their displeasure, Manager Halsey arrived.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. Especially, so soon after locking down the Wind Wolf dungeon," Halsey said to the group as they all took seats around the large table in the room.

"You all know each other, but let me introduce to you a promising young adventurer. Only 15 years old and already an E Rank knight, this is Damion Wells." Damion was briefly startled at being introduced to this group of adventures. He only knew two people in the room and he knew very little about either one of them aside from their names.

"Knight Wells has made two important discoveries recently and because of that contribution will be joining us on this expedition."

"Unless he discovered the Breach we're going after, I don't see how him being included is anything but a political move by his teacher, Helga Teft." One of the burly knights in the corner said.

"Well, you hit the nail on the head Knight Heath," Halsey said with a smile.

"Knight Wells did indeed discover the probable location of the Breach, as well as discovering that the Aerico, that have been plaguing the southern end of the Benault Forest for several years are in fact Demonic Beasts and not Ferocious Beasts."

"Truly?" asked one of the mages as she extended her hand to Damion.

"Celena Tawn, Light affinity. The Aerico are truly a blight on the world, how did you figure out they are Demonic Beasts?"

"When I took a group of them down, I sliced through one's skull and noticed a small, marble sized, orb. I thought it was odd looking, so I opened the heads of the others that I had just killed, and they all had identical ones."

"Remarkable, a tiny Demonic Core in their heads. The location of a core in their head, means they are similar to the undead, like skeletons and zombies. Though, Aerico are much more passive than undead type Demonic Beasts. If not for them spreading their sickness to people they touch we would completely ignore them."

"Be that as it may," Halsey interrupted Twan before she could continue on.

"We have confirmed the cores Knight Wells recovered are Demonic Cores with a Poison Affinity, which makes them quite unique. Knight Wells, please tell us more about your encounter with the Aerico."

"After I killed 9, I could not find any more and it started me thinking that maybe I could not find more because they were hidden. While searching the area, I found a cave nearby that was filled with Aerico. I killed at least 50 in the cave, and more were coming in from another passage. At that point I retreated and marked my path out of the forest so I could find my way back."

"And you think since they are Demonic Beasts, they are coming out of a Breach down in that cave somewhere?" the other of the knights spoke.

"That is my assumption as well Knight Raiford. From Knight Wells' report, it appears that when the cave gets too full, some Aerico are forced out, and we find them out in the forest. This theory accounts for their sporadic appearances, them being Demonic Beasts and why we have never found their source."

"The strongest Aerico ever encountered is D Rank, how are we doing to head into a Dungeon Breach and stop it when we all out Rank it?" Knight Raiford asked.

"Don't tell me you plan to send the munchkin in alone?"