"Hey~ It's time to wake up my dear."
"Five more minutes… Zzzzz."
"You said I should wake you before noon, well it's time," whispered a pretty young girl into the man's ear.
"Yawn, what day is it?" Gerald slowly got up and stretched his limbs when a sudden headache hit him.
"Uff, my head is killing me! Seems like nanites are breaking down way faster than expected… I really shouldn't have drank that much..." he mumbled while holding his head, and slowly got off the bed.
"Wait, did you say it's noon already?!"
"…Yes."
"Fuck! I'm going to be late!" Gerald simply touched his clothes on the floor and they disappeared into thin air, before reappearing on him.
Instant Dress Technique!
"Oh~" The girl seductively gasped at the sight.
"No time to explain, I got to fly! Take care baby," Gerald said and sent her a kiss with a gesture of his hand. Then he ran to the window…
The girl smiled like a pretty flower and waved him goodbye, only she didn't expect him to simply jump out of the window.
"What the-? Oh my gosh!" She ran after him and looked outside, only to see his figure rising higher and higher.
"Oh my… Nobody is going to believe me…"
***
Gerald flew in the sky, but then another wave of pain hit him and he wobbly landed on a roof.
"Ugh, maybe I should take a little rest. I'm sure they will be fine without me for a few hours…"
He cast Recovery and drank a Healing Potion to try and get rid of the hangover.
It seemed to be slowly working.
"Hey, now I remember! The cloaks should be done by now, right? I should take them with me!"
It has been a while indeed, and the Black Onyx cloaks were waiting for them at the tailor, so Gerald went to pick them up.
They looked even better than he expected! Shiny and soft leather, the beautiful emblem on the back, delicately sewn edges... It was truly a work of art!
He swapped his old cloak with the new one and looked at himself in the mirror.
"A masterpiece to be sure, I love it!" Gerald praised.
"Young master is too kind," the old tailor replied, while unable to hide a happy smile.
After leaving that place, Gerald hopped on a roof and put on a wingsuit. Then, a Greater Mana Potion materialized in his hand as he looked at it.
"Sigh, at least there is one good thing that came from this… While the nanites break down, the potions keep the effects longer."
The duration was slowly increasing over the months, and it was now already double from what it was at the beginning. However, twenty minutes was still a bit off from the thirty-or-so minutes the potion should last.
Luckily Gerald had his personal production and didn't have to worry about it, but it would be truly tragic if he had to buy more potions just because his body neutralized them earlier.
In any case, as he glided through the sky, his hangover was slowly diminishing, with the cold wind greatly helping in clearing his mind.
"I wonder if they found anything already? Maybe they are already engaged in life-threatening combat?" Gerald wondered out loud, but then shook his head, "Nah, they have Tabbris and his gang, I'm sure it will be fine!"
***
And it was fine!
Well, at least for the moment.
The group arrived at the location before noon and set camp not far away. After eating a hearty meal and taking a short rest, they went to work.
They gathered around the dark hole and then went in one by one in a single file… Not!
That would be an extremely stupid thing to do.
Instead, five Earth mages gathered around it a good distance away and started chanting, each at his own pace.
There was a clear hierarchy between them, and you could figure out many things with just a single glance.
Rich guys had expensive-looking gear, such a s wands, staves, or jewelry, while the rest held simple amulets made of Earth Crystals, or even better yet, the raw Earth Crystal itself.
As chunks of earth were pulled from the ground, the hole slowly expanded and sunlight shone into the darkness.
The job was all but quiet and discrete, and soon beasts started swarming out.
Just as they expected, dozens of stinky Goblins rushed out in panic, and aggressively attacked anything that moved.
Tak!
A bolt pierced the forehead of one of them and the beast collapsed on the floor like an empty sack.
"Keep casting, don't let them disturb you! Time is of the essence!" Ravian shouted and loaded another bolt on his crossbow.
Meanwhile, mages and archers started picking off the little pests before they could do any damage. Of course, Goblins were merely fodder, and nobody expected them to be any more than a nuisance.
The real fight would start when they would descend into the caverns below.
One of the mages there was standing out a little bit among the athletic warriors. He was on the short side and even slightly fat, however, his control over Mana was quite good.
He created a fat snake out of water and sent it rushing at one of the Goblins. The snake exploded on impact and sent the Goblin tumbling on the ground while making a whole bunch of mud on the forest floor.
"Hee-hee, you are mine now!" The chubby mage licked his lips in excitement and pointed with his staff while chanting a spell. Meanwhile, his right hand moved constantly, and his ring-adorned fingers traveled in a circular motion.
The mud under the Goblin moved as if it was alive, and thick tentacles rose from it, grabbing the beast.
The mage trembled in excitement as his fingers moved all over the place, and even his tongue was constantly dancing on his lips.
The muddy tentacles tried to force themselves down the Goblins throat and nose, in an attempt to slowly choke it to death.
"Hehehe, yes, yes! Suck on it! Suck on it good! Choke on my big, fat-"
Slice!
Igrit from the Phoenix Knight decapitated the struggling Goblin in one swing and gave the fatty a disgusted look.