"[ All members of the expedition are to report to the east gate in 30 minutes. ]"
A week went by in a flash. Before Cage knew it, it was already time for the expedition team to have formed.
Going off of the announcement, Cage assumed that Zaria had gotten other members, but he didn't know who would be a part of it or how many for that matter.
He wondered what they would do on the expedition, but he figured he would find out later and didn't ponder it for long.
Elemental skills were significantly more challenging to make. But in return, they would be substantially more powerful. The only downside was it gave them a 'weakness' per se. The weaknesses were there, but they weren't set in stone, and they were not absolute when it came to a fight.
The rune formations for an elemental skill were much more complex. Cage needed to construct them out of elemental mana if he wanted to make an attributed skill rather than neutral mana, which was much easier to control.
The thing he was most excited about was the skill he had gotten from when he advanced to Stage One. It was a shadow skill, and it had the capability to change the course of battle.
Cage was also a little disheartened that he had yet to unlock his compound skill, But it was to be expected; he had only reached mid-level a week ago after all. It would take time.
Andrew stretched his arm and yawned. He waved his hand and gestured for Cage to follow, "All right, let's get going. It will take some time to get to the east gate; I'm also curious who the other members are."
Cage nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I'm also curious as to who will be watching our backs. I don't want some suspicious guy to do it."
After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the East Gate. The East Gate was the place they were supposed to meet, but Cage didn't see anyone there.
'Hmm... well, we are pretty early.'
Some time passed, and other members finally started to show up.
The first person they met was a man who seemed to have no life in his eyes. He had brown hair and brown eyes, but his eyes seemed similar to a dead fish's. He glanced at them and asked, "Are you with the expedition?"
"Yeah, but I'm just hoping we leave soon." Andrew pointed to Cage, "The cat-boy over there is Cage, and I'm Andrew. We've been here for around 15 minutes now."
The brown-haired man finally had a change in expression as it changed to one of confusion, "You can call me Vic, but why did you show up early? Are you actually excited to go on this death sentence of a trip?"
"Death sentence? what do you mean?" Andrew questioned.
The brown-haired man sighed, "They call it an expedition, but it's more like fighting a war. I'm the only survivor from last time; everyone else died. For an entire fucking year, my team members and I fought for our lives inside Quadrant X. I had to watch as they were slowly whittled away and either killed or driven to despair. That's all I'm saying; I don't have a death wish..."
Hearing what he said, Andrew grimaced. Quadrant X was just a rumor. Anyone who talked of it either stopped talking about it and dismissed it as a story they made up, or they mysteriously disappeared.
Quadrant X took up more than 50% of the mine. It had abundant resources; It had so many that it wouldn't be strange for kingdoms to fight over it. However, the danger was just as abundant. Quadrant X was also home to powerful beasts and many weaker beasts, thousands of times more.
As a little more time passed, other people showed up. A total of 20 people from various races were present. While Andrew was conversing with the other people, Cage lay on the floor while staring aimlessly at the stone ceiling at the top of the cavern.
Cage paid the footsteps approaching him no mind, at least until a face he was familiar with appeared upsidedown in his vision.
Cage exclaimed in surprise, "Dan?!"
A smile formed on Dan's face. Dan sat down next to Cage, "The one and only. It's quite a surprise to see you, though; it's quite a coincidence that we were both selected for the expedition."
Cage sat up and asked, "How was your magic research? Anything new?"
After thinking for a moment to recall what he had done throughout the week, Dan shook his head, "Not really. All I did was develop a spell, to be honest, but it will be helpful."
'Ah, so he is a Mage.' Cage thought to himself.
Cage observed Dan intently, "Actually, on the topic of, well, you, what is up with your aura? It's almost non-existent."
"Haha! to put it in simple terms, I have a neutral affinity. I can't use elemental mana, but I have stupid high compatibility with neutral-type spells." Dan answered.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Cage was about to continue his conversation, but the sound of clapping caught his attention.
Zaria was standing ahead with her casual bright smile. "We can finally start the expedition now that everyone is here! You 20 will all be members of the expedition."
Zaria gave a brief rundown of what they would do on the expedition.
For a year, they would trim down the beast population in the mine to 'develop' the region. They would need to get food from the beasts they killed and water from various sources such as natural lakes or through water magic. It would also be up to them to make an outpost for shelter. Lastly, it would be up to them to strengthen and ensure their survival throughout the year.
Zaria clasped her hands together, "Now that the briefing is done, are there any questions?"
Cage thought the briefing was done well, seeing as he didn't have any questions. He was about to go back and let his mind wander, but he felt a hostile gaze land on him.
Looking around for the source, he saw one of the other expedition members glaring at him. Said person was a burly-looking bald man with a grizzly, brown beard. Their eyes met, and a vein bulged on the burly man's forehead.
The burly man abruptly marched over to Cage and stared him down. He raised his meaty finger and pointed at Cage, "Why the hell is there a kid here?! Aren't we going on an expedition to a battlefield? Or is it safe enough to bring a deadweight there?"
Cage remained expressionless and just stared blankly. The man in front of him was a joke. While the burly man was at the peak level of Stage one, Cage didn't even consider him a threat at all. "Who's the deadweight here again?"
The burly man's face turned to the color of that of a tomato. "You little shit! I won't let a weakling insult me!"
The man raised his fist to punch Cage across his face. "This will knock some sense into you!"
Everyone only watched; they didn't want to get involved with the confrontation because it would be a hassle.
They murmured among themselves, "It looks like he angered 'hot head Harry,' and he's just a kid too. Hopefully, Harry holds back..."
"A pity, he is going to be blown away by that punch..."
Hearing their murmurs, Zaria and Andrew sighed, knowing that they were the only ones who knew.
The burly man yelled, "This will knock some sense into you!"
[Burning Blow!]
The man's fist caught fire and began to smolder. He brought his fist down fast enough to leave an afterimage.
Swoosh! Thud!
In the blink of an eye, before anyone could react, the man known as Harry was pinned to the ground with his arm held out from behind and his joints locked in place.
Cage unleashed his aura. The light dimmed slightly, and the air became increasingly cold. The already dim lights turned a crimson hue; the amount of bloodlust given off was as if he had killed thousands- no, hundreds of thousands of people. Shadows seemingly wrapped around his body as his eyes glowed a slight frosty blue.
Cage smiled wickedly, "Now... Who is knocking sense into who now?"
Harry paled; all his previous arrogance vanished. Cage looked like an evil beast who had slaughtered several city's worths of people to him right now.
Unable to take it anymore, Harry passed out with foam frothing in his mouth.
Zaria sighed, then yelled, "Cage! That's enough!"
"Kay," Cage let go of Harry's arm and let it fall to the ground.
Several of the people in the group were pale with fright; some were even on the brink of passing out.
Cage was unaware of the aura he had released, let alone his slowly twisting nature. He thought that he had just defended himself, made a witty remark, and then the man had been weak-willed and passed out.
He returned next to Dan and Andrew, who both didn't seem to care about the display.
Zaria walked over to Harry and checked his pulse to make sure he was still alive. "Someone go wake this idiot up!"
Remembering the aura Cage released, she sighed internally. 'his bloodline had begun the process of awakening, but who would have thought that his personality would begin to become twisted as well? I can only hope he remains mentally stable.'
Zaria shook her head, thinking of the trouble to come.