The continent Atlas had always had a large density of mana in its lands, seas and air. The very foundation of the continent was filled with mana. As a result, some regions were deemed unsuitable for life due to the large amounts of wild mana in the areas causing very harsh weather conditions in those places, with their strength varying on the amount of mana in them.
The tempest region, one of the most brutal mana regions on the continent. The region was characterized by the desolate lands and mountains within, strong winds and lightning ravaged the earth while terrifying beasts prowled the land.
A large dome that spanned thousands of miles across was at the center of this region.
Within the dome was a majestic mountain range and expansive valleys.
The mountains climbed thousands of feet high, with snow capped peaks gradually shifting to flourishing forests as the elevation dropped, with several waterfalls crashing out of these mountains leading to crystal blue rivers that formed a dazzling lake at the center of the mountain range.
Hundreds of grand buildings dwelled in this range, most located in the valleys, while some at the tips of some mountains. Each of these buildings had regal and ornate designs with the largest and most majestic building at the center of the lake.
Some guards could be seen patrolling and chatting, "What do you think the decision is going to be? "one of the guards asked his companions.
"Who knows, the patriarch decided that the matter be postponed till the end of the year", replied the second guard.
"Do you really think the Elders will let this go", another replied.
"Well they can't really go against the patriarch, can they?", the first one said.
"The only people bold enough to do anything are the ones in Elder Fidel's faction".
"I guess being the younger brother of the patriarch has its perk-", the guards suddenly froze as they saw a figure approach them.
The man had a towering physique with muscles bugling beneath his dazzling clothes. A scar ran across his neck down to his chest but most was hidden by his clothes, a symbol of a black sword embedded into a silver shield was sewn on his robe.
All the guards immediately bowed down to pay their respects to John Dacre the current Family head of House Dacre.
"At ease", he said as he noticed the tension.
The guards loosened up a bit but stiffened once again as they felt a malicious aura press down on them.
John simply sighed and looked towards his shadow and said," you really shouldn't scare people like that".
His shadow seemed to pout and withdrew it aura, the guards dropped to their knees trying to catch their breath after their ordeal.
"Go to the infirmary and rest for a few hours", John ordered.
One of the guards weakly replied, "Yes sir".
The family leader continued his stroll towards the valley, as he admired the picturesque view a singular thought filled his mind.
"Still feeling guilty?", a monotone voice asked from his shadow.
"How could I not?", he replied.
"There's no way we could have known that our battle all those years ago would have caused this", the voice said trying to convince John.
"Yes but Elder Fidel and my father confirmed it, because of my recklessness in my youth my child will have to suffer", he said.
"I just hope they don't decide to permanently seal his power or-.
"I'll never let that happen", John said furiously.
"It's bound to happen, if his power fully matures he'll be unable to contain it and will eventually perish", the voice said this time a little sad.
"It won't come to that, Seth's already on his way to meet him and escort him back", John said.
"I just hope you're right for Rio's sake ", the voice replied leaving John to continue staring out into the valley.
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"So tell me, what else can you do?", Cain asked as he and Rio walked carefully around the black water lake towards the dungeon.
"I prefer to keep my abilities to myself", Rio responded coldly.
"If you want to make it out alive I suggest you spill, I'll need to know your abilities in order to plan how we approach the monster inside".
Rio stayed silent for a minute as if thinking about what Cain just said," I have four main runes I can use now, you've already seen two of them namely the paralysis and the binding runes ", Rio explained.
"Sadly, I don't have any sensory runes, the other runes are my enhancement rune and my ice rune with the ice rune being my only attacking rune", He explained further.
'Hmm... interesting, his abilities cover both defense and offence', Cain thought.
"Okay, my abilities revolve around fire and darkness and I'm a Tier one mage", He said.
'Tier one?, that means this guy's stronger than Reina, what motive could he have in Nova city', Rio wondered.
'Well it doesn't really matter right now, we'll deal with that if we survive this dungeon', He concluded.
"I almost forgot to mention that the dominant elements of the dungeon are water and wind, which means the boss monster will most likely have one or both of these elements", Rio said.
"Or worst case scenario we'll have to face two dungeon bosses", Cain said.
"That's in very rare cases and besides from magic this dungeon is exuding that's very unlikely", Rio replied.
"How can you guess the magical level without the proper equipment from your guild?", Cain asked.
Rio simply shrugged and said, "I just can".
Cain decided to drop the matter because he knew Rio wouldn't answer any questions unless he gained a bit more of his trust.
"Get ready to fight off small hordes of monsters", Cain said.
"What do you mean?", Rio asked confused.
"Water elemental beasts tend to be in packs although I haven't come across many wind elemental beasts", Cain explained.
"Let's just hope we don't find any general class or higher ranked beasts", Rio said.
By this time both of them had reached the dungeon gate and felt the ominous mana that flowed out from it.
"Last chance to quit", Cain said.
"Not a chance", Rio said as they entered the dungeon.