Drax had made up his mind to complete the Saurian Cave Quest today since he felt ready to do it.
With his breakthrough in ranking up to the level of a 3-Star Sorcerer, the Elf Prince was somewhat confident in his capabilities.
He didn't think that the quest would be given to him if it was unsurmountable.
From his experience, hosts usually received quests that they had the potential to complete even if it was terribly difficult and this was the reason he aimed at ranking up before going ahead with it.
The day passed as usual, and everything happened as it would usually occur within the Elf Queen's castle. Much to the queen's surprise, Drax's disappointment at his loss did not linger as it would.
It seemed like he easily got over it this time around and she was proud of this since it was a sign of Drax's maturity.
In the world of Xenithia, it was better to get to work and improve on one's deficiencies than to throw tantrums about why these deficiencies existed. The latter never helps anyone.
The Royal Family had dinner and so did the staff before rounding up for the night.
"Good night, sweetie," Freya said as she kissed her son on the forehead before heading out of his room.
"Good night, Mother," Drax replied with a smile, causing a similar expression to reflect on Freya's face.
Freya turned off the lights and exited the room.
Drax, on the other hand, waited for several minutes after the Elf Queen departed before going into action.
He opened his eyes and got out of his bed, making his way to the training ground outside the castle.
Drax was trying to be smart about the whole thing.
Peradventure, it warranted something from another realm entering their world, he wouldn't put the castle in direct danger.
The training field was the perfect spot for this.
Drax chose his spot and then sat cross-legged as the breeze of the night caused his hair to dance.
Across his torso was the handle of a satchel and tucked away at his side was a short knife.
"Status…" he commanded as the familiar screen popped.
The Elf Prince selected the quest and it shone.
< Do you wish to proceed? >
< Yes > / < No >
"Yes."
As soon as he chose his answer, the window closed shut, and an instant later, the environment where Drax was changed drastically.
It was no longer cool and breezy, neither was it an open field.
The Elf Prince looked around, trying to familiarise himself with this place.
'Is this the cave…?' he thought as his eyes examined every nook and cranny of this place.
'It's different than I expected.'
It was massive and glowed with a greenish hue due to the light that reflected from the shining stone crystal that was buried all around.
The cave was much larger than what Drax had in mind and it was natural for him to be surprised since he expected to find himself in a smaller and darker space than where he currently was.
Drax looked up and several metres above him was the rocky ceiling that roofed the Saurian Cave, but he could see less rocks and more of these crystals as they provided illumination from above.
Without any hesitation, Drax headed over to the crystals closest to him and took a chunk of it.
He smelled it for a second and examined it further with his eyes.
'A crystal?'
Drax had never seen one before but that was the most reasonable answer he could come up with since he had read about them.
Moreover, he could sense the mana within the greenish stone crystal in his hand.
'They are beautiful. If I knew I could find something much here, I would have come with a bigger bag. Tch! What a waste.'
After examining the crystal, Drax put it into the satchel he had brought along with him.
He knew he would need these crystals if he was to increase the amount of mana he had access to.
Absorbing from mana-rich items was one of the best ways to grow but the amount of mana an item could provide to a sorcerer varied.
The mana crystals were one of the lowest.
They did not hold much but compared to the amount of mana Drax could absorb from the atmosphere, the crystals were sure to provide more than that.
Drax added more crystals to his satchel as he strolled along the cave.
He knew what his mission was and he was ready to get it done and over it.
*********
Meanwhile, two creatures were making their way towards the entrance of the Saurian Cave.
They looked like lizards but walked on their two hindlimbs with each one having a crude spear with sharp stony blades.
They looked like warriors of their races and had long leaves tied around their waist.
These two lizards continued to walk towards the entrance and the closer they got, the more the chances of them running into the stranger who had just entered their territory.
…And this would spell trouble.
"This is my sixth gate guard duty in a row," one complained to his colleague as they moved along.
His colleague rubbed his neck and laughed.
"Akan, you should tell the chief you know," he replied to his partner. "Whining in silence won't get you anywhere. I already told you that. As for me, my gate guard duty ends tomorrow, so that I can go and live my best life."
"I envy you, Borun."
"Hahaha!" Borun bawled as he lightly slapped Akan's shoulder. "You know, Akan. I'm considering retiring."
Akan's eyes grew wide as he listened to Borun talk.
Borun was older than Akan, very much older and more experienced, but had never grown beyond a lower-ranked guard in the clan.
"W-What! What are you going to be doing then?" Akan fired at him, surprised by his decision.
"You know that we, warrior types, get better payments."
Borun paused and heaved a sigh, staying his gaze on Akan for a minute.
"I know, Akan but it's really not getting me anywhere," Borun clarified to his younger partner. "I don't see myself doing this any longer. Moreover, I need to give my wife and child a better life than we have already."
Borun paused and looked around them for a second as if assessing for eavesdroppers.
"It's not like our Saurian King cares about us anyway. Anything that does not involve stuffing his own belly holds no priority to him."
"Sshh! Borun!" Akan scolded him as his eyes paced around as well. "You want to get us killed too?"
Borun shrugged as he whispered. "But it is true."
Akan sighed and nodded. "I know that it is true but there is really nothing we can do. We are a speck to his grand scheme of things—"
"But for how long, Akan? For how long must we suffer? We are the ones that do all the work and they stuff their bellies on our sweats and tears."
As they lamented their disdain for their clan to one another, they soon came upon another strange being that laid unconscious a short distance ahead of them.
"Look Borun!" Akan pointed, drawing Borun's attention to his front. "What's that?"