As Alastor headed to hunt monsters, Alicia was replaying her fight against Alastor over and over again, trying to see what she could have done differently to affect the outcome of the fight.
Every single time she thought of something, the monster simply countered with something better.
'How frustrating. Well, I suppose if I cannot defeat him, the next best move would be to join hands with him, for future profit.'
Meanwhile in the common training ground, Karna asked Axel, "Are you sure about this? Training from us is going to make you wish you died."
Axel nodded resolutely, "I'm sure. I need to get stronger. Much stronger than I am now, even if it means sacrificing everything."
'After all, how can the blade of a powerful master be weak?'
Further away, A could be seen standing on the edge of a cliff, before jumping off, laughing all the way.
He landed unharmed, crushing the boulders beneath him.
"This isn't enough! Not even close!"
Amber approached Tori Kento, who had been meditating in the moonlight, "I want you to teach me as well."
And so, a single spark ignited the fire that had consumed the souls of these students, all working tirelessly to get stronger to reach the same goal.
................................................................................
During all this, Alastor himself was slaughtering monsters in the Erth region, making a name for himself as he did what he did best.
Kill.
'It looks quite similar to a hedgehog from Jace's memory. Simply bigger.' Alastor thought as he cut open the skin of the dead monster in front of him.
Alastor paused, as he felt an increasingly annoying itch burn within his self.
'No wonder the regular demons who hold back their evolutions go feral at times. This is truly an irritating feeling.'
'Why can't they just accelerate the formations of dungeons already?'
Alastor thought to himself, as he absentmindedly dodged the charge of the large boar that had rushed at him, his Spear Aura sharpening with every strike he used it in.
'The Rune of Change will soon be mastered enough for me to stop their research in it's tracks. This will cause a butterfly effect, leading to the mass produced elemental weapons never being created, since Runes of Elemental Change will never come into existence. This will lead to significant losses for humanity.......but why should I care?'
As Alastor gutted the boar, 'What differentiates a human's death from this pig's? They both wished for survival. They both had lives, thoughts, memories, and history. But why is it that I can hang the head of this pig and walk around freely, but that changes when it's a human? Because this is human territory?.....'
'I'm thinking too much like the Guanyin of the Seventh Heaven. Hmmm, this could be a good goal for them to have, to continue helping me.'
'I also need to return before Amber's influence wears off again.'
Alastor did not stop hunting monsters, constantly getting better at slaughter as monster corpses kept increasing.
It got to the point where the locals gave him a nickname.
'Butcher of Erth.'
A few days later, the Grand Alliance received 50 pairs of Raging Boar tusks, 30 Wild Dog fangs, 12 pairs of Tyrant Bison horns and pelts, 30 complete sets of Earthen Hedgehog quills, each set with 500 usable quills each, along with 15 Lurker Python skins.
The adventurer who made this contribution was instantly raised in rank to B, by those in the Grand Alliance who wished to create a hero.
Alastor recognized what was happening, but did not foil it, since it was beneficial to him.
'Those in the Alliance want a hero. I will give them one. Just not one belonging to humanity.'
'After all, I have no plans of remaining a hero, or a mortal.'
As the days rushed by, Alastor could feel the change in the human realm on a deeper level, as his strained demonic part resonated with something.
And Alastor knew.
The Dungeons had opened. The real invasion of the Nine Hells will begin now.
................................................................................
Alastor looked at the near unconscious Axel standing opposite him, beaten and bruised, but not giving up.
"Alright, that should be enough for today's training."
Alastor turned to see Axel still standing in place, and approached him. Even unconscious, Axel swung his blade, but missed horribly before collapsing.
'Just how much has he been training for him to slash without even waking up? I would require a preset Rune and Instinctual connection for that without jeopardizing the main shape- Shelve this thought for later. Just in case.'
Karna comented as he saw Alastor carrying the knocked out Axel, "He's really serious about getting stronger. When you weren't here, his girlfriend even came around all angry, thinking I was bullying him or something."
Alastor nodded, "I know."
................................................................................
The next morning, Alastor finally got to receive his reward.
'It better be good, because this place does not have final examinations, just a test mission, so the next true reward will only be a year from now.'
Alastor received a piece of paper hovering over his face as soon as he opened his eyes.
"Ruins of Kranak."
'I really need to meet Amber and reapply the effect, because this could not have been a more perfect reward for me right now.'
'And if we encounter a Dungeon on the way, I can evolve as well.'
Soon enough, Alastor gathered where the paper had told him to arrive, seeing Alicia already there.
She simply nodded to acknowledge him, and they continued waiting in silence.
Until Alicia spoke up, "I have determined that I cannot defeat you. And most 'regular' approaches I used in the simulations failed anyway, so this is the last method of approach. Honesty."
"I wish to collaborate with you in the future, and thus I shall benefit from your strength as well, while you gain a reliable ally."
Alastor looked at her once more, 'Ally? Sure. Reliable? Not yet.'
Alicia continued, "My goal is simple. To become as rich as I can, and then gain the most authority within the Alliance. I have prepared for this goal for quite some time. My calculations have never failed, and I never mistrusted them before."
"Until our battle that is. That day, I felt the need to prove my own calculation wrong. Evidently, I failed. I realized that I require an even greater strength to aid me. Who better than the one people hail as the successor of the Soaring Sky, the Unrivalled Spear Knight?"
"Our relationship will be purely transactional. I will do my best to help you in my capacity, and you in yours."
"Do we have a deal?"
Alastor finally looked at her seriously, and then said, "If you just wished to be friends, there was no need to give that speech."
He held out his hand.
Alicia froze, 'Another change from the calculations!'
For someone who always considered people a part of her calculations, variables to be fixed, this was the first time she would have made a friend.
'Again, my calculations seem to be warning me, but....I wish to see where this goes.'
For the second time in her life, Alicia chose not to trust her own calculations, and accepted Alastor's outstretched hand.
Alastor smiled gently on the exterior, but inside,
'And this, is why you never go with the honest method of approach, Alicia~'
Soon, the other top five ranker's appeared, and so did Professor Bones.
It was time to head to the Ruins of Kranak, and none were more eager than Alastor.
'A component that matters quite a lot to the plan is present in Kranak. Time to retrieve it.'
'This part is a must-have.'
'Nothing less than perfection can be accepted.'