The next day.
Wearing complete and comfortable climbing equipment as much as possible, Sistiamika and I started hiking together with our escorts.
It is now October 19, 2025.
This has passed from the best time to climb Mount Merapi, which ranges from April-August.
However, all the magmatonic activities of Mount Merapi have been examined in detail and should be fine for us to climb.
Moreover, we only plan to try to find the Mystic Beast Fragment, not actually climb.
We will camp at the Setan Market for a few days and start the quest for the Mystic Beast Fragment before heading back.
However, even so... It's exhausting!
"Ha... Hah... Ha..."
What the hell. I didn't know that the climbing process was actually this tiring!
I often see some vloggers and content creators sharing their hiking experiences, and they look really good!
On the other hand, I...
Ugh, my legs are starting to hurt!
This bag is also heavy!
It's very tiring with a big bag on my back.
However, I felt even more astonished when I saw that Sistiamika looked much better than me.
"Rona... Are you okay?"
Walking right in front of me, Sistiamika turned her head and asked with a worried face.
This little bast*rd.
She turned out to be not only from the area around Mount Merapi.
She was also an expert in climbing, damn it! How dare you deceive me!
"I... I'm fine! Hahah..."
I awkwardly averted my eyes when I replied.
Our escorts had brought most of our belongings, but this single bag alone was enough to make me almost break my waist!
Damn, why is my body so weak!
***
-Hours later.
When the sun was about to set, we finally reached the climbing point that was our destination - the Setan Market.
"Ugh... So this is the Setan Market?"
Wiping my sweat, I sat down and looked around.
A flat dark ground filled my view.
How should I say... It looks ordinary? This place does not look like a place where different types of supernatural beings gather.
Well, I guess that's just a myth in the end.
I sat and drank water while watching Sistiamika and the two escorts work together in building the tent.
The sky began to darken slowly.
As an experiment, I tried the method to find the existence of Mystic Beast Fragment written in the [Summon Book].
On the last page of the book, there is a collection of unknown symbols and letters that resemble magic circle.
I placed my right hand on top of the magic circle.
Then, following the instructions in the book, I tried to manipulate the so-called Divine energy.
Then, finally, I cast a spell that must be cast to activate the spell.
"Avixpruon!"
The magic circle inside the book immediately glows with a dim light.
The magic circle rotated counterclockwise, then, along with the appearance of the feeling that something had been added to my body, I felt like I could see something more than before.
The feeling was very faint and resembled instinct.
However, it made me really feel like I could peer further into what the world before me provided.
The feeling was like a child suffering from nearsightedness suddenly using a microscope to see.
There were some uncomfortable feelings, but overall, it felt amazing.
After I activated the spell, I could suddenly see a faint bluish mist covering the surroundings thinly.
In the [Summon Book], it had been written that the Mystic Beast Fragment would be blanketed by the golden light in the vision of the Saint Candidate who cast this spell.
I tried to look around.
And sure enough. I found a black stone covered in a faint golden light not far from where I was sitting!
"Woah, is this the Mystic Beast Fragment?"
I picked it up and examined it.
It looked not much different from ordinary stones.
But, after I picked it up, the System immediately appeared and displayed information about the stone.
[Mystic Beast Fragment detected...]
[Analyzing the identity of the target... Found.]
[Fragment of Gargoyle: 1/8]
[Explanation: A Fragment of the body and soul of a Mystic Beast that came from another world, Gargoyle. This fragment is the tip of the horn of Gargoyle. It has a Gargoyle soul and body shard content of 13%.]
[Mystic Beast Rank: E.]
"Weak. This is not suitable for Sistiamika..."
The Mystic Beast ranks have a sequence from lowest to strongest, namely: F, E, D, C, B, and A.
Although the strength of the Mystic Beast Rank E was also strong enough to withstand a car crash at a speed of 60 km/h, but that was when the monster was still in its prime.
The Gargoyle Fragment I found only had 13% of the soul and body fragments of the Gargoyle. Which means, when resurrected, if we don't find any other Fragments of the Gargoyle later, then the Gargoyle's strength is even lower than that of an F Rank Mystic Beast.
It is not at all suitable for Sistiamika in the future.
"However, well... I guess I'll keep it for now."
I decided to save it and put the Fragment in my pocket.
Encouraged after quickly finding a Fragment, while the spell was still active, I started looking around.
As a result, I found another 5 Fragments.
Fragment of Minotaur, Rank C+.
Fragment of Imp, Rank D-.
Fragment of Buto, Rank C+.
Fragment of FlameHound, Rank E+.
Fragment of Stone Golem, Rank C.
That's all I found, and no pairs of the same Fragment were found.
"It seems like finding a Rank B or A Fragment will be very difficult..."
Thinking that Sistiamika would become a Saint later, I wanted her to have at least a Mystic Beast Rank B by her side so that she could protect her life well enough.
However, around the Setan Market alone, I couldn't find a Fragment with a higher level than Rank C+.
At that time, the tent had been completed in the build.
Sistiamika and the others began to light a bonfire.
The sun also almost completely sets.
"Well, I guess I'll continue the search tomorrow..."
I went back to the group and started putting down my bags and belongings.
There were only two tents in existence, so Sistiamika and I naturally used the same tent.
Inside the tent, I took out the Fragments that I managed to find and showed them to Sistiamika.
"Sisti, this is the Mystic Beast Fragment that I managed to find."
Sistiamika initially tilted her head, but after I told her to cast her spell, her face suddenly changed.
"This is...!"
I smiled.
"Yes, they are Mystic Beast Fragments. As we initially suspected, there are many of them here. But... Nothing is really good."
Sistiamika nodded to me, but she immediately asked.
"Is this all not good?"
I sighed in response.
It seemed that this girl did not understand how great the responsibility and danger she would face in the future.
Without having any other choice, I began to explain to Sistiamika.
"Listen, Sisti. Saints are the ones who will lead Humanity. They lead, which means, they will be the tip of the sword of the armies of mankind. They are the first to face any threat that comes their way, you know. Don't you think that a C-Rank Mystic Beast alone won't be enough to protect Saints from all of that?"
Frowning, Sistiamika nodded hesitantly.
"I think you... right..."
I nodded to her.
"That's right! At the very least, we should find a Rank B Fragment before returning."
***
All climbing agendas and so on have been prepared from the beginning very well.
Sistiamika and I, along with our two escorts, managed to walk through the Merapi mountain area and found many Fragments.
The whole process went very smoothly.
Too smooth than expected.
We even managed to find a Fragment of a Mystic Beast Rank B+!
We were very happy.
However, on our second night...
At midnight...
I woke up.
And I heard noise from outside the tent.