"So, how's everyone's progress on collecting those Key Fragments?" Sitting around the fire they lit to illuminate the campsite, Valyr looked at the others with a faint smile on his face whilst having a firm grip on his plate of food for the night.
To no surprise, after everyone had confirmed that one would need to kill 111 aberrations to obtain a Key Fragment, the five spared no time to put all of their attention towards killing the aberrations, dyeing the ground of the territories they set foot on a dark crimson red. Then again, with the fact that the aberrations gave a lot of XP without needing to put in much effort, the quest revolving around the fragments only spurred them to put more effort into what they planned on doing.
Nevertheless, by the time the sun had begun to set, all five made their way back to the campsite, with some of them begin to prepare dinner as they readied themselves for rest. While doing so, Valyr asked the others if they had experienced the same thing as him once they picked up the fragment, such as the voice that resounded in their minds after picking it up.
Fortunately, all of them had heard of the voice, though Hal said that he had heard the voice only when he had retrieved the fragment from his spatial bracelet, prompting the others to believe that it might be due to the fact that he had put the shard into his spatial bracelet from what he told them.
Aside from that, everyone talked about the effectiveness of magic within the inheritance, which the young man confirmed with the others that only the regeneration of mana was affected. On the other hand, the efficacy of the magic skills themselves were more or less the same as it was in the outside world.
"I've got my hands on three Key Fragments." Seeing that Valyr wanted to start a conversation regarding their haul for the day, Hal was the first one to speak up. "I don't know if my progress will carry over to the next day, but I've also killed around a quarter of the aberrations needed to get the fourth one."
Hearing Hal's words, Vera adorned a slightly bitter smile. "I've only been able to obtain two Key Fragments from the aberrations. Then again, the number of aberrations I've killed after that is around the halfway point needed to get the third one."
"Hehe." Loreina smugly grinned in response, taking out the fragments she had gotten. "Unlike Vera here, I was able to get my hands on three Key Fragments!"
"More like you barely got enough kills for three Key Fragments before we decided to head back," said Vera as an addendum, to which Loreina shrugged her shoulders as the smug grin on her face still remained.
"I've made more or less the same amount of progress as Vera," Faulus spoke up after seeing that the other four were looking at him. Donning a content smile, he continued, "Though, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to get five fragments before it turns midday tomorrow."
"Three Key Fragments." Seeing that he was the only one among them that hadn't announced his gains, Valyr went ahead and did so. "Got to around the halfway point for the fourth Key Fragment before returning to the camp."
"It seems everyone will be able to obtain the five Key Fragments needed to complete the quest tomorrow, then." Nodding after hearing everyone's gains, Hal took out the Key Fragments he'd gotten from his spatial bracelet after seeing Loreina take out hers.
Not long after, the other three took out the Key Fragments they had gotten, deciding to put all of the fragments together into one small pile. Taking a look at the fragments everyone had obtained today, almost all of them did not take long to notice a pleasant surprise after identifying their gains with their respective identification skills.
Shifting his gaze towards Loreina, Valyr flashed a soft smile. "It seems we've already obtained five fragments attuned to the Tailor class. Feel free to grab it and complete your quest."
"Are you sure?" Hearing the young man's words, Loreina's eyes slightly widened as she looked back at him. However, after seeing that the others were looking at her with smiles on their faces, she could only let out a sigh in response, flashing a wry smile at the others.
"I'll try my very best to grab the remaining fragments needed for you guys tomorrow." Thanking the others for generosity, Loreina picked up the fragments attuned to the Tailor class one by one, only to smile at the others before telling them that her quest had now been completed.
Whoosh!
Not even a minute later after the notification, the five fragments Loreina had grabbed from the small pile began to hover in midair as they siphoned a bit of the mana from the surroundings. Somewhat curious as to what was going on, the five watched as the fragments gradually connected with one another, forming a token that had an intricate carving of a temple on its surface.
"Did you get the continuation of the first quest?" Watching the token lose all of the energy that allowed to hover, Valyr went ahead and asked what the others wanted to know as the token landed on the ground with a faint thud.
"Yeah." Nodding as she brought up a screen to get a better look at the new quest, Loreina grabbed the complete token from the ground before focusing her attention on the screen before her. However, before she could even tell the others what the continuation of the first quest entailed…
Gooonggg…
Out of nowhere, a loud gong sound echoed throughout the area, causing everyone to cover their ears as frowns appeared on their faces. Then, just as the sound had subsided for the five to start freely talking about where it had come from, the token Loreina grabbed began to glow a bright gold all of a sudden, only for the light to swiftly envelop the entirety of her body.
Swoosh!
Without anyone being able to make a move, the four watched as Loreina disappeared before their very eyes. Unsurprisingly, most of them felt great terror from the experience since no one expected her to be taken away all of a sudden, though all of them had to put this feeling of terror aside for the meantime as a familiar voice resounded throughout their surroundings.
'A worthy candidate has been discovered.'
'The Gates of Enlightenment's trial grounds have been opened.'
