-Next Day-
*Buguum*Buuguum*Buuguum*…
On a slew of horses were men in black clothing, all moving in the same direction.
'We're almost there!'
The man riding the leading horse urged it to move faster when the sight of the mountain came into view.
This was Franc, the guild master of Nightshade, an E-rank guild based in Whittown.
Following the event of Carl cutting off the hand of one of their members, a search party of four were sent to tail the group, scout their destination and purpose, and return to base once that was done.
But the whole operation turned upside down when a single scout returned alive and reported the others dead. Only, the events reported after that really blew their minds, from the destruction of the outpost, to the arrival of a beast that was at least B-rank and was clashing with the admiral.
This was all the scout knew, as he had hastily escaped fearing for his life.
Franc couldn't care less about the three that had died. They knew what they were getting themselves into when they joined his guild, and they had died for the guild, a praiseworthy feat.
He would take revenge for them if he ever found the one who killed them, but since he didn't, then that was that.
It was the news of a B-rank beast, and the possibility that it could be A-rank, that excited him the most.
No, he wasn't heading there because he thought he could slay a B-rank beast. That would be delusional, suicidal even, so no.
Rather, disregarding the fact that the beast might've already been killed, regions where beasts of C-rank and higher were spotted almost always had precious treasures or some precious resource.
This was what Franc was betting on.
In the event that there was none, or that it had already been taken, they could kill some beasts to sell to recoup their expenses.
Either way, there was something to be gained, which was also why he was sprinting to the outpost.
He didn't know, but in his haste, other guilds got a whiff of his actions and decided to tag along.
Those were the people Winston had passed by along the way.
But Franc didn't care, because what was in front of him was an opportunity!
With a little luck, he could be set for life.
-Elsewhere-
While others headed to Windless Peaks, Cabrera had arrived at his destination after a night of hiding.
Thanks to the rations of food in the space rings, he didn't need to worry about hunger.
Additionally, he had changed into better clothing and cleaned up the dirt all over his body.
Where he was right now, could be said to be nowhere.
There was nothing unique about the surroundings that made it different from any other place.
Everything about it, radiated the word "ordinary".
It was a place with the ground covered in green grass, but Cabrera was staying not very far from the outskirts, which was why he hadn't encountered any beasts.
Without another word, he raised his finger, which had a rusted ring on, and then…
*Woosh*
The surrounding shook and a man's figure appeared out of thin air.
It was Fredrick.
Fredrick also didn't say a word, rather, he stood still for a whole minute and took deep breaths with his eyes closed.
Suddenly, they snapped open and shone with blue light.
Fredrick stretched a little and cracked his knuckles, before surveying the area with his Earth sense.
After thirty minutes…
"I've found it"
Fredrick sprinted forward after saying so and stopped not far away.
He stomped his legs all over the place, seemingly looking for something.
By now, Cabrera had arrived beside him.
Fredrick delivered a punch into the ground, but instead of cracking the soil, his hands dug a direct hole like it was being drilled.
Fredrick's arm went into the ground until it reached his shoulder.
Quickly, he removed it and put his head into the hole to get a look at what they had come here for.
Fredrick's eyes opened to see shining silver metal reflecting the sunlight that shined upon it through the newly dug hole.
Fredrick's face took up a grin as he looked up to Cabrera and nodded.
No words were needed, rather, they couldn't afford to raise their voices. This place was very close to the land of a Noble family. There was also a road close by, but it was rarely used.
They had arrived here after traversing un-owned lands close to the border.
This was the second part of the plan.
They had gone on an expedition for the first time in a long time and 'coincidentally' a manite mine was found, an A-rank beast disappeared, and an outpost was destroyed.
While most wouldn't look in their direction because of their pathetic strength, they would definitely be those who would.
To prevent such a problem, two things would be done.
This was the first.
The seconds was why Ezra had willingly left so many mana crystals behind in the mountain, the chaos that would ensue due to the dispute for them.
Fredrick straightened his fists and began widening the hole little by little, trying to keep things as quiet as possible.
Another ten minutes passed and the hole was now large enough for Fredrick to fit through.
Quickly, he plumped down into the hole and Cabrera swiftly followed.
They each stared wide eyed at the spectacle in front of them.
'It's real!'
To clear their debts, and even gain more wealth, while averting suspicion from the outpost incident and the events that were to come, Ezra added another objective with the help of his past life memories.
This was what they were looking at, another factor that promoted a great war in his past life, it…was a mithril vein!
It was a mithril vein obfuscated by the soil.
Had Fredrick not been told, he wouldn't have paid any mind to what seemed to be rocks under the soil.
Without a moment to lose, Fredrick took a stance, amplified his hands with mana like he had done at the mountain, and began to dig, disregarding the noise.
It only echoed loudly within the cave, with barely any noise being heard on the outside.
Cabrera joined the fray a moment later with a pickaxe in hand.
Mythril is a very rare metal that is second in hardness only to adamantium.
But while adamantium was a harder metal, even Grandmasters had difficulties using it. Mythril was far more malleable, so even some peak Masters could handle it.
It is also the second best conductor of mana after auranium.
This meant that rune enchantments would be two to ten times more effective, depending on the rank of the enchanter and the enchantment, or course.
Auranium was a guaranteed success with any enchantments, but it was not tough enough to use in a battle between Master-ranks, while mythril was used by even Grandmasters.
No, it was better to say that it was one of the few metals capable of surviving Grandmaster attacks.
Due to these reasons, it was in far more demand than either auranium or adamantium.
But as mentioned above, it was very rare.
Most high level fighters only have a few items made from mythril, while owners of full sets in Orion could be counted with three hands.
Now, imagine how high such a resource could be sold for on the eve of a war.
Exactly.
'We're going to make a killing!'
Which was why the light of greed in Cabrera's eyes burned brighter than ever before as he smashed apart the rocks with renewed vigor.
They will be keeping eighty percent of it for themselves, while the rest will be used to pay their debts.
Cabrera grin curved even wider as he thought of something.
'I wonder what face the sentinel will make the next time we meet'
He wanted to let out an evil laughter, but he kept it in. All in due time.
For now, they'd plunder.
Moreover, Cabrera was now sure.
'Agreeing to the sponsorship was the best thing that happened to us'
If Ezra could make plans like this at five years old, what will he do by the time he's fifteen? Cabrera couldn't help but wonder.
One thing was sure though.
'A lot of things are going to be happening from now on'
