Asher woke up and changed into other clothes. He got ready to arrive in the dining room. As he entered the room, he noticed everyone was present there including the twins. Livia was chatting with Amelia while Lucas was keeping it to himself.
"Welcome Ash, you look so thin!" Sylvie got up and hugged Asher as she saw him after two week.
"Hello brother," Lucas and Livia also greeted him.
"Come on sit down now." Arthur who was sitting told Sylvie so that the dinner could start.
Meanwhile hours before in the Abyss Guild camp in Lost Lands,
"When will the Guildmaster return" One of the hunter asked his team captain.
"Anytime soon, Young Master's Party was already over two weeks ago." The team captain replied to him.
"Hey, can't we explore the dungeon a bit more on our own." One of the Hunter who was eating his meal asked him.
"Don't speak nonsense, the final authority lies with the Guildmaster and his orders were to wait until he returns. If you wanna die at the hands of higher executives go alone, don't ask me." The team captain immediately replied.
The camp was located near the teleportation gate on the outer region of the Lost Lands, allowing for a quick retreat in case of emergency. The inner region had many high-ranking beasts that were dangerous at night. Nathan had instructed the team to stop exploring until he returned, as even the SS-Rank teleportation gate couldn't guarantee safety.
Suddenly the alarm system which was established into the Camp for any beast invasions at night and other threats started going off,
"WARNING!!!"
"MANA FLUCTUATIONS HIGH!!"
"WARNING!!"
"MANA FLUCTUATIONS HIGH!!"
"WARNING!!"
.....
"What happened?" All of them stood up as they listened to the security alarm going off.
"Mana fluctuations but it was a blue gate?" One of young hunter asked the team captain.
"Forget it, EVACUATE RIGHT NOW!!" The team captain shouted.
"Forget it! EVACUATE NOW!" the captain shouted. "Leave the equipment, take the artifacts, and hurry to the teleportation gate! HURRY UP!"
The SS-Rank dungeon gate in the outer region of the Lost Lands was glowing blue with cracks visible. This was a rare event known as a Dungeon Explosion, which usually happened in red gates. If the gate was left uncleared, a Dungeon Explosion would occur, followed by a Dungeon breakout.
The executives of the Abyss Guild had arrived near the teleportation gate, and as more people teleported out, the executives followed suit. The valuable artifacts and other items had already been picked up, so they could easily abandon the camp. Although there would be significant damage, the monetary loss would easily be recovered.
The space inside the dungeon was filled with a white light as several space cracks appeared. The mana forced itself out from the gate, resulting in a huge explosion in the outer region that covered 1 km and destroying half the camp.
*BOOOOOM*
The mana spread around from the dungeon, and the resulted explosion destroyed everything in its path. Bright light illuminated the dark forests of the Lost lands waking up many beasts due to the shockwaves of the explosion.
Most of the ecosystem surrounding the gate had turned into a huge crater. A spatial crack was noticed in the center of the crater, from which monsters could be observed emerging.
Outside the teleportation gate, one of the executives spoke, "Call the Guildmaster. We need to notify him about this immediately."
The other hunters meanwhile were thanking their luck that they could escape in time.
"We got so lucky!" one of the hunters present said. "We would have been obliterated if the Guildmaster hadn't gone back," he continued.
"Who could have thought that this blue gate would become unstable suddenly?" the team captain replied as he counted to make sure every team member was present.
The person managing the teleportation gate was surprised to see so many hunters appear out of nowhere, but upon seeing that they were from the Abyss Guild, he did not stop them. One of the executives present explained the situation to him, while the other executives were already collecting artifacts and calculating the damage.
In the Greville Estate, as they began their dinner, Stephen suddenly appeared in the dining room.
"What happened?" Arthur asked his butler.
"A mana explosion has occurred in the dungeon where Lord Nathaniel was exploring," Stephen immediately informed him.
"WHAT?" the atmosphere went cold as Nathan shouted, though he immediately regained his composure.
"The damage is still being calculated, but the guild members have safely teleported, so no casualties have been found," Stephen finished his report.
"Okay, I will take care of it," Arthur stood up, needing to ensure everything was alright.
"I'm going to the site directly, the monsters might cross the border, so they will need me there," Nathan immediately disappeared from the dining room.
*Ding*
<Quest Completed>
**********************************************
Objective: Save Nathaniel Von Greville from dying
Rewards: 100 Fate points
Penalty: -20 all stats, -80 Fate points
************************************************
[ Recalibrating the reward.................... ]
[ Reward changed into 1000 Fate points ]
Asher, still sitting in the living room, spoke in his mind, "Why did the reward change?"
[Fate reward is greater the more fate you have and lesser the less fate you have.]
Due to the fact that Asher had increased his fate points, he gained extra fate points for the quest of saving Nathan.
"Kids, you go to sleep. I will take you guys for awakening tomorrow," Sylvie told the twins as she needed to help Arthur with the current situation.
"Okay," the twins nodded as they finished their meal. "Stephen, increase the security around the estate. And tell Emmy to meet me," Sylvie also left to join Arthur.
The dining room was now awkward, with only Amelia and the twins sitting opposite Asher, who was calmly eating his dinner. Amelia kept quiet, avoiding Asher as she always did to avoid making more trouble with him. The last duel with Elena was still fresh in her memories.
"Brother, can I train with you?" Lucas asked Asher. Asher did not mind Lucas calling him "brother" as he got more comfortable with him. Lucas had helped Asher more than anyone in his previous life, even dying for him. Asher was not an ungrateful person, so he respected Lucas because of it.
"No," Asher denied Lucas. He knew Lucas was not going to follow the path of swordsmanship like him. His bloodline ability gave him a massive mana pool and his talent lay in the path of magic. Asher would not change it. Handing a bow to someone with a talent for spears would only limit their potential, and he had no need for wasted potential in his future plans.
"Okay..." Lucas looked a bit sad, but he did not argue with Asher and accepted his decision.
Amelia wanted to say something, but she decided against it. She needed her shield, Damian, before speaking with Asher.
Livia, on the other hand, wanted to learn from Nathan, but he had gone outside for an emergency, denying her the chance to learn from him. She would not be able to train with him until he returned to the estate, and she did not know when that would be.
Outside the Greville estate, Arthur was driving his car with Sylvie sitting beside him. No one spoke as they drove to the Guild Building where Arthur and Sylvie's office was located. Arthur was in a strange mood, and Sylvie knew what he was thinking, but she remained silent.
"Hah, that old man really dodged a bullet," Arthur laughed as he drove. He could have traveled to his office using his body, but driving his car helped relieve his stress. This was one of the reasons why many powerful people in the world, who could cover long distances in mere seconds, still drove around in their cars.
"It's okay, Arthur," Sylvie said no more.
Arthur knew Nathan could have died that day, and although people died in this world, losing someone close to you still made you sad and depressed. Losing Ivar was a painful experience for Arthur, which made him spend even more time battling monsters and risking his life in dungeons. Nathan, knowing this, made him the Vice-Guildmaster, forcing him to manage the work from behind his desk.
Asher headed to the training grounds instead of his room because he wasn't feeling sleepy. Amelia and the twins, however, were tired and went to sleep. The heightened security surprised the mansion's staff, but they were accustomed to it, so everything went smoothly.
For the last two weeks, the entire Somaria and internet had been buzzing about the same topic - the leaked news of Asher's duel with Elena. Many people were speculating whether it would lead to a clash between the two elite families. The result of the duel between Asher and Elena had sparked intense speculation and discussion among the citizens of Somaria and the internet.
The revelation of Ivar Greville having children had only added fuel to the fire. However, amidst all the chaos, one person was watching this news as a chance- the individual for whom Asher had gone to extra mile in his fight against Elena. Their identity remained a mystery, but their significance in the events to come was unmistakable.
