Stormborne flipped his other hand, and a communication artifact appeared. He then connected it to the newly entered contact.
Soon, the call was picked up, and a holographic image appeared in front of him. It projected a muscular man with thick facial hair, black eyes, and black hair. He had a scar running across his right cheek and wore a leather tunic with metal studs.
The muscular man immediately smiled brightly. "Sir Stormborne, I wasn't able to connect with you before as I didn't have your contact information. But thank you! Just a day after you left, City Lord Gideon informed us that the Newborn-stage Rank 3 Mana Beast was gone! As expected of your mighty self, you will be our hero in Batley City for centuries. As soon as our other troubles end, we will throw a celebration in your name. Please come back and collect your reward."
Stormborne calmly listened and waited for the Adventurers Guild Master of Batley City to finish his speech. After that, he gently shook his head and informed him, "Guild Master Rodger, I didn't kill this Rank 3."
Rodger was dumbfounded for a moment, then stood up in shock as he understood Stormborne's meaning. His face turned ghastly pale.
"D-did the Beast have a new way to evade our Catastrophic Beast Sensor? What do we do? This will become a huge disaster! Or did the beast escape far away? Though it might be better for Batley City, other places will suffer..." After saying all that, he looked at the calm Stormborne and requested in a pleading tone, "S-Sir Stormborne, you must have some way to track its location, right? Can you please kill it? We will pay extra!"
After Rodger finished his speech, Stormborne calmly responded, "This Newborn-stage Rank 3 Beast is dead. It was a Mystical Type—a Crimson Tide Spider Queen. She, along with the rest of her subordinate Rank 2s and 1s, were completely wiped out. However, we were not the ones who killed them. It was some other group. We don't know who they were and cannot guess, but one of them was an extremely powerful Water Element user."
"It is best if you send someone to Everwood Village and clear that dead village before another creature takes it as its home."
"Also, your Batley City is not really taking care of these villages, allowing a Rank 3 to be born while being completely ignorant of it. For your own betterment, it's best if you all do your jobs properly." Stormborne paused and concluded the matter. "With this, your request is now considered complete. We will take our leave now."
Guild Master Rodger's eyes trembled with horror. He nearly had a heart attack hearing it was a Mystical Type—the rare Crimson Tide Spiders. He wondered if all the isolated villages in the southern plains had perished. This was truly a great tragedy; now, all he could do was send this information to City Lord Gideon.
Hearing Stormborne's reprimand, he could only smile bitterly. It was not their fault—even with many Adventurer and Mercenary groups working day and night, there were always too many things to be done, and many tasks and missions were still currently pending. They had no time or manpower to send someone to those isolated villages to check on them, especially since the villagers rarely ever made contact or requested missions.
He would later send a team to investigate the southern plains and also clear Everwood Village, though currently, that was impossible, as Batley City was facing much heavier concerns. For that, they desperately needed protection from such a powerful and reputable Master Rank as Stormborne.
Before Stormborne could cut off the connection, Rodger quickly stammered, "W-wait a moment, Sir Stormborne! S-sir, are you not returning to Batley City? We still need your protection! Two Master Ranks can attack us at any time. We cannot defend ourselves from such a threat—please help us! W-we will hire your team for your services!"
Stormborne shook his head. "I came to Batley City for another purpose, and it's done. We now need to reach our employer in Sildargrade. We are already late. If your city requires help, then request Adventurer or Mercenary groups from other places." He cut off the connection after saying that.
He knew the trouble Batley City was currently facing. He had only arrived there because of a task that the third Captain of Celestial Maelstrom had requested of him—one he still hadn't completed yet—and after that, they still needed to reach their employer in Sildargrade.
He didn't have time to play hero while sitting and wasting time in Batley City. There was no guarantee when the city would be attacked—not to mention, those necromancers wouldn't dare to attack if he were there, and that would delay him endlessly.
He had accepted the Rank 3 Mana Beast extermination mission only because he had arrived right when Batley City became aware of the trouble and requested his aid, and the mission location was also on the way to his own personal task.
After Stormborne put away the guild communication artifact, Kairos asked, "Then what should we do now, Captain?"
The rest of them also turned to Stormborne, as there was nothing else to do on this ruined battlefield.
"I haven't yet informed you—Christine asked me a favor when she learned that we were heading toward the Silvia Kingdom. The reason we're here in the southernmost location was also for that."
"Captain Christine of Branch 3?" Thalia exclaimed with admiration. Christine was an extremely powerful Master Rank and an equally beautiful woman. She was even stronger than Stormborne!
"Yes," Stormborne acknowledged.
"Then our original mission..." Kairos hesitated.
Stormborne waved him off. "Don't worry. As you know, I previously put our airship into stealth mode, but now that the Rank 3 is already taken care of, we can speed up. According to my rough estimate, we'll reach Sildargrade within two to three weeks, which is still within our promised time."
Kairos nodded. He had always been curious why they took a space gateway to arrive at Batley City instead of Sildargrade. Now he knew.
Aria interjected softly, "I think the capital, Sildargrade, might fall into chaos soon. According to the information I've gathered, the entire Silvia Kingdom is currently facing various troubles. This might be a plot by someone or some organization."
Hearing this, Stormborne sighed. He had been having a bad feeling ever since he accepted this troublesome mission.
Now that he'd taken it due to his past debt, they had to go through with it.
"We'll see how it goes."
Stormborne pulled out a bangle. After sending his mana and spiritual sense to unlock the mechanism, a moderately sized airship suddenly appeared in front of them, floating in mid-air a meter above the ground.
It was their Celestial Maelstrom fifth branch's airship—painted pure white, with the emblem of The Celestial Maelstrom Adventure Group printed on both sides. The emblem depicted an artistic whirlpool mixing blue, green, and red.
All of them jumped onto its deck while Stormborne gently floated and landed at the stern.
Jasper—agile and sharp-eyed, with short, messy black hair, dressed in grey and white robes with a hood covering his head, carrying a bow and a set of throwing knives—reached for the control deck and asked Stormborne, "Where to?"
Stormborne answered while staring at the unnatural pond beneath, "Directly south. There should be a small town named 'Ringwood Town'—that's our destination." He then murmured quietly to himself, "Hopefully, the Crimson Tide Spiders haven't ended this town too." If so, he could only report it as it was to Christine.
Jasper gave a light nod of acknowledgment and then controlled the airship. With a loud boom, it set off southward at tremendous speed.
Stormborne raised his palm, revealing a single white shard.
He stared deeply at it with a frown—not focused on the shard itself, but on something it had once come into contact with—a fleeting trace of something he was actually very familiar with.
---
Within a tavern called The Roaring Dragon, five people sat at a round table on the first floor near the window, waiting for someone with anticipation and nervousness.
The five were silent, yet the tavern's atmosphere was warm and lively—filled with the scent of roasting meats and laughter mingling with the crackling fireplace.
The tavern was always filled with Mana Wielders and travelers sharing tales of adventure while sipping ale from mugs that never seemed to empty.
It was understandable—The Roaring Dragon was situated directly opposite Batley City's Adventurers Guild.
Among the group, Elianor—a fiery redhead with sparkling blue eyes and twin daggers strapped to her waist—sat with boredom. She casually glanced out the tavern window.
Through it, Batley City's bustling streets came into view—cobblestone paths lined with shops and inns, their signs creaking in the breeze. The buildings, a mix of stone and wood, had colorful banners fluttering from their upper floors—all familiar sights to her. She was just bored from waiting so long.
After a while, she sighed exaggeratedly and monotonously asked her companions, "How much longer will it take for the leader to return? We've been waiting for two hours!"
Garrick—a towering man with a thick beard and broad shoulders, carrying a massive battle-axe too large for most to wield comfortably—guffawed, "What's the hurry? I bet Guild Master Rodger personally called him—we're the only ones willing to take missions right now!"
Brunhild Pierce—a stoic, athletic woman with sharp features and a serious demeanor—shook her head in denial. "There are other teams who also want missions now—after all, rewards and reputation points are too tempting. I heard seven to ten team leaders were summoned by the Guild Master to warn them about the current dangers outside Batley City."
Brunhild had chestnut-colored braided hair, a quiver slung over her shoulder, and a beautifully crafted longbow resting against the tavern wall. She also had a short, barrel-type shooting artifact strapped to her waist—garnering deep curiosity from her teammates. It was a foreign weapon her family had recently procured for her protection in these troubled times. Only after promising her teammates they could examine it later did they stop bothering her.
Eilif—a muscular man wearing a leather tunic, with a double-handed warhammer leaning against the table—shook his head in displeasure. "I still don't understand—what's this all about? Just a few necromancer groups causing trouble outside the city. I heard this happens every century or so—though I don't know the reason."
Brunhild gave Eilif a harsh glare for his dismissiveness. "Two necromancer teams have a Rank 4 each—that's two Master Ranks out there!" she warned sharply.