Chapter 352 – Contained
Eventually Damion came across a large Shadow Rend Bat. This one was easily three times the size of others and he guessed it was the guardian of the floor. To be sure of the Rank of the beast, Damion pulled it into the Magic System Inventory. The System labeled it as a B Rank Shadow Rend Bat carcass, which confirmed his suspicions.
When Damion finished collecting the carcasses he did a tally of his gains. 18 C Rank Shadow Cats, 129 C Rank Shadow Rend Bats and 1 B Rank Shadow Rend Bat. Just as Damion was thinking he probably had killed enough C Rank creatures to complete his C Rank kill quest, notifications from the System began coming in.
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Kill C Rank Ferocious Beasts or Demonic Beasts – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 5 Store Credits]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Kill C Rank Ferocious Beasts or Demonic Beasts – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 5 Store Credits]
*Ding*
{Quest: Kill C Rank Ferocious Beasts or Demonic Beasts, has reached its maximum completion amount.}
*Ding*
[Spell Shadow Step mastery increased to D Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
*Ding*
[Spell Icy Grasp mastery increased to B Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
*Ding*
[Spell Frost Over mastery increased to C Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Breath mastery increased to C Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Domain mastery increased to E Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Mastery mastery increased to E Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
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[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit.]
Completing eight quests made Damion feel like he really accomplished something. Even if all but one of the creatures he had just killed was only C Rank, the number of them he had to kill was surprising and the fact that it pushed six of his spells up a Rank spoke volumes.
Once Damion located the core he crushed it. The core crumbled to dust under the pressure of his hands and a few meters away a portal appeared. Now Damion had to figure out if this was just the entrance to the next floor, or if the labyrinth was going to be generous and send him out.
Taking a breath, he walked through. After a moment he appeared back in the wilderness outside the entrance to the portal. Phil was there, sitting in front of the entrance to the labyrinth. He was about to ask his companion why it was not out hunting, when he saw there were other adventurers around.
There were two A Rank adventurers, both of whom Damion recognized, Axton Veers and Emilee Flores. There were also four B Rank Adventurers present, but Damion did not recognize any of them.
‘So much for obtaining this labyrinth without anyone knowing,’ Damion thought as he looked to each of the adventurers, who appeared to have been squaring off against Phil.
“See, I told you this was Mage Wells’ bound familiar,” Mage Veers said after Damion emerged from the Realm Breach. “He must have ordered it to guard the entrance while he cleared the Breach.”
“Well good on you for being right,” a B Rank Fire mage replied. “Now that Wells is out, I guess we can go in and have a look around then.”
When the mage said that he started towards the entrance to the Breach, but Phil moved to block his path, letting out a threatening screech.
“Hey, tell your pet to let us through. It is our turn now.”
“Calm yourself Mage McCormick,” Mage Veers warned.
“Why should I? He’s out. The dungeon is obviously easy enough for a B Rank to clear solo. I think we should all get a chance. If this turns out to be a Semi-Stable Breach, we won’t have lot of chances.”
“Mage Wells has a gift for identifying Breaches Colton. I’m sure he can tell us if it is a Stable Breach or only Semi-Stable.”
After getting the Fire mage to calm down for a moment, Mage Veers turned to Damion with an expectant look. Now he was in a bind. There was no way he was going to reveal to them that this was in fact a Growth Breach, but if they went in, they would quickly realize it. He may have been put into a B Rank floor to stabilize it, but anyone entering now would enter the weakest floors which were sure to be F Rank. And if just encountering all F Rank creatures was not enough to tell them the type of Breach they were in, when they reached the entrance to the next floor they would know they were in a labyrinth.
‘System, purchase upgrade of the C Rank containment unit to B Rank.’
{Affirmative.}
{Upgrading containment unit artifact to B Rank for 400 credits.}
Damion fought back a cough when the Magic System told him the cost of the upgrade. A new B Rank artifact from the System only cost 500 credits, to charge him 400 for the upgrade meant there was something seriously flawed with the containment unit. Either the artifact was poorly made, which was possible, or someone had sold Mage Teft a substandard unit.
Unfortunately, with the Magic System correcting the errors in either the materials or the enchantments, he might never be able to examine it to find out what had been wrong with it. All he could do was perhaps ask the System later to explain the reason for the cost.
Those questions would have to wait however, as Mage Veers cleared his throat since Damion had been standing silent for almost a minute.
“Sorry, I was just trying to find the words,” Damion told them.
“And?” Mage McCormick asked.
“The answer is no. You can’t go in. I found this Breach and I’m keeping it for myself.”
“You are what?!” Mage McCormick exploded. “You can’t keep a B Rank Breach for yourself. It isn’t allowed. You have to keep it cleared or it will cause a dungeon break. You know this. Even if you can clear it yourself, what are you going to do once you reach A Rank?”
“As you said. I can clear it myself, so it is no trouble.”
“And what, are you going to stand guard out here in the wilderness forever to keep people from going in? Or is that what your pet is for? Will you order it to attack people if they go in? Let’s find out!”
Mage Veers, who had been silent during Mage McCormick’s tirade suddenly reached out and grabbed the B Rank Fire mage by the back of his armor.
“There is no need to test Mage Wells’ patience,” Mage Veers said. “However, Mage Wells, you must understand, a Breach cannot be simply left out in the world like this. It either has to be collapsed or contained. You can claim a wild Breach, but only if you have the means to secure it.”
“Oh, then I guess I better secure it,” Damion said, taking the newly upgraded B Rank containment unit out of the Magic System Inventory.
Mage Veers merely raised an eyebrow at the sight, while the other mages all let out gasps of shock. Containment units were one of the few artifacts more expensive than spatial artifacts. And to them, seeing Damion pull the containment unit out from nowhere revealed that he had both.
Damion hit a button on the containment unit, and it sprang to live. Unfolding its cargo container size one layer at a time to encase the portal of the Realm Breach completely. Within a few moments the Realm Breach was enclosed in an armored box, ready to be transported.
Of course, now Damion had another problem, how to get it out of here. He was fairly certain he could store the containment unit and labyrinth both within the Magic System Inventory, but doing so in front of these people would certainly be asking for trouble.
“There, it is contained,” Damion told them, snapping the group of adventurers out of their shock.”
“So it is,” Mage Veers said.
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Find Your Own Labyrinth – Status: Complete – Reward: 1,000 Experience, 1,000,000 Store Credit.]