I take the black dagger from Chester's hands disregarding the glowing crate of potions in his other and begin twirling it around my fingers to view the weapon from every possible angle.

It's smooth and incredibly lightweight.

The old man starts to explain how the potions work based on a book he read about similar items years ago, but I drown out his words while staring down at this unique artifact.

The base of the grip fits tightly in my right hand, and the curved blade is about the length of my forearm. My eyes practically sparkle while looking down at the incredible item. It feels as if there's a bottomless Abyss within the blade yearning for power. I'm sure this item cannot wield mana, so I don't dare risk it and try. All I want to do right now is activate my Demonic Energy Manipulation skill and test out my theories.

Its surface is made of the same hard stone-like substance that the crystals dropped from the Black Knights and Demonic Wolves. The origin and specific details about this substance are still unclear to me, but with every passing day, it's starting to come together.

I need to get some alone time to test this blade's capabilities.

I'm mesmerized.

After a few dozen more spins and swirling motions through my fingers, I grab the blade tight with a smirk. My vision finally lifts from the knife and I snap back to reality, listening to the conversation going on in the living room.

Chester continues to speak about the potions with a kind smile.

"...so if you're ever in need of a boost during a battle against an overwhelming opponent, these may save your life. Just remember the debuffs are pretty intense. You'll have to rely on your teammates after the 5 minutes is up, or ensure the battle can be finished within that time frame."

I nod slowly, still only thinking about the weapon in my hand.

My teammates on the other hand are staring wide eyes at the potions. Then, they all turn to me.

I shrug, eyeing the potions for a moment, then take two of the golden extreme strength potions for myself, leaving the rest.

"Have at 'em', I think you'll make better use of them than me."

Anything with debuffs this high is not optimal for my long-term battle style. The mana absorption rate is pointless for me as well. With Plunderer, I can take in all the MP I need without the negative side effects of a potion. The Extreme Strength, on the other hand, I'll keep on me for a rainy day. It wouldn't hurt to hold onto a few, but my gear and skill buffs are better than anything these potions can add.

The 4 of them gladly accept and start splitting the potions amongst themselves. They put them in their item boxes and examine the glass jars in amazement. Abby is the first to look up from their newly gifted loot.

"Now that we've all given our reports, that just leaves you. What's the status of the observatory? You found it right?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The room goes silent.

"I did."

There are a few gulps, but everyone waits patiently as I go on.

"Nobody was home. I take it they're either concealed in an area I can't sense or held up waiting somewhere else. The entire town was abandoned and the observatory up on the cliff didn't have a single living soul inside."

I reach into my storage and pull out the two black Demonic Stones.

"However, there are some interesting monsters in the Abyss."

Chester's eyes light up from across the room as I let the small glossy gems with the middle coffee tables surface.

His gaze darts back and forth from the dagger in my right hand and the gems rolling to a stop on the wooden surface. The old man's eye for rare items comes to the same conclusion as me in a matter of seconds.

As he walks over, I speak again.

"They were right by the edge. One of my abilities allows me to see them. It makes sense that you weren't able to while conducting research, it's an advanced technique. However, the fact that you said you heard some is fascinating. Am I remembering this correctly?"

Chester picks up the gems and starts examining them with a small bronze-colored circular tool while replying.

"Indeed. All I heard were growls from the border when I got too close. Also, an occasional roar followed by the sound of metal on metal ringing out from deep within caught my ear every few days."

He gulps.

"I've stepped inside a few times to conduct some tests, but never made it further than 10 meters. The darkness is sickening."

There's another moment of silence before Arie speaks.

"The Monsters in the Abyss. How would I stack up against one?"

A semi-worried expression crosses his face. I reply.

"Oh, you're definitely stronger than the monsters I faced today, the only problem is you wouldn't be able to perceive them. They... seem to exist on a different frequency than regular mana-based monsters."

The room is taken aback at this remark. Everyone's eyes open wide, wanting to know more.

I throw my hands up in a playful manner.

"Hey, I don't really understand it much yet either.... I need to do more testing tomorrow."

I hold up the black dagger tighter.

"This weapon may help me uncover some more clues."

A few sighs and slow nods are all I get in return as they realize we've hit a dead end for information gathering today. We all start to settle down for the evening, as the distant city lights are the only source of brightness that shines through the open windows.

Chester cooks up another meal and we spend the night rehashing our plans for tomorrow and start discussing potential options for what we'll do once we get out of this whole mess.

The only things that come up are starting a new life here in the Dark Continent, Moving to another one of the 8 Regions or Directly confronting the Association back home. There are other options too, but these seem to be our top 3 options.

All of them have their advantages and drawbacks, but we still have a lot to get done before making a decision. The conversation was only brought up to keep our minds busy while waiting for the impending confrontation ahead.

—

Morning comes and we all leave to continue our respective roles. Maria and Abby head out to keep watch on the Black Market, Arie and Fisher go to the training rooms to refine their new ranked-up powers, and Chester leaves to sell off the High-Grade D and C-Class gear to his various merchant friends.

I excitedly make my way back toward the desert.

Although I like to keep my abilities as hidden as possible, that is not the full reason I didn't activate my Demonic Energy while with my group last night.

We're all in the same boat here, enemies of two foreign governments and only have each other to count on. There's no reason to not trust them, but at the same time, there's no reason to overshare.

My main worry is the potential dangers of the excess mana from their auras or magic residue in a room full of Elite Mages and rare items. One wrong chain reaction and we'd all be doomed.

"It's better I keep this to myself for now" I whisper under my breath while walking out of town and into the rolling hills of the open desert.

"Today... I'll learn how to use this blade, and enter the Abyss."