'If there was one thing that wasn't on my Bingo card, it certainly was that,' Glenn thought as he floated above a particularly annoyed Knight, using Gravity Manipulation to hold himself at a safe distance from the jagged rocks and the exhausted members of the expedition.

It had already been three days since this foolish rescue operation had started. They were currently still climbing the Dark Wall, proceeding from one dangerously high mountain pass to another. Thankfully, there had been little to no attacks from the wildlife, aside from these five-meter-tall night owls. Those had been quite annoying, even if they provided quite an impressive amount of calories and proteins.

'Can't you just leave them behind and go by yourself?' Diamanes suggested, bored out of his mind.

Glenn sighed and shook his head, his arms crossed.

'No, I can't do that. Because if I did, my contract with the other bastard would be void. That'd render all those struggles purposeless, and we can't have that.'

'Lame~!'

Glenn ignored Diamanes complaints and turned his attention toward his sword. Nelg had been starting to get better little by little after his traumatic incident inside Jack's Void Gate, but he still hadn't recovered completely.

'How you're doing?' Glenn asked, hiding his worries as best he could.

"Better than ever," Nelg grumbled, "Still have a shit-ton of souls that I need to digest from that slaughter you committed during the W.O.R.M. incident. At least we have a nice view up here."

'I can't refute that...' Glenn admitted as he turned to look to the side. They were still on Munirp's territory, and halfway to the top of the Dark Wall. The land stretched seemingly endlessly, with incredibly wide green plains and beautiful autumnal forests. They were more or less just spots of different greens in Glenn's eyes, but they were still quite something.

"Sir Glenn!" Someone called out to him below, "We're taking a break!"

Glenn grunted and rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, "Again?! It's the fourth time today!"

He let himself land back on the mountainous floor, ignoring the jealousy and glares from the group of Seekers, led by Lioras Noli. These idiots were all Magis at the Fourth Circle, but somehow, their bodies were completely untrained. They could barely endure walking for half a day so for three days straight?

They looked like they were about to die.

'I'm thinking it might be the more efficient solution...' Glenn thought, annoyed. They should have arrived much faster, but thanks to these losers, a week-long operation was slowly but surely transforming into a month-long slog.

At least, he wasn't the only one thinking this way. He met up with Isadora Fierro, the one-eyed, fiery knight lady who was leading her squad of Knight-Mages. The Magi Brotherhood certainly had better standards than the Seekers.

"Aren't the Seekers a subsidiary of the Brotherhood? A branch of the main organization?" Nelg pondered.

Glenn nodded. 'It's probably thanks to that they dare be so arrogant. They rely on their "high level" and the fame of their organizations. And their spells...you've seen how they fight the monsters at night.'

'Haha, it's like a concert!' Diamanes suddenly laughed, 'They just keep on singing the same spells every night! Hey, they do that enough and I might become addicted to that sweet lullaby!'

Indeed, the Seekers had no training whatsoever in the Draconic School. They just chanted their spells, in the traditional, much easier-to-learn School of Words. Funnily enough, Glenn had only seen—or rather, heard them using a single spell, all six of them, Lioras included. Scuta, Ferrum, Proiectum, and Ductu. Again, and again, for three nights in a row, these were the words used by these damned Seekers.

'I seriously wonder how they're not bored of using that stuff,' Glenn questioned. The spell was efficient, sure: it conjured guided spears of Mana that tracked its targets. It was quite useful to get rid of all the accursed owls, but still. It was quite monotonous.

The opposite of how Glenn viewed magic.

"Was the view great up there, Glenn?" Isadora asked familiarly with an annoyed tone.

Glenn scoffed and nodded in the direction of the panting Seekers, "It would have been even better if it weren't for these dead weights."

The two had similar personalities, and it didn't take long for them to hit it off. They were like two old friends that only met too late in life.

"You don't say," Isadora grumbled as she rubbed her eyepatch, "I still don't understand why the higher-ups wanted them so badly on this mission. I'm sure just us and Vilroy's guys would have been enough for the job."

"I can't agree more," Glenn sighed. Quite a few people were manning this expedition: in the Seeker group, five Magi at the Fourth Circle with Lioras who was leading them as an Expert Magi. Isadora was also an Expert Magi at the Fifth Circle but had a constitution rivaling Glenn's. She only had two companions, Connor and Roman, who were at the higher end of the Fourth Circle. Finally, Vilroy Lancer, the representative of the Indigo Bureau, was leading a team entirely made up of Aura users, with three Crusaders and three Chevaliers. Vilroy himself was also a Crusader. That group, similarly to Isadora's, was quite enjoying the way up the chain of mountains.

It was a force powerful enough to change the tides of the war, and yet, here they were, doing some mountaineering.

'What a life...' Glenn rubbed his forehead. He sneaked a glance at the group of Seekers and whispered to Isadora, "Hey, what do you think we kick them off the mountain and hurry up to complete the rescue mission?"

Isadora looked at him for an instant before uttering in disbelief, "Glenn...are you reading in my mind? That's exactly what I was thinking!"

They laughed a little less discreetly, ignoring the glares from the Seekers. It wasn't like they cared whatsoever about them. They rested for another fifteen minutes before resuming the expedition. Glenn returned to his overwatch position, floating above the caravan with his Gravity Manipulation and keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Suddenly, he felt his Mana disappear helplessly and he landed harshly next to the expedition group.

"Wow! What the hell are you doing?!" The Seeker who had the misfortune to be below Glenn exclaimed spitefully. Glenn ignored him, his brows furrowed as he tried to cast his Gravity Manipulation again. He managed to float a meter up before the spell broke once again.

"Shit," He cursed in his beard before turning toward the group, "Do you guys have any flying spells? I think we've reached an area where they're banned!"

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Isadora swore and channeled her Mana. A feathered pair of wings appeared in her back, taking her a single meter above the floor before disappearing in a flurry of blue particles, "Damn it. You're right! Careful everyone, we're in a no-fly zone!" She grabbed Connor's arm and grimaced, "You're taking care of checking the Mana density. Do an analysis every five minutes, and trade position with Roman when you're at half-cap', alright?"

Connor nodded without complaining, "Yes ma'am. Keep us safe."

Isadora scoffed and slapped him on the back, "Who do you take me for? Come on, take the lead."

Vilroy stepped in and pushed one of his Crusaders forward, "Allow this friend here to be with your boy, Isadora. Two is better than one."

Isadora shrugged. Connor and the Crusader went off at the front of the convoy, one to check for Mana and the other to guard him. Isadora noticed Glenn's interested gaze and quickly explained.

"It's not something you'd encounter in King's Rise, but when expediting beyond the walls of the city, you need to check for Mana density in weird zones like this one. If flight magic is restrained, that means the Mana is affected by something. And it'd be quite bad if we ended up in an area with unusually low-density Mana. It wouldn't incapacitate us, but it certainly would take us by surprise."

Her face hardened and she added with a serious tone, "That small moment of surprise can be the difference between life and death. Stay on your toes, Glenn."

The latter nodded, but not before adding with a smirk, "How professional. It's admirable."

Isadora grinned, "Thanks. Now, stop flirting with me, and let's get to work. And if you see these damned Seekers slacking, slap them, aye?"

Glenn shook his head, the corner of his lips curved upward, "I would have even without you asking."

'Am I sensing a budding relationship?' Diamanes asked in an interested tone. Nelg grunted in curious agreement, also wondering where this stuff with Isadora was going. Glenn restrained a sigh and pressed his hand against his sword's pommel.

'I just feel like she could be a really good friend, that's all, okay?'

The two groans of disappointment that followed did nothing to undermine his morale. The expedition continued carefully, the setting sun casting one last purple light on them before leaving its place to the twin moons. The Seekers conjured semi-permanent light orbs to illuminate the path, their complaints about being exhausted and needing rest falling on deaf ears. Glenn could see that they had way more energy than they were admitting, and the rests they required were probably more out of pride or need to bother than anything else.

"How far are we?" Glenn asked Lioras Noli, the Seeker team leader. The latter verified a contraption similar to a Recorder and grimaced.

"There's a good couple of kilometers left. If the mountains allow it, we'll be there for the rise of the sun."

Nelg gasped, "Oh shit, he jinxed it, didn't he?"

Glenn rolled his eyes, 'What do you think is going to happen? There are only two kilometers left, and the meteorological conditions are perfect. Why would you worry—?'

He barely finished mentally replying that a delicate snowflake landed on his nose, pinching his skin with sharp coldness.

Nelg sighed heavily, "What did I say...?"

"Don't make a mountain out of a snowflake..." Glenn muttered hopefully. Sure enough, it only took a few minutes for the wind to rise and the snow to pile up, burying the expedition in cold white.

"Seekers! Shelter!" Lioras ordered as he fought against the winds, his scholar's robe fluttering violently. His subordinates didn't waste any time complying and hurriedly conjured a big mud house on the ground, large enough to welcome the whole expedition. They all hurriedly took refuge inside, aside from Isadora, Glenn, and Vilroy Lancer.

"This...wasn't supposed to happen," Vilroy muttered with a frown.

Glenn sighed and rubbed the back of his head, watching the snow piling up, "What's the plan? We stay here and wait for the storm to clear out?"

Isadora grunted, "We're going to lose a lot of time, but it's preferable to suffering casualties. No matter how important the rescue target is, my team's survival is still the top priority."

Vilroy nodded, "Agreed. We'll rest here and wait for a day. If nothing changes after that..." He gritted his teeth, the tribal tattoos covering his face contorting with his expression, "...We'll have to push through it. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

Glenn sat on a conjured mud ledge and crossed his arms. The temperature had dropped sharply, without any warning, and yet he couldn't say he was exactly cold. He could probably endure these conditions for a good week before suffering consequences from it.

'Every day, I want to thank the Thorn's Church for this reinforced body, and every day, I refuse to do so,' he thought with a smirk.

"What are you smiling about?" Isadora asked as she sat beside him.

Glenn shrugged, "I'm just happy that I'm not as weak to temperatures as I once was."

Isadora chuckled, "Ah, imagine being weak again. Can't say I missed those times."

"For sure," Glenn agreed with a slight smile, "Still, isn't scaring you a little? That we're becoming so different from normal humans?"

Isadora looked at him for a moment. "Is it bothering you?"

Glenn shrugged once more, "Not really."

Isadora snorted, "Then why do you ask?"

"Just trying to chat."

The storm was so violent it almost felt like it was already night-time. Glenn verified his Exan-Egg, his eyes widening slightly when he found out that it was only 6 P.M. It certainly didn't look to be that early, considering they couldn't see further than the tip of their noses. Glenn and Isadora kept watch for a dozen hours before trading places with Lioras Noli and Vilroy Lancer. Glenn wasn't exactly confident leaving his place to the scrawny Seeker, but oh well.

'I'm not going to refuse the opportunity to eat a bite and laze around,' Glenn thought. This whole expedition was making less and less sense as time passed anyway. The team they were supposed to rescue was entirely composed of Seekers, yet Lioras' team members seemed less than motivated to go save them in time. Had Glenn been the one leading this expedition, he would have taken the faster individuals and rushed up the Dark Wall without stopping.

'Surely it could have been done in less than a day, and yet...' He sighed and looked at the Seekers happily discussing magic around a campfire, '...here we are, enjoying the warmth while their colleagues might have already ended up in Doyle's stomach.'

'I don't think you'll see him again,' Diamanes commented dubiously, 'He clearly has been captured by that Laboratory and somewhat sealed, after all.'

Glenn moistened his lips and leaned back against a wall, 'I'd rather be paranoid and expect the worst.'

"Which is an excellent idea." Nelg complimented, in total agreement with his host.

Diamanes sighed, 'How boring...'

Six hours later, Lioras and Vilroy returned inside, their eyebrows creased.

"We need eyes," Vilroy said with a frown, "We heard something that wasn't the storm, and it didn't sound like these giant owls either."

Isadora was about to stand up but her colleagues, Connor and Roman stole the opportunity, hurriedly running out of the house. Seems like they were quite bored too. Three of Vilroy's squad members also came out with them. The Seekers only sent out one member, the weakest among them.

"I guess we can continue chilling here, then..." Glenn yawned without a hint of concern. If the push came to shove, he would just blast the whole damn mountain anyway. It might be possible if he used Arcane Surge on his Gravitational Singularity. He wouldn't have a drop of Mana left, but still.

That was an option.

"We're going to sleep," The Seekers announced before raising a wall of mud between them and the other groups. Glenn shook his head at the ridiculous sight before slipping into Meditation. It wouldn't do him any harm to be in top condition.

'Nelg, tell me if anything happens,' He asked before going into his Mana Heart, observing the Milky Way and the four-star rings encircling it.

"Glenn..." Nelg uttered in a mix of awe and disbelief, "You might want to take a look at that."

'What?' He promptly jumped out of his Meditation, wincing at the panicked shouts and the people running around.

"Where the hell did they go? Where the hell did my team members go?!?" Isadora shouted ragefully at Lioras Noli, who was trembling on the floor, terrified.

"What the hell is going on?" Glenn exclaimed as his Mana flared up, wondering if they had been attacked.

Isadora turned to him and pointed at the Seeker on the ground, "This fucker—thanks to him, Connor and Roman disappeared!"

"What do you mean, disappear?" Glenn repeated in confusion, "They're Magis like me, they can't just...pop out of existence."

Lioras yelped as he raised his hands defensively, "It's...it's not only them! Vilroy and the others also disappeared in the storm!"

"I'm the only one left!"

Glenn felt his blood turn to ice and his expression hardened. He drew out his sword and took a look out of the mud house, checking things out with his Mana Sight, but he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. A scream within the mud house made him promptly return inside.

The Seekers who had the wise idea of isolating themselves in a private room also disappeared.

Three days into the expedition, eleven members had disappeared without warning.

Personnel left? One Chevalier, two Crusaders, Lioras Noli, Isadora Fierron, and Glenn.

'Things are taking an interesting turn!' Diamanes laughed wickedly.

Outside, the snowstorm raged even stronger. And it wasn't showing any signs of calming down.