After last night's [Mediation] Mark had taken care of Jonathan's injuries, but he was once again impressed by how much damage Aura users were able to sustain and still function. Oscar had not held back, even against his own son.
They had spent the morning preparing to leave. Ethel and Karter would hold down the fort while they were gone.
Mark had asked if they should bring Chloe, as it stood to reason that she would be able to lead them in the right direction, but Chloe herself declined for personal reasons. When they asked why, she said a particular event was coming up that she needed to be around for, and if everything went well the scouting mission could take a couple of days.
While that sounded ominous, by now they were used to her cryptic words and eclectic actions. Sam wanted Daphne there too but Karter shut her down, on account of them leaving for an extended period of time. Daphne was their strongest defensive fighter and to have her out of the territory for too long could leave them open to attacks.
Daphne understood but was not happy about this, and made her stance clear that she thought the three of them going in alone was not a good idea. Jonathan shot down any thought of taking a guard unit with them. They had no idea what was down there as of yet, so individual strength was key here.
Amidst the argument, Gibby passed through and overheard their conversation, breaking the stalemate. Being an informant, he had heard about this venture NAS was putting together and offered to join on the spot.
At first, everyone was hesitant but Jonathan vouched for him, stating that his Aura was enough proof that he had the strength they were looking for. Mark knew the guy was strong but he had not expected him to volunteer.
When they were ready to go and were saying their farewell, Daphne broke from Mark’s embrace and gave him a look that said.
‘Don't die’
Mark nodded and after a peck on the forehead, took off into the sky with Gibby beside him. Sam followed, bringing Jonathan with her. They left from the roof with minimal fanfare. Better to not publicly announce they were leaving, lest factions take advantage of their absences. Traveling back towards Builders Quarry was much faster by air, but Mark took the time to take a look at his gains over the last couple of days.
Name: Mark Young (22 - M)
Level: 43
Next level: 1505/1936
Stats:
Resistance
Aura
Mana
Prana
1208 [1090]
0 [+25]
216 [+15]
601 (+20, +23)[+155]
Unspent stat points - 0
Corruption value: 0.03% [+0%] - 0.03%
System Points: 6216.0
Skills: Meditation, Limit release(Physical), Limit release(Mental), Joint casting.
Spells: Passive Regeneration(Self)[9], Force bolt[16], Prana Pulse[7], Regenerate[8], Draw Corruption[6], Corruption recovery[11], Sculpt Mana(Force)[8], Invigorate[9], Cleansing surge[7], Read Memory[2], Mind Spike[4], Earth Control[8], Light Control[6], Bestowal[6], Telekinesis[7], Benediction[2], Nature control[3], Telepathic link[4].
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Overall, Mark's level hadn’t moved since he had gotten to the city, but his attributes were climbing at a steady pace. The combined [Mediation] technique made up for their lack of kills. Mark had already put it online for everyone.
At the same time, he had checked to see how his post on [Corruption recovery] was doing. So far only a handful of people had commented in, saying that had any success with it, but those that did, encouraged others to keep learning the spell.
This [Meditation] technique was also pretty advanced, but Mark knew it was easier in the long run. The hardest part would be finding allies one trusted, to practice it with. Though, even by oneself, it was a game changer.
Soon enough the honeycomb structure of the Quarry came back into view. They had only been gone for the night, but already it looked different. Fighters must work around the clock to keep the place under control and in a constant state of change.
As they landed at the meet-up point, Mark saw several teams all gathering in the Area. Aura and Mana from multiple people flowed through the space. Glancing about, Mark realized that they were not the only team she had invited here. He could see badges and symbols from multiple different factions. The numbers had been kept small, with all teams having at most six or fewer members, But that meant that every person here was powerful enough that NAS approved of them.
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Finding Lisa was not hard, even Mark could feel her Aura rising up from the center, her strength, a billowing cloud of heat. The people around her, and her team, gave them a wide berth.
As they approached the Aura’s around them pressed down on Mark, he could feel it coming from all directions, weighing on his construct. It was completely manageable, but Mark could feel the closer they got to the center the harsher the Aura felt and… questioning. Lisa looked around and spoke to the crowd.
“Alright people. I won’t waste your time, you all know why you are here. This is an exploration mission only, we’ve never gone this deep before so if things get too dangerous, there is no shame in turning back. We will be splitting into four groups and heading in from different locations. Operate how you see fit but remember our pillars will take the lead on this, do not cause unnecessary problems while down there.”
Mark watched people from NAS going through the crowd and splitting people up into the four aforementioned groups, but they never got close before Lisa made her way over to them.
“You… four are with me, along with ‘Tyler’s tigers’ and ‘Reflections’.”
Lisa's eyes lingered on Gibby and his shimmering armor for a second before glancing over at the two other teams nearby.
Mark saw whom she was referring to and realized he recognized not just one, but both of the groups. The leader of Tyler’s Tigers was a man Mark had seen at the Guild’s function — the one who had almost pasted Rupert against his booth, before getting dragged away. When he saw them a look of confusion crossed his face for a moment but passed quickly to casual expression.
The other group was someone they had fought with before, well… beside. The mirror caster from the arena was here, flanked by a woman and two men. Now that Mark was closer he could see she wore bracelets made of glass beads, that refracted the noon sun. She was watching Gibby with interest, or more likely, his gleaming armor, which outshone even her own men’s coverings.
Seeing her reminded Mark of Bonnie and Terry, and as if summoned by thought alone. He caught sight of their heavy metal shirts before he heard them.
“Yo, Mark! Where’s your girl at, we could use her strength, plus she still owes me a guitar”
Terry slid up next to them and with a casual gesture placed his arm around Mark’s shoulder. Bonnie was right behind him rolling her eyes. The seriousness of the situation was unable to pierce their relaxed air.
Mark’s brow rose.
“Nah, she’s the big guns, had to leave someone behind to rescue us if we fuck up. And I thought we agreed your guitar was a casualty of war.”
Terry snorted and distanced himself.
“Mah, semantics. But honestly, I’m glad you could make it, I’m looking forward to this.”
Mark looked around to see if he could spot Henry and found him nearby in one of the other teams. He turned to see who was with Lisa other than Terry and Bonnie, and only noticed Wesley by her side, polishing his shield.
Nathan was leading one of the other teams. It was then Mark noticed, that with their group, it made five teams. Theirs was smaller than the rest, only about a third of the other parties, with fifteen members. Four larger parties and one led by Lisa, what was their game here?
Mark was interested in what they were thinking, but he let them work to organize people. As time moved on, each team spit off into one of the nearby sections.
Lisa came to stand next to him while the events unfolded around them. She was watching him out of the corner of her eye.
“We’ll be taking the most dangerous route. I hope you’re ready. With your role, I expect you to be impartial. The cat is out of the bag to everyone that matters.”
Mark nodded, he kind of expected that was the case when Oscar had shown them that video.
“You surprised me by bringing Mr. Gob here, I tried to get him to join a while ago but he shut me down. That man only moves for his interests. I heard he went private a short while ago, I didn't guess that was you guys, but I should have.”
The jealousy in her voice quickly faded back to amusement. Mark shrugged his shoulders.
“As much as I hate to admit it, he’s as good as they say. Now all I have to do is see him fight.”
She smirked.
“You brought him and you don’t even know how powerful he is?”
Once more Mark shrugged.
“Jonathan vouched for his strength, and honestly, my role is to keep you all alive. Which I will do to the best of my ability, regardless of your warning.”
Lisa watched the last group leaving the area with Nathan.
“Works for me. I look forward to seeing what you can do Mark.”
Mark nodded as she moved over to Jonathan and started speaking in hushed tones. Gibby pulled out a large greatsword and checked it. Mark wasn’t worried about the guy's strength but now he was curious. If Lisa knew the guy, then he had to be strong. Mark needed time to get a handle on his fighting style, so he could take it into account in the coming fights. He cursed the fact he had not had time to take a crash course on summoning. Though he could proudly say his modifiers were coming along nicely. It was almost half usable in combat situations, even if he only had a couple of them down by now.
Lisa must have finished doing her rounds because her voice gathered them all up.
“All right everyone let's get going, our destination is a little ways into the underground, so be warned, we could be attacked before we even get to the dungeon entrance.”
Lisa led the group toward a specific wall. Currently, although traveling as a team, they remained separated into their individual groups. Lisa made no attempt to bring them together or make introductions as they arrived at an opening in the stonework. A caster had made a threshold for them to cross into the next section of the honeycomb.
Passing through, Mark noticed this area was completely raised. It looked like it had been bombarded by spells and explosions many a time. Rubble and crumbling buildings were all that remained. Mark went on high alert once more, his eyes actively roaming the space for threats. Corruption in this area was only a little higher in this area, but Mark spotted movement amongst debris.
Lisa and her team kept moving forward, so they all followed.
Familiar screeches bounced off the surrounding bricks and concrete. Appearing from all around them were humanoid Corrupted dashing across the space. Their numbers were few, so with a team, this powerful, they removed the threat before any of them even got within thirty meters of their frontline.
Blades of wind and controlled vibrations tore half of them apart, while a small disk of reflections decaptiated the rest.
They moved steadily toward the area's center, and Mark's gaze caught a striking sight—a sizable, jagged crack snaking through the sidewalk. This rupture had torn through layers of tar and rock, jutting out like a ridge, disrupting the otherwise smooth road. Its presence seemed almost ominous, with a faint scent of freshly exposed earth and rot. Corruption leaked from the scar in the earth like blood.
The opening was large enough that two people could enter shoulder to shoulder. Lisa was the first to enter and when it was their turn Mark flickered [Light control] into existence. The hole in the floor turned to a gradual slope, that descended down into the underground.
When they arrived at the bottom Mark heard more movement around him. [Force bolts] flickered to life and shot outward into the space along with Sam’s fire magic.
The two of them cleared the space, lighting it up and revealing an open tunnel. Traveling a ways down it, saw minor resistance but the Corruption levels continued to climb.
By the time the entrance came into sight, Mark could feel enough of the fetid energy escaping to put it on par with an orange zone.
The tunnel itself narrowed to a small offshoot that was bordered by an archway. This design stemmed from Gothic architecture and descended into a neat set of stairs that led deeper into the inky depths.