Crossing into the portal activated by an associate of Green, Jules found himself randomly teleported. His destination was a village hidden beneath the City.
Entry to this place was strictly controlled and even its existence was further hidden because of the black markets in the City itself.
Jules had decided to directly enter here, even wearing a quality outfit, to stamp his identity as Veil.
Before he could look around though, he was attracted by the system's notification.
- - -
Quest: Claim First out of Three ???
Objective: Enter a C-ranked beyond with less than 5 individuals and kill more than no less than, 20 E-rank and 10 D-Rank beasts respectively.
Rewards: First ???, +13% to Core Stage
- - -
13+? I'll be on the verge of breaking into the Yellow stage! Yes, this is why I dare act like this in this world, I have a cheat!
All of a sudden, the gains from this venture had spiked, making Jules glad. He had been wondering when else he'll get a quest.
But what's with the question mark? Is it that the system doesn't know what it is? He thought with amusement. If it's so, then that means it's extraordinary!
As Jules let the joy sink in, he noticed Ryan and Finn had crossed too.
Chuckling, he said, "Follow me."
Green had already given Jules a map he would use to navigate from their arrival point as part of their preparations and he had roughly crammed the path to their destination.
The shady underground village had earth roads lined with stores, most of which were closed.
The lighting of this structure was mainly from the multiple blue mana stones fixed to the 'ceiling,' but lights from the stores complimented it too.
Quite a bunch of people were present, dressed in various outfits and masks to conceal their identity.
Nobody interfered with each other's business as they were on their own way.
As Jules moved, he could vaguely sense stares but he couldn't pinpoint their direction. He kept his body straight and looked forward as he walked with his hands in his pocket.
Ryan and Finn, who were both curious, curtly looked around as they followed.
Soon, they reached a warehouse-like building that was relatively busy.
Walking in, Jules went to a free receptionist and flicked a dark-blue plate to the table.
The man with receding black hair and blue eyes, dressed in formal attire, looked up with annoyance.
Seeing the unwavering smirk of the mask, he looked at the plate then went through some papers.
He flicked the plate back up and said, "Floor 3-Door 2, 1 hour booked. You know the drill?"
With amusement, Jules said, "I do."
Without waiting further, the trio went through the stairs beside the receptionist counter and went to the third floor.
They made their way to their designated door.
Before opening it, Jules turned around and asked, "Are you ready?"
Unsheathing his sword, Ryan said, "Let's fucking go." He was also aching to test his new skill and the prowess of an Orange stage.
Face-covered with a hood, the shortest of the group nodded. Finn had made all the preparations based on the information he was given and his experience.
Jules faced the door and opened it.
A wave of mana poured out and hit them as they saw a large swirling mass of purple and black energy.
At one corner of the room, a man donning a black mask gave them a nod of affirmation as they entered.
This portal is even stronger than Green's. It connects a longer distance so that's to be expected.
Magic is cool. But spatial magic is even cooler!
Jules, who had gotten engrossed in magic recently, commented inwardly.
Putting his arm beneath his cloak, he pulled out his Katana out of his inventory as if unsheathing it.
Beside him, Ryan was envious; Jules was out-cooling him!
Finn was also surprised to see Veil do that. Even his parasitic orb wondered if Finn could do something similar with his inventory.
Activating his Crimson Sigil vaguely, Jules calmed himself before walking into the portal.
His senses warped for an unknown period of time, before regaining them.
He was now in some sort of entrance to an underground cavern.
Turning back, Jules saw a slash in space, revealing a purple darkness, as if cut by an entity.
The cavern around him was damp and uneven, with jagged rocks jutting out like broken fangs and shallow pools of water glistening under the eerie glow.
The air was cool and thick with moisture, and light came from some stones and within the waters, casting eerie shadows.
The cavern's labyrinthine tunnels offer perfect hiding spots, with echoing sounds that mask movement.
"We'll fight on our own till we encounter the Boss. We can handle E-D ranks of this kind on our own. Follow whatever path, it leads to the same end."
Jules said, receiving a positive answer from Ryan and Finn.
Finn would most likely wait for us to leave before he moved.
With that in mind, he specifically glanced at Ryan.
"Don't die."
"Don't die."
They both said at the same time, causing Jules's eyes to twitch while Ryan thought, 'I'm really rubbing off on him…'
Jules tsked, then darted towards one path of the five paths.
Ryan followed, and Finn stood patiently for a while.
"Get moving! We can't lose to them! We must reach the boss room first!" His orb scolded.
"I need to confirm they've gone far. They can come back to catch me unaware if I'm not careful."
"Tch. How boring! You're like an open book! Be more like that Veil guy!"
As Orb said, Finn ignored him before unsheathing his longsword, coating it with flames.
Going with instincts, he moved to one of the remaining three paths.
- - - - -
Jules darted forward through a cave that could fit seven people walking side by side, illuminated by glowing rocks.
He didn't enhance his body as he moved gradually.
At the moment, he was quite excited for reasons he couldn't even point out.
But if he was to ask for a specific reason, it was because he couldn't wait to try his main skill.
He had spent some time envisioning how he would use it, and now it was about to bore fruit.
After running for some minutes, he sensed some creatures ahead before seeing them.
They were bipedal creatures that had frog heads and webbed fingers, with slimy green bodies that had some parts covered with green scales.
They stood between five-feet-five to five-feet-ten.
As their bulged out eyeballs turned to face Jules, his mind went calm, eliminating thoughts that he believed could affect the battle.
These creatures were E-ranked, with a few being D-ranked, so they weren't hard to handle alone, but their numbers could be a problem.
Jules pulled out mana from his core, using certain mana circuits, he enhanced his body.
Beneath his outfit, his hidden tattoo glowed red. Blood burst from his shirt, circling his katana.
With a burst of strength, Jules fell in the middle of the beasts.
As he landed, the blood around him turned to small needles as they shot at the creatures.
Some needles sank deep into their flesh with a squelch, but others skidded harmlessly off the glistening slime.
Crouching, Jules's control over this blood was released as he said in an arcane language.
"Blood Bomb."
The red liquid on the beast's body gathered to a blob then popped with a low boom.