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CHAPTER START---
At the southernmost point of Isgar is the city of Cawic. The capital of Midi and main port for trade with the Southern Isles. The city boasts the largest harbor on the continent, all at the base of a hill packed full of cobblestone streets and stone buildings, bustling with people under the morning sun.
At the top of this gentle but massive hill, which is all filled with buildings, is the castle plateau. Topped with the Midi Royal Castle, a gargantuan structure that dwarfs Castle Mercurius. Taking advantage of the relatively flat and open plains behind the castle, they were able to build much larger, with the highest tower acting as a lighthouse for ships on the horizon.
Within the walls of the city is a massive train yard near the port, the ships offload their cargo, which is sent by rail throughout Ishgar. Many of these items are delivered here from the Southern Isles and sent to other harbors, taking advantage of the faster train speed.
Among the blue roof tiles of the castle, toward the upper section, is a vast dining hall that overlooks the city and ocean. And on the large balcony, sitting alone at a table with a few refreshments laid out is Oberon Alkwan.
Wearing his usual black pants, white t-shirt, and his S-Class Coat, he studies the strange object in his hand while writing anything he learns in his journal.
"What a strange little thing," Oberon mutters while observing the small cube of dull chrome metal hovering above his palm. He touches the metal and tries to flow Magic Energy into it, but it's entirely unresponsive.
"Electrium isn't conductive in that state."
Oberon turns to see a well-dressed older man approaching, followed closely by a lovely young lady in business attire holding a few documents in her hands.
The woman stands behind her boss as the man sits opposite Oberon. "But it is still toxic, do be careful."
"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind," Oberon continues to play with the raw metal. "So, how much longer do I have to wait?"
"The royal family won't return until tomorrow. They've instructed me to brief you on the situation and allow you to begin immediately."
"Finally," Oberon Requips the precious metal away and gives the man his full focus. "What am I dealing with?"
"Twelve years ago our main Electrium Mine began releasing a orange gas of some kind. A Magic we couldn't identify. Any living thing that touches it is petrified."
"So it turns people to stone. Can it be undone?"
"No. And the gas is invisible until it begins taking effect, leaving us no choice but to wall off and quarantine the area. Midi was by far the largest Electrium producing in the world. Now people making Magic Items suffer higher prices, and our economy has lost the majority of its power."
"So I've heard," Oberon looks out to the city that appears to be flourishing, unbothered by this situation. "But I couldn't even tell anything was wrong."
"Because this kind of event would cause a violent revolution. The king has been emptying the coffers to import and subsidise everything, buying time for a Guild Wizard to handle it, but nobody has. And the Magic Council is also helpless in dealing with this matter."
"And the Job Request remained active for ten years, so now it's a Decade Quest."
"We were recently in talks with a few others. Some of the clients you completely Decade Quests for last year, and they recommended you. That's why we tripled the reward and extended the Job to Fairy Tail."
"Well that much money definitely got my attention. And I was the right choice. Lots of Decade Quests are incomplete because they extend beyond 'kill monster' like the usual S-Class Quest. They're higher level so some of them just have a strong monster, sure. But most of them are more like this, requiring the right person to solve a unique problem."
"Are you that person, for us?"
"I've dealt with a few similar Magic Barrier situations before, I'm confident I'll solve this one too. But I do have one question. Why not go through the Magic Council?"
The minister scoffs. "The Magic Council would issue you this task as a Mission, meaning we wouldn't have to pay. But they'd hang that over our heads forever. We'd much rather simple cut out the selfish middle man and deal with you directly, without any moral obligations."
"Just business, got it. Is there anything else you can tell me about this situation."
"I'm sorry but this is everything we know," the man makes a hand gesture, and his secretary hands Oberon some of the documents. "A map is included, naturally. We don't know how useful it'll be since no one has been inside for over a decade."
"Thank you," Oberon carefully studies the man while speaking. "Virgo and Aries are in town shopping, they'll stay at the castle with you. I have a telepathic link with them, so I can keep you updated in real time. If they both disappear, wait two days, then contact Fairy Tail, they'll know what to do."
"Your Celestial Spirits shall be our honored guests while you work." The man is handed the final document by his secretary, and clears his throat to gain Oberon's attention. "There is, however, one more matter to be discussed."
Oberon raises a brow at this. "Which is?"
"In regards to your pay. Well, we know you always choose to go through the banks, but the crown is in a…delicate, situation with a few major banks."
Oberon rolls his eyes. "He wants to pay in cash so they don't know he could have been paying back loans by now."
The minister laughs nervously. "More like metal and gems. But we will increase the pay by another 20% for the inconvenience, and discretion."
He hands Oberon the detailed list of his payments, and Oberon reads the page multiple times before groaning. "This is why I prefer banks. How am I supposed to more three train cars of stuff?"
"We are fully willing to transport your payment to Magnolia or anywhere you'd like by rail. And we'll cover anything else needed to get it wherever you desire."
"Securing that would upset my plans. I'm going to Minstrel after this. I'll have to send Virgo and Aries with it."
"I see. If you have any other concerns please feel free to speak up."
"Alright, enough about the reward, first I have to complete the Job. Now, I have a few more Decade Quests waiting for me, show me where this mine is…"
One hour of following the rarely used cargo railway out of the city, Oberon is standing on the tree trunk of a fresh and large tree he tore from the ground, high above a massive hole he couldn't see the other side of.
Below him, hidden within a vast lush forest, is the main Electrium mine, a hole too deep to see the bottom of, and too wide to see the other side of. All around the sides are elevators and railways for mine carts, but at a glance he knew better than to attempt imagining the blood and sweat it costs to run this operation every day.
"My back hurts just watching this," he mutters, remembering the iron mine of his move village in the mountains.
He descends to the edge of the mine, which is surrounded by a 20m -60ft- high stone wall with men stationed along guideposts built into it.
On both sides of the wall is lush green grass, and he can see some men using Water Magic to maintain the grass on the inside of the wall. But on the inside where the mine is, the grass becomes petrified after only a few meters from the wall, creating a clear danger zone.
Oberon draws the attention of the nearby guards, some of whom take pictures of the boy as he's standing on the toppled tree in mid-air. With a gentle push, he sends the tree hurtling down to the stony grass, and as it falls to the ground, just inches above the ground, the air around it becomes a deep orange and seemingly clings to it.
The tree then quickly becomes dull ashy stone as it rolls to a stop. He raises a finger and fires a Light Shot at the tree, instantly shattering it to reveal the process was thorough. Oberon frowns and looks back at the forest on the safe side of the wall, ripping another large tree from the earth and slowly lowering it into the danger area.
He barely touches a few roots in the area before the surrounding air becomes orange and clings to it, immediately beginning the petrification process. He then raises the tree to a safe area, but the process continues until the tree is completely turned to stone.
'Not a area of effect Magic. Works more like parasites, but, doesn't spread out.' He looks across the massive hole in the earth. 'But that's a lot of gas. And it doesn't reveal itself until something alive touches it…defensive mechanism to mark territory?'
He drops the tree, allowing it to shatter as he lands atop the wall beside a few guards. He stands on the edge and sighs. "I really hope I'm wrong about this," he mutters before leaping down into the danger zone.
The air around him doesn't change colors, completely oblivious to him thanks to Cosmic Armor. He waits a few moments and then leaps into the massive hole, descending many miles in a freefall, aiming for the deepest part of the mine.
On the way down, he sees thousands of petrified people, mostly workers and guards from the day of the incident. But he notices quite a few Mages wearing clothing and armor from different cultures.
'They likely tried to use Airspace Magic to make a self contained zone, but this petrification effect gets stronger the closer you get to the source, filtering it constantly would exhaust most Mages.'
He slows his fall as the mine gets darker, the light from above barely reaching down as he descends deeper through the vertical lift shaft.
Eventually, he creates a few Light Spheres above him just as he reaches the deepest mineshaft. Looking at his hands, focusing on his Cosmic Armor, he senses the petrification effect many times stronger than it was at the surface.
He slowly floats through the mineshaft that descends even deeper into the ground, following the direction in which the effect grows stronger.
While proceeding deeper into the mine, Oberon sees angular pieces of metal protruding from the wall. Some the size of a fingernail, others larger than himself. Precious Electrium that would go on the make Magic Items the world over.
He relaxes and takes a few pictures, as always enjoying his adventures across the vast magical world.
'I wonder how many Wizards could complete this Job. Probably just Master Makarov and the other Wizard Saints huh… My next Decade Quest is to break into a vault that's sealed with Runes, I bet that one will be even eas—'
His thoughts are cut off as the sound of snoring reaches his ears. Oberon slows his pace and dims the lights, floating past the shattered remains of petrified people as he turns into a smaller section of the mine.
There he sees a part of the wall collapsed, and the head of a serpent roughly half his size poking out of the wall. Peacefully in hibernation and oblivious to his presence.
'Basilisk,' he thinks while using Requip Magic to summon a Magic Ring into his palm, holding it carefully between his fingers.
'The mine interrupted the hibernation of this baby. Woke you up a few decades too early. Normally they release that petrifying gas after collapsing a cavern around themselves to sleep, but this time people let it out. Still, this is so strong, no wonder these things are quarantine to their own island.'
Oberon slowly floats toward it, and as he inches closer his scent reaches the sleeping creature, causing it to slowly stir awake. But before it could make sense of what was going on, he flows Magic Energy into the ring, releasing a cloud of purple Sleep Magic into its face, instantly knocking it out.
He then stores it in one of his Capture Cards, where it can sleep peacefully until he relocates it.
"Glad I didn't have to kill you. But if you were any bigger it may have come to that," He does a quick search of the area, not finding any more sleeping creatures, then leaves the mine.
---Back at the castle…
Sitting on a luxurious couch, both Virgo and Aries enjoy their tea while the minister is pacing back and forth in front of them.
"Sir Oberon never fails this kind of thing, all will be well," Aries says.
The man stops for a moment, then continues pacing. "If he fails our economy will collapse within the year, I can't stop considering the worst case scena—"
"Basilisk," Virgo and Aries say simultaneously.
"What?" the man gives them his full attention.
"Sir Oberon has found and captured the baby Basilisk that was causing the petrification. The mine is now free of the effect, and he's already on his way back."
"Seriously? He's only been gone a few hours."
"This type of Job is his specialty," Virgo says. "However, searching the mine, or more accurately, searching the earth around the mine for any more hibernating Basilisks is not something he's suited for. He recommends contacting Jura Neekis for this task before you resume mining operations."
"Is this a real recommendation, or simply him helping his friend get easy work?"
"Both, but you are free to resume operations without contacting Sir Jura. But if there is another of these creatures, more will die, and Sir Oberon will require the original price again."
The man frowns. "Alright, I'll contact Lamia Scale."
"Wonderful. Now, about our payment. Sir Oberon will be moving quickly to relocate the creature, so that will be handled by the two of us…"
CHAPTER END---
Discord: discord .gg /eHuxNeZfyS [Come chat with me]
pat.reon: Keanu_Eugene [Read ahead & support me]
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