It didn't take long before the 5 of them arrived infront of the small puddle of mana in the cave room, since the mana liquids was glowing, Varnir could see his other party when they all circled the puddle.
"This proves it.. This cave is the dungeon, and it has been cleared by someone.." He said.
"And it also seems like your theory are also correct, i doubt a whole group of 20 or 30 adventurers would be stupid enough to ignore this mana liquids. That means—" Cailou responded as he observed the puddle, he looked fascinated and curious.
"Yeah, there's no way not a single person in that big of a party know about mana liquids, their minds are too greedy to ignore this kind of valuable stuff." Varnir said.
"So this dungeon was really cleared by one person?" Jose tried to join in to the conversation.
"Well, that's probably the case.. They must be either already way too strong to care about such thing or they accidentally missed it." Varnir replied with a serious face. "Anyone have a water jug or something? Maybe a potion?"
He looked at everyone around him, looking at their faces as they shook their head one by one. Then when it comes to Cailou, he nodded and said that he indeed have a potion within his posession.
"I do." Cailou said.
"Good, there's not much in this puddle anyway, looks like most of it have already been absorbed into the ground.. Drink one of your potion and give the vial to me." Varnir demanded, he stretched his hand out to Cailou as if waiting for him to give his vial.
"Sure." Cailou replied, he smiled before he took one of his potion from his pouch that was hidden beneath his robe.
Gulp!
Cailou drank the blue liquids inside the potion vial and gave the now empty glass to Varnir, which then he used to scoop out the mana liquids into the vial, it wasn't much, the liquids were mixed with the soil, so Varnir had no choice but to let some dirts inside the vial. Once the vial was full with the mana liquids while also having quite a bit of dirt that fell to the bottom, Varnir then closed the vial and gave it back to Cailou.
"Do you want to keep it?" He asked.
"Eh? I can keep it?" Cailou responded in confusion.
"Dont want it?" Varnir then tried to persuade him more, his hand still stretching towards Cailou while the others watched from the side.
"How much does that vial worth?..." Bragghen asked while his mouth was slightly open.
"Probably around 20 Golds, since it's not a full vial, if its a full potion of mana liquids, it can go for about 50 or more." Zahir replied calmly, he seems to know a little bit about prices of items.
"T- Twenty!?.." Bragghen jaws finally drop and he was shocked, though for its effect and risk, that price was somewhat reasonable. Unlike a normal health potion that only heals small wounds or bruises, it usually sells only for about 5 silvers per vial.
As everyone was focused on the vial of mana liquids, Varnir secretly stood up and walked behind his party, he then gently tapped Cailou's shoulder and called the others to go back, the mana puddle had become too small for them to scoop out anything, if they try to force it, they'll just get dirt in the end.
Varnir and his party spend approximately 1 hour just to get out of the cave, after many stumble, steep mounds, and occasional shake that seemingly indicates the cave's short lifespan, Varnir managed to reach the surface again when the sun was about to set in the horizon.
.
.
Step!
Step!
"We're way too deep.. Let's see.." Varnir said after he stepped out of the cave, followed by the others behind him, he then slowly turn his head to both sides and tried to guess the direction.
"Hmm.. The sun's there.. So that must be west, then that's Southeast." He said as he pointed his finger towards the skies. "Let's go to that direction."
"Okay, whatever you say, im already tired from walking, so let's just go back already.." Jose scoffed before taking a deep breath, looks like his stamina was almost at its limit.
The rest of the party agreed without many resistance, no one objected with Varnir's decision, so they soon began walking towards the supposed Southeast, where Beakwood awaits for their arrival.
As Varnir walked amidst the crooked trees, he eventually looked down and watched the countless fallen leaves that had landed be passed one by one, with some being stepped by his foots.
'Who could've cleared that dungeon?.. There hasn't been an A-Rank adventurer in Beakwood yet, except me.. Could it be an adventurer from other towns?' Varnir was deep in his thought.
'Ah- What am i thinking, whoever cleared that dungeon isn't really my concern, what i need to do right now is to improve Beakwood's stigma that had been embedded deep into its people's mind, when i get back, i'll have to put up a set of rules beside the quest board..'
Although the day was about to end, to Varnir, his day had just begun, he was determined to do everything in his power to change Beakwood, turning it for the better so that the people won't be stuck inside of a shallow mindset, it was true that nonhuman species had their fair share of crimes and atrocities that they did to humans, but so does humans towards themselves.
'In the past, long before the first emperor ruled, many nonhuman species were hunted and killed on sight, some of them even went extinct, the legend of lizardmen, harpies, frogmen, and many more.. They all once were thriving within their own secluded tribes, if it weren't for humans, they would've still be living in this world.. For the sins of my own species, i always thought that we're all unfair.' Varnir said to himself.
Time passed by as quick as the winds, and before he knew it, Varnir had already went back to his house in Beakwood, the two moons was glowing in yellow hue, while the night sky was filled with dark clouds and the shadow of bats and owls that camouflaged with the darkness, Varnir slept not long after, his body covered with his blanket while his eyebrows was slightly furrowed, it was obvious that he was still thinking about the future, and his plans for tomorrow.
.
.
Tomorrow, in one of Boonsap's inn, 6:00AM—
As the sun rises and crossed path with the purplish sky, its contrasting color gradually mixed together to create a light blue dye that illuminates the world with their earthly air and cold breeze, while trees danced, and birds flew from their nest, Syla woke up on a bed as she opened her eyes to the open window.
"Hrmrh?.." She grunted before raising her body to stretch. "Morning huh.."
After she was done with the brief viewing of the outside world, Syla shifted her attention to her right leg that was covered with a blanket. She pulled the blanket up and revealed her bare legs that looked smooth and shiny, she then tried to rotate her right leg to left and right, seeing its flexibility and testing if she still felt the sharp pain from a few days ago.
When Syla arrived in Boonsap after she was done with the orc dungeon, Syla had to stay for a few days so that she can heal her leg injury, there was no healer or potion that could help her like in Direwell, if she wanted to continue her journey, she would have to first able to walk properly.
Her time with Fedhr was short, he left Syla to go on his own after they stayed for the night, before Fedhr left, he told Syla–
"Let's meet again, when we get stronger." Right as he was about to leave the inn, that was the last time Syla saw Fedhr, now after a few more days, Syla was all alone on herself again, her epithets of being a lone wanderer has continued once again and now was her third day at Boonsap.
"...He said his next destination is Adhorn and the Graveyard Valley, i hope he will be fine." Syla murmured before getting up from her bed and grabbed all of her clothes to wear.
A few minutes later, Syla greeted the inn owner and ordered a steak, her face being hidden underneath her hood was such a convenience since no one dared to approach her or question her appearance, she can interact with everyone without making them feel uncomfortable at the fact that she was a demihuman.
The morning was still young, but Syla had already prepared herself for the next journey, she paid the inn owner with a gold coin and received the changes of multiple silvers and coppers.
Creak!
Syla opened the inn's door and left.
"Thanks for the food." She said at the old man that was behind the inn's counter.
While she was walking on the street of Boonsap, Syla suddenly checked her satchel out of nowhere, the abundant amount of coins that had was more than enough to live in a city, and with the thought of her next destination already formed inside her mind, Syla let out a smile as she looked forward and saw the village's entrance gate.
'The next one.. Is the city of Aerdawn!' She said to herself.