Mason was tossing a small object through the air with one hand while the others rested around a conjured flame. Despite Alabast being specialized in mental magic, no mage didn't at least pick up one spell from the various elemental schools. Almost free clean water, instant fire, the ability to slice stone like a fruit, purifying the air, and creating a cutting edge from metal were worth the extra time. So knowing the basic spells was more than worth it.
Alabast had also gotten some dry wood from somewhere. He talked about the place he got it in vague terms, but Mason was pretty sure he just pulled it from his inventory. Mason had a stack of 172 wood in one of his slots as well, something he'd gotten from his parents. While his inventory was only level nine, it was still nice to know he had enough fuel to burn if he needed it.
What he hadn't expected was that Noble Looting had dropped the sphere he was tossing through the air. The rest were looking at it with either confusion or excitement, though most of that excitement was Alabast. The mage had asked more than a dozen times to have it, even offered Mason some good money for it. Fifty ruby-rank coins for a tin-rank object was insane, especially since this thing was just a core. He analyzed it again with Eye of Nobility.
[Slime Core - Unique Core, Tin-Rank, Material]
[The core of a Blue Slime, created through condensing the entirety of the slime's being into a single core. This is a good material for alchemy, and cultivating with it would eventually allow you to procure the Basic Conception: Blue]
[Additional information currently not possessed by [], please conduct tests on this or similar items to discover more information]
After Mason had analyzed the core the first time and explained its result, Alabast couldn't take his eyes off it. He had tried to explain why he wanted it, but Mason didn't really understand what was so important about adding new information to the system. After all, that was for those without his status to attempt, not him.
It was his first time encountering an object that the system asked him to identify more about, but he really didn't care that much. After all, he wasn't a wizard or scholar. He was here for field experience, though this core would look nice as a mantle piece in his dad's study.
The core was solid like all others, and a beautiful shade of navy blue. Beneath its surface, shapes seemed to shift and move. That, and its unique status…
Mason had seen unique items before, but only a couple of times. Usually, they were legendary items made before the Dark Age, or items that interfaced closely with the system. He'd seen an item with that property only once, when a weird black sphere had projected his status when he'd turned ten. Unique was otherwise mostly a mystery, so the rating of the item would probably do a lot for the prestige of his family. It was the only reason he didn't give it away, even at such a price.
Izia and Zinni were still distant from the rest of the team. Sitting in their own corner, polishing weapons or playing with local plants. He knew the sisters were druids, but they seemed awfully fascinated by plants. Not that he would stare too much. Even if their weapons were impressive, it was clear they held little noble blood, maybe none. At least Alabast, Leo, and Maria were from the civil lands and strong enough to keep him safe.
Just as he was about to turn down Alabast again, everyone in the clearing stopped moving. It was sudden and immediate, but they all felt it. A powerful aura had descended over their little camp. Mason was only low zinc-rank and almost fainted immediately. The rest didn't hold up much better, except for the twins, who looked up warily as someone approached.
Her clothes were untouched by the wilderness, which seemed to move out of her way as she walked. She was attractive in only the way a high ranker can be. Mason instinctively activated Eye of Nobility.
[Analysis Blocked]
Mason felt a shiver of fear go down his back. Either she was so high rank that he couldn't get anything from her, even with the powers of his lineage, or she had some other way to block his ability. He thought it was likely she had both. The black cloth covering her was a clear sign that she was a nun of the church. Even if it wasn't a power granted by the lone divinity, she still likely had some power to block analysis.
She looked over the clearing, taking in the six of them. Her eyes narrowed at Alabast for only a moment, then widened once they landed on the twins.
"Heroes…" the word slipped apparently unbidden from her mouth, making the others in the clearing break from the trance caused by the gorgeous nun to stare at the twins, who were still staring at her with far more disguised anger than Mason expected. Who could hate a nun of the church?
But he couldn't focus for long as she quickly sat in the empty air, refusing to touch the filthy ground they sat on. Her gaze returned to flatly watching them, her earlier surprise forgotten. She watched them like a hawk before she began to speak.
"You six witnessed divine wrath. Your aura traces are still present at the scene. Why haven't you reported it?"
Leo had started sitting up straight when the nun's aura appeared, but he still seemed relatively calm. His voice trembled a little as he spoke for them. As party leader, it was technically his job, and for once, Mason was not envious of the older man.
"We continued on our own mission. We planned to report it once we returned to the outpost beyond the barrier." Leo replied, his voice a little louder than usual.
She raised an eyebrow as she spoke, "And what mission is this?"
"Capturing escaped experiments from the recent attack of a gold-rank monster."
"Gold-rank? If the monster was gold-rank, why aren't there gold-ranking members of the church in the forest?" The question clearly wasn't aimed at them, but they still felt their spines shiver. Mason actually did respond, since he knew a little bit of the situation out here on the frontier.
"The Nightshade Region, covered by this barrier, is presided over by a supposedly diamond-rank lich. The thing and Papa made an accord to let adventurers into the forest, but said anything above emerald-rank couldn't enter." His voice slowly grew quieter as the nun's attention focused solely on him.
She nodded before asking, "How do you know that?"
The rest of the team was also looking at him with curiosity and a little bit of resentment from the twins. He really didn't get where they got that attitude towards a noble.
"M- my father told me. The holes in the barrier that let us in also allow communication devices to work. He heard it when the official announcement went out in the capital that the frontier was expanding into Nightshade."
The nun nodded before asking, "And who is your father?"
"L- Lord Crimbrew, m- miss."
"The Crimbrews? Not a house I know well, but I'll report what you told me. If it's true, then I'll ensure your house is rewarded for your actions."
After saying that, she turned back to Leo.
"Now, what happened with the divine wrath? Did you see the target?"
Leo nodded before pulling a small device from his inventory. A black sphere, about a quarter the size of the one Mason had used when he was young. Leo stared at it for a moment before a blue system window appeared before the nun.
[AZ-087, Azotreh Nightshade]
Below the name was an image of a boy with multiple spinning pupils and multicolored hair. She raised an eyebrow.
"A boy that young calling divine wrath is very rare. Do you know what caused it?"
"No, your holiness."
She nodded silently before standing. Her feet still didn't touch the ground.
"The six of you have done a great service to the crown and to the lord above. I will see to it that you are rewarded accordingly. Now, continue on your journey; there is no need for you to report the wrath when you return. I will report in your stead."
The six bowed to her as she stalked back into the trees and let out a collective sigh of relief once her aura finally vanished. The rest of the team turned to the twins. While Alabast seemed simply curious, Leo, Maria, and Mason were all clearly angry.
"How dare you disrespect a voice of the church like that!" Mason shouted.
The two didn't respond, but the ground started to glow around them. Before any of them could stop it, the two were encompassed by thick roots and vanished from view. Alabast snorted, and they all turned to him, rage still simmering behind their eyes.
When he noticed, he looked at them and spoke, "Isn't it obvious? The church somehow wronged them. It's not like they're alone in that story. The church has hurt plenty of people, which is why I'm not a member."
"They unite our world, and purge that which does not deserve to exist!" Maria almost screamed at Alabast, who just shrugged.
"You lot from the civil lands are always sticklers for the church. Maybe try to actually look around with your eyes instead of your faith."
Maria leapt up and began to swing a fist at Alabast, only to find her arm held back by Leo. The powerful man stared daggers at Alabast as he told his wife, "We can't kill him. He's essential to this team, and we're in an active combat zone. Do as you please outside the forest, but for now, his life is a necessity."
She pulled herself free, but calmed down as she understood his words. While Alabast was a filthy nonbeliever, it was still better to keep him alive. If Mason died, it would be all on her hands. If they all died, there'd be little redemption for their souls for letting a noble-born die. Even if they gave their lives protecting the boy, if he died, they'd still face punishment in the world after.
None of them had noticed the small snake watching them closely. Mason had found the little thing and tamed it. The system had even told him so, but it was not obedient like most tamed beasts. It had will, and therefore, it had its own ability to act.
It carefully dropped out of the pet space Mason had been keeping it, the vine cat, and about a dozen slimes in. There were two dozen more in the bags at his waist. She bit the belt holding one of the bags, and it fell free. The team leapt into action the moment a dozen slimes appeared right beside Mason, giving it the opportunity to escape.
Due to its ancestry, it had a near-immunity to acid, so the single slime that attacked her didn't even manage to burn her scales. She called out psychically to her progenitor before vanishing.
Mason was looting the corpses when a surprise system message appeared, and not a good surprise.
[Your pet: Spawn of the Hydra has been slain.]
Spawn of the Hydra? When he tamed it, the system had called it a Nightshade Viper. Since when was he able to tame something like a hydra's spawn, even if it was at his own rank?
He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he reported the strange message to Leo. Something was wrong, and he didn't know how to fix it.
The little snake slipped into a puddle of burning acid she had created from her own spit and re-emerged in the massive den of her ancestor. Strangely, the ancestor wasn't alone. Four humanoids stood in the cave with the matriarch. But she didn't give them much consideration. If they weren't fighting, then the matriarch trusted these humanoids.
The little snake spoke in hisses and slow movements, the language one of her kin had developed to allow them all to communicate. She responded in kind with one head, while another focused on the four in the room. The vampire, orc, rabbitman, and now a snowman. She wasn't sure how it managed to stick together in the humid temperature of her home, but that wasn't concerning right now.
"My kin here witnessed something new of importance. Call the lich; he needs to hear this."
The snowman rolled its coals around in its head but still opened its mouth filled with icicle-like teeth. It spoke like the frost of winter into the open air for a moment before the lich suddenly teleported into the room. The others looked at the lich, surprised, since the lich had set up anti-teleport wards all over her lair in the early days. She knew he had left himself a backdoor, one he used sometimes when something was important.
He nodded for her to speak.
"This serpent was a tactical child, given stealth capabilities from an early age. It used this to gather some information on the intruders. A team of six. Two of whom resemble the candidate, which is why I sent her to spy in the first place."
The lich rolled his eyes, "Yes, I'm aware there are intruders in Nightshade. I opened the border, after all."
The hydra shook her head and spoke, "The intruders aren't the point. A nun of Purity has appeared in Nightshade, looking for the tribulation's cause. She won't go after the candidate since she thinks they died, but that's not important.
What does matter is what the tamer child said. He got information from his father, apparently one of the frontier lords of the continent, about a grand announcement of the deal with the church. But they didn't phrase it as a deal; they phrased it as the frontier pushing forward. Into Nightshade."
The lich sighed as the Lord Rabbit spoke, "You can't be serious. First, Mudwood's surface is colonized, and now this? Do they want to take the entire continent?"
The lich chuckled before he responded, "No, they want the western edge. Mudwood is to the southwest, and Nightshade is north of that. They want to do something big. Either way, I'm not letting them have it. I won't let Lily's legacy be taken like Ozi and Elyn's."
"But can we stop them? Even with your help-" the Lord Rabbit spoke, but the lich cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"This violates the terms of our deal. The deal I made with the church is none above emerald can enter the forest. I also told them that their only purpose is the slimes, not colonization. Since they want to colonize anyway, I think it's time I reactivate defenses. Both over the labyrinth and over Nightshade."
"But the invaders-"
"Are all emerald-rank at the highest. I know that boy Asergia is strong, and the other two clan heads aren't far behind. Even if they gather for some grand advancement, you all just need to finally step in and deal with a problem yourselves. The one stuck in this cave for the last millennium has been more active than any of you."
The lich communicated a glare despite not having eyelids before turning on his heel and vanishing into a puff of mycelium, seemingly growing from thin air. It wrapped around the hole in space behind him and vanished. The remaining five all glanced at each other before the hydra spoke with a sigh.
"I'll get my kin to defend the swamp from any who wears the colors of Purity. I expect the rest of you to defend somewhere else from the priests if they try to reach the waystones."
Mason tried to pull his communication device from his inventory, only to get a cold nothing from it when he tried to use it.