The armored fish had a very faint mana which the hatchling devil absorbed. It was almost unnoticeable in fact, but perhaps due to his natural talent, he was becoming more proficient in his technique.
Some days without any human intrusion would pass like this.
The hatchling would wake up in the morning, hunt, eat, and grind against the fishbones with his mana.
Of course, his mana was unbearably weak and it was more like a chiseling than anything else. Still, using this slow, meticulous method he formed the fish spines into darts which were astonishingly hard to break due to the nature of the armored fishes.
And despite being quite new to existence, he understood that he would get swallowed up by the big water monsters or whatever else may rest within these caves if he did not grow stronger–fast.
—
"Everyone get ready. We're leaving in fifteen" called the team leader to which the remaining members of the expedition team nodded in unison, hurriedly packing their gear.
It had been a week since their last trip down the collapsed mine.
After being stopped in their tracks by the bottomless pool, they returned back to Gull to do a quick resupply and acquire some water protection artifacts. It had not been easy, but not hard either as Gull was a coastal city.
But despite this, any artifact that was compressed and allowed for supernatural powers beyond the person's attunement were rare and cost a decent fortune–one that this expedition party had barely scraped together after traveling all the way to this distant barony.
Plenty was on the line for them.
*********
One month ago.
"Hey, Daryl, I got something you might wanna hear" said a man with an eye-patch.
"What is it this time, Vargen?" Replied Daryl, the leader of a motley band of adventures, in a slight annoyance. It wasn't the first time he had some bad run-ins with this one-eyed fellow.
"Hey! I promise it's real this time."
"Spill it then, I'm busy."
"Apparently, two years ago there was a cave-in at some mineshaft in the Gull Barony. Right before the collapse, a rumor had spread about the sightings of an incarnadine mineral rich in mana.
The Baron had cared very little for these alleged rumors, so it is believed to be resting deep within the collapsed cave."
"And how can I trust you not to waste my time?"
"Here" Vargen handed Daryl a gilded compass with blue runes on it. "It's a high rank mana sensor that should be able to pinpoint the location of the treasure–its worth a fortune and I'm trusting it to you"
Daryl snatched the compass from Vargen's hand with abruptness.
"So, what's the catch?"
"... I want 50% of the profits after you sell it."
"Twenty. You'll get twenty."
'Come on, old friend, can't you do 40? This information was real hard to find, you know?"
"30."
"35?"
"..." Daryl stood stalwart.
"Fine, 30." Vargen stated in resignation.
"Well then, old friend, its been good doing business."
The journey had been long and Daryl's band of misfit adventurers that held little fame or fortune had coughed up basically all their funds for this trip.
This was going to be their big break. If they could really get a hold of a high-rank natural treasure, they'd be able to sell it for thousands of gold.
With that kind of money they could finally move up the ranks and live in prosperity.
With that money I could finally propose to Syme.
Syme was the blonde girl, the main melee fighter of the team that wielded an extended estoc that stretched about 38 inches.
This band of six had all been orphans of the same orphanage–their small village wiped out by a midnight monster attack that saw the deaths of all their parents.
They were young enough that their mana signatures did not attract monsters, and they hid within the church cellar.
Eventually, a passing squad of adventurers eliminated the monster, though it was too late to save the rest of the village.
Due to this, these six grew up with an iron bond and all dreamt the same dream: becoming great adventurers so that they would never lose another loved one.
But the real world was not so kind. After taking on odd jobs and poor paying missions, they discovered that not only was ranking up as an adventurer extremely arduous, but they themselves had very little talent with Daryl and Syme being the most talented of this talentless bunch.
After years, they only had one tier-2 warrior, and their dreams of grand adventure and dragonslaying began to dim; their pursuits shifted more towards a prosperous retirement.
Daryl and Syme, being childhood friends at their village and orphanage, always enjoyed each other's company. This was further bolstered by their adventures and frontlining–watching each other's backs and working together to keep the monster off the rest of the party.
It was inevitable they would fall for each other.
Daryl always loved her, and she loved him back, just that they were poor; and being poor, he had never worked up the courage to propose and start a family; leave this adventuring life as just a vestige.
But if I get that treasure…
Dreams of his future with Syme, their house and children flowed through his mental as a smile slowly crept up his cheek.
I cannot fail.
***
"We've come too far to turn back now" Daryl said to his team members as they marched out of the inn.
Little did they know what awaited them deep down in those caves were not simply some tier 2 sea monsters, but something much, much more sinister.