The Mysterious Black Magician

The Wanderer class bat was charred by Almina's Flame Wave.

Yman felt all the bone in his body was crushed by Almina when it crashed onto him. He had to use his healing ability multiple times.

Although Almina said her sorry to him and to Mercenary Ultima, he told her that she didn't have to, in the first place it was his plan.

Since the enemy was charred and most of its flesh and bones were wasted, they could only take the Inner Core and Magic Cryst from it. Well, it was the most valuable part of this monster.

Yman and the rest had lingering doubts about the place. The farther they advanced, the more they found out that this underground wasn't ordinary.

As they go deeper, space inside becomes wider and wider.

Not only that, but there were multiple alleyways also. They even noticed some kind of crystalline objects stuck on the walls and ceiling. It radiated the place with cobalt radiance.

"S-So pretty," Almina muttered while glancing at the glowing crystalline around them.

The three chose to turn off their Floating Map as the place was bright enough for them to distinguish. Only Yman that let his Floating Map stayed in the air as he had the area's data. He mapped this area when he came here last time; like them, he also was amazed the first time he saw those crystallines.

The only thing that puzzled him was the growth of Wanderer class monsters in this area. For these past days that he visited here, he only encountered mostly one Wanderer class. But now, they have encountered three already.

This appearance of multiple Wanderer class monsters was the most mysterious in this place, and it was dangerous if these monsters went to the surface.

Almina as well thought of how weird this place was. She also thought that maybe the reason why Yman came here every day was to check and guard the place, but she quickly disagreed with this thought of her. Because there was a high risk if he encountered those Wanderer monsters. Yman likely could not handle this type of monster alone.

Yet how come he was able to acquire two Magic Cryst? Maybe he bought it? After all, he had no mana and only depends on his channeling talent in order to use a spell. With this, he could only depend on using items that could boost his strength.

However, the problem is, does Yman have quite a sum of money to squander around? Although this item may boost one's capability, they only give a slight increase in their strength. Not exactly advisable to squander one's money for such an item.

While thinking about this, her eyes wandered to the person walking at her right side. She opened her mouth under the mask and asked, "Y-Yman, how did you able to get those Magic Crysts embedded in your equipment?" She finally was able to ask him.

He glanced at her and wondered why Almina suddenly was interested in it, then he darted his eyes to the glove and gauntlet on his right hand. "I was just lucky to kill some of them," he answered.

"A-Are you alone when you killed it?" Almina asked with a slight surprise.

Yman as well was surprised by why she was asking about it.

"Yeah, but it was when they were at their weakest," Yman replied.

"What do you mean by it?" Maena who was walking at the left side of Almina suddenly joined and asked him.

Yman glanced at the two girls who were staring at him, waiting curiously for his answer.

"I happened to be there when they were at their evolution phase," he told them. It was half a lie though.

"You witnessed them in such a state? H-How lucky!" Exclaimed by Mercenary Ultima who was walking at his right side.

Yman nodded.

"Haha, no wonder you've been able to acquire such super rare items," Mercenary Ultima said enviously. If someone like him who was a junior trainee couldn't defeat it alone, what's more someone like Rat Slayer who was weaker than him. But it was a different story if the monster was in the evolution phase. He felt a little envy at his luck.

"I-I see," Maena muttered. It was known that the monster which was undergoing an evolution phase was vulnerable since they could not move in this process.

"Next time, if you go into a mission don't be shy to ask me for a favor, okay," Almina told him.

Yman blinked his eyes and stared at her for a moment before he nodded. He smiled at the thought that Almina had a different concern for asking the question. He could see in her eyes that she wasn't concerned about how he looted the item specifically. More likely, she asked because she was concerned for his safety.

<Partner, this is as far as the map data can lead us.> Sistela's voice was suddenly heard by him.

Yman noticed that they reached the last save data on the map. Beyond this point, they needed to scurry around the place while mapping it all along.

They had been killing monsters they encountered as they advanced at a steady pace.

"Another dead end?" Almina said listlessly.

"It is the 7th alley," followed by Maena.

"Besides the appearance of many Wanderer class monsters. It seems this place was only a little above than an ordinary Underground Channel," said Mercenary Ultima.

Yman scratched his face in dismay, "Shall we take a break first?" 

He was puzzled. Seems like, his guess was wrong after all.

The area where they are at the moment has a size of 10 square meters and the ceiling was about 20 meters high from the ground. It was also illuminated by the radiance coming from the crystalline.

Anyhow, there was only one exit, and that was the entrance on their back where they used to enter.

He was checking their whereabouts and put a red 'X' mark on the dead-end alleyways. While he was busy fiddling on his Floating Map, "Yman, what is this?!" He heard Almina's question.

Yman saw her and Maena fixedly staring something on the ground while hugging their knees. On the other hand, Mercenary Ultima walked towards them, and said with a frown, "T-That is..." he said with a pause while trying to remember something in his mind.

They both glanced at him and waited for his next words.

"Right it's Iceweeds Cold-Reliever!" He exclaimed when finally able to remember.

Yman's eyes widened and immediately went to them. He went down sitting at the back of his right foot, while his left leg was bent. His left elbow was on top of his left knee; his back slightly curved as he was staring at the weeds on the ground.

|It was really as Mrs. Merced described.| He thought after seeing the object that was lying on the ground. Yman noticed that there were a number of these, scattered around. He didn't notice this at first because his mind was muddled in thinking of how the beast in this place mutated faster.

"Iceweeds Cold-Reliever?" Almina and Maena asked the same questions.

"It is a medicine for cold," Yman answered.

"Right, Rat Slayer was right," Mercenary Ultima said while nodding his head.

"Can we take it?" Almina asked.

"Yes, Miss Almina. Actually, it cost a lot and of high demand. We are lucky to find it here," Mercenary Ultima excitedly said.

Almina gazed on Yman. He didn't answer immediately, rather he picked one and lifted it in front of his eyes. 

|A stem of it has three symmetrical mint leaves converge on its tip and constitute a triangular-shape. From stem to the leaves it's covered by a thin layer of cerulean ice.| Yman described the weeds in his mind based on how he saw it.

Yman felt a ticklish feeling from it when he touched it. It was chilly and felt like a breeze of wind caressed his skin. This was a familiar feeling that he usually felt whenever he was channeling mana.

"Yman?" Almina who was beside him muttered his name when she noticed his face contorted into a frown.

"Weird," it was the only word departed from his mouth.

"I-Is something wrong?" Almina asked.

"It seemed like — this ice was made from mana," he replied.

Almina and Maena also picked one, "Right, this is made of mana," Maena said in surprise.

"Mhm," Almina agreed.

"Eh? Is it true?" Mercenary Ultima asked.

He knew about these weeds but only now that he saw it in person. So he too had no idea about it.

Yman and Almina nodded their heads at him while Maena took off the white glove on her hand. Then her naked jade-like hand tapped the ground.

They saw her summoning a bit of her greenish mana. She closed her eyes then a moment later, they noticed her brow twitched.

"There is a dense gathering of mana, and it was coming from... that.... wall?" She said as she opened her eyes and pointed on the wall in her left side which was in front of Yman and Almina, and at the right side of Mercenary Ultima.

Yman briefly glanced at the Floating Map, then he noticed that in the map outline that part of the wall was having a thinner line than the rest.

He pointed his hand on the ground then summoned a bit of white glow on his hand, trying to sense the mana like what Maena did. This was his channeling talent at work, it enabled him to percieve the flow of mana.

Unlike the real magician who had the access of internal and external mana, a False Magician like him could only sense mana externally but in a much wider range, as long as he used his channeling talent.

A moment later, Yman gawked in disbelief, there was truly a dense gathering of mana behind that wall. Not just dense, but super dense. A moment later, he felt a vibration on the ground.

"Enemies!" He warned.

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