Chapter 403 - Dangers

Once Cecil was given the solution to his hallucination problems, he quickly tried to let his guard down to let the Thought Projection into his mind. However, even though he tried to do so, he couldn't do it.

He had been protecting his mind for so long by the ether he had gathered to resist the influence of his World Tree's Thorns and old habits die hard. It was hard for him to consciously take down the barrier around his mind since he was now subconsciously doing it.

In reality, it was easy for Cecil to take down the barrier around his mind, but once he did all of his Thorns would begin acting up and his mind would subconsciously resist this which ended up with him subconsciously putting up the barrier once again.

The process just repeated like this over and over again. The only result was that he was able to receive clear but short fragments of the message that was trying to be transmitted into his mind.

After he did this, the delusions he experienced had somewhat lessened down on its own. The only problem was that he was faced with a new worry.

"Come...danger... friends...die..."

The first time Cecil let down the barrier, this was the message that he would receive repeatedly. He couldn't understand the meaning behind the messages, but the main thing was that someone was in danger and they were going to die and it seemed that they were his friends or people close to him at least.

As Cecil prolonged the duration of him letting down the barrier around his mind, the messages became clearer and it was also now accompanied by short visions. These visions were the source of his worries.

He saw his brother, Gabriel, his sister, Angelia, and the scouting team he had sent over to the ancient ruins being in some sort of trouble.

First off, the short visions that were transmitted into his mind showed the team finally exploring the interior of the ruins after they had spent a long time scouting around the exterior and the surrounding area.

However, once they were inside the ruins, it was like something had been triggered that caused the ruins to become sealed. When the ruins started acting up, Gabriel had quickly ordered for everyone to retreat but unfortunately, not everyone was able to come out.

In the last seconds, before the ruins were sealed, something had dragged Angelia, Gabriel, and Kira back into the ruins. Cecil wasn't one to jump the gun so he waited to see if Gabriel or Angelia would contact him using their MIDs to inform him of their situation.

However, Cecil wasn't aware that mana transmissions were completely blocked off while they were trapped inside the ruins. It wasn't until a few days later that Cecil received a report from Ian, who had quickly rushed back to the Kingdom, regarding the threes' disappearance.

*****

A few days prior to Cecil receiving the visions and Ian's report, Gabriel and the scouting party had just finished their scouting of the area around the ruins. They had thoroughly mapped out the area around the ruins.

Kira was also able to send his Mana Pulse into the ruins and detect some of the monsters inside and the layout of the ruins that he was able to scan. So, after numerous scanning, planning, and comparisons, Gabriel deduced that the monsters or dangers inside of the ruins were at power levels that his team was able to cope with.

"Alright, today, we'll be going to explore the interior of the ruins. From the data that we were able to gather thanks to Kira's Mana Pulse, the monsters inside the ruins are definitely manageable for us," Gabriel stated as Medel began handing each team member a report of their findings.

"Huh? Aren't the monsters inside the ruins weaker than the ones outside?" Angelia said with surprise.

"Yes, that's what we were able to get. The monsters outside were B to A ranked monsters, while the ones inside are only C ranked," Kira said. "However, continue reading the report, the monsters may be lower ranked, but they felt a bit...peculiar."

Everyone continued reading through the report and the only thing they had to worry about was that Kira felt the monsters inside the ruins had a peculiar mana signature that seemed to connect each monster together, regardless of their species.

"...I don't think that's something to worry about, right? You're just being way too cautious, Kira!" Tyra said.

To her, C ranked monsters were still C ranked monsters. They had faced off against monsters much stronger than those low ranked scrubs.

"B-but, we should still proceed with caution! Remember what Master Cecil said, we have to prioritize our—"

"Safeties, yes, I know. Stop repeating it!" Tyra interrupted. She scoffed at her brother before continuing, "Kira, I know you mean well, but you have to understand that you should also take into account our team's strength! What could a bunch of C rank monsters due to us?! We've taken on groups of B and A rank monsters before!"

"Y-yeah...but still—"

"Enough you two, let's just hear what the captain has planned for us. We'll just listen to captain's orders and proceed as instructed, alright?" Medel quickly interjected.

"Y-yes, big brother Medel..." Kira replied.

"Alright... but still, I think there's nothing to worry about. They're still C ranked monsters," Tyra said before going silent and waiting for Gabriel to say something.

Gabriel had already read through the reports multiple times and had already come up with a plan. He only needed to hear some of his teammates' opinions, but it seemed that other than Tyra, everyone else was just going to follow after his plans.

"Well, we should still listen to Kira's warnings and prioritize Cecil's orders. We'll proceed with caution, but don't be too overly cautious since what we're facing will still only be low ranked monsters," Gabriel said.

"Hmph! What did I tell ya, brother?"

"..." Kira scrunched his face a little at his little sister's words, but thankfully, his warnings would still be taken into account and his captain addressed the pressing matter that couldn't be overlooked.

"But!" Gabriel quickly spoke up, "We have to keep in mind that these low ranked monsters are only the ones found in the areas that Kira was able to scan which were situated near the entrance. We don't know what other kinds of monsters are in store for us if we move deeper into the ruins."

"Yeah! And since they seem to be connected by some mysterious force, we have to remember that the higher-ranked monsters that are deeper inside the ruins might be aware of us if we attack their low ranked counterparts!" Kira quickly spoke up.

Everyone in the team nodded at his words. Even his sister couldn't refute any of his words this time. Compared to everyone else, Kira had more acute mana sensitivity than the rest. What he could feel couldn't necessarily be felt by anyone else in the group.

However, there was one expert in their team that was an expert in 'monster-ology'. When Angelia was reading and listening to Kira's findings of the monsters' peculiarities. He was able to form connections with each of her monsters and through this connection, her monsters were also connected to one another.

The monsters inside the ruins had connections to each other so she felt that it was somewhat similar to her power. Since there were similarities, that means that there was someone, or something, inside the ruins that acted like her, the source of these connections.

After reaching this conclusion, Angelia couldn't help speak up in concern, "Big brother, don't you think that these monsters' connections have some sort of similarity with my power?"

"Huh, what's that Angel?" Gabriel quickly asked.

"According to Kira's findings, the monsters inside the ruins seem to have some sort of connection with each other, right? Isn't it similar to my power? I can form connections with monsters and through my connection with them they are hence connected to each other."

"...You're right...but, what does—are you saying that there's someone inside the ruins that's the source of their connections, just like you?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if someone has a similar power to me or if anyone has already gotten ahead of us in our exploration, but we have to assume that someone is controlling these monsters, making them more dangerous than normal. We can't judge them from just their ranks anymore!"

"..."

"Also, I have to inform you, but the person who's controlling these monsters, their powers is most likely above mine...Even until now, I still haven't been able to tame any monster at will. Only those that fit certain specifications can form connections with me..."

"We'll proceed with greater caution then. We'll only explore the interior and refrain from engaging any of the monsters inside. We don't want to alert whoever it is that's controlling these monsters, if there's a controller behind them," Gabriel said, readjusting his plans.

"Alright, now that our plans are set, take a rest for today. We set off tomorrow morning!"

"Yes sir!"

Everyone was dismissed so they went towards their tents and began resting up or idling around. Tomorrow quickly arrived and the team was once more assembled in front of the forest. Over at the side, the NWR's people were already assembled as well.

They were rather lucky during the time Gabriel's team went around scouting the area and taking down most of the powerful monsters within the vicinity. The NWR's forces had been able to push deeper into the forest than they normally would be able to explore and were now able to reach the ruins' entrance.

When Gabriel got wind of this, he had swiftly gone over to their encampment and had come to an agreement with the NWR's commanding officer to hold off from exploring the ruins, and instead, they'd explore it together.

Each team met up and traveled together to the ruins' entrance. Gabriel and his team no longer had to hide their equipment since they were finally conducting their most crucial mission since coming here.

The NWR's people were naturally surprised to see their team's equipment. The captain of the NWR's forces naturally wanted to inquire about it, but Gabriel and everyone had a solemn and unapproachable atmosphere so he wasn't given a chance to say anything.

Instead, each team proceeded silently through the forest, and before long they arrived in front of the ruins.

"Alright, listen up. We'll proceed according to yesterday's plan, alright?" Gabriel said to his team.

Everyone nodded at his words and he quickly turned to the captain of the NWR's forces and said, "Remember our deal from yesterday, you're giving me the right to command your team since we have more information than you do. This mission is crucial to both of us so I expect your entire team to be compliant with all my orders. If even one of you steps out of line, I won't hesitate to abandon you guys and prioritize my team's safety when we're inside."

"...You don't need to worry about that, Commander Gabriel. Our Commanding Officer had already briefed us on the mission and that we would be going in under your command to ensure the success of our initial probe into the ruins," The middle-aged captain answered.

He looked a bit unwilling to be under the command of someone much younger than him, but he had no choice since this was a command from his higher-ups.

Gabriel nodded at him and eyed everyone else behind the captain. There was no kindness present in his eyes. He only eyed each soldier from the NWR coldly before turning away.

"Let's go, our team will take the lead. Also, just a kind reminder, but don't touch anything inside the ruins...or I'll personally cut off your hands."