The weight of the Castellan's unspoken threat-"Or perhaps for causing them."-hung over Kaito as he left the keep. He had been seen, not for what he was, but for the disruption that followed him. He was no longer an anonymous F-rank; he was a person of interest, a variable in the city's defensive equations.
He went straight to the guild, the familiar noise now feeling like a cloak he could hide within. He ignored the lower-rank boards and went directly to the C-rank postings. His eyes quickly found what he was looking for, a quest that was practically tailor-made for his new dual purpose.
C-07: Quarry Quake. The Serpent's Vein quarry reports unstable earth and minor tremors, halting all operations. Suspected Earth Elemental activity. Neutralize the threat and secure the site. Reward: 15 Gold.
It was perfect. An Earth Elemental was a legitimate, C-rank threat that would explain his use of Terrakinesis. The quarry was also in the northern foothills, not far from where he'd encountered the wolves-a logical next location for his "investigation" into the magical instability.
He took the parchment to the desk. Elara was on duty, her silver spectacles glinting as she took the quest from him. She didn't look surprised.
"C-rank. An ambitious jump," she stated, her voice devoid of Lyra's warmth or Anya's kindness. It was a simple observation of data. "Your performance on the mutated wolf encounter has been noted. Guild policy allows for accelerated rank progression with proven capability. The reward will be held until successful completion and verification." She stamped the form with a sharp, precise motion. "Do not cause excessive collateral damage. Repairs are costly."
It was the most he'd ever heard her say. Her warning was practical, financial, and felt more intimidating than any monster's roar. She saw him not as a hero or a mystery, but as a potential line item in a budget report.
Nodding his understanding, he left the guild and set out immediately. The journey to the Serpent's Vein quarry was uneventful. The land itself felt tense, the mana in the air still carrying the ragged, chaotic signature of the recent migrations. When he arrived, the site was deserted, tools abandoned where they lay. A low, consistent rumble vibrated through the ground.
At the heart of the deepest pit, he found the "Elemental." It was a shambling mound of rock and soil, but it was wrong. Jagged, violet crystals, identical in energy signature to the wolf's soul core, pulsed within its earthen body. Its movements were not the slow, deliberate shifts of a true earth spirit, but the jerky, aggressive spasms of a corrupted entity. It was another symptom.
The creature sensed him and lunged, a fist of stone and crystal shooting towards him.
Kaito didn't bother with a complex strategy. He simply raised his staff and commanded the earth. The ground beneath the corrupted Elemental did not tremble; it calmed. The chaotic energy binding it together was severed, the earth rejecting the foreign, unstable magic. The mound shuddered, the violet crystals flickering and dying, and then collapsed into a harmless pile of gravel and dust.
The tremors stopped. The silence that fell over the quarry was absolute.
He had completed his C-rank quest in less than a minute. But his work wasn't done. He knelt, placing a hand on the quarry floor. He reached out with his senses, following the faint, poisoned ley lines. He couldn't cleanse them entirely-that would draw far too much attention-but he could soothe the worst of the inflammation, encouraging the natural flow of terrestrial energy to reassert itself over the feral mana. It was like applying a poultice to a fevered wound.
Standing, he looked at the now-peaceful quarry. He had taken another step on the path to A-rank. He had contained another ripple of his own cataclysm. And he had a report to deliver to a suspicious Castellan. He had pulled on the first thread, and the entire, tangled web had shuddered in response. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to, and he had never felt more like a pawn in a game whose rules he was only beginning to understand.
------
The return to Whitepeak was a silent, introspective journey. The ease with which he had dismantled the corrupted Elemental was not a point of pride but a somber reminder of the gap between his capabilities and the world's understanding. He hadn't fought a monster; he had administered an antidote to a sickness he himself had introduced. The 15 gold coins he would receive felt less like a reward and more like a payment for janitorial services on a continental scale.
He did not go to the guild first. Lord Valerius had been explicit: report to him. Bypassing the usual channels, he presented himself at the keep and was ushered into the Castellan's study with an efficiency that suggested he was expected.
Valerius listened in silence as Kaito delivered his report, sticking to the established facts. "The quarry was unstable due to a corrupted Earth Elemental. It exhibited crystalline growths with a chaotic energy signature matching the mutated wolves. I neutralized the entity. The tremors have ceased."
The Castellan's pen scratched across a piece of parchment. "Crystalline growths. And your method of 'neutralization'?"
"I disrupted its connection to the corrupting energy source. The earth itself rejected it." It was the same vague, technically accurate explanation.
Valerius looked up, his grey eyes sharp. "A convenient skill. My own mages would have required a full day's ritual to achieve the same, with significant risk of a cave-in." He didn't wait for a response, sliding a sealed letter across the desk. "Your next assignment. This does not go through the guild. A caravan master on the road to the Murkwood reports the local wildlife is becoming... aggressive. Twisted. Investigate. Use your... particular talents."
Kaito took the letter. He was no longer just an adventurer who took convenient quests. He was now being directly tasked, sent to specific locations where the "poison" was most concentrated. Valerius was using him as a canary in a coal mine, and a strangely effective exterminator.
"Understood, my lord."
Only after this covert debriefing did he go to the guild to formally complete the C-rank quest. The reaction was more pronounced this time. Turning in a C-rank quest the same day it was posted was unprecedented for a new adventurer. Whispers followed him to the counter, where Lyra was waiting, her expression a mixture of professional approval and personal curiosity.
"Back already? And in one piece," she said, her emerald eyes wide as he provided the proof of completion—a shard of the non-corrupted rock from the quarry, as per the quest's verification requirement. "The Quarry Master just sent a runner. The site is secure. How did you manage it so quickly?"
"The elemental was unstable. It collapsed under a focused counter-force," he said, repeating his mantra. He collected his 15 gold coins, the heavy purse a stark contrast to the single silver he'd started with.
As he turned to leave, he felt a presence beside him. He didn't need to look.
"A 'focused counter-force'," Seraphina mused, her voice quiet. She had approached without a sound. "The quarry is now suffused with a remarkably calm and stable terrestrial energy. Almost... sanitized." Her gaze was not on him, but on the Leviathan Staff. "It seems your heirloom is even more versatile than I imagined. It doesn't just absorb; it purges."
She didn't wait for a reply, simply turning and walking towards the quest board, leaving him with the chilling certainty that she was piecing it all together. She wasn't just watching his actions; she was studying the aftermath, the environmental data he left in his wake.
Kaito left the guild, the weight of the gold in his pouch and the Castellan's sealed letter in his tunic. He was climbing the ranks, amassing wealth, and fulfilling his secret mission. But with every step, he was also feeding the suspicions of the two most dangerous people in the city. He was a pawn advancing rapidly across the board, and it was only a matter of time before the players decided whether he was worth promoting or needed to be taken off the board entirely.