The snowflakes traveled along the air as it became denser. A thick fog surrounded them as the group of six continued to walk. As they ascended higher and higher up, any trail left behind including footprints were cleanly clogged, however each of them had their own way of setting their trails so they could find their way in case of an emergency.

It was a group of six and they were currently ascending the mountain together. Each sticking to one another while keeping a good distance.

The party was formed and the quest had started. The young man walked ahead of hate group as they couldn’t trust their backs to him. They all knew about his identity so it was understandable. Hexo however, didn’t care, he was scary and had an ominous air, but for some reason he felt little evil or bad intentions.

The formation was two-two-two. They were in pairs and in their own order special order. In the front was The young man and Hexo, The middle was the Cloaked girl and magician and at the back was the Guild Master and The Bright Sword.

Things had gone smoothly up until now, they hadn’t encountered a single monster.

“This fog…” The Guild Master muttered to himself

Noticing this, The bright sword turned to him while keeping his attention focused on what was around him before asking.

“You felt it too? It’s rather unnatural isn’t it? It’s filled with magic too, either another magician or…”

“A strong monster.” Answered The cloaked girl

‘It’s made to make us lose our sense of direction. But it’s fine, the young man in the front has been interrupting it from doing so… He’s strong and good at magic? Whats more, where the hell is his chant’ The magician wondered

She continued to keep her eyes on him from behind as they continued to ascend. Another thing bothered her.

‘I’ve heard about these types of mist attracting more monsters so why is it that we haven’t encountered none? Is it his doing?’ She wondered

The tension in the group rose as they continued to climb up. Hexo had something in his mind that he needed to tell the young man who wouldn’t stop staring at his direction.

“W-What do you want?” Hexo asked nervously as he looked back at the young man.

The young man pulled out a box from within his cloak and handed it to Hexo, causing Hexo to be surprised for a moment, but shortly after understanding it.

“Oh I see… You want to thank me for sticking up for you. Don’t, I don’t deserve it. I didn’t do it to help you, I just hate unfair things and besides you were the strongest one there, I sided with you to guarantee my life, that’s all.” Hexo said calmly

The other four behind them heard it and felt annoyed that they were being looked down on. Hexo still continued to believe that they wouldn’t stand a chance.

The young man pulled back his hand with the box on it, before shaking his head. He then placed it back into his cloak.

‘What’s with this guy?’ Hexo wondered

They had been walking for hours and it was Ly about time that they reached their destination. The Young man at the front suddenly stopped before the fog in front of him dispersed by an intense pressure of wind.

There stood a simple wall part of the mountain, there was a hill above it, indicating that they’d have to climb up or go around. However, that wasn’t all there was to it.

The group stopped and the young man continued to walk forward. They were all taking in what they had just seen. Again just like in the Guild, he used magic without chanting.

“I thought I was just imagining things earlier…” Said The cloaked girl

“But after seeing this, it confirms it.” Added The magician.

The guild master then said something which stood out and caused their attention to go back to what actually mattered

“That wall, somethings off about it.”

They then watched as the young man stood face to face with the wall, he wasn’t attempting to climb it or go around it. He simply placed his hand on it, and then with a little push, the sound of shattering resounded throughout the group as the scenery in front of them changed.

It looked like the wall had broken like pieces of glass before dispersing into thin air leaving behind a cave in front of them. A big and ominous cave. And despite being outside, they could hear it. Strong yet quiet snoring coming from within the cave.

With each puff an abundance of magic would flow out of the cave. The amount was phenomenal, it was much more than any regular human could produce and it was just from whatever which was inside’s breathing.

The young man then turned back to the Guild Master as if to ask what to do next and after giving it a moderately long thought he said

“Let’s go in to confirm it.”

‘This young man… He may be the key to defeating it… It will take a long time Until reinforcement arrives, it’s better for us to try against it, rather than just waiting… This probably confirms it, I can’t even imagine how much magic power that thing contains… If it broke loose in the city…’

The young man nodded and was the first to walk in. Everyone else sped up their pace to get back into formation with him, they had now entered the battlefield

—————————————

They continued to walk through the cave, they were instructed not to use any light spells and make any sound as to not wake up the dragon. However, that only made it harder for them to navigate.

Either way light spells weren’t needed because the further they went, the lighter the cave got, along with the overwhelming increase of magic power flowing past them. 

‘This magic pressure… It’s making it even hard for me to breathe, so then how did that hunter make it all the way to the chamber? Somethings off…’ He thought to himself

And he wasn’t the only one, but even still they continued to move, after all, it was their job. Now, the further they got, the colder the air was got. The temperature was slowly decreasing.

Upon seeing this, Hexo started to slightly regret the fact that he was he left his sleeves open. He could handle the cold, but this… This was freezing.

Sharp Ice spikes could be seen around them as the ground and walls became seemingly more frozen. The snoring only continued to get louder as they got closer and the magic pressure increased.

It was as if they were walking towards the gates of hell. But again that didn’t stop them, they continued to move on, each with their own resolve.

Ten gold coins was definitely not the amount worth what they were doing at this moment, And the guild-master knew that, so he had better plans and rewards reserved for them, when they got back.

But that would only be if they actually manage to get back. 

They had been walking for a few minutes now, and if the magic was reaching all the way outside despite that, they could only imagine how dense the magic of the actual dragon would be.

Finally, after all that walking, they could start to see the end of the cave, where the chamber resided. Hexo and the young man suddenly stopped.

Hexo was surprised, he didn’t stop his movements, it was as if something he couldn’t see had caused him to freeze. Confused he looked over at the young man, who turned back to the Guild Master.

“Are we here?” The Guild master asked

The young man nodded.

‘Another illusion, huh… I’m guessing if we break it, we’ll be forced to engage… Not to mention it might be listening in on us right now…’

“I’ll let you five decide, I’ll increase the reward. This isn’t something we should leave near the city, so how about it? Exploration to extermination?” The Guild Master asked

Contrary to his expectations, they all nodded.

“I see… I’ll make sure you’re all properly reward, Extermination quest is in acti-” 

*Crack*

Before the guild master could even finish, everything in their surroundings suddenly shattered, and following that, a sight which would send chills down the spine of even a former S-Rank adventurer. Appeared right in front of their eyes.

Large blue eyes carved into the creature’s spiky angular skull stare at the group and each of it’s members, sending dread into their bones. With two large crystals going through the back of it’s head above it’s large drawn-back ears.

Several crystals of ice traveling down it’s short neck throughout it’s back all the way to it’s long thick tail. A large body and limbs which only added nearly ten times the size of all the adventurers there.

It was a dragon, similar yet nothing like a Wyvern, it was bigger and stronger.. And this very same being was stood right in front of their faces, breathing into their soul.