Five meters beneath Dragonbone City.
The sewers.
Monica held up a magic glowstone, its cold light only illuminating a range of two or three meters around her.
Beyond that lay a darkness so thick it felt tangible.
A pungent odor filled the air—a mixture of rot, stench, and a nauseating smell she couldn't quite name.
She covered her nose with the cuff of her mage robes, but the smell still managed to seep in.
"Leader, should we keep going?"
Ada's voice came from behind her, kept low and laced with obvious tension.
Monica looked back.
Ada gripped his sword so tightly that the veins on the back of his hand were bulging. Beside him was Old Tom, holding a shield, his forehead drenched in sweat.
At the very back was Lily; the girl was pale, and the hand holding her magic glowstone was trembling.
The Thousand Towers Adventure Group consisted of four people.
She, Monica, a Mid-tier Mid Rank mage specializing in Water-element and Earth-element magic.
Ada, a Low-tier Mid Rank warrior.
Old Tom, a Low-tier Mid Rank shield warrior.
Lily, a High-tier Low Rank ranger, who had just turned sixteen.
With this composition, they had accepted a C-rank commission to clear out the sewers.
Monica knew this commission was beyond their capabilities.
The receptionist had advised her against it, Ada had advised her against it, and even Old Tom had tried to dissuade her.
But she had taken it anyway.
She had a reason why she absolutely had to accept it.
"Keep going."
Her voice was soft, but steady.
The party continued forward.
The sewer widened the further they went. The walls on both sides were covered in black stains, left behind by something unknown.
Shallow puddles of water lay beneath their feet.
Every step made a squelching sound that echoed far into the cavernous tunnel.
Monica's nerves were taut.
Her mana circulated within her body, her grip on her staff firm.
It was an ordinary oak staff.
The head of the staff was set with a water magic crystal the size of a thumb, something she had saved for two years to afford.
"Leader..."
Lily's voice rose again, sounding on the verge of tears.
"I'm scared..."
Monica turned back and saw that the girl's eyes were already red.
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something comforting.
But before the words could come out, Old Tom suddenly hoisted his shield.
"Something's coming!"
Everyone stopped.
The tunnel fell silent, save for the sound of dripping water.
Drip.
Drip.
Then, Monica heard it.
Skreeeeee—
The sound came from deep within the darkness, growing closer and more frequent.
It sounded like countless claws scratching against stone, like countless mouths shrieking simultaneously.
As the light from the magic glowstone swept forward, Monica saw them.
Pairs of blood-red eyes.
Dense, overwhelming, covering everything.
They swarmed out from the depths of the tunnel like a tide of black water.
"It's a magical rat swarm!"
Ada roared, tightening his grip on his sword.
"Protect the mage!"
Old Tom took a step forward with his shield raised, placing himself in front of Monica.
Monica took a deep breath and raised her staff.
She began to chant the incantation.
Water-blue light gathered at the tip of her staff, and mana fluctuations rippled through the narrow tunnel.
"Great water element, heed my call..."
Her chant was quiet, yet it rang exceptionally clear in the deathly still tunnel.
The magical rat swarm drew closer, those blood-red eyes bobbing in the dark like countless death-knell lanterns.
The first magical rat had already climbed onto Old Tom's shield.
The creature's claws scraped against the iron shield, creating a piercing grating sound.
Ada swung his sword, cutting it down in one blow, but more were already surging up.
Monica's chanting continued.
She couldn't stop.
If a chant was interrupted halfway through, she would have to start the spell all over again.
And this was the fatal weakness of a mage.
Casting required time and focus.
It required teammates to use their bodies to buy those few seconds or even over ten seconds of breathing room.
A mage without protection was like a lamb to the slaughter in close combat—a stationary target.
Old Tom's shield was now covered in magical rats, the creatures leaping onto him.
He had been bitten several times on the legs, blood flowing down his trousers, but he didn't retreat a single step.
"Hurry! Leader!"
Ada's voice had cracked. His sword swings were growing slower, and his body was covered in wounds.
Lily was firing arrows from the back.
But her hands were shaking too violently; her arrows flew erratically, and if one out of ten hit a target, it was considered a success.
Several arrows nearly struck Old Tom in the back.
Finally, Monica's chant reached its end.
She thrust her staff forward.
"Water magic—Torrential Strike!"
A pillar of water as thick as an arm shot out from the tip of the staff, slamming violently into the magical rat swarm.
The dozens of magical rats at the very front were hit by the water column.
They were blasted away like scrap rags, slamming into the walls and crashing onto the ground, squealing in agony.
However, the water column could only strike in a straight line. The magical rats on the flanks were completely unaffected and continued to surge forward.
Monica bit her lip and raised her staff again.
Another incantation began.
"Sublime God of the Earth!"
"Let sand and stone become a wall, stand here, impassable!"
"..."
"Earth magic—Stone Wall!"
Boom.
A stone wall half a person high rose from the ground, just barely blocking the tunnel.
The magical rat swarm was trapped behind the wall, frantically clawing at the stone, their squeals deafening.
Monica panted heavily, sweat dripping down her forehead.
After two spells, her mana was nearly half-depleted.
But at the very least, they were held back for now.
They were safe for the moment...
Ada slumped onto the ground, gasping for air.
Old Tom leaned against the wall, his shield cast aside.
He looked down to inspect the wounds on his legs; several were deep enough to show bone.
Lily crouched in a corner, hugging her knees and crying.
"Leader..."
Ada panted, looking up at Monica.
"Why... why did you insist on taking this commission?"
His voice carried confusion and a hint of resentment.
"We only needed to wait until you advanced to a High Rank mage."
"Our group wouldn't have to do anything; we could just go to the guild for a strength assessment and advance to Silver Rank."
"It's only Silver Rank; the guild isn't that strict with it."
"Why did you have to take such a risk now?"
Monica didn't answer.
She simply used bandages to tend to her own wounds in silence.
Though her teammates had blocked the most ferocious parts of the swarm, a few had slipped through the gaps and bitten her.
Old Tom looked at her and was silent for a while before suddenly speaking.
"It's because of the City of a Thousand Towers, isn't it?"
Monica's hand, which was currently wrapping a bandage around her wrist, stopped abruptly.
Ada froze. "The City of a Thousand Towers?"
Old Tom sighed.
"Monica is already seventeen this year."
"She's almost reached the maximum age for admission into the magic academy in the City of a Thousand Towers."
"If she misses the entrance exams in August..."
"She might never have a chance to further her studies at a magic academy in her life."
Monica's fingers tightened slightly around the bandage.
Old Tom continued:
"She wants the Thousand Towers Adventure Group to reach Silver Rank not to accept high-reward commissions."
"She wants to prove herself to the Gold Rank adventure groups who are profiting from the Dark Tide."
"To prove she's qualified to join them and follow them to the City of a Thousand Towers."
Ada fell silent.
Lily stopped crying too and looked up at Monica.
Monica kept her head down for a long time before she spoke softly:
"My parents exhausted the family's assets just to provide for me, their so-called 'magic genius,' living in poverty with barely enough to eat."
Her voice was very faint.
"I don't want to fail their expectations. I don't want their blood and sweat to be for nothing."
"I don't want to be weak—the kind of weakling who is powerless to run when a Dark Tide is born."
"The kind of rookie who can't cross the wilderness and must leave the lives of her parents to fate."
"I want to become strong."
"So, I must go to the City of a Thousand Towers."
Monica's words left everyone in silence.
A week ago, the news of the Dark Tide being born in the borderlands had thrown all of Dragonbone City into chaos.
Dragonbone City was very close to the borderlands.
They were only separated by the Dragonbone Mountains. There was a non-negligible chance they would become a target impacted by the Dark Tide.
Those high and mighty nobles and knights...
And those High Rank or Transcendent adventurers, who even the guild staff had to walk around cautiously...
They had long since fled with their families.
As for them, they could only wait silently with their families for the judgment of fate.
They lived in fear every day, watching the distance for movement.
No one wanted to wait around for death.
But they were simply too weak.
The members of the Thousand Towers party fell silent.
Because of her innate talent, Monica still had a sliver of hope to become stronger.
However...
For those like Ada and Old Tom, they were older.
In all likelihood, they would remain at the Mid Rank for the rest of their lives.
As for Lily...
She was simply a helper who did odd jobs for the adventure group.
The atmosphere turned somber.
The tunnel grew quiet.
There were only the distant squeals of magical rats and the muffled sounds of the stone wall being clawed.
Suddenly, Old Tom jerked his head up.
"Something's wrong."
His expression shifted.
"Why is the sound coming from over there too?"
Monica was startled and immediately looked behind her.
Deep within the darkness of the tunnel they had come from.
Skreeeeee—
Another sea of blood-red eyes appeared.
They were packed together tightly.
A pincer attack.
Monica's face turned deathly pale instantly.
This was the reason why even the High Rank Silver Rank adventure groups were unwilling to take commissions for clearing the sewers.
Individually, magical rats were so weak that even an Apprentice could crush them.
But they were everywhere.
You never knew which side passage or pipe they would surge from, and you never knew when you would be surrounded.
You thought you had blocked the front, but your rear had already been flanked.
Ada struggled to stand and gripped his sword.
Old Tom gritted his teeth and raised his shield again.
Lily held her bow, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
Monica gripped her staff, her mana only half-full.
There were rat swarms in front and behind.
There was no way out.
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