"So you are saying that not only did Jared go missing, but we also lost last reserve, while having no crucial lead on who might have it…?"

"Correct, Jared is more likely to be dead, which only makes the matter worse, whoever was that 'Clearer' he probably discovered some of our secrets."

Crash!

The sound of glass breaking filled the room as the dark haired middle-aged man's expression changed to one full of rage.

"Sir! We didn't lose everything yet, we still have the 'Mine', and most importantly, we just received a report regarding the success of 'Wash'!"

"Oho?"

The furious expression on the dark haired man's face seemed like it was just a dream as a deep smile was embedded on his face…

`~~`~~`~~`

"He just left like that?"

"Yes, he said that he was busy with something and could only send this letter to you since you weren't present by the time he left…"

"Interesting…"

The head of the Lightning Knight Brigade played with the letter in his hand as he muttered…

`~~`~~`~~`

'I hope nothing unexpected happens…'

The advent towards the gate was quite smooth as I reached there in less than 10 minutes.

However, regarding the true danger hidden in this gate, even the current me was still skeptical on whether everything inside would progress smoothly as well.

Of course, this wasn't enough to stop me considering my need to go on this leveling quest, but it was enough for me to put a backdoor to ensure my safety without implicating the innocent.

The letter I left for the head contained information regarding this gate, but as I didn't plan to share the benefits just yet, it wasn't quite the normal letter, the pin used to seal the letter was half an elemental armament, made from an elemental crystal shard and infused with my own lightning elements.

In case someone tried to open it before the 25 days time limit I told them about it, as in 'don't open it unless I don't return by the end of the month', the pin would trigger causing the letter to get burned to ashes, but considering the Head he probably won't attempt such a foolish thing as he probably figured out that part.

According to what Long had said, there was a mean of teleportation at the end of the first floor, which was seemingly my only way out if it turned out that I underestimated the gate's difficulty, but that also meant that I would be opening a path to the demons at the second floor, possibly causing the destruction of the Lightning Capital.

I wasn't confident enough to survive inside forever, but running and hiding for the rest of the 25 days once I met overwhelming danger was within my capabilities, the letter gave me the ability to leave that gate then without much worries as the reinforcements of the Brigade should be enough to deal with what I couldn't overcome using numbers and power.

With that as a backdoor plan, I grew less anxious of this venture, putting my eyes on maximizing the gains and training that I could get inside the gate.

I sat down cross-legged as I took out one of my last 16 elemental crystals to absorb in preparation to initiate my first elemental weapon style…

[ Dual-Element +0.15 ]

'Expected, but… quite disappointing to look at…'