A knot formed in the pitch of Seth’s stomach as he looked ahead, his mood a mixture of anxiousness and excitement that he couldn't explain with words alone.

Looking down, the forest stretched like an endless carpet across the horizon, blocking the view of what lay at the bottom of the forest and beyond. It was a great sight.

Looking up, Gohshawks and other fearsome winged creatures hovered in the sky, diving in and retrieving their meal every so often that it made Seth have second thoughts if he was actually safe standing on the edge of a cliff.

However, what disturbed him more than them were the occasional roars that echoed in the distance, sending an occasional shiver down his spine. Seth could only imagine how large they must be if they were capable of shaking or bringing down trees that stood a hundred meters tall, which he didn't have the slightest intention of finding out.

Better not think too much about it, he thought, shaking his head, I'm here to hunt a nest of Stoneaters, not a Worldbear.

Giving a last glance to the forest, Seth turned over his heels and walked towards the four meters long and three meters tall hole in the rock. He stood before it, squinting as he tried to peek inside the curtain of darkness. It didn't work.

He shifted his gaze to the sides, particularly at the meter-tall piles of brown pebbles. He sized one the size of a nut and studied it closely with his black eyes. The thing had uncountable tiny cavities at the surface that made it quite rough to the touch and while it wasn’t overly heavy for a pebble of its size, it wasn't light either.

Sending a wisp of mana inside the pebble, it took fire immediately. But it was just a flicker, so, no matter how flammable it was, it couldn't do a thing without a substantial amount of mana to work with it.

It did burn his fingers a little bit, though.

Anyway, it worked to make sure they were in the right place.

“So, can we go inside or want to waste more of our time?” a famine, melodious voice sounded out from a spot a reasonable distance away from the piles of pebbles.

Seth cocked an eyebrow in her direction, “None one is stopping you,”

Olivia’s jet black eyes narrowed into slits.

Seth did the same.

As they did so, a slender guy stepped in, standing right in front of their gaze-clash.

“Can’t both of you just focus on the task? I mean, if both of you're that eager for a fight, you can always sort out your differences in the arenas. But not here. We are w.o.r.k.i.n.g and we still need to…

Seth studied him, not bothering with the meaningless babble.

Roland was a tall guy with a slender frame and pristine, dark complexion. He wasn’t as attractive as her sister, but his pearly-white teeth, brown eyes and raven hair make him quite a good match for people of the opposite sex. Though, Seth wasn't sure where his preferences lay.

Anyway, that wasn’t his problem.

Seth glanced at him before pointing at a few elevations at the sides, “This is my spot, I found it. So, either follow my rules or look for someone else who has an almond. And no, again. I’m not selling it.”

This seemed to piss him considerably, “Listen, kid. We didn't come here looking for a fight. But don’t push your luck too much,”

Olivia nodded in affirmation.

Seth didn't even flinch at the explicit threat, instead, he pulled a small object from his pocket. It was an almond, one the size of a ping-pong ball.

Both Olivia and Roland’s eyes widened slightly as Seth played with it, passing it between his fingers with a high level of skill. Their eyes followed the drupe in a nearly entranced manner, not hiding the greed in their eyes.

Seth smirked at this, I have them.

“I admit that I’m not a match for any of you,” he said, feeling his smile grow broader with every spoken word, “But you can forget about getting this thing out of my hands, so either take my offer or leave it.”

He didn't have the slightest intentions in facing a Wiccan female and her brother in the middle of nowhere, Orange Core Stage or not, he was still weaker than them. But he had the advantage.

Some unspoken words were exchanged as Olivia and Roland locked gazes, Seth waited.

“You won, boy,” Roland said, letting out a sigh, "As was said, you can keep the queen’s core and half of the loot, but we want the venom sacks. Both of them.”

They proceed to discuss their plan of action before venturing inside the site. This time, Seth let Roland take the lead.

He pulled a rounded device from his pack and, sending a wisp of mana inside, projected a golden hologram of the underground maze. Showing the crisscrossing and twisting paths underground with a level of detail that made Seth nearly bleed in envy. He wanted one.

Anyway, Olivia and Roland were more preoccupied with the long, red line that started at the top and ended at the core of the nest.

“It seems this is going to be a bit tricky,” Olivia said, looking at Ronald, “What do you think?”

He rubbed his chin as he inspected the hologram, “The Guild tagged it as a low-level resource site, so we shouldn't have any problems in reaching the main chambers in a few hours. But I understand your concerns. The blank areas are a pain in the ass, and it seems the whole place hadn’t been cleaned in a long time, four or five cycles at the very least. Probably more.”

“What do you mean?” Seth asked, curiously, “I thought the Guild was responsible for cleaning all the resource sites of the city,”

“Of course they do, but only on those that are worth the trouble,” Ronald said, “Low-level sites aren't that useful for organisations of their size. You know, maintaining a resource site isn't cheap, regardless of its size and tier. Thus, if you can’t at least cover the expenses and make some acceptable returns out of it, there isn't really a reason for keeping it or wasting your time on them.”

Seth nodded, he had to admit that was a good point, but there was still something bothering him.

“If that's true then, why keep them? As far as I know, the only valuable thing to get from this place is the Amalgamated Billycock,” Seth had done some research on this resource site, and, as Roland had said, it wasn't a rich place at all. "But even that would barely cover the costs of transportation and our quotas."

It was commonly referred to as Stoneater Cliffs, yeah not quite an original name, as it was a cluster of elevations that could be found at around a hundred kilometers at the north of Darkhold City, right at the edges of the Everwood Forest. Enough to make it a pain in the ass place to go for just a low-level site. Even if, this time, the Adventure Guild had provided the transportation. The pay wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Probably, he would have not even bothered with it if he wasn't in need of resources and experience.

Anyway, he had not put much thought into it at the time. But now, looking at it from a different perspective, it did seem a bit fishy.

“You're not wrong, but it appears you are obvious of the uniqueness of this species,” Roland said, getting himself a bit too carried away in the topic, “It's true that these nests aren’t the best resources sites one could find out there, at least for organisations, but there is one situation in which this isn’t always the case…” He hesitated, glancing at the side, looking for some sort of confirmation from Olivia. She shot a short, expressionless nod, “You know, back at home, there were a lot of nests placed in some strategic locations rich in arsenium and skullcap mushrooms. Toxic things that, working together, could trigger some specific mutations in the queens that can increase the value of each site a few dozens of times…

“I think the Adventure Guild is trying to get their hands on a Dark-stripped Stoneater Queen, or better said its Amalgamated Billycock.”

An expression of confusion took shape on Seth's face, “Dark-stripped Stoneater Queen? What’s that? Its Amalgamated Billycock? And what do you mean by increasing the site's value?” Seth blurted out, totally at a loss. He knew about the Stoneater Queen, but not about the dark version. Though, he was kind of more interested in the monetary side of all of this.

Olivia snorted, crossing her arms. “It seems you aren’t as competent as you said,”

Seth ignored her. All his attention focused on Roland.

Roland continued, “You can call it a variant of sorts that pops up once in a while on some queens and in some special situations. I don’t know much about its specific features, but it’s common knowledge that these mutations made their aspects, offspring and practically everything else stronger and more difficult to kill,” a certain gleam of greed flashed through his eyes, “And, as you can imagine, more valuable. Amalgamated Billycock include-

“And more dangerous,” Olivia interjected, “Though, the chances of getting one are extremely low. Much more in areas with low-mana levels,” she made a short pause, “But if were are going to work together you need to know all the implication and dangers of facing one of those things,”

What followed afterwards was a long explanation that, while it was fascinating, it wasn’t useful to him. The possibilities of finding a Dark-stripped Stoneater Queen were extremely low for it to be a real possibility, but it did give him a vague idea of what the Guild’s main objective was. Which wasn’t really that interesting.

Having said that, they didn't waste more time and unsheathed their weapons, stepping into the site as a wall of darkness clouded their eyes.

It was dark.