Driving fast, Kyson reached the adventurer Agency quickly. Hurriedly, he jumped down from his motorcycle and ran off inside the agency.

Stopping in front of the reception window, Kyson didn't beat around the bushes and said,

"Something happened in the Batalan Forest! I need to talk to the Director!"

The receptionist was stunned by Kyson's sudden outburst and didn't reach immediately.

Other receptionists and adventurers around also heard Kyson's words, turning their attention towards him.

Seeing that the woman behind the reception desk only stared at him in a daze, Kyson knocked on the window gently.

"Miss, please hurry up. This is really an emergency!"

"Ah. Ah! S-sir, please wait a minute. Please let me see your ID first."

A bit flustered, the receptionist still stayed true to her role.

Kyson didn't make it hard for her and handed the ID card.

After scanning, she handed it back to Kyson.

"Sir, your ID has been confirmed. Can you please state the emergency you're talking about? I will relay it to the Director."

With her professionalism, the receptionist now stood with a composed look as she gazed at Kyson.

Nodding, Kyson narrated everything that happened back at the forest.

After listening, even the receptionist frowned after hearing the news about demonic energy.

"Okay, sir. Thank you for informing the Adventurer Agency. I will now be relaying your story to the Director."

"Good, it's the least that I can do."

After giving Kyson one last nod of admiration, the receptionist looked away and grabbed the telephone and called the Director's office.

The girl then told everything she heard from Kyson without leaving out a single detail.

When she finally finished talking, there's a moment of silence from the other end.

Then a deep and solemn voice sounded.

"Alright, I understand the situation."

After saying that, the call was hung up.

Putting the telephone down, the receptionist faced Kyson again and said,

"I already passed the news to the Director. A task force is going to be prepared soon to handle the problem with demonic energy."

"Kindly take a seat, sir. We will probably be needing your assistance later to guide us to the location of the cave you mentioned."

"Okay, I understand."

Kyson nodded, but didn't take a seat as she just said.

Instead, he opened the beast space and took out the bag containing all the ears of the goblins.

As for the magic stones, Kyson kept it in space along with the other magic stones from before.

Putting the bag on the table, Kyson slid his ID card through the window once again and said,

"Besides reporting, I also want to submit the proof for the completion of my mission."

The receptionist looked at the bag, then took the ID card in Kyson's hand and started processing everything.

After a while, the receptionist handed back the ID card and smiled at him.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kyson! Your rank has been raised to E-rank. Your permissions and benefits have been raised and applied. Please check the official website to learn more."

Kyson took back the ID card from the receptionist's hands and thanked her before stepping away from the window.

He sat down on an empty chair nearby and looked at his ID.

Chuckling, he muttered, "I am finally E-rank. I can just leave now and head directly to Mandilla."

But when he said that, he can't help but think about the demonic energy from before.

Then hesitation appeared on his face.

"Should I… take a look and see what's going to happen first before I go?"

Since the agency has already been informed and the Director was said to be preparing the task force, the problem with the demonic energy should be resolved soon.

At least that's what he believes would happen.

So even though there's nothing much he could do to help, Kyson thinks that it'll be better to be there.

"Anyway, I'll be needed to guide them there, so I really can't go yet."

After saying that, Kyson stopped thinking about it and patiently waited.

10 minutes later, a group of heavily armed personnel came out from deep within the agency.

Leading them is a dignified middle-aged man wearing glasses and well-combed hair, looking like a domineering, handsome scholar.

Their sudden appearance attracted the attention of everyone in the hall, making them the focus of everyone.

The middle-aged man darted his sharp eyes around, looking for someone.

Finally, his eyes locked on to Kyson and he moved with heavy steps.

Stopping in front of Kyson, looking heavy and serious, he opened his mouth and spoke,

"Excuse me, are you Adventurer Kyson?"

Kyson, who was still distractedly staring at his ID card, heard the voice and raised his head.

Seeing the sharp eyes of the middle-aged man, he frowned for a moment.

But when he saw the group of people, who's been obviously trained, behind him, Kyson understood the situation.

Standing up, Kyson nodded, "That's right. You must be Director Gil. It is nice to meet you."

Kyson said as he extended his hand for a handshake.

The name of Director Gil, the director of the Adventurer Agency Porac City Branch, is something that adventurers see everyday.

Because an organizational structure is placed in a corner of the Adventurer Agency.

Seeing the hand offered, Director Gil grabbed and shook it.

After they let go, still with the same serious face, Director Gil said, "Adventurer Kyson, can I ask you to guide us towards the cave you just talked about from your report?"

Without hesitation, Kyson nodded.

"Yes, I will guide you there."

"Then let's hurry up. The more we delay, the more unexpected problems might occur."

Kyson agreed.

With the Director and the task force behind him, Kyson left the agency.

While Kyson sat down on his motorcycle, the task force members rode on a military truck, and Director Gil sat on the passenger seat.

Seeing that they are all set, Kyson waved his hands and signaled forward.

Then without delaying any second, the sound of engines roared and the group drove away.

…

20 minutes later, Kyson and the task force arrived at the settlement at the entrance of the forest.

Since Kyson is not alone this time, he had to slow down and gauge the pace of the military vehicle behind him.

Because of that, it took them longer to get to Batalan Forest.

Bam!

"All of you, line up!"

Stepping out of the military truck, Director Gil spoke with authority towards the task force members.

Immediately, each one of them stepped out of the vehicle and stood straight in front of Director Gil, lining up with discipline.

Seeing them stand up straight like swords pointing up the sky, Director Gil nodded.

Pushing up the glasses with his middle finger, Director Gil started a short debriefing.

On the side, Kyson watched as all of this happened, looking on with emotions.

"Hays, being a member of that looks so cool."

Like a kid seeing a soldier for the first time, Kyson muttered wistfully.

"Why, do you also dream of being one of them?"

Suddenly, a soft female voice sounded beside him, making Kyson look.

There he saw Mirai and the Ironheart party standing behind her.

Frowning, Kyson turned away and didn't answer her question.

Instead of getting mad, a smile crept up at the corner of Mirai's lips.

"Why are you acting like you don't know us? Although we can't be called friends, we are at least acquaintances, right?"

Kyson didn't budge even after hearing her words. He just looked at Director Gil and the task force, watching them with interest.

Seeing that Kyson is adamant in ignoring her, Mirai smiled and stopped.

Then after a few seconds of silence, she asked, "So, can you at least tell me what's happening?"

"For even Director Gil to come running here, something must have happened."

Kyson's eyes flickered, pondering whether he should say it or not.

Mirai clearly caught on to Kyson's reaction and continued pushing.

"You can at least tell it, right? After all, if it is something dangerous, all our lives are also under that threat."

"If we don't even know what it is, how are we supposed to respond to it when we encounter an accident?"

Hearing her logical reasoning, Kyson nodded and decided to tell her about what he encountered deep in the forest.

After hearing everything, a deep frown appeared on Mirai's face.

Looking thoughtful, she muttered, "A type of energy that affects one's mind? Turning one violent and full of madness? That's… really dangerous."

Raising her head, she turned to look at Kyson again and asked, "Besides that madness, are there any other effects this demonic energy can do?"

Kyson sighed and shook his head.

"I actually don't know. The madness was an effect that I felt after diving in that miasma saturated cave."

"If I didn't have anything to protect myself from it and just went into it, I really don't know what other things could happen to me."

"But based on the goblins' changes, continued exposure to it could lead to becoming demonized."

"Demonized?"

Catching on to that term, Mirai immediately said quizzically.

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