Chapter 940 Expedition Meeting
'To think that they found an above ground vein of adamantine ore, a cave filled with high-quality elemental crystals of water and wind, and several different types of rare magical trees. All in less than three days of exploitation before having to flee.'
Reading through this list, Marcus could understand now why the adventurers guild was so keen on exploring this new island that had appeared out of nowhere.
It was not only just out of a sense of discovery, but also to map out and secure the abundant resources that the island contained.
Nevertheless, for all the valuables that were on the island, it held a proportionate amount of danger.
The first scouting party the guild had gotten together was not a group of weaklings and were all at least level seventy veteran adventurers.
Yet, this first party had only survived on the island for two days before losing several members to an entity they never identified and being forced to escape.
Now the guild was holding nothing back and had gathered the most prominent parties that could set foot on the island due to its level restriction. Though, for the Northern Quadrant which did not have a single party with enough qualified personnel to match the other groups, the strongest individuals had been gathered instead.
"Now, I am sure that you have all read through the provided information by this point, so let us move on to the overarching goals of this expedition." The leader of the guild said after a dozen minutes.
Their main goals were to map the interior of the island, mark locations with valuable resources, and record information about the monsters and beasts that they encountered on the island.
"Forgive my impertinence, but how is it we are expected to collect the status data from the creatures on the island. The documents you provided for us state that several types of monsters or beast the first scouting squad encountered were unable to be appraised. I at least know that my party does not have anyone with an advanced form of appraisal." The arachne who was leading the party from the Southern Quadrant said.
The room went quiet after this question and every member of the expedition squad subtle began looking around to try and ascertain who it was that might have a skill that could see through appraisal blocking.
"Valerius." The leader of the guild said.
Nodding his head Valerius stood up and everyone's eyes gathered on him.
"As I am sure you have all noticed, my Northern Quadrant has brough in three new talents that only recently joined the guild. One of them has inherited the Dragon Eyes race ability from an ancestor. It is their ability that you will be relying on to document the statuses of the creatures you encounter."
After hearing this all eyes turned towards Mrazivy who Valerius was clearly looking at.
Expressions of surprise and murmurs between the members at each table followed and all at once Mrazivy became the center of attention.
'Well, it looks like you have certainly become popular.' Marcus said with telepathy.
'Naturally. This was sure to happen the moment I let Valerius know about my Dragon Eyes. But trying to hide it would have been pointless. I am sure to be using it at every opportunity. Best to raise my worth among the group.' Mrazivy responded with a smirk, already having planned for this.
And just as Mrazivy anticipated, the entire expedition squad was now looking at her in a new light. No doubt she would come to be considered one of their most valuable assets off her Dragon Eyes alone.
"If I could have your attention again."
Once a minute had passed the leader of the adventurers guild called everyone's attention back to him.
"There is one more important aspect of your mission that has not been disclosed yet and is the reason that we have so hastily brought you all together. The guild is not the only interested party trying to stake a claim on this island."
Explaining further the leader of the guild told them that every nation that was a member of their organization that had a right to lay claim on the new landmass had consented to the guild taking the helm, but plenty of hostile or unrelated groups were launching their own expeditions.
"We are currently negotiating with the more reasonable entities, but there are plenty that will not heed our claim as the ones to discover the landmass in the first place. Should you encounter any other groups, your job is to force them off the island. Treat them the same as outlaws invading a dungeon. The guild has already laid its claim and until we know more, we cannot let unaffiliated groups explore the place."
The atmosphere in the room became deadly serious after this announcement and Marcus was able to glimpse an aspect of the power struggles that were going on in the world.
Sure, the adventurers guild held a lot of sway over the world, but there were still several nations and organizations that went against them. They were going to disregard whatever the guild wanted, and in the end, whoever came out victorious would be the one considered right.
'I suppose that I will just have to hope we do not run into anyone else.' Marcus thought.
While the leader of the guild had said to force anyone else off the island, it was clear what he really meant was to kill them since he had likened them to outlaws.
Unfortunately, this was just the way the world worked a great deal of the time. The guild may have staked their claim on the new landmass, but that meant nothing to their enemies or those unaffiliated with them. There were innumerable valuable resources and that meant that people were going to fight over them until someone came out on top.
In the end, it would be the victor that got to say that they were right.
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