---
[Item: Echo Stone]
[Rank: D]
[Origin: A mysterious essence that slipped through a spatial rift from an unknown realm before crystallizing into stone.]
[Effect:
> Echo of Vitality: Recreates an echo of the user’s lost stamina, instantly restoring it to a previous state.
> Echo Amplification: Serves as a perfect vessel for storing and amplifying skills, mana, and other mystical phenomena, enhancing their manifested effects.]
[Note: Highly sought after as a crafting material due to its exceptional affinity with preservation, replication, and amplification.]
---
"Hey Soren, isn’t this the item you’ve been looking for?"
Sylvia asked while playing with a translucent silver-blue crystal in her hand, ripples of light constantly echoing beneath its surface.
Her beautiful blue eyes seemed totally confused as she looked at the wall ahead, filled to the brim with Echo Stones similar to the one she had in her hand.
It seemed the Rift Hound’s nest was actually a small mine. Just a faint sweep of her gaze, and there were around a hundred of them.
There would be more if not for the Rift Hounds using them up.
But...
"Didn’t you say that it is hard to get them?"
Soren did say that. In fact, he had mentioned they would have to go deep into the tunnel just to even see one.
However, if that was the case, why was there a mine right next to the location they were teleported to?
"..."
For a moment, Sylvia looked at him skeptically, along with the others.
"The heck are you looking at me like that for? Or did you think I lied? We’re just lucky."
Damn lucky, to be honest. So much so that Soren felt speechless.
But now that he thought about it, his luck was already over 100 points recently, and this time, his team even had the protagonist, Evan.
Considering that, it didn’t seem too far-fetched.
’A rift to an unknown location, huh. No wonder those monsters made this place their nest.’
Soren thought while looking at a small opening in the wall of the tunnel ahead. With his eyes, he could clearly see a spatial crack spewing out mysterious energy.
Even in the game, it was never mentioned where it came from or what it was. Only that, when mana stones came into contact with this energy, they slowly turned into Echo Stones.
That’s why Soren had told them they needed to go deeper as the spatial rifts became more common the further they ventured into the chasm, after all.
Just... he never thought he would find one so easily like this.
’Welp... not that I have anything to complain.’
Soren just shrugged and took out the Drake Fang, scraping the Echo Stones off the wall.
"Let’s mine them and leave this place immediately. I feel like the wind is getting stronger all of a sudden."
As the team finished mining the Echo Stones from the wall, they quickly retreated from the area.
Just as Soren had suspected, the wind behind them intensified, the entire tunnel resonating as if an ancient beast were stirring awake. It might be significantly harder to notice monsters or enemies with such constant sound around.
"Hey, Aurelia, you have that summoning scroll with you, right?"
As everyone remained alert, moving carefully through the tunnel, Soren stepped closer to Aurelia and spoke.
To be honest, he had wanted to ask Elise to scout ahead, since her Rogue class was more than capable of it.
But he knew Elara would never allow that. Maybe she didn’t even realize that Soren already knew her sister’s true class wasn’t a Blade Dancer.
So instead, he turned to the E-rank item they had obtained from the Shaman earlier.
"Hm? Yeah, this one?"
Aurelia quickly understood and pulled a scroll from her inventory. She hadn’t found the chance to use it yet.
---
[Item: Wind Elemental Summoning Scroll]
[Rank: E]
[Effect: Temporarily summons a Wind Elemental to fight alongside the user, performing minor wind attacks and support for a short duration.]
[Note: Usable only by the Summoner and Mage classes.]
---
"Yeah... can you summon the Wind Elemental?"
Soren nodded and asked a bit awkwardly. After all, they weren’t even in a fight right now.
"Okay!"
But Aurelia didn’t even question it and immediately poured her mana into the scroll, burning it into cinders.
Maybe, in her mind, an E-rank scroll was no longer of any use.
*Swoosh!*
As soon as the scroll disappeared, the air in front of them twisted violently.
A small vortex formed mid-air, quickly condensing into a tiny, fairy-like figure made entirely of wind.
It was about the size of a hand, its body translucent and softly glowing pale blue. No pupils, no distinct facial features could be seen; just a faint, shifting core of compressed air where its eyes should be.
Thin streams of wind trailed behind it like delicate wings, fluttering even when it hovered still, as if it were always drifting in an unseen breeze.
An E-rank Wind Elemental, a pure spiritual body summoned directly from the spirit plane.
To be honest, Soren was reminded of his Spirit of Zephyr form, watching how naturally the wind wrapped around it.
Even though it was a low-rank spirit, if Aria had summoned it, she wouldn’t be able to summon anything else afterward.
After all, spirit summons require an exceptionally strong soul in the first place. That’s why he was excited about getting the skill of Aria. Too bad, he didn’t have time these days.
"Hmm? What are you doing?"
As everyone saw the Wind Elemental suddenly appear, Evan asked, confused.
"Nothing much... I feel like it will take too long to reach the destination by following the tunnel randomly. We can use help."
The tunnel they were walking through was vast and winding, splitting into multiple branches that led off in unpredictable directions.
Although they could eventually reach the depths if they took their time, Soren felt it was a waste.
Especially now that he had already obtained the item he came for.
"Aurelia, ask it to lead us to stronger souls in this chasm directly. It should last a bit longer if it does not need to fight."
Soren said.
Howling Chasm was filled with strong wind currents, perfect terrain for a Wind Elemental. By simply listening to the wind, it could guide them toward the correct path through the tunnel.
In fact, if Soren evolved his skill, Windwalker, even he might be able to lead them faster. But he refrained from doing everything himself this time.
"Hm? O-Okay..."
Aurelia felt a bit flushed as Soren stood too close to her. But noticing everyone watching, she quickly gave the order to the elemental just as he had said.
*Swoosh!*
The moment she did, the Wind Elemental vanished from its spot, disappearing right before their eyes.
Even though it was only an E-rank spirit that could not even speak, Soren still found it difficult to track its movement with his eyes.
*Roar!*
Before long, a deep monster howl echoed from somewhere in the distance. Almost at the same moment, the Wind Elemental reappeared in its original spot, as if it had never left.
"It has found something. This way..."
Even Aurelia looked surprised by how quickly it returned as she pointed toward the tunnel ahead. With their senses alone, they would never have detected the presence of monsters at all.
"Perfect... then let’s deal with it quickly. In fact, let’s make it a race with the elemental. How about we reach the core of this dungeon before it vanishes?"
Soren’s lips curled into a faint smirk after hearing the deafening roar of the monster, turning to his teammates as if issuing a challenge.
To be honest, perhaps because of his usual style, he never liked ordinary dungeon exploration anyway.
If that was the case, why not just bulldoze through everything? Looking at how they dealt with the Hounds, he didn’t feel they would be in any danger.
At least, not until they reached the core.
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