Arianna’s face lit up as well when he said that. "Where?" she asked, looking in the same direction as he was.
"It’s underneath that flower," Aiden said, then stretched his arm to the side and whispered, "Steel Lance."
The steel magic spell he had copied during the induction ceremony became useful today as a lance made of steel appeared within his right palm’s grip.
"Step back a bit," Aiden said, which caused Arianna to take one step back.
Then he plunged the lance’s spearhead into the ground around the flower in a bid to excavate it.
One of the mages from the Dragonhold party that walked ahead noticed what was going on behind and tapped Karl. They all looked back and slowly started heading toward Aiden, who had just completed the excavation process.
Right in Aiden’s hand was a purple glowing rock with the flower attached to it.
"How did you find it?" Karl asked as he moved his eyes between Aiden’s hand and the hole in the ground.
Aiden pulled the flower out of the crystal and turned toward Karl. "I was a little more observant," he said with a smile on his face.
"This can’t be the only one around here. Will you help us look for more?" Karl asked, adjusting his glasses again.
"Very well, but after I get one more," Aiden said. The value of the item was ranked as rare, and so he was certain he would need one for himself within his inventory.
This was also Aiden’s inclination as a growing dragon to collect and hoard valuable items, even if he didn’t realize that this was the case.
"But the size of the stone you have should be enough to make at least two magical items," Karl said, assuming that both of them had come here to find the stone for themselves.
"Like I said, mate, after I get one more," Aiden repeated himself.
A smile appeared on Karl’s face, and then he said, "Alright, we’ll appreciate the help. Thank you."
Then he and his guild members continued ahead.
Aiden then made the purple stone disappear directly into his inventory, which left Arianna with widened eyes. "Wait, where did the stone just go?" she asked, trying to make sense of what she saw.
Aiden smiled at her, then said, "Don’t you worry. It’s in the safest possible place."
Then at that moment, the system sent him a notification:
[Side Quest: Find the Purple Hermis Stone → Complete]
[+5 available stats points]
[You have been awarded: +10,000xp]
[Bonus Reward: +6,000xp]
[Outstanding Performance Reward for discovering the stone through observation: +4000xp]
[XP Boost Badge: Extra +20,000xp]
Aiden’s face widened into a grin, but that didn’t last more than a second when suddenly his enhanced hearing picked up the whispers between the mages a few meters ahead of them.
"I’m tired of looking..." one said.
"We’ve been searching for this longer than they’ve been here," another added, with a voice sounding really frustrated.
"Have no worry, because if we do not find any other before they leave, they’ll have to surrender theirs." This one was unmistakably Karl’s voice.
And just as that was heard, a new system notification appeared in front of Aiden:
[Malicious Intent Detected within Karl and the mages of Dragonhold]
Arianna, who saw Aiden stay quiet for a moment and could not understand what he was focused on so intently, then spoke up: "Did you see another, or...?"
Aiden turned toward her with a solemn expression on his face, then said in a low tone, "Those mages are going to attack us for that stone if they don’t find any."
"What?" Arianna exclaimed, though not loudly enough to attract their attention.
"Shhh..." Aiden pressed his index finger against his lips, a gesture to tell Arianna to tone it down.
"How do you know they will?" Arianna asked, looking puzzled, with growing nervousness.
"Because I heard it. Can’t explain right now, but just trust me. Just play along and leave the rest to me," Aiden said with a devious grin on his lips.
Amidst her nervousness, something felt right about trusting what he just said. So Arianna nodded in agreement with him.
With that, they both continued behind the mages in front of them.
...
For about another hour, they searched again without any leads—well, except Aiden, who was now looking around for any other sign of life on the rocky environment, knowing that such life would most likely be tied to the stone.
They were just crossing a path with jagged and stony walls when Aiden noticed a different type of plant life growing slightly on the wall.
He stopped briefly, then used his Dragon’s Sight once more, which proved him right. Another Purple Hermis Stone was embedded within those walls, and the root of the plant was directly attached to the stone.
Then he placed one palm on the walls around the stone, carefully avoiding the area where the stone was embedded, so that when he used his Fists of Destruction skill, it wouldn’t also affect the stone.
The walls around it cracked after applying his Fists of Destruction skill, and then the purple rock fell into his hands. His Collector skill also highlighted the rock’s value.
The mages in front of them had also been paying keener attention, and when Aiden stopped for a second, they too had stopped to watch.
As soon as Aiden retrieved the second one, he sent it into his inventory instantly, which left the eyes of the mages watching in shock.
Karl had somehow expected that they would be the ones to find the next stone. However, seeing Aiden pick another Hermis Stone, especially when they themselves had been searching fruitlessly for hours, just made him snap.
He slowly walked toward Aiden and Arianna, and the mages behind him followed suit.
[Malicious Intent Detected in All Mages]
"Here they come," Aiden whispered to Arianna, who immediately tried to steel her resolve in anticipation of the mages that were, at this point, their enemies.
You could see the grimness of their faces as the four mages approached Aiden.
Karl then spoke: "You just found another... you know what? Hand them both over, and we can all be on our merry way back, nice and happy."
Aiden laughed almost sarcastically at their boldness.
Arianna was taken aback slightly as she had realized that it was really true when Aiden said that these mages were going to attack them for the stone.
"And if I refuse?" Aiden threw back a question with a taunting smirk.
"I don’t expect that you’re foolish enough not to realize that you are outnumbered," Karl replied as the other three mages spread out and started encircling them both.
"And who decided that?" Aiden said as he theatrically stretched both arms to the side. At this point, he used his self-duplication, which first made three avatars of himself appear behind the mages.
The avatars he made then used the same duplication skill and made three avatars each.
The nine newly made avatars also repeated the same thing, making three avatars each as well.
And like that, it kept going until the entire area around was filled with different copies of Aiden, who all had devious grins on their faces.
The mages of Dragonhold and even Arianna could not believe their own eyes.
The system also made two screens appear before Aiden;
[New Side Quest Assigned]
[Side Quest: Defeat The Malicious Mages Of Dragonhold]
[Rewards: ??]
[Bonus Reward: ??]
[New Special Quest Assigned
[Special Quest: Protect Arianna Greystone]
[Rewards: ??]
[Bonus Reward: ??]