They arrived at a tall structure known as The Dungeon of Water. It’s a round yellowish tower. The four are walking on the first floor, each floor isn’t that long in length, but with a tower-like look, there should be around 5-6 floors. They’ve spent a fortune renting this dungeon for one day and wanted to make the money back with, of course, some profits.

The luggage carrier they hired seems to be an ordinary guy. He introduced himself as Rioul — a D-Rank Spell Caster. While a D-Ranking adventurer can certainly make a fair amount doing hunting commissions; spell casters aren’t very trusted. They can use a wide range of high-ranking spells at a low rank, there’s rumors about an F-Rank spell caster being able to cast an A-Ranking spell. But the cost spell casters needs is tripled the amount of mana — say, a mage or sorcerer normally needed, plus the fact that they need some time to chant and cast their abilities making them very vulnerable and need proper protections. It’s a wise choice for this guy to work a boring one-time job, but seems too laid-back even when carrying two heavy backpacks in an unknown dungeon, look he’s whistling!.

They’re passing through the first floor with no problem. Rina constantly uses her naturally bright eyes's power to scout ahead for wandering skeletons. Going with her ability to manipulate wind in her favors; Rina can shoot an arrow and control it so that it dodges wind/air monocules on the path, significantly minimizing the damage drop off from firing far distances. The only thing her team saw is Rina stretching her bow, fires and bone clacking.

They passed the first floor with ease, on the stairs leading to the second floor — there are shiny blue crystals stuck to the ground and walls, they seem to give off a good amount of mana energy just by standing near them.

"Alright Rioul, our pickaxes." Pearl said, picking a small crystal off the wall.

These are mana crystals/gems. Treated like unofficial currency of the adventuring world — the more you have these, the better; and they sell for a pretty good amount in large quantities.

The four started using their pickaxes to mine these, it's not that tiring considering standing near them fills you with energy, but it's still boring and tough.

They'd rather not do this because there might be monsters with good loot on the way, but in the off chance there aren't — they won't leave empty handed. Adventurers can't live with bread and salted water alone you know.

"Can I, in anyways, help?" Rioul the luggage carrier asked, feeling kind of ashamed for resting.

"It's okay, you helped enough carrying our luggage, don't think about it." Marc said, smiling and waving it off, even though they paid the guy; Marc considered that helping.

"I won't turn down that offer though, mind helping this weak, defenseless, exhausted woman?" Rina said, handing the pickaxe over.

'Lady, we saw you killing more than 30 skeletons and clearing the first floor of a dungeon all by yourself.' Rioul thought, but giggled it off and started helping.

Meanwhile, at town…

"And here's an old picture of me and Mister Chup when we went vacation fishing  for our 15th anniversary, the artist who drew this was such a nice lady." Miss Chup said in a nostalgic voice, smiling and rubbing Esmeralda's head down to her back.

"Eek."

"Ooh yes you're right. Mister Chup isn't back yet, how long can buying some snacks for our little Veldrielynth be? He must be drinking again."

"Krik!"

"Yes! Countries have rules and families have standards, I'll teach the old man a lesson when he's home."

Back to the team…

After cleaning out the vase of crystals, everyone continued on the second floor. Mei — being a natural in fire and air magic, lit up the burnt out torches on the wall by just one swift staff motion.

…

Woot

Rina quickly charged an arrow and shoots it forwards. Everyone heard an echoey splash and things went silent again.

"Good news, our first good enemy. Bad news, it's water." Rina smiles

"Literally?" Mei asked

"Literal water." Rina confirmed.

Everyone silently admires all water in the ground, air and even some from Rioul's water bottle all formed up into one big tall body, the body of water then proceeds to leave a big ROAR signifying its unhappiness towards them.

"I never knew these existed." Rioul said

Mei then explains to him, as she and Pearl stood side by side:

"When enough elemental energies become life form and merge together, it can act like a living being" She said, which he understood a bit "A small amount of elemental energies all goes together can be a elemental crystals, which can be obtained and used to make potions. The more elemental energies that get together, the more dangerous and powerful they become, you can take elemental slimes, blocks, spirits,... and in one occasion in all of history, a living thinking entity, similar to humans. This watery thing we're seeing right here is a spirit. We'd like to call it Water Spirit. And don't mistake it for spirits that give you power and fly around while being translucent, this thing right here slam you. Hard"

"Enough with the schooling, we've practiced this, let's bring it down and proceed." Pearl said as he pulled a magical wooden staff out of thin air.

dash

Marc with his sword in a ready stance, immediately rushed towards, facing with the spirit. His sword sliced down right through the spirit's leg, which did nothing, the sword passed through the spirit's water body like it was trying to cut air, pointless and a waste of stamina. Or is it?

"I'm in position, quick, throw me the potion." Marc says, as he blocked a punch from the spirit. The thing works like Obito from Naruto, if you touch it first it's pointless, unless it touches you then you counter attack which Marc did.

Rioul dropped the backpacks down to search for the potion, it's in the same compartment as medical supplies. Medical supplies such as bandages work like cheap potions for small wounds so they didn't bring much.

"Catch!" Rioul said as he threw the half red half blue potion towards Marc, which Marc successfully grabbed, he then pushed the spirit backwards, opened the cap and chugged the potion whole.

"This doesn't… No man, the thin one!"

“Oops”

Consumer: Marc Omal
Potion: Vaporizer
Effect: Significantly improve the effectiveness of fire damage you cast towards water and vice versa.
Time left: 5 minutes

"Aw, that was meant for me." Pearl facepalmed himself.

"My bad, my bad, my bad."

Rioul then picked another one that looked like the other one, but thinner and had a smaller lit. Threw that at Marc.

Consumer: Marc Omal
Potion: Vaporize Resistance.
Effect: Significantly reduces the damage taken from vaporize effect.
Time left: 5 minutes.

"Pearl, Mei, right now!" Marc called out.

"Elemental Spell: Fireball"

"Elemental Spell: Fireball!"

Mei and Pearl both called out

Using their tank as a bait to hold off the spirit, letting him drink a vaporize resistance potion, then use fireballs to charge the spirit, the spirit's body is water so when water meets fire, it goes sizzle, vaporized.

The two fireballs flew at a medium speed, midair they merged into each other, creating one bigger ball, a miniature sun.

"Go back to the sewer." Marc smirks

"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" The spirit screamed in pain as the two powerful fireballs flew right into its torso.

Steam from the evaporation flew all over the place, covering the entire floor. Which is only wide enough for 10 people.

“Cough”

"Damn, that still aches." Marc said as he backed up towards the team, a bit of his armor got brighter or got water on it.

They all got a laugh from that, especially about how Rioul wasted a perfectly good potion.

"Alright let's move ahead, we still haven't got any good loot."

"Hey, I can feel something." Rina said, as her eyes squinted, looking at the place where the spirit presumably died.

They all walked towards the steamy fog left by the vaporize session.

"What's that on the ground?" Pearl noticed something.

A blob of hard water is on the ground, almost looked like an ice slime, Mei picked it up to check the stats:

Item: Elemental Spirit's Solid Water.
Rank: B
Rarity: Epic
Direct consumption of this item will help the user wield the full power of Water Elemental Spirit for one hour. Can increase its ability if used differently, methods unknown.

Only drops if there is one or more powerful being(s) nearby.

"I have never seen this before." Pearl said in a bit of confusion.

"Direct consumption... Do we have to drink this? After it's been on the ground?" Rina said with a disgusted expression.

"This thing seems more powerful than what meets the eye." Marc said, I gave the item to him.

"How so?" Rioul asked

"Think of it like this, if it said "wield the magic power of...", only magic users can use it. If it said "wield the physical form of..." then there would be a lot of problems such as how to control yourself if you turned into water." Marc explains what he thought.

Mei blinks rapidly in amazement, she then adds:

"You can wield the full power of the Water Elemental Spirit, which means there's no problem controlling it right? And for one hour, that's more than enough to cause havoc in a city."

"You guys seem to take down the thing pretty easily though." Rioul continues on asking.

"The spirit we fought is nothing, only things it knows is rage, this dungeon and killing." Rina steps on the ground as she's stepping on the thing.

"If an experienced combat user, preferably an Assassin, got their hand on it, they can dodge the fire magic easily, or smarter yet, create holes in the water and let the fireball fly right through it. Then what to rely on? Swords and arrows that passed through water?" Pearl says, as he looked at Rioul.

"Wait, but how about the last line?" Marc's still trying and analyze the item's potential, looks at the last description, confused.

Only drops if there is one or more powerful being(s) nearby.

"Does that suggest..."

There is a powerful being nearby. Or more.

"What should we do then? Are we powerful enough to face off a powerful being?" Mei asks, as she saw Rioul putting the item in their backpack, in the loot compartment.

"We barely made any progress, we have to head forwards." Pearl answers

"Any progress? This blob of water we got maybe worth more than my entire life savings!" Mei immediately refuses to take that as an answer.

"What are you, crazy? Are you suggesting we should sell this powerful item to some sketchy black market dudes for like 5.000 gold coins? And regrets as cities are getting destroyed and lives in ruins when they know how to use the power to its fullest?" Pearl starts arguing with Mei.

Can increase its ability if used differently, methods unknown.

"Why is the first thing you think of is illegal merchants? You're always like this, stop being so paranoid! We could sell it to the Adventure Guild too. They probably can keep it better than we could ever do!" Mei exclaims back at Pearl.

"Calm down..." Rina tried to stop them.

"The Adventure Guild? Those disdainful idiots that once took our Rare wind crystals because they seem to be "illegal and stolen"? Yeah THAT Adventure Guild? The one that probably will take credit for this Epic item?" Pearl, now getting closer, expresses his worries.

"Oh so that's worse than move forward, probably witnessing a dragon or an invincible lich that will tear us down in a matter of SECONDS!" Mie, who is not afraid to confront the tall guy, stands right in front of him.

"Captain, can I shoot these two?" Rina turned around and asked Marc.

"How would there be dragons and Liches in a castle-type dungeon? Fine! Rioul, bring the item outside, bury it 6 feet deep somewhere, then we'll proceed, if anything bad happens, I'll take responsibilities." Pearl looked over to me.

"Like if you will!" Mei grabs Pearl by the shirt "We fought for it, it's a one of a kind item! If we're not selling it, at least we have to keep it and we are not getting rid of it. Who knows if the water from that thing will leak into the earth and make a more powerful monster or not? And you? Pearl Magmal, taking responsibilities? I have a better chance of solo killing a dragon!"

"That's enough! Pearl Magmal and Mei Magmal, I order you two to stop at once." Marc got in the middle where Mia and Pearl are exchanging death stares and giving out murderous vibes.

Rina tries to pull Mei to a side and calm her down, so Rioul did the same with Pearl, telling him they'll get around this.

...

After a brief minute of silence, Marc gives out a sigh, gathers everyone and gives a speech.

"Okay, I suggest this, Rioul, you bring that powerful item and bury it somewhere outside, don't bury it deep, bury it somewhere we could find if we manage to get out. While that you're still bringing our luggages with you."

"The four of us will go deeper, after you finish burying the thing, try and catch up, and if you see us dead. Run, just run as fast as possible, there's a piece of paper that shows how to contact our relatives in the food compartment."

"If we manage to succeed getting more loot in this dungeon, we at least can make some money, we don't have to sell it and we can think of a way to use it later."

Marc then looks over to everyone else.

"Anyone have any suggestions?"

Meanwhile…

"And that's the story of how the old man became the mayor, ah such delightful memories…"

“Hiek!” Which translates to ‘I love your stories grandma!”

The door opens and there, an old man in his 70s with a humpback walks in — took out his coat, hung it and put a bag of cookies on the table.

“Do you happen to know anyone by the name Esmeralda?” He asked.

Miss Chup opened the bag, then gave Esmeralda a bite of cookie.

“No?” She said, a bit confused.

Marc introduced Esmeralda as Veldrielynth, so these two only knew her as Veldrielynth. They have no clue about who Esmeralda is.

‘Damn mom, at least tell them my real name too.’ She thought, quietly munching on the cookie.

Back to the team again…

“Why is there a demon on the second floor of a castle!” Pearl exclaimed.

As soon as they almost reach the end of the second floor. A winged demon holding an old book was waiting for them.

Demons are like other creatures — they have feelings and thoughts, but as time flies and stigma flew, demons are known for being the ugly of the non-human society. They were born in hatred and being hunted day and night. This demon is a mindless one, living in this dungeon waiting for potential victims, knowing only blood and agony.. Or it’s a plot convenience.

“Elemental Spell: High Voltage Electricity!” Mei said, as she swung her staff across and aimed at the demon who was sitting still and staring at them. Her hair stood up and her clothes were getting covered in a purplish light.

“Magic Spell: Beam of Agony.” Pearl frowned a bit to try and concentrate, then from the tip of his staff he shot out a white beam that is as big as the demon’s head.

“Elves Vision: Heaven Piercing Arrow.” Rina’s eyes lit up, her hair rapidly swirled as air flew through, the arrow she got charged up is covered with a white/greenish feel. It’s impossible to describe. The moment she let go of the arrow, it pierced deep into the demon’s skin before a sound could be heard.

“Longsword Move: Void Cut!” Marc pierced the sword towards the demon as it got covered in a dark mist, not like his Divine Slash move, this slice requires less strength and a bit weaker, but it’s still a fairly dangerous cut.

All that combined. Did nothing to the demon.

“Wha-” Mei shook her head to fix the stood up hair, then wide opened her eyes in shock.

“Viec...pala...u mak...ka.” 

The demon opened its book and chanted something almost audible.

“Urg…”

“Ah…”

The four of them all held their head — as they felt as if their mind is burning in pain, their soul is being torture deep inside. The team kneel down, trying to hold in as best as they could.

“We have to go, now or never…” Pearl said as he saw some blood spilled out from his sister’s nose. “Look upwards, Mei, don’t let it flow out.”

"Tch"

In his surprises though, Marc took out a potion from his hip bag, it’s a crimson red mixed with some purple colored thin potion.

“Is that… Marc, are you out of your mind!" Rina said, trying to grab the thing from him.

"Rina Wenswood, you remembered "The oath of The Freedom Group" right?"

"Yes, but you're not going to force me to listen to a dumb order!"

Marc stayed silent for a moment, looked at her normally bright eyes which are now turning red from pain.

He then threw his longsword to the ceiling of the dungeon floor and drank the potion.

Consumer: Marc Omal
Potion: Explosive
Effect: Grants the consumer the ability to create explosions from their body or weapon.
Time left: 3 minutes

Marc then pushed Rina away towards Mei and Pearl behind him. Before she could understand what he's doing…

boom

The tip of the sword which was on the ceiling exploded, the part that was in range of the explosion collapsed down and split the team in two. On one side there is Marc and the bored demon, on one side there is the rest of his team, now uneffected by the spell of the demon.

"Marc, you're insane, we're getting out of here! Quick, help me dig this." Mei said, frantically trying to move the rocks in the way, piece by piece. Rina then puts her hand on Mei's shoulder, stopping her.

"The oath of The Freedom Group." She said.

"Our dumb leader… he probably created that just for this situation…"

Meanwhile at Marc's…

Boom

Boom

"Ah...that hurts"

Marc charged at the thing, using both of his hands to create explosions to try and hurt the thing which to no avail. The demon shook its head in disappointment as burnt marks are left on Marc's hand, he can't even pick his sword up.

With little respect left for the brave man, the demon pulled out a big scythe from the book and swung it at Marc.

"I'm sorry Vel, can't buy you the chicken skewer I promised."

Thud

Blood spilled, head fell down to the ground.

"Huh?" Marc looked up to see thr demon head got cut clean in half and fell to the ground. A man is standing next to it.

"Oh, hey Rioul, forgot about you." Marc laughed. "How is outside?"

"See it for yourself." Rioul said, as Marc began to heal up.

Meanwhile outside…

"Come on Pearl, you're the man here, and we're out of tissue." Rina said, wiping some tears off of Pearl's eyes which he tried his best to hold in.

She then looked over at Mei, who was sitting on grass facing the other way, hiccuping.

… Their loss is immeasurable.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." A voice coming from the step of the dungeon, carrying 2 backpacks and a water blob on hand. It's Marc.

"M...Marc?" Rina said, shocked and unable to react.

"You fool! Don't ever do that again." Without a question, Mei immediately wiped her eyes and jumped in to give Marc a hug.

Rina quietly stood by then gave Marc a punch on his shoulder.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

"Pushing me, that isn't something to do towards a woman ya know?"

"Ar...are you a ghost?" Pearl asked, it took him a while to hide his tears from Marc.

"A ghost can't walk, talk and be touched right?" Marc answered while giggling like a girl.

…

One hour later, they arrived back home with a bag full of skewers on hand, not mentioning the backpacks Pearl and Mei are carrying.

"Home sweet home~" Marc happily walks towards the town mayor's house with a chicken skewer on hand, preparing to give it to Esmeralda.

"Miss Chup are you there?" He knocked on the door.

"Oh my heavens… Marc… She's gone, they took her." Miss Chup opened the door, frantically sweating and shaking.

"What are you talking about? Where's Veldrielynth?" Marc said, not dare to think at the worst possible case.

"A group of four… They slammed in and took her! They went to the city."

Marc's eyes wide opened and turned soulless. He dropped his skewer on hand.

"Did they tell you who they are?" Rina who is behind Marc asked. In which she shook her head.

"Miss Chup, take care of our luggages. We're going for Veldrielynth."

"Can we at least call her Esmeralda? I can't pronounce that other word." Rina scratched her head.