Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Five meters underground in Dragonbone City.

sewer.

Monica held up the magic stone, its cold light illuminating only a range of two or three meters around her.

Further ahead, there was an impenetrable darkness.

The air was filled with a pungent stench, a mixture of rotten, fishy, ​​and some other indescribable nauseating smell.

She covered her nose with the cuff of her mage's robe, but the smell still seeped in.

"Commander, should we continue forward?"

Ada's voice came from behind me, low and clearly tense.

Monica glanced back.

Ada gripped the sword, the veins on the back of her hand bulging.

Next to him was Old Tom, holding a shield, his forehead covered in sweat.

At the very back was Lily, the girl's face was deathly pale, and her hand holding the magic stone was trembling.

The Thousand Towers Adventure Team consists of four people.

She is a mid-level mage, specializing in water and earth magic.

Ada, a mid-tier lower-ranking warrior.

Old Tom, a mid-tier lower-rank shield warrior.

Lily, a low-ranking upper-level ranger, has just turned sixteen.

With this setup, they accepted a Class C sewer cleaning service.

Monica knew this request was beyond their capabilities.

The saleswoman tried to persuade her, Ada tried to persuade her, and old Tom tried to persuade her.

But she accepted it anyway.

Because she had a reason to accept the offer.

"Keep going."

Her voice was soft, but steady.

The group continued forward.

The sewer gets wider as you go further in, and the walls on both sides are covered with black stains, the source of which is unknown.

There was shallow puddles underfoot.

Each step made a squelching sound that carried far through the empty passage.

Monica was on edge.

Her magic flowed through her body, and she gripped her staff tightly.

It was an ordinary wooden staff.

The staff head is inlaid with a water-type magic crystal the size of a thumb, which she saved up for two years to buy.

"Commander..."

Lily's voice rang out again, choked with sobs.

"I'm scared..."

Monica turned around and saw that the girl's eyes were red.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something comforting.

But before he could finish speaking, old Tom suddenly raised his shield.

"There's movement!"

Everyone stopped.

The passageway fell silent, save for the sound of dripping water.

Tick.

Tick.

Then, Monica heard it.

Squeak squeak squeak------

The sound came from the depths of darkness, growing closer and more frequent.

It was like countless claws scratching at the stone wall, like countless mouths screaming at the same time.

When the light from the magic stone shone on her, Monica saw it.

A pair of blood-red eyes.

Densely packed, covering the sky and the earth.

It surged forth from the depths of the passage, like a black tide.

"It's a swarm of demon rats!"

Ada roared and gripped her sword tightly.

"Protect the monk!"

Old Tom stepped forward, shielding Monica.

Monica took a deep breath and raised her staff.

The incantation began to be chanted.

A pale blue light gathered at the tip of the staff, and magical fluctuations rippled through the narrow passage.

"Great water element, heed my call..."

Her chanting was soft, but it was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent passage.

The swarm of demonic rats drew ever closer, their blood-red eyes darting about in the darkness like countless death knells.

The first magic rat has already climbed onto Old Tom's shield.

The creature's claws gripped the iron shield, producing a harsh scraping sound.

Ada swung her sword and cut it down with one strike, but more were already surging forward.

Monica's chanting continued.

She can't stop.

Once the spell begins to be chanted, it must be interrupted.

If you want to cast the spell again, you have to start all over again.

And this is the mage's fatal flaw.

Casting spells takes time and requires concentration.

Her teammates need to use their bodies to buy her those few seconds or even ten seconds of space.

A mage without teammates to protect them is a lamb to the slaughter and a sitting duck in close combat.

Old Tom's shield was covered in magic rats, and those things were jumping onto him.

His leg was bitten several times, and blood was flowing down his trouser leg, but he didn't back down an inch.

"Hurry up, Commander!"

Ada's voice had changed, his sword swings were getting slower and slower, and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

Lily was shooting arrows from behind.

But her hands trembled so badly that the arrows she shot were crooked and unsteady; she was lucky if she hit the target once out of ten.

Several arrows nearly hit old Tom in the back.

Finally, Monica's chant came to an end.

The staff suddenly pointed forward.

"Water Magic - Torrent Impact!"

A jet of water as thick as an arm shot out from the top of the staff and crashed into the swarm of demon rats.

The first few dozen demon rats were hit by the water jet.

It was flung out like a rag doll, crashing into walls and slamming onto the ground, squeaking and squealing.

However, the water jet could only impact in a straight line, and the demon rats on both sides were completely unaffected and continued to surge forward.

Monica gritted her teeth and raised her staff again.

The incantation sounded again.

"O sublime god of the earth!"

"A wall of sand and stone stands here; it cannot be crossed!"

"......"

"Earth Magic - Stone Wall!"

boom.

A stone wall, about half a person's height, rose from the ground, barely blocking the passage.

The swarm of rats, held back behind the wall, frantically scratched at the stone wall, their squeaks deafening.

Monica was panting heavily, sweat streaming down her forehead.

Two spells, and she used up nearly half of her magic power.

But at least, it's temporarily blocked.

They are safe for now...

Ada plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

Old Tom leaned against the wall, his shield lying to one side.

Looking down to examine the wounds on my leg, I saw several deep ones where the bone was visible.

Lily crouched in the corner, hugging her knees and crying.

"Commander..."

Ada, panting, looked up at Monica.

"Why...why did you insist on taking this commission?"

His voice carried a mixture of confusion and resentment.

"It's clear that all we need to do is wait for you to become a high-level mage."

"Our guild doesn't need to do anything. We can just go to the guild to do a strength assessment and we'll be promoted to Silver."

"It's just silver, the guild won't be too strict about it."

Why do you have to take this risk now?

Monica did not answer.

She simply treated her wounds with bandages in silence.

Although teammates were blocking the most surging swarm of rats in front.

But a few managed to squeeze through the gaps and bite themselves.

Old Tom looked at her, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly spoke.

"Is it because of the City of a Thousand Towers?"

Monica's hand, which was wrapping her wrist with bandages, suddenly stopped.

Ada paused for a moment, then said, "The City of a Thousand Towers?"

Old Tom sighed.

"Monica is 17 years old this year."

"He's almost past the entrance age for the Thousand Towers City Magic Academy."

"If I miss the entrance exam in August."

"She may never be able to attend a magic academy in her lifetime."

Monica's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the bandage.

Old Tom continued:

"She wanted the Thousand Towers Adventure Team to reach Silver rank, not to take on any high-paying commissions."

"I want to prove myself in front of those gold adventure groups that make a fortune through illegal means."

"To prove she's qualified to join them and go with them to the City of a Thousand Towers."

Ada remained silent.

Lily stopped crying and looked up at Monica.

Monica lowered her head and, after a long while, spoke softly:

"My parents, in order to support me, this magical genius."

"They exhausted their family fortune and lived a life of poverty and hunger."

Her voice was very soft.

"I don't want to let them down, and I don't want their hard work to be in vain."

"I don't want to be a weakling, a weakling who was powerless to escape when the Black Tide was born."

"To become a rookie, unable to cross the wilderness, leaving one's parents' lives to be decided by fate."

"I want to become stronger."

"Therefore, I must go to the City of a Thousand Towers."

Monica's words silenced everyone.

A week ago, news of the Black Tide's emergence in the borderlands threw the entire Dragonbone City into chaos.

Dragonbone City is very close to the borderlands.

Separated only by the Dragon Bone Mountain Range, there is a considerable probability that it will become a target of the Kuroshio radiation.

Those high and mighty nobles and knights.

They are high-ranking, extraordinary adventurers whom even guilds have to avoid.

They had already fled with their families.

But they could only silently wait with their families for their fate to be decided.

Every day, I watch the distant movements with fear and trepidation.

No one wants to wait to die.

But they were too weak.

The members of the Thousand Towers Adventure Team fell silent.

Because of her talent, Monica still has a chance to become even stronger.

but.

People like Ellie and Old Tom are older.

Basically, one's entire life is spent at the intermediate level.

And Lily...

She was simply a handyman for the adventurer's group.

A silence fell over the room.

The passageway became quiet.

Only the squeaking of the demon rats in the distance and the muffled scratching of the stone wall could be heard.

Suddenly, old Tom abruptly raised his head.

"wrong."

His expression changed.

"Why is that sound coming from over there too?"

Monica was taken aback, then looked behind her.

The passage behind us leads into the depths of darkness.

Squeak squeak squeak------

Another sea of ​​blood-red eyes.

Densely packed.

A pincer attack from both sides.

Monica's face turned deathly pale instantly.

This is why even high-ranking Silver Adventurer Groups are unwilling to accept the sewer cleaning commission.

The Demon Rat is so weak that even an apprentice could crush it.

But they are everywhere.

You don't know which branch or pipe they'll emerge from, or when you'll be surrounded.

You think you've blocked the front, but the back has already been overrun.

Ada struggled to her feet and gripped her sword tightly.

Old Tom gritted his teeth and raised his shield again.

Lily held the bow, her hands trembling violently.

Monica gripped her staff, her magic power reduced to half.

There were rats in front and behind.

There is no way to retreat.