“Why is it so dark inside this forest?” Sergio muttered beside him as he shivered. “This is one godforsaken spot that even light abandoned.”


    “You’re an alchemist. Shouldn’t you be a little scientific?” Niki sighed as he looked at the trees. “If I remember correctly, these trees are called Greedy Trees. They absorb all the light around them, so everything beside them is dark.”


    “Woah,” Sergio looked around. “Can I make a potion out of these?”


    “There’s a potion for everything, the exception being the undiscovered ones.” Niki smiled as he used the words that Sergio told him before in his past life.


    “Bossman, do you also read Alchemy4U?” Sergio grabbed him in excitement, and Niki gritted his teeth.


    “Yeah, I saw you reading it. Let go of me now.” Niki said and saw Sergio’s expression freeze before turning awkward.


    “That’s true. I should gather some ingredients since we’re here.” Sergio said as he walked toward a tree. Niki followed him with his eyes before taking out his gun.


    Niki fired while infusing the darkness into his shot. He felt the recoil of the bullet, but there was no sound nor sight of it. An air pressure passed by Sergio and struck the ground beside the tree.


    There was the sound of tearing flesh, which made Sergio’s body freeze. He turned toward Niki slowly as he pointed toward the tree.


    “Don’t worry. I killed it.” Niki said to him with a smile.


    Sergio nodded and gathered some leaves from the tree. He filled a bag, which Niki stored into Alias before the group resumed walking.


    The traces took them deep into the forest, but they disappeared after a while. Sergio tried taking off another piece of flesh, but there was no use.


    “Let’s try this.”


    Niki raised his hand, and the screw appeared, floating inside his darkness. He moved his dark mana and ced the screw inside the potion, and it lit up like the morning sun.


    “Such powerful elemental traces…” Sergio’s expression couldn’t hide his awe as he looked into the vial. “The traces are pointing… downward?”


    Sergio looked toward the ground, where the elemental traces were going disappearing. Niki frowned as he looked around and then downward.


    “A dungeon. This dwarf went into a dungeon and ended up taking out this screw, which possessed him and the people with him. The possessed people ended up killing the dwarf, who wasn’t possessed before his death. How does that sound?” Niki turned toward the two.


    ‘Why did they kill him?’ Yuxi gestured with a frown.


    “I think they saw something inside the dungeon, which he wanted to report to the dwarves,” Sergio said with a pondering face. “However, the entity didn’t want himself to be known.”


    “Sounds usible. Now, we need to prove it.” Niki nodded and closed his eyes. “Back away, as far as you can.”


    “Hm?” Sergio was confused, but Yuxi held his arm and pulled him away. The two stood far away from him as Niki raised his arms. He stood in the middle of the forest as the darkness left his body.


    Like fumes, the darkness surrounded him until Niki’s body could no longer be seen. It connected to the darkness of the forest, allowing him to sense the surrounding.


    “Found it.” Niki opened his eyes but found nothing but darkness around him. “Come back.” The darkness returned into his body, revealing the two people who stood a distance away.


    “Damn Boss, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but that power of yours is creepy.” Sergio shivered.


    Niki couldn’t understand what he meant as it was entirely different from what he felt. The darkness was the only ce he felt safe. His awakening brought about this change.


    Showing Sergio his darkness was fine. However, Niki couldn’t trust Yuxi, even if Sergio trusted her. That’s why when they get out of this ce, he’ll have to do something about her.


    Yuxi shivered when Niki’s eyes nced her way. The way they glowed in the darkness made him look like a monster rather than a human.


    “I found the entrance, but I think I should go in alone,” Niki said to them. “Dungeons are different from the real world. The monsters inside are stronger, and you need to be at least an F-ranker with a skill.”


    “It’s more dangerous if you go in alone. I can pass as an F-rank in terms of mana.” Sergio said with a frown. “I even have a skill.”


    “Analytic Eyes?” Niki smiled at Sergio, who tried to fool him.


    “Ah, no…” Sergio was taken aback before heposed himself. He tried to lie so that Niki would allow him to join, but he failed miserably.


    “Trust me on this one,” Niki said as he walked over toward the two. “I need you two to do something else in the meantime.”


    ***


    Niki looked at the cave that went down with a frown. He could feel that the being who possessed the dwarves was in this cave, lying in wait. However, it won’t be easy to find the entity behind this.


    ‘This dungeon is odd.’


    Niki’s instincts tingled. He wanted to know if going in was wise, but he was still a poor man with no Fate Points. The talent, Wise Choice, mighte more in handy than Niki thought before.


    He walked into the cave after making sure that Sergio and Yuxi weren’t following him. There were two reasons that he sent them away. One of them was for safety, and the other was because he wanted to use his full strength.


    The look of disgust that they had toward his darkness could never leave his mind. Niki knew that they didn’t feel this way toward him but toward the element itself.


    However, it was the same for Niki. His darkness was him the moment he awakened. Their reaction made him sure that he could never reveal his actual race to ordinary people.


    He reached the end of the cave, where a circr doory. The door had several cores lining it as if they were gems to decorate it. A mana pulse made Niki’s clothes flutter.