Picking up Girls With My System

Something felt off about the place they were in. Arthur felt someone was watching their every move, waiting for them to make a mistake and then punish them.

Maybe it was just his head playing tricks on him, but Arthur was someone that believed in his instincts.

All the others only thought the place was weird, dangerous, and nothing more. Even Rolf, who was someone from a higher realm, felt that way, too.

“Am I over-thinking?”

The more they went toward the volcano, the fewer people were with them, and most of those who died were from the Doom Order, although its weak members.

“What type of beast is that?” One of them said.

“An ancient beast! This place is older than we thought.” Arthur said.

He was someone who read lots of books, so it was not strange for him to know about an ancient beast, but what was strange was why something like that was there!

An ancient beast was akin to a dragon in terms of rarity, and supposedly these types of beasts were not around anymore, and could only survive in specific locations.

The beast that Arthur and the others met was a giant eye with tentacles around it. Creepy.

It was not a powerful beast, though. That was the only good thing about it.

Arthur took the lead and faced the beast alone while everyone else rested near a dead tree. It was not troublesome for him to end the life of that creature, and he did it flawlessly.

“We are still so far away. Fuck.” Rolf said.

Just like before, the more they walked towards the volcano, the further it felt. Arthur was sure it was not an illusion of any kind. The volcano was just far, that’s it.

But how could a dimensional space be so big? Even George, who was still watching everything from Arthur’s perspective, was shocked.

“Arthur. I risk myself to say that maybe whoever created this place could be in the sixth or seventh mage rank! That is an existence capable of destroying this entire planet, like literately cast a spell and destroy the whole star!” George said.

He was always sharing the mighty of strong mages, but it always felt like a dream to Arthur. Someone capable of destroying a planet? It was something in a completely different realm from where he was at that point, and who knows if George was only overreacting?

“Let’s keep moving!”

They rest only for a short time before continuing their journey toward the snowy volcano. One thing that made them believe they were getting closer to it was the cold.

After each step closer to the volcano, it got colder and colder. Not a nice feeling to have, but one they had to endure in order to reach their goal.

Other type of beasts appeared to attack them, and some even threated Helga, who was saved by Signy, showing her power after increasing her rank.

Arthur watched everything and gave her a thumbs up. She smiled at it, and a feeling of happiness erupted inside of her, although it only lasted a moment inside a place like the one they were in.

In all the fights that happened, Arthur did not move to help anyone from the Doom Order, and only did that to save his group.

Rolf did not help his own group. For him, they were just tools to reach his goal, and there was nothing wrong with it.

He was not even from that planet or realm, and his view of these weak humans was different. The only ones that meant something to him were official mages, or someone from a bloodline family, like Arthur.

Even if the members of the Doom Order disliked that, no one could do anything inside that place, and if they got out of it, Rolf would leave with his treasure anyway, so the Doom Order was basically over.

Arthur was watching a few members of the Doom Order fight against some beasts, but when he scanned his surroundings, looking at the ground just beside him, he was shocked.

Everyone else would not see it, or sense it, but he could. It was a blue energy, the same one that those powerful figures had. The celestial energy.

It was only a small amount, and the only reason for Arthur to sense it in the first place was because it was really close to him.

“Why is it here?”

Nothing showed that those celestial beings created this place, so why was that in there? Arthur’s own celestial energy had a drawn back after he got seriously injured when using all of it, and it was still in need to recover.

So, he moved his hand towards that small amount of energy and absorbed it. Nothing happened, but it was still something for him. Perhaps if Arthur found a large amount of it, he could recover his celestial powers back.

George saw everything, and could not help but to ask, “Arthur, what did you see?”

Arthur was not sure if he should tell George about it. Even though he looked friendly and was helping him a lot, the only way for Arthur to truly trust him was to meet the whole Monlog family and see if they were good people.

“Nothing. My eyes were just imagining things. George, is it possible that the person who created this place is still around?”

“This… Look, the only reason for someone that strong to be here is, either there is something incredible on this planet that he wants to get, or he is injured and cannot leave this place. The other possibility is that is already dead, and only this place remained.”

“I see.”

So George did not discard the possibility of the entity who created that place to still be alive, and that was a problem considering Arthur had just seen traces of celestial energy.

Based on what Arthur had learned so far, these people that called themselves ‘gods’ were just strong mages that reached an unimaginable realm of power. But the strangest part was that no one except these selected individuals could use the celestial energy.

Was it something that only someone who reached a high level of power could use, or something that someone used to reach a high level of power?

Still, having a trace of that mysterious energy inside a place like that one was not something good. Perhaps it meant whoever created that place knew how to use the celestial energy, and maybe was still alive!

If it was still alive and had a small part of its power, everyone was dead, even Arthur. The difference in power was too much.

Arthur was thinking about all of that while the Doom Order was fighting some beasts and losing more of its members. Only three members remained, making the atmosphere tense, and even Rolf was getting anxious.

“Arthur,” Rolf said, leaning closer to Arthur to whisper into his ear.

“Do you think we will make it? The beasts are getting stronger the close we get to the volcano, and I am sure the inside of it will be the most dangerous place so far.”

“Well, it is not like we can get out. The entrance we used is closed, and during all the way we traveled there was nothing but dead vegetation and beasts. I am afraid the only way out of this place is inside the volcano.”

“Tsk.”

Rolf was not dumb, and had already guessed that, but could not believe it. Only after hearing Arthur was he sure their situation was truly not good.

He was not that afraid to die, as it would only mean his consciousness would return to his main body in another realm, but all the work he had put to find the treasure would be gone, and the members from his family, as well as the Monlog family would not be happy with his work.

So, no matter the cost, he had to make the mission work.

“Look, honestly, the members that died were weak, and everyone else that remained has a decent power. If we work together from now, then we can reach the volcano without problems. The only problem lays inside of it, as we do not know what we will face there.” Arthur said.

Everyone listened to it carefully and nodded their heads. It was not a time to fight against each other, and even Arthur, who was not someone that wanted to help the Doom Order, would do it from that point in forward.

He had witnessed the power of the beasts that attacked them, and some had the power of a seventh circle mage. Things were getting harder, and if he did not help, then maybe even Rolf would die before reaching the volcano.

Arthur knew he would reach it with minor problems, but the knowledge Rolf had may be crucial after they reached that place, so he had to stay alive no matter the cost.

“Now that we are all on the same page, let’s go. We will get treasures and leave this disgusting place with our lives!” Rolf said.

The morale of them increased, and they marched forward toward the volcano, not knowing that an existence was watching their every move with a smirk.