"This is quite an interesting weapon," Clark said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It seems almost impractical to use, though. As expected of our guild master."

"You are not wrong," Terry said. "Try to decrease its size and use some parts to reinforce the armor. See what you can do in a week."

"Yes, sir," Clark said.

Terry left the workshop, and he wondered what he should do. He took one of the prototypes just in case to level up for the day, but the portal was already being used and full with the hunters of his guild.

"I guess I will train on my own until the night," Terry thought.

As night fell, Terry decided to take matters into his own hands. He asked the guards who were protecting the portal to leave their posts temporarily and took on the task himself. He wanted to see if any monsters would show up during the night, and he was eager to test his newly acquired Water Manipulation ability.

Terry focused his mind on the water in the air, feeling its presence and its potential. With a thought, he began to manipulate the water molecules, gathering them together to form a small ball of water in his hand. As he concentrated, the ball of water slowly transformed into a sharp, icy arrow.

Pleased with the result, Terry continued experimenting. He found that he could control the water in the air to create various shapes and forms. However, he noticed that the more complicated the process, the more mana it consumed. For instance, transforming water into a simple ice arrow used only half the mana compared to shaping the water into more intricate structures.

As the week went by, Terry remained on alert, waiting for any signs of activity in the dungeon. However, to his surprise, nothing happened. There were no new portals or any indications of the presence of other overlords. Terry began to wonder if his initial assumption that all the portals were created by overlords was incorrect.

He decided to share his thoughts with Vanessa and Rebecca, curious to hear their opinions. The three of them sat together, discussing the possibility that not all the portals were created by overlords. Perhaps there were other reasons for the appearance of these portals, or maybe some of them were natural occurrences.

"It might be possible," Vanessa said. "Let’s say that someone who has a lot of knowledge and resources but doesn’t have a lot of power. Someone like that would make other species go at each other to make them lose manpower."

"I guess that makes sense... but it is hard to imagine such a thing," Rebecca said. "The overlords are supposed to be the strongest of their species, right?"

Terry found himself nodding in agreement with Vanessa’s theory. The idea that some third party might be orchestrating the appearance of portals to watch humans facing other species was certainly unsettling, but it made sense. It could explain why some portals led to worlds that apparently didn’t have overlords ruling over them.

The thought of being manipulated like pawns in a grand game bothered Terry. It meant that the challenges they were facing were not just random occurrences but part of a larger scheme. Someone or something was pulling the strings from the shadows, and the portals were just the means to set the stage for this interdimensional conflict.

In any case, during that week, Terry also thought of what he could do to increase his chances against the overlords. Relying on help or almost dying against them all the time was a no-go.

Terry understood the limitations of his magic skills. While he possessed great power with his Flame Swords and Water Manipulation, he also knew that his mana was finite. He couldn’t continuously train with his magic, as he needed to conserve enough mana to protect himself and his allies during battles.

Instead, Terry decided to focus on improving his magic skills during downtime between fights. He would charge up his armor by defeating monsters and then use that stored mana to practice his magic abilities. This allowed him to experiment with different techniques and develop new strategies without draining his mana too quickly.

On the eighth day after his return, Terry went to the communications room with Rebecca and Vanessa to talk with the other guild masters. Louis was nowhere to be seen, so that was a breath of fresh air.

In any case, each guild master told the other three portals that they believed that they should close. Naturally, they were close to their territories, but in the end, they argued for a while and voted on one that they should start with. Since it was also an experiment, they decided to go with one that seemed easy... a goblin’s dungeon.

"Thanks to the votes of Hector, Roger, Lucy, Natalia, Kai, Joan, Vincent, Mary, Dean, and Samuel, we will depart to deal with the goblins’ dungeon in Kansas City," Vanessa said. "The difficulty level seems low, so only the three of us will go. According to the duration time, number of enemies, and the power level of the possible overlord, we might have to consider our options regarding our choices and assumptions."

Terry remained silent as he assessed the situation. The truth was, they were in a bit of a bind. His armor wasn’t ready for use, and his weapon was still being refined. While he had great combat abilities, he knew that having his full arsenal at his disposal would make a significant difference in their chances of success.

As much as he wanted to charge ahead and take on any challenge that came their way, Terry understood the importance of being well-prepared. Without his armor and weapon at their peak performance, they were at a disadvantage against powerful enemies like the trolls or potential overlords.

"I guess we will use the prototypes that I leveled up and my old weapons as well," Terry thought once the meeting was over.