A lot of students and faculty were gathered on the grounds as the ceremony began.

"Congratulations to Team RuRaRyRiRa for achieving the tremendous feat of conquering the Secret Realm: Wilmore of Shattered Sword!"

"For achieving first rank, all party members are rewarded with 100,000 Merit Points from Rainstar Institute and 100,000 Tier-3 Mana Stones!"

"Congratulations to Team..."

...

After the ceremony celebrating the top 10 teams was over, Rudrean and the others were called by the Head of the Arcane Crafts Department, Shaila Venery.

She was a slim and beautiful woman with vibrant orange hair, looking to be in her fifties, and adorning a witch-like outfit with a big hat.

"Before Elder Tyogi left, he instructed me to handle your resources." Elder Shaila smiled. "What you have right now is quite a treasure, if you don’t know already. The 10-star material called Geofray Starviel Clay can craft very fine and powerful weapons that can especially boost people with Light and Earth, and advanced elements related to those two significantly."

Chuckling, she added, "The institute already received several requests to sell it, and that too for a considerably high price. But I suggest that you sell it at the upcoming Ocean Melody Starfield Grand Auction in three days."

"It’s that hot of a commodity?" Aelira whistled. "Great."

Ryzen quietly relayed to everyone.

’A shit ton of money.’

"Well, I guess that one’s settled." Rudrean smiled and nodded. "Can we also give you the rest of the resources so you can get us the best price for them?"

He took out the ring and handed it to her.

"Of course. Leave it to me." Shaila nodded and took the ring. "In fact, this will be done while we are talking."

A girl in a white-blue uniform with long blond hair suddenly entered the room. She looked to be in her late twenties.

"Yes, ma’am?"

"Take this ring and sell the resources inside. I want 10% more than their current market price."

"Understood."

The girl left.

Shaila then led the group toward the door, which opened into a garden connected to the 100th-floor room of the tower.

"Let’s sit and decide what activity you’ll be doing next. As it happens, Lyra needs protection from certain people, so we’ll have to make sure your group is accompanied by a protection team." Shaila smiled and sat down at the table before gesturing for the others to do the same.

The group sat down.

"Will people never stop coming after me?" Lyra asked, her voice, which was usually flat, carrying a hint of annoyance.

Shaila smiled wryly. "For now, there are not many people who will come after you, and Elder Tyogi is working to ensure that more greedy people don’t find out about you."

Lyra nodded, her eyes flickering. "I am already grateful to Elder Tyogi. And when I get stronger, I can deal with them myself."

"Exactly." Shaila smiled.

[Isalyn: For us, it’s wise to stick with Lyra so we can stay under Elder Tyogi’s umbrella. He is a figure that anyone would think ten times before offending. We can progress with better freedom under him.]

’True. And this way, we can stay with Lyra more and help her.’ Aelira grinned. ’Right, darling?’

’Absolutely.’

"Don’t worry. We are also powerful, and we will make sure anyone who comes after Lyra doesn’t go back." Aelira announced with a cold smile.

"They will definitely not go back alive." Rudrean nodded, his eyes ruthless. "People who want to take lives should be prepared to lose theirs."

’These two are even more extraordinary than I thought.’ Elder Shaila’s eyes glinted.

"That’s right. They’ll have to go over our dead bodies before they can take Lyra." Ryzen snorted.

Rivera quietly nodded with determination.

Lyra looked at everyone, feeling ripples in her heart. "Thank you..." Her gentle white hands clenched tightly. "I will make sure your lives are not endangered because of me."

Elder Shaila smiled. ’Elder Tyogi, you have indeed found the right peers for Lyra.’

"I am glad to see this." She chuckled and said, "Now then, I have a suggestion if you don’t know what to do next."

"Please tell us." Rudrean nodded.

"Since your previous 10-star resource will be sold at the Ocean Melody Starfield Grand Auction, how about you take up a mission on one of the planets there? It’s for Core Genesis-stage students, so all five of you will also need to break through immediately."

Elder Shaila waved her hand as a magical screen appeared before everyone.

"This is the content of the mission."

[Protecting the Miasma Entrapped Towns]

Objective: Get assigned to one of the four Miasma Entrapped Towns and protect it from the monsters.

Miasma Level: 2

Duration: Until the Miasma Core is destroyed

Reward: 500,000 Tier-3 Mana Stones, 30,000 Merit Points

"Miasma Entrapped?" Rudrean blinked.

"It’s a phenomenon that has been active ever since the expansion of the Nihil Chasm." Elder Shaila informed them. "When the Nihil Chasm, which is also the frontline where both the Riglight Galactic Alliance and the Rophalo Galactic Empire spend most of their resources and wage war, appeared, it came with strange spatial films that would envelop fixed spaces anywhere and mutate them."

"Monsters would appear there, and various changes would take place. Most importantly, people inside, or those who go inside, cannot come out until the core maintaining the mutated space is destroyed."

"Oh..."

"That sounds horrible for normal people trapped inside."

"Yeah. We can do this mission."

Elder Shaila nodded, smiling at their response. "This Miasma film is at Level 2. Moreover, destroying the core also gives progression rewards. Strange resources also grow inside the mutated space, so there’s much more to gain than just the mission reward."

"That’s even better," Aelira said, her eyes sparkling. "We need a full, comforting vacation, so we’ll deal with this mission quickly and then splurge on some luxurious resort there to relax."

Elder Shaila chuckled. "Haha, that does sound fun. But you can relax first. There’s no urgency in the Miasma Entrapped Towns because many teams are already there, and everything is under control right now. You might not even get to do this mission if someone destroys the core tomorrow. But it will reach Level 3 in three days if not destroyed, and your team can surely find and destroy the core within a single day."

"Then that’s perfect. We’ll have a full day of enjoyment first." Rudrean smiled.

"Indeed." Elder Shaila got off the chair and gestured at an empty space, causing five mattresses to appear. "Since you five are here, I might as well help you with your breakthrough to the Core Genesis stage."

"Sit down, and I’ll guide you through the steps."