I Level Up Dragons with My Evolution System-Chapter 57: The First Mission

In a restaurant within the academy grounds.

"Ed, are you ready?" Aurora sat down across from Edward with a smile, holding a scroll in her hand.

"You called me here because a mission was issued for us. I came as soon as I finished training." Edward was still sweaty from the intense training session, but he had a smile on his face.

Finally... the missions had started to arrive.

"Instructor Mervan called me this morning to give us our temporary group’s first mission. When I saw it, I knew I had to consult with you, even though it’s a mandatory mission." She placed the scroll on the table and opened it.

Edward grabbed it and read the information. "Do we do these kinds of missions?" He looked perplexed.

The mission said: Kill a Merchant.

All the information was below, along with the reason for the mission.

"When it’s a traitor, we usually get these kinds of missions. But it’s not usual for them to give it to us, a temporary group that’s above average," she replied.

Edward nodded slightly. Killing a human... How complicated this was, morally speaking.

But it was explained in detail that he was a traitor to the kingdom, with close ties to Varhat. Apparently, he had actively participated in killings in border towns.

Edward moved his hand and took a newspaper out of his storage ring. It was a newspaper from four days ago.

The front page read: Mass Murder in Two Border Towns with Varhat, Internal Traitors Believed to be Involved. Will War Break Out?

The article that caught his attention mentioned that many had been burned with fire magic.

Now he had in his hand the information on the suspect or culprit responsible for that.

Looking at it that way, even though it was morally complicated, it was just to kill him... Although he felt strangely bitter about doing so.

But it was the first mission and it was mandatory. They had no other choice.

Edward returned the scroll to Aurora. "We’ll need to investigate first, to avoid killing the wrong person. I think Lander can take care of that."

Aurora smiled. "Although you appointed me leader of the group, I prefer you to come up with the strategies, so you’ll take care of it. I don’t have much confidence in my strategic abilities."

Edward laughed. "Don’t put too much faith in mine either, I’m not as good as you think."

"So when do we start?"

"Tomorrow," Edward replied. "I’ll talk to Arnold and Lander; we’ll meet tomorrow at dawn at the Hidden Moon Restaurant."

"All right, I like that place." Aurora stood up. "See you tomorrow. And don’t buy anything to prepare; I’ll take care of that. Save your money to learn and evolve your beasts."

Edward was stunned... Everything they needed to buy to prepare for this mission could easily cost ten thousand Yakins, even though it was relatively easy.

"It’s good to have a rich young lady in our group, now I see the benefits," he joked.

They both laughed before heading off in opposite directions.

--

"Hey, Edward." Arnold yawned exaggeratedly as he watched Edward get ready in the early hours of the morning. "Do you really want to do that mission?"

Edward didn’t take his attention away from what he was doing. "Do you want to turn down a mandatory mission?" he asked.

"Is that even possible?" Arnold sighed and shook his head. "But you can delegate it to another group. They call it subcontracting."

"But then we’d have to face more mandatory missions in the future," Edward replied. "They could be worse."

"I understand that, but you know..." Arnold lay back on his beanbag couch lazily. "Are you sure you can kill someone?"

Edward froze at that moment. "At some point, I’ll have to kill. And this time, I have the perfect excuse. On the Night of the Stars, I understood that this world is darker than it appears; there are always things happening in the shadows."

Arnold nodded and stared at him for a long time. "Well, I guess you’re right." He stood up. "Looks like I’ll have to go. It would be terrible if our leader ended up suffering mental shock just for killing a traitor."

Edward looked at him. "Have you killed before, Arnold?" he asked.

Arnold paused before opening the door to his room and shrugged. "As you say, this world is dark. But... it’s darker than you think. Soon you’ll begin to understand my words," he said, before entering his room.

"Don’t take too long. We still have to go to the Hidden Moon Restaurant, and it’s quite far away," Edward shouted.

Arnold couldn’t help but shout back, "Could you stop choosing such far-away places as meeting spots?"

The rest of the time was a disaster. Arnold was astonishingly forgetful, to the point that Edward had to carry everything so he wouldn’t forget anything.

Thirty minutes later, Edward, Arnold, and Lander Konan, the fourth member of the group, were traveling on one of the academy’s trains out of town.

After meeting that day at the Private Training Center in Academic City, they became good friends and even trained together. Although Lander was quiet, he was a good magician in the Perception Group, making him the perfect fourth member.

The train, which ran on magic and clearly did not belong in this era, traveled quickly to the territories outside the Underground City.

It was five in the morning when they arrived in the commercial district of the Middle Stratum. Given the hour, there were not many people walking the streets, so they were able to move quickly through the dark and desolate streets, whose only lighting came from the occasional lamps on some corners.

The Hidden Moon Restaurant was literally hidden among dark alleys and multi-story buildings.

"Welcome, gentlemen. Do you have a reservation?" A person greeted them at the entrance. It was a man wearing a period waiter’s uniform, who had several napkins in his hand.

"Can you tell Aurora Ashford that Edward is here?"

The man nodded. "Wait a moment," he said, before leaving.

A few minutes later, he returned. "Please follow me."

They were led to the second floor of the restaurant, where they entered room number 13.

Aurora was already waiting. Lander Konan tensed when he felt Aurora’s gaze run over his body... she was genuinely powerful, and whenever he saw her, she made him tremble.

Arnold, on the other hand, acted less lazy and more attentive.

"Are you ready?"

Edward smiled and sat down. "I’m always ready."