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A MYSTERIOUS ANOMALY

Saluso lo Lastrekl sped his way through the thick mud of the Great Lake shore side.

He was a lizardmen after all. Their home was the marshlands. However, the way Saluso sped through the mud was extraordinarily fast.

His teammates, Zerion Fosfe and Fafsu ta Refusten, were unable to catch up to his pace.

"Sal..uso *pant* can.. *pant* you run any slower *pant*?"

"Yah *pant* dude... *pant* we can't ... cat ... ch up!"

"You guys are too slow."

For long Saluso had been one of the fastest lizardmen in his tribe. It was said that no one had ever beaten him in a sprinting competition.

Saluso slowed down his pace.

"If you guys keep on lagging behind, who knows what lord Cocytus would do to us?"

Zerion plopped onto the floor following Saluso's question.

"But isn't this a scouting mission?"

"Yeah, it's not like we're really in any hassle or some sort right now!"

"Man I really crave for some fish right now!"

You guys ... How'd you two even become my teammates anyways?

Saluso let out a sigh. Sure, this was just a normal scouting mission in his homeland, but following the destruction of the Re-Estize Kingdom, neighboring human and demi-human countries had started to tense up. It's hard to not say that they were constantly in danger.

And that's why scouting missions like these were important. It was to make sure that the perimeter was free of possible conflicts between the Sorcerer Kingdom and the other nations.

"Alright, Zerion, Fafsu. Y'all rested enough. Time to get up."

"Aww but we only rested for like 3 minutes!"

Saluso shot a glance at Fafsu as he whimpered upon seeing him.

"Now, shall we continue?"

It was then that they heard an ominous sound looming behind them. Their expression became tense.

Has an enemy finally appeared on the borders of the Great Lake?

"Be ready for anything. Run if we must"

Zerion and Fafsu nodded in agreement. "Of course, team leader."

In battle formation, they holstered their spears and turned around, expecting some sort of attack. However it wasn't what they expected.

It wasn't an army, or a powerful figure. Heck, it wasn't even a living thing. Instead it was an eerie purple circle swirling like a whirlpool. Its size was comparable to a ship container, along with giving off an ambient noise like that of a horror movie.

"...What is that thing?"

Zerion decided to give it a poke with his spear.

"BAKA ZERION! WHAT IN THE NAME OF AINZ ARE YOU DOING?"

Instead of reacting like a physical being, the mysterious object seemingly let the spear pass through itself like air. However, from the opposite side of the object, the spearhead was nowhere to be seen.

This made Saluso curious.

"Could this be...a portal?"

Fafsu exclaimed, "A portal? I thought only magic casters with immense mana could do such a feat!"

"Yeah! Portals can't just appear out of nowhere!" Zerion retracted his spear from the anomaly.

"Shut! We still don't know what it is, but for now be on high guard! We have no idea what it may do!"

Saluso gave a hand signal and the trio slowly backed away from the object.

"We need to report this to Sharyusu-sama quickly." Saluso muttered.

"But our scouting mission..."

"Do we tell him that it's a 'portal' like you assumed?"

"I don't know..." Saluso shook his head. "But I assume the higher-ups would figure it out for themselves. For now let's just finish our duty."

And with that the three ran as fast as they could back to the village.


In a large wooden hut, the trio sat on the dirt floor, anxiously staring at the figure in front of them.

The figure, Sharyusu Shasha skimmed over the three lizardmen that approached him without notice.

"So, what business do you have with me?"

Saluso began to speak, "Well, Sharyusu-sama, me and my 'companions' seemingly found what we believe to be a portal-like object."

"Hey! What do you mean by 'companions'?"

"Yeah! Don't treat us like nothing!"

Sharyusu's forehead popped a vein. "Silence, you two!"

The two almost immediately became quiet.

Sharyusu sighed, scratching his head. "How big was it?"

"It was—"

"Really big! The same size as the huts we build on the Wetlands!"

Zerion butted into the conversation without notice.

"—hey … can you not interrupt my report?"

He glared at Zerion intensely.

" … sorry."

Zerion shrunk back to his position.

Sharyusu pondered for a bit and handed them a wooden tablet with some words written on it.

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I wish you three to execute this mission."

"Yes, Sharyusu-sama!"

The three stood up from their positions and slowly exited the hut, looking over the wooden tablet.


Saluso smacked both Zerion and Fafsu on their heads.

"What in the hell were you guys thinking, acting like that?"

"Well, Saluso, it was technically your fault for mocking us." Zerion babbled.

"Yeah, Saluso, your fault!"

The trio argued like that for the rest of the day, nonstop