Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

They stared at each other for quite some time, not saying a single word. The three adventurers couldn't believe William was confronting them so directly like that.

To them, this could only mean one thing—William was incredibly powerful and confident in his own abilities. Was it really worth it to fight someone like him?

The leader of the trio gave a small smile. "Easy there, kid. I think we can come to some sort of agreement. No need to fight right now, right? We all want to get to the next floor of the dungeon."

William wasn't so sure. "Do we? Then why are you hiding information like this? Would you trust me if I were doing the same?"

"Well, when you put it like that... yeah, I guess we wouldn't," the man admitted. "But how about we sit down and talk this through? Maybe you're just misunderstanding things."

They all placed their weapons aside and didn't seem like they wanted to start a fight. William, however, kept Asura in his hands. They didn't complain. In the end, it was three against one—they wanted William to feel at least a little comfortable.

They sat around the fire, and the trio's leader began to explain.

"You've got it wrong," he said. "Yeah, we are hiding something from you, but it's not about the portal. What we found inside that cave is something else. As for the portal—we still don't know where it is."

William wasn't sure whether to believe them or not. But the cave was right there. If he really wanted proof, all he had to do was ask them to show him.

"And what's in that cave?" he asked.

The leader of the trio smiled. "Something important to us—even outside the dungeon: mana stones. The whole cave is full of them. And if we manage to dig deeper, there might be even more valuable stuff."

The first thing that came to William's mind was Jonas' mine. Mana stones were, without a doubt, extremely valuable. With them, you could get a lot of money and buy all kinds of things—magical items, houses, resources to level up faster, and of course, the best mode of transport to return to William's continent.

Whether he liked it or not, he wasn't exactly rich. He had a decent amount of money, but nothing close to what he'd need to afford a large ship with magical thrusters for speed—or a skilled crew to survive the magical sea monsters.

For that, he'd need much more money—and that mine in front of him suddenly seemed very valuable too.

"And you've been mining here? So where are your mana stones, then?" William asked.

The leader made a gesture with his hand, signaling him to wait. William stayed alert the whole time, not wanting to fall into any kind of ambush.

A moment later, the man returned from inside the cabin holding three bags. They were magic pouches—capable of storing far more than they looked like they could.

The actual capacity depended on the level of the magic pouch. Some could carry much more, others less. From the looks of it, these three were high-quality ones.

"We've already got a decent amount saved up. Take a look for yourself," the man said, handing one over.

William peeked inside—and sure enough, it was pretty full, and still had plenty of room for more.

"Impressive," he said. "And you're willing to let me join this expedition? I could use some money outside the dungeon too—and this seems like the perfect opportunity to earn a good chunk."

Deep down, though, the trio had no intention of sharing the profits with him, there was nothing they could do about it.

Now they had two options: let William join them in extracting the precious stones from the cave, or fight him and risk someone dying in the process.

No one was dumb enough to throw their life away. It made more sense to give up a small portion of the profits to keep things peaceful.

However, they had one condition."We'll split the profit with you," the adventurer said, "but your cut is yours alone—or yours and that woman's, if you choose to share. We're not giving her a separate share too. That would cut too deep into our profit."

William didn't even have to think about it. He hadn't known Rena for that long, and to him, getting enough money to return to his continent was way more important than giving her a portion of the mana stones.

"No problem," he replied.

The adventurer let out a sigh of relief. He had been worried he'd have to give up even more of his earnings, but that answer was exactly what he wanted to hear."The only issue now is that we don't have another magic pouch. And I doubt we'll find one for sale around here."

He assumed William didn't have one—but he did. William still had the magic pouch he had taken from Jinra's tomb, the one he was slowly unlocking as he grew stronger.

Even if he couldn't access all the treasures inside just yet, the pouch itself could still store a ridiculous amount of stuff. It was clearly a magical item of extremely high level.

"I've got one," William said casually.

When they heard that William had a magic pouch to store the mana stones he'd collect, the trio looked visibly disappointed. They were cunning, after all.

What they had really hoped for was that William didn't have one—because that would force him to go find or buy one, which would delay his participation in the mining. All they wanted was a little more time without him. But that wasn't going to happen.

Still, despite how they felt, they responded in a friendly tone.

"That's great to hear! Want to take a look inside the cave? You're gonna be impressed," the leader said with a grin.

William gave a nod and followed them, heading toward the cave entrance right next to the cabin they'd been living in. The mouth of the cave was already massive, but the inside was even more awe-inspiring.

The only light source came from a few magical torches the trio had set up along the path.

"We've only been exploring bit by bit," the adventurer explained. "Most of this cave is still a complete mystery to us. And honestly, we have no idea what kind of dangers might be waiting deeper in."

"And what kind of dangers have you run into in this cave so far?" William asked.

He wanted to understand more about the place, since he had just arrived.

"A few magical beasts here and there, but nothing too strong. Just small ones we could handle without any trouble," the leader replied. "You've probably noticed this floor of the dungeon doesn't have that many magical beasts, so maybe the cave itself isn't all that dangerous."

Their biggest concern wasn't the creatures—it was the cave collapsing or falling into some hidden pit. The beasts didn't really worry them.

William, however, wasn't nearly as optimistic. Places with valuable resources like this were never without danger. He was sure that whoever had created the dungeon wouldn't just hand out rewards so easily. There was always some kind of challenge waiting behind the prize.

Of course, he kept all those thoughts to himself. William didn't care much for those adventurers, and he knew the feeling was mutual.

After they walked for just under five minutes into the cave, William noticed something—glowing along the walls, shimmering with a beautiful bluish hue.

Mana stones.

"You guys collected all those mana stones just from this first part of the cave?" William asked, surprised. "If so, damn... this place is loaded."

The adventurers looked proud after hearing that. After all, they were the ones who had found the cave in the first place.

"Yeah, exactly. That's why I said this place is packed with mana stones. It's basically paradise," the leader said.

William was just as excited to start mining those stones. He grabbed one of the pickaxes and joined the others.

It didn't take long for the adventurers to notice—William was collecting mana stones way faster than they were. When he had worked in Jonas's mine, he'd held himself back. After all, those stones didn't belong to him—they belonged to the noble who owned the mine.

But here? Every stone he mined was his.

The trio started to grow anxious, watching William work with almost unnatural speed, barely breaking a sweat. The perks of having an extremely powerful body and a bloodline that enhanced stamina and recovery were perfect for a task like this.

Within just a few hours, William had already gathered an enormous amount of mana stones.

The best part? He could see in the dark. While the others had to waste time setting up magical torches and carefully lighting their path, William could just keep going, collecting non-stop and pushing deeper into the cave.

It didn't take long before he'd gone so far ahead that the other adventurers couldn't even see him anymore.

"Wonder if they're gonna get pissed," William thought, grinning to himself.

William felt like he was back to the times he mined with his friends in Minecraft. He was always the one who played more hours, making his friends fall behind.

Anyway, at one point, he saw different stones in the walls of that cave. It wasn't mana stones, but something else.

Asura, his sword, spoke in his mind, completely shocked, "No way these stones are here!"