With his level up Nero returned to the dungeon, focusing on gathering the energy he would need in order to summon his next trainer
"Nero, there's one coming your way" Yumi called out as a killer ant charged at him
"I've got it" Nero replied, playing the legendary sword and bringing it down on the ants neck, decapitating it "watch out for the needle rabbit" he called put to Rias
"Thanks for the call" Rias thanked as she dodged out of the way of the rabbit that had attacked her from behind, taking it out with a blast of magic, slicing it to pieces with some wind magic in order to ensure the magic stone remained intact "Yumi, do you need help?" she asked
"I'm fine" Yumi answered with confidence as she was attacked from both sides by a pair of killer ants, their mandibles cutting her in half, only to reveal that it was only a log as she appeared above the ants, dancing through the air as she sliced the limbs of the ants causing them to fall to the ground "though I'm not the best at dismantling these guys so could I borrow something, my fans and kunai aren't really built with this kind of work in mind" she continued, the ants unable to do anything on the floor behind her
"It's weird that sometimes even if you do enough damage to take out a monster they don't always turn to dust" Nero stated as he used the spell butterfly dagger Elma and handed it to Yumi
"Who knows" Yumi shrugged as she took the dagger and got to work "but I have noticed that magic stones cut out of monsters that haven't turned to dust seem to be slightly more expensive than ones that come from ones that have turned to dust" she commented as she got to work
"Probably because they contain more magic energy due to still having the power to maintain the monsters existence" Rias stated "from what I have been able to tell the magic stones that you are removing from those ants still have energy left that the monsters would be able to use, however monsters that have turned to dust have lost more energy, as such the energy that is in the magic stones from dead monsters doesn't have the life magic energy left in them" she explained
"So just disabling a monster and then removing the magic stone from them means their worth more, seems kind of dark to make them helpless and then essentially rip the equivalent to their hearts out" Nero remarked
"I suppose so" Yumi shrugged "but if they are like this anyway might as well take advantage of it" cutting the ants open and removing the magic stone
"Don't you feel even a little bad doing that?" Nero asked
"Would you?" Yumi asked back
"Not really" Nero shrugged "they are monsters after all, just wanted to make sure you were ok with it, if you weren't I could have done it for you in the future if you weren't ok with it"
"Thank you for your concern" Yumi smiled "but I'm fine, I have fought many Yoma in the past and they are worse than these guys, if I can deal with fighting some of the stranger and more creepy looking Yoma, I can deal with extracting a magic stone from a monster"
"Well I think this is a good place to leave it for the day" Rias declared, clapping her hands
"Yeah, we have done quite a bit and we do have quite a lot of magic stones, plus I have gained quite a bit of energy but I'm still a bit away from summoning my next trainer, but there isn't enough time to get enough today so I agree with leaving it here for today" Nero agreed
"I did agree to spar with Ryuu later so finishing now while I still have some energy works for me" Yumi seconded
"Then it's decided" Rias smiled "I also have an appointment with Takemikazuchi, he promised me he would show me some of the Japanese artefacts that he had today"
"Really is a shame he didn't have any more tessen" Nero sighed as they made their way out of the dungeon "although thanks to Aurathia I have a good handle on most weapons now it still doesn't feel as good as using a tessen"
"I would lend you mine" Yumi comforted him "but the system seems to have made it so that only I can use them when it upgraded them" she said with a wry smile "plus I kind of need them too" she joked
"Yeah, thanks for the offer though" Nero smiled back as they arrived at the surface "if you two want to go and do your things I can handle turning in the magic stones"
"Thanks Nero" Rias smiled, transferring the magic stones she had from the magic space she kept them in into a bag
"Say hi to Akiza for us will you" Yumi smiled as the three of them made their separate ways
Arriving at the guild, Nero went straight to a specific window
"Here to exchange your magic stones?" asked a familiar voice
"Sure am" Nero replied with a smile "so how are you getting used to things around here Akiza?" Nero asked
"Not too bad" Akiza replied "the other staff members are kind and are easy to get along with, and a few of them treat me really well due to my psychic powers making it so that the jobs around here get done a lot more smoothly making their jobs easier" she giggled
"I'm still surprised you didn't decide to join us in the dungeon, with the cards in your deck you would be very hard to beat" Nero noted
"Yes, but due to it being my monsters that would be doing the fighting, even though Aurathia gave me her Falna it would not increase my stats" Akiza stated as she weighed the magic stones "and even with my biker suit that was adapted so that it would work as armor, I still feel like I wouldn't be able to deal with many of the monsters down in the dungeon, as such I feel like I prefer working here, remembering the details of quests and adventurers isn't as difficult as remembering all the different card effects and how they interact with each other"
"I suppose if that's your choice I have no right to make you change your mind" Nero shrugged
"Your total comes to 85,962 valis" Akiza declared, handing over a bag of money
"Thanks" replied Nero, taking the bag
"So" Akiza smiled leaning over in a way that showed that she was no longer talking about buisness and was talking as a friend "how do you think Aurathia is doing at the denatus? and what do you think your adventurer name will be?"
"Hopefully well" Nero replied with a wry sigh "and I just hope it's something not cringy like some names I've heard, burning fighting fighter, the pitch black void, the one that the monster will learn to fear, urgh" Nero shivered "I hope I am spared from names like that"
"Well all you can do is wait and hope I suppose" Akiza replied, offering him a comforting smile
"I guess so" Nero sighed "see you later at home, any preference on what you want for dinner?"
"Nothing specific for the meal" Akiza smiled "but if you could have a strawberry shortcake prepared as a desert that would be great"
"I'll see what I can do" Nero smiled in return as he walked out of the guild, giving her a final wave as he left.