Corrupted Earth [N-Rank Mission] 5/5

The Tsukaimon reached Rustport City, it was great not having to use the human disguise for a while as it was rather annoying him having to look like a human. Rustport was a great place for technology and definitely a visit worth by itself. But for now Tsukaimon was here in a partly different errand, a rumor that a powerful energy of sorts had corrupted the ruins. Whatever that force is, Tsukaimon is interested in it. It was inevitable that when Coredramon made a notification about corruption within the ruins, Tsukaimon would be among the firsts to respond.

"Of course I will help you Coredramon, I shall personally make sure that the ruins with be freed from the corruption. You can count on me."

When Tsukaimon showed up, it brought him slight annoyance to see a holy digmon being among the group though it was to expected this was something he had hoped to avoid. But Gulfmon wasn't going to let this stop him from keeping his word to Coredramon and a holy digimon is still better than a human by far. In the end, Tsukaimon could cope with having to work together with a holy digimon for a while. Especially since they were working for the same goal for the time being and being hostile would only be counterproductive for everyone, including Tsukaimon himself.

---

Mana
@silvac
Trey

Coredramon was delighted when the groups arrived. He counted among them an independent Leormon, who dutifully reported in with a salute. "Well met then, sonny" Coredramon said, giving a casual salute in return. Growing up in the wild valley of dragons, Coredramon both respected military discipline, but conducted conversations in an informal manner.

A second independent digimon appeared, this one was a Tsukaimon. Coredramon merely acknowledged him with a nod. As a Green Coredramon, he didn't particularly mind virus attributes, being one himself.

The third group appeared soon after. Coredramon wasn't really surprised that humans were joining in on this mission. And he didn't mind either, the humans seemed to be taking it upon themselves to do what they could to cleanse the digital world from evil and wrongdoings, so that was fine with him. "Heya, you three" he said, noting that the Agumon and Gabumon were twins. He hoped they knew what they were in for here, twin rookie levels were kind of vulnerable. But he wouldn't have consented to them being here if he thought they couldn't handle it.

The next to arrive seemed to be another pair of twins with a human partner. Coredramon blinked - these were digimon that he had never seen before. They seemed to be loosely related to flowers by his understanding. He hoped they would be alright, given the effect of the corruption on the plantlife so far in the area. "Welcome" he said.

And the last to arrive was... another digimon Coredramon hadn't heard of. A Reavermon? Ah, a Spirit evolution, so this was a human fused with a digimon spirit. "Yes, that appears to be everyone" Coredramon said, standing in front of the group to address them, his wings folded on his back as he stood sidelong to the ruins, the ground below a vivid dark brown.

"Well then, hopefully you can tell what the problem is here" Coredramon said to the group. "There's been a corruption affecting the Western Flatlands that's made this place infertile, dry and dead. There's something affecting the soil below us that's blocking its ability to generate living data. Needless to say, we have to import a lot of our food from other regions, but, the corruption in the ground seems to be spreading".

He paced a little, looking sadly around at the barren surroundings.

"And the research team I work for has concluded that the corruption is originating from in there" he continued, pointing to the ruins. A black mist seemed to be rising from the holes in the ancient ruins. "I don't know what the cause of it is, because I only felt capable of entering the outer chamber, but, I'm willing to pay you all a good fee to go in and see what the matter is".

He looked a bit regretful at the decision. "I don't feel good asking you lot to do a job when I can't guarantee your safety, but, I'm still willing to pay you to at the least attempt and if you can go no further, to return and tell me what you saw".

He supposed he'd best tell the conditions of what he would pay to see this job done.

"If you manage to remove the source of this corruption and come out alive, I'm willing to pay you each the full amount" he said. "But if you manage to see anything about the corruption that would be useful to know in a future mission, then I'll pay you each a smaller fee. Would that be agreeable?"

As he awaited the answer, he noticed there were a lot of smaller digimon among them. Well, he hoped they could digivolve at least a little. But he knew that most of them could already.

"Now then. Are there any questions?" he asked.

The group was getting crowded though that was to be expected, after-all the digital world is a large place with several residents. What annoyed Tsukaimon the most was that at least two of the group were humans; a blonde boy named Trey and a girl named Mana. Only one human in the group seemed remotely tolerable, a spirit user who used a reavermon. On the other hand, a human might as well be a good meat shield when it comes to a fight and as a rookie, Tsukaimon did not feel like he could do everything on his own yet. Therefore it was necessary to keep his disgust on a minimum for the time being while working together with humans, a thought that almost made Tsukaimon barf.

Well, a job is a job so might as well listen to the instructions rather than complaining.

So it seems like this corruption is able to block out the ability to generate living data, a fact that Tsukaimon found rather interesting. Coredramon didn't know a lot about what the corruption was or why it was here and that was apparently why they were here. Finally, it seemed like even if they fail to stop the corruption they still get paid as long as they can provide said valuable information. That was very useful and as such Tsukaimon decided not to use the opportunity to ask questions.

Coredramon was pleased that Leon had appeared to be in these ruins before. Even better that he came out of them alive. "That's good. Hopefully you would know that the digimon that made these ruins... somewhat enjoyed making puzzles then?" he asked, raising his eye-ridge.

"While I haven't seen them myself, I have heard tales from ruin explorers that there are some mysteries in these ruins. However, the puzzles and traps tend to be merely an annoyance rather than being fatal" he looked up at the entrance to the ruined temple. "However, the corrupted data may have changed that, so be very careful, and use your wits when you need to".

The Tsukaimon didn't ask any questions. Which was fine. Then the boy Trey asked if they could have a break first. "Um, yes, you can go in when you're ready" he said. "It's some distance from Rustport, I don't expect you to go in right away" he chuckled.

He then asked what would happen if the corruption was dealt with. "Well, I assume that if you manage to remove the corruption, the state of the ruins would return to how they were before" he said. "Although since the corruption is in the earth itself, its removal may cause a shift in the ground. I'd advise you to get out as soon as possible, the ruins might not be stable afterward".

Coredramon then looked at the orange plant digimon. "It's a fixed amount of payment per participant" he said. It would not be a shared pool, that may cause... issues. "10,000 bits each for removing the corruption, 2,000 bits for information about its source" he repeated.

Then the spirit wielder saide the terms were agreeable, and asked the lion digimon for his experiences in the ruins. Coredramon was kind of curious too.

"Well then. When you're ready, feel free to enter" he said.