"What happened between you two?" Simraj asked, looking from Isaac to Averon with a suspicious gaze.
"He cried and I gave him my shoul—"
"Nothing like that happened!" Averon cut Isaac off immediately, his voice sharper than necessary as he glared at him.
One of the three Solkara guards standing behind Simraj couldn’t hold back a short laugh. It slipped out before he could stop it. Averon’s gaze snapped toward him so fast that the air seemed to tighten for a moment, and the guard straightened at once, forcing his face back into a cold, professional mask.
Averon did not remove his glare.
The poor guard began to sweat under it.
Seeing that the situation was about to turn awkward for no good reason, Isaac stepped in.
"Will you be staying here for the night, or are you leaving for your City?" Isaac asked casually, as if nothing had happened.
Simraj shifted his attention back to him.
"About that..."
He glanced at Averon. After receiving a small nod, he continued,
"We would like to stay here. Specifically, we would like to enter the dungeon. We saw it’s a [Great] dungeon."
"Alright, then. You can go to the dungeon and register at the registration office next to its entrance. Once that’s done, you can enter. Don’t forget to pay the entrance fee."
He added a polite smile at the end.
Averon grunted softly, clearly not pleased by something, though it was hard to tell whether it was Isaac’s tone or the fee.
Simraj inclined his head. "Thank you."
The group turned and left, their footsteps steady as they moved away from the Lord’s residence.
Isaac stood there for a few seconds longer, watching their backs disappear down the path. When they were finally out of sight, his smile slowly faded.
"The dungeon is called Great Plains, and I didn’t think much of its name. But seeing how Simraj focused on the [Great] part... there’s definitely something special about it," he muttered to himself.
He could wait for Catherine and the Sword Empress to return and ask them directly. They had more experience in these matters. The problem was that they hadn’t returned yet, and he wasn’t fond of sitting around when answers were within reach.
There was a faster option.
Isaac opened the Lord Chat.
A translucent interface appeared in front of him, lines of past conversations flickering faintly before settling.
[Carus]: Hello, seniors.
[Ashroot]: Oh, if it isn’t the newbie Lord. Seems like you completed your Lord Quest?
[FlameGorgon]: How was the Tutorial? I bet you pissed your pants. Kekeke.
[Carus]: The Quest was alright. There is something I wish to ask all of you.
He deliberately kept his tone humble. A new junior seeking guidance. It was the perfect image to get information out of these old monsters.
He had not forgotten how cunningly they had tried to extract information from him when he first joined the Lord Chat. Each question had seemed casual at first, but all of them had been fishing for details about his Territory, his strength, his resources.
He would not be careless.
The fact that he had hunted a Catastrophe would spread within a few days anyway. Once that happened, they would realize what kind of Lord he truly was. Until then, playing the inexperienced junior had its advantages.
[Ashroot]: If you say it’s alright, then we’ll leave it at that. But remember to heal all injured people and bolster your defenses. What you have faced is just the Tutorial. The actual dangers you will face will appear from now on. You need to keep getting stronger.
[FlameGorgon]: Kekekeke, "alright" he says. If everything was alright, you wouldn’t take so much time to come online.
[Ashroot]: Carus, ignore this idiot. So, what’s your question?
Isaac didn’t bother responding to FlameGorgon.
[Carus]: What’s a [Great] dungeon?
[FlameGorgon]: Damn, look at this newbie. He just completed his Lord Quest and he’s already looking for a way to complete the game and move to the next level.
"...What?" Isaac muttered under his breath.
Although FlameGorgon sounded like he was trolling, Isaac noticed something subtle behind his words.
Just then, Ashroot sent a longer message.
[Ashroot]: A Great Dungeon is something that allows one to move to the next area. To understand this simply, you know that our Sector is currently surrounded by Mourning Frost Mountain on the west, Nightmare Desert on the north and east, and the Red Sea in the south, right?
Isaac read carefully.
[Ashroot]: This area is our Sector. Naturally, there are more Sectors.
[Ashroot]: We can’t communicate or meet people from other Sectors, disregarding Trials or special events. That’s why a Great Dungeon is important. A Great Dungeon is something that allows us to meet people from other Sectors.
Isaac’s eyes narrowed slightly.
[Carus]: How so?
[Ashroot]: When you complete a Great Dungeon, you will be allowed to enter the Tower of Heaven and Hell. You know the pillar of light that illuminates the night, right? That’s the Tower of Heaven and Hell. Everyone from other Sectors can enter it if they clear a Great Dungeon, so we can meet people from other Sectors there.
Isaac’s eyes widened.
"So that pillar of light is the Tower of Heaven and Hell..." he whispered.
This world had no moon. What illuminated the night were distant stars and that giant pillar of light that appeared on the horizon after sunset.
No one knew where the pillar truly was. No matter how much someone walked toward it, they would never reach it. It was like a mirage. As soon as one thought they were getting closer, it would shift, appearing farther away.
He had always assumed it was some natural phenomenon of this world.
He was wrong.
’The angel said the way to deal with the Blood Lord will be in the dungeon.’
’I thought it would be the dungeon reward or a rare drop from its boss. But now... it seems the method might be in the Tower.’
If clearing a Great Dungeon granted access to the Tower of Heaven and Hell, and that Tower connected different Sectors, then the solution to the Blood Lord might not be something confined to his current Sector at all.
His expression grew serious.
The uncertainty of when he could save Emily made him furrow his brows. Every day that passed without a clear solution weighed on him, even if he didn’t show it to others.
Still, this was progress.
Before, he had zero clue how to deal with the Blood Lord. Now, he at least had direction.
He returned his focus to the chat.
[Carus]: How many Great Dungeons does our Sector have?
[Ashroot]: We don’t know exact numbers but we can make an educated guess.
[Ashroot]: Each mid-rank species possesses at least one Great Dungeon. And given that we have twelve mid-rank species in our Sector, there are at least twelve Great Dungeons. As for the two high-rank species, some rumors say they each have multiple dungeons, but nothing is known for sure.
"Twelve mid-rank species, and two high-rank species..." Isaac muttered quietly as he reread the message.
Catherine had told him about them before.
Right now, the two high-rank species were extremely secretive.