’There are tons of dragonstone here. More than they can mine in the next five hundred years. It’s possible that the Overlord wants to take control of this area and take everything at once?’
This thought went through Jason’s mind, and he frowned, but Jason’s head suddenly shot to the side when he felt something from one of his subordinates! Jason’s subordinates had been travelling deeper and deeper through the mountains since they hadn’t found anything at the surface, and one of the Diamond Bears that was especially good at moving through underground regions had gone more than a hundred miles below the surface! Jason turned his attention towards the Diamond Bear and asked it what was wrong, and Jason felt a frown grow on his face when the Diamond Bear said that it could no longer go down. Jason asked what it meant by that, and the Diamond Bear said that it literally could no longer go deeper! It was trying to use the shadows to dive even further underground, but there was something obstructing it from being able to do that! Some sort of forcefield!
Jason immediately told Ragnar to move to the mountain where the Diamond Bear had been working, and Ragnar took off with another mighty beat of its wings! The Diamond Bear was working in one of the Southern Mountains that received the least amount of sunlight, but still shone with brilliant orange luster! It was almost at the back of all the other mountains, and it barely possessed any Dragonstone at all, so most people in Radagan thought of it like some sort of extra that wasn’t too important! Ragnar let out a roar as it dived down towards the mountain surface, and Jason activated the [Shadow Walker] Arcane Attribute just as Ragnar was about to slam into the mountainside! The two figures vanished into the shadows of the mountain, and they began to travel deeper and deeper through the mountains to reach where the Diamond Bear had pointed out! It was always weird for Jason to travel so deep underground using the shadows, mainly because of how fucking dark it was! The only things that existed down here were darkness, Jason, and his subordinates, so it felt like they were the only ones in the world.
After about five minutes, Jason and Ragnar finally approached the area that the Diamond Bear had pointed out, and Jason was shocked when Ragnar suddenly slammed into an invisible wall that prevented him from moving forward! Ragnar let out a mighty roar in anger, and Jason could feel Ragnar’s irritation as it healed itself using the [Self Heal] attribute from its Bishop Class. Jason patted Ragnar on the head and told it that it could go back into his Alternate Dimension, and the large dragon vanished before Jason moved through the shadows calmly and put his hand forward.
Touch!
Jason felt his brow furrow in shock! What the hell was this? Jason ran his hand over a strange, solid structure that prevented him from moving forward! The structure was smooth to the touch and completely solid, and no matter how much Jason tried to use his Shadow Attribute to bypass it, he couldn’t at all! It was almost as if this defence was more than just something magical! It was capable of blocking out any and all forms of energy! Jason pulled his hand back and suddenly unleashed a punch that echoed through the shadows like the bellow of a whale!
DOOM!
The shadows rippled and shook from the shockwave, but Jason was shocked to see that the structure didn’t even shake. It didn’t even feel like Jason had hit it at all!
’And I don’t even know what this thing looks like. It’s like an invisible force field or something. Does it cover the entire region? I need to find out.’
Jason immediately called on all the subordinates that had been searching the surface area in the surrounding mountains, and he told them to approach from different points around the mountain he was currently in! Jason wanted to get a good measure of how large this thing was! The subordinates did as they were told and dived into the shadows, and they only stopped when they felt the structure holding them back. Jason realised in shock that the structure stretched for nearly two miles wide! Holy shit, it was huge!
Jason’s eyes immediately narrowed, and he felt an intense urge growing from deep inside his heart! Jason had no idea if this was actually what he had been looking for, and he didn’t know if this was even anything worth spending time over, but Jason was sure that there was something here, and there was every chance that this was what the Overlord was trying so hard to find! Jason needed to figure out what this thing was quickly and see what was inside! Jason told most of his subordinates to leave and continue searching the rest of the mountains in case there was something else that they had overlooked, and Jason focused on the shield in front of him and began to brainstorm to figure out the best way to get through!
At this moment, Jason didn’t know it yet, but this barrier was the Pandora’s box that would unleash a world of new problems in the future, and once Jason opened it up, he wouldn’t have any rest for a very long time because of what he finds inside.
....
[The Stone Catacombs]
Gina walked down the hallway that led around the Stone Catacombs with a frown on her face. Gina was irritated. She had just heard from Riyala about the deal that the Overlord had presented to them, as well as Jason’s skepticism about accepting it, and Gina couldn’t help but develop an even deeper hatred for the Overlord. Gina and Jason had spoken a lot about what the Overlord could possibly be planning to achieve with this trial and they concluded that there had to be an ulterior motive, but just like Jason, Gina didn’t believe that the Overlord would do all of this just for some dragonstone. Dragonstone was precious, but was it worth this much trouble?
Gina had excused herself from the others after hearing everything from Riyala, and she decided to just take a walk around the Stone Catacombs. Most of the council members had already left this world since the trial was over, and Gina had done her best not to run into any of the remaining council members since she knew meeting them would be awkward. Gina wanted to reach out to Jason through their mental link and ask him how the search was going, but she decided not to bother him right now since he might be in the middle of a taxing situation. Gina just hoped that Jason would find something that would help them against that bastard Rubik.
"I heard there was another attempt to cross into our world. Its location is suspiciously close to the Dimensional Tear Sequence leading to Riyad."
A whispered voice suddenly came from the corner ahead of Gina, and Gina narrowed her eyes when she recognized the voice! Wasn’t that Freya? Is she talking to someone? Gina narrowed her eyes, and for a moment, she thought about turning and leaving since she didn’t want to run into the Machina woman, but something almost instinctual told Gina that she would want to hear this, and Gina took multiple steps back before she slowly sank into the shadows! Staying in the shadows wasn’t going to mask Gina’s mana from them, but it would reduce the chance of her being discovered, and this allowed Gina to move a little closer so that she could hear the conversation better.
"You know what will happen if anyone manages to enter that world."
This time, it was the deep voice of the Emissary that responded with slight annoyance. But Gina didn’t recognize who he was, so she just continued to listen as Freya spoke.
"But why does the Overlord not want anyone in there?"
"No one can decipher what the Overlord’s true plan is, and you have no business trying to. His will is law, and that means Riyad is off-limits. Did you get any information on who is trying to enter Riyad?"