The smoldering heat rushed the face. His insides felt hot like he had just gulped down blazing hot soup. On more than one occasion Nathaniel had fallen, his leather armor had burn marks however the skin of the chaos serpent showed resilience. It was a rank 1 earth type serpent. Few scratches were on his body as he stared at the vast expanse of the volcanic region from the small peak of red rubble. The soles his boots somehow with stood the hot ground.
The ground of red rock guzzled out yellow smoke from fissures , clouding the sky. He was approaching the center of the volcanic region.
He took a sip from the water pouch. The water rinsing his parched lips. The cool sensation of water was addictive. He looked as his hand and wanted to stop here however his body shivered at the thought.
This was his 7th excursion into the Arneth dungeon. For 12 days he had hunted and gathered herbs like a mad man. He pulled out a folded map from his pocket, annotations blanketed the map. His search was almost coming to an end.
Nathaniel continued walking forward, his search was not without peril, he had come across fire slimes, some kobolds as he stood at the base of a huge volcano. He estimated it to at least 45 hectares, he had a massive headache at the thought of searching for a single entrance. The tiny bit of hope he had vanished in the bags under his eyes.
He thought for a moment frowning and releasing deep sighs. How to lure out a force of roughly 250 knights? He needed bait but bait that would not frighten the prey. One that evoked and stroke the greed of nobles, worth it to send a force of 250 knights. Morbius Dalton had to remain in the village.
The answer he came with was a labyrinth, that was proper bait. Labyrinths, records of a forgotten era with arcane magic powerful to hold the forces of arch mage Linnaeus. However labyrinths were rare and under control of powerful forces in the world of Mergard. With some whose legacies are still being explored despite being discovered for nearly 2 decades.
You could obtain enough wealth to form a kingdom or offer it to the empire and increase the rank of your nobility. Something Morbius surely desired. The was no hope for him to inherit the Dalton barony. Everything would be going to his elder brother and it was a fact that irked Morbius. It had given birth to his hate and loathing of their father.
He had first though about using remnants of the legion of destruction as bait however then the noble would just run. Morbius Dalton was a cowardly rash man, he had reached that conclusion from the rumors and his experience of seeing the man.
Nathaniel thought because of his lowly birth Morbius had developed some inferior complex to his siblings. He was gaudy whenever he saw the man and his utter disregard for commoner's on his face could not be more blatant. He had noble prestige it was termed, it was nothing but a delusion of self importance.
The zones and the sky of the dungeon of Arnith were all artificial that's the conclusion he had reached while exploring. The barrier at the entrance of the dungeon prevented the monsters from exiting. From the guild records the was no change in mana density and climate. There was no record of ranked monsters.
So clearly the monsters did not evolve. Leon's party would not have escaped if the gray wolves could leave the dungeon and give chase but that is also why he had blocked the exit.
He had to find the entrance to the lab, since clearly this place belonged to some powerful magician from the past era. The zones were mostly likely elemental chambers. Simulated regions for particular element to increase affinity unfortunately he had never been to the water zone, so his water affinity remained the same.
Someone should have noticed the signs as well but managing the war between kingdoms and fending off the legion of destruction. Nobody had the time but plus the people of the empire only returned to normal lives once his majesty retired from the frontlines.
Nathaniel searched the base of the volcano for as long as he could and still found nothing. He didn't even cover the entire base before he collapsed on the ground breathless, his lips felt dry and as he looked at the sky. There was no concept of time in the dungeon, the sky remained the same, daylight. Two pouches of water we already empty but he could not stop.
Rose would not wait for long and he had to come up with a plan, he has mulled over what she said and she was right. This was his chance to bring down the Rynberg empire. She had no plan either, though she was capable of just assassinating Morbius she could not kill over 250 knight in the same night without attacking the village as a whole.
The forces of the church of Minthes and the adventurer's guild would not sit idly while the village was attacked.
Nathaniel thought for half an hour and stood up abruptly grinning" The center!" he exclaimed. " This place must have a barrier that why the monsters cannot exit, so the must be a center source for the barrier since there is no one supplying the mana.
Nathaniel smiled with renewed vigor but stopped as he was about to search again. "Mana sense." He said, " Fuck, fuck it. My circuits are damaged so I really don't have much mana sensitivity." He cursed stomping the ground furiously. Veins throbbed as his body shook. He paused and then continued stomping while cursing anyone he thought of.
"Quintessence." Nathaniel said exasperated.
[ Name: Maxwell Beaufort
Age: 36
Rank: Mage apprentice
Mana: 40(weakened)
Mana recovery: 0.1 mana/hour (Magic circuit damaged)
Strength: 12(+5)
Agility: 13(+6)
Affinities: Ice (77%), Wind (43%)
Spells: Ice lance, Ice spear, ice shield, ice spike, wind blade, wind barrier.
skills: Sword mastery( 12%), Tracking( 33%)]
" So how do I find the region with the most mana density." Nathaniel stared at the sky, this was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Obviously the area that had the most mana density had the strongest monsters or rare herbs but the danger was high.
Nathaniel unsheathed the short sword, it was time to meet some old friends. He headed to the gray wolves' den. The gray wolves lived at the center of the transects that divided all four regions.