Chương 597: New Explorer Association Leader.

In the tree building for the <Explorer Association>, many higher-ups were gathered in a room, their faces troubled about the development during the last few years. The new leader, unlike Adam, was rather silent. It wasn't because he was fearful, but because he was someone of few words. The reason he was placed in his current position was that, even when he was usually calm, he was someone with deep thoughts and enough strength to be a leader.

"Is there any news about the sudden disappearance of the <Dungeon>? Has anyone found a new one yet?" <Dungeons> were an essential part of the <Explorer Association>. While there were many threats in the world, the specialness of the <Dungeons> was that they had a clear "entry" and "exit." For the Explorers, going deep into a forest of the Golden Sap Continent was much more risky than entering a <Dungeon>.

So, after the <Dungeons> disappeared, the measured and relatively regulated hunting ground, many stopped their careers as active <Explorers> and tried to move to jobs related to it. This created a large influx that saturated the market of "mentors," etc.

"Lord Arven, there has been no new information about them."

"I see." Arven was a tall man with a sturdy body. His broad shoulders and muscular arms gave him enough volume to appear intimidating, but not fearsome. It was a body reaching the limits of what someone would call overly muscular, achieving a wild beauty. His skin was tanned by the sun from the many years he spent fighting under the sun and exploring different parts of the world. Even as a human man, his lifespan was quite long.

Moreover, having achieved over Level 100, Liu Shu's blessings were enough to multiply his lifespan, allowing his 127-year-old body to resemble that of a 27-year-old man. During the first four <Energy Cycles>, the lifespan for almost all races increased linearly. After the <First Ascension>, the limits for nearly all animal-descendent races equalized to a certain extent. Therefore, beast-humans and other hybrids who managed to live longer before were now on par with humans.

<First Ascension> Humans could easily live for 1, 200 years, and this lifespan would increase rapidly up to a certain limit. The fluctuation in lifespan between individuals was significant, and Elyne, a human woman who had lived for over 6, 000 years, was proof of that. Nevertheless, even when the numbers seemed to go high, they all had limits. The most limiting factor was the species one became during the <First Ascension>. All creatures had options, rarities, and even the age modifier.

So, an Infant Nova Human would be able to live much longer than a Mature Rockskin Human. Still, animal descendants of the <First Asension> would usually be unable to go past 10, 000 years of age, which was already quite a lot. After the <Second Ascension>, lifespan turned so complicated due to the combination of races that each individual became unique. So, there was no real average to mark it. The only thing known about their lifespan was that the numbers didn't increase significantly.

Each <Ascension> was a milestone, but that didn't mean that people would gain an infinite lifespan by crossing them. The System didn't really like creatures living for far too long, and it thrived more in an environment where the old taught the new, leading to a cycling society, and not a static one. Of course, like with everything, there were exceptions and ways to create those exceptions. While the people of the Explorer Association were discussing, they heard someone knock on their doors rather urgently.

Arven was not expecting anyone, so he frowned for a moment. Still, he answered the knocking sounds.

"Enter." A woman entered, her hair disheveled due to her rushing over.

"L-Lord Arven! The Dungeons are reopening!" The new leader of the <Explorer Association> and the others opened their eyes wide, not expecting to hear such explosive news out of the blue. Calming down, Arven's head spun, and he asked a few questions.

"You said reopening, so the <Dungeon> is the same as the one that disappeared." The woman nodded and then shook her head.

"While it is the same, there are changes. We sent a group with a <Dungeon Return Stone> so that they could explore it. Yet, only two minutes went by before they returned." The leader frowned, and the woman continued, her face flushed with excitement.

"There seems to be a new trait attached called <Atemporal>. We had never seen it before, so we were unsure of what it entailed. The results are nothing but miraculous. An hour inside the <Dungeon> amounts to a minute outside!" Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. This time, Arven lost his calm and stood up with wide eyes.

"What did you say? How is that possible!?" Arven had a register of thousands of traits that could be attached to them. He had studied the book many times, memorizing each and every single one of them. But among all the traits, he had never heard of something like <Atemporal>. The woman knew that he would react like that, so she spoke with a solemn expression.

"There have been many rogue groups who didn't follow our instructions to not rush inside, and all of them have shared the same experience. Lord Arven, this is unprecedented. You need to go there before something bad occurs." Arven tapped his head thoughtfully and looked up.

"Lady Heavenly Willow, I am the Head of the Explorer Association. May I have your attention for a few moments?" After he spoke, everyone waited. Some people frowned when the answer didn't come straight away, feeling that Arven was being disrespected. Still, Arven's face didn't even change. He waited for ten minutes before a presence suddenly enveloped the location.

This being's existence was as vast as the sky and as deep as the ocean, making everyone feel as if they were swimming within a thick layer of ternary essences.

"Hm? Oh, it's you, Arven." Liu Shu had spoken with this man in the past after he got selected as the new leader. Back then, she had been apprehensive about recalling Adam. Nevertheless, after interacting a few times with him, she came to feel comfortable with him. While there was no level of camaraderie like the one she had shared with Wert, she didn't experience that same sense of alienation when Adam became a leader. Arven was someone who Liu Shu found agreeable overall.

Hearing the voice of the World Tree, Arven showed a respectful attitude as he spoke.

"Lady Heavenly Willow, the <Dungeon> has opened, and there seems to be an anomaly. Could you make sure no one enters until we've classified this new trait that has appeared and made sure that it doesn't have adverse effects?"

"... New trait? What is it called?" Arven looked at the woman who reported the findings, and taking the cue, the girl explained everything to the World Tree. After the World Tree listened, she hummed and nodded.

"That's interesting. Alright, I'll do you this favor. Also, please don't call me Heavenly Willow when you need something from me. There are hundreds of millions of people constantly calling me with that moniker, and distinguishing your voice among all the voices is rather difficult. Use my name comfortably." Arven nodded once.

"I will if it is urgent. No one should abuse Lady Heavenly Willow's esteemed name."

"... Alright. That's good enough for now, I guess. Also, I've already made the declaration around the three <Dungeons> that opened."

"Three?" The woman blinked, confused. Arven, noticing her expression, was quick to take the hint and he asked.

"Lady Heavenly Willow, could you please tell us which <Dungeons> are open?"

"Sure thing." The World Tree then informed them of all the Level 10 to 24 dungeons that had opened, along with their locations.

"From what I can see, all three have the <Atemporal> trait. It seems to place a big burden on the body, so if you want to test its effects further, please be sure that those people are ones you can sacrifice." Her words were ominous, but all the people present didn't dare neglect them. With everything settled, Arven bid a respectful farewell. When the World Tree's presence retreated from the room, everyone secretly took a deep breath to fill their lungs with fresh air.

Even when Liu Shu didn't intend to, her existence was already becoming large enough to cause a burden on weaker individuals. Some people who were picked by the Explorer Association as sacrifices were chosen for the exploration, and soon, the experiments began. These experiments didn't last for that long, as the negative effects came out rather swiftly. Arven looked at the old man in front of him with a deep frown.

"... How many times did you say that he entered and completed the instance?" The woman's face was also solemn as she looked at the data.

"He entered consecutively four times. Each dive was as short as one and a half in-dungeon hours and as long as six hours and forty-seven minutes."

"One thirty and six forty-seven…" Their group was currently standing in front of the gate to the Dungeon. The large whirlpool of spatial and many other unknown energies spun silently, yet its ominous nature made people have reservations about entering through it.

"What happened to the people who entered once, twice, or thrice in a day?" The woman commented, her face thoughtful.

"Those who entered once a day have shown absolutely no signs of discomfort. For each repetition on the same day, the aftereffects become increasingly harsh. We believe that the energies that allow for time acceleration linger in the body, accelerating our individual time and thereby reducing our lifespan. However, these energies are too volatile. Therefore, as long as you enter once a day and recover from the influence, there will be absolutely no after-effects." Arven was also thinking similarly.

With that in mind, he gave out orders.

"Alright, our priority is creating a device that can measure remnants of… let's call it <Temporal Energy> for now. Once that device can accurately measure if someone has remnants of this energy on them, we will start measuring how it damages the body and affects explorers. Sadly, there aren't <Dungeons> for higher-level people, so we will have to wait for them to unlock before we continue experiments on higher-level people."

"Understood!" Everyone got to work, while Arven continued looking at the giant spiral of energies that composed the <Dungeon>'s entrance.

'All <Dungeons> closed shortly after Lady Heavenly Willow woke up. The energies that appear are related to time, while Lady Liu Shu's new overall buffs have monikers related to it as well… Did Lady Heavenly Willow's Ascension influence the World's dungeons, giving them a new trait?"