Chương 155: (151) 3.16. No Better Way to Travel

Dungeon Type: Prison Primary Monster Type: Shadow Strengths: Darkness Grouping: Small groups Movement: Very fast Dungeoneering increased to lvl 9! 900 exp gained.

"Don't tell me…" Scule started, peering up at his face as Vin read over his notifications.

"It's a demon-smited dungeon, isn't it?"

"Yepp." Vin nodded, dismissing the notifications.

"Sure is."

"How does that even work? Wouldn't the prisoners have noticed the change when the Gods transformed it into a dungeon?" Shia asked, tapping her chin in thought.

"Maybe dungeons don't spawn monsters if they're already full of people? Though Waltz did mention that it was a hot spot for monsters these days, which makes sense, seeing as none of them would have any desire to venture back inside."

"According to Dungeoneering, the monsters are something called 'shadows.' Maybe these ones avoid attacking groups of people?" Vin shrugged.

"Regardless, it's definitely a dungeon. Which actually makes our lives a whole lot easier." Vin turned toward Waltz, who had been watching them curiously during their whole discussion.

"Long story short, not only has that eerie statue been touched by the gods, but your entire prison has as well. My friends and I can use it to quickly travel over to our own fragment, avoiding the risk of running into the Red Dawn entirely. Eventually, after you've made the trip at least once up here on Edregon proper, I'll be able to shepherd anyone who wants through the dungeon back to the shrine of rebirth if they need to use it for whatever reason."

"This changes everything," Waltz said, his eyes going wide as he looked at the shrine with even more devotion.

"If the shrine of rebirth remains close, far more of us would be willing to make the journey and join your people. And if the entire prison truly has been blessed by the God of Rebirth as you claim, people might actually be willing to venture through it one day. Especially if it removes the risk of running into the Red Dawn."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, I still need to talk to Spur and the council," Vin admitted, purposefully deciding not to mention he had no idea which of the many gods had turned the prison into an actual dungeon.

"But yeah, maybe start laying down some feelers. Would you be able to meet us outside the prison again in a day's time? I should have an answer for you by then."

"Works for me," Waltz nodded, clasping Vin's hand in his own far stubbier paw.

"I know you said you'll avoid the Red Dawn, but be careful out there. It's a dangerous new world."

"Trust me, I know," Vin chuckled. Waving goodbye to their new acquaintance, Vin turned his focus back toward the dungeon entrance.

"I have an idea that might make this trip even safer than most dungeons."

"By all means, go nuts," Scule said, his daggers already in hand.

"I'd rather not have to learn if I can stab a shadow of all things." Taking the lead, Vin descended into the mouth of the prison, raising a hand and summoning a brilliant ball of light over his head. Not only did his magical light illuminate the darkness and creeping shadows, he swore he heard a few low-pitched hisses rise from a number of the dark nooks and crannies.

"Oh yeah, not a fan of this one at all," Scule muttered, his grip tightening on his daggers. As they walked deeper into the prison, Vin kept the light floating high overhead and shining bright enough to transform the dark and gloomy building into a brightly lit one. His theory seemed to be correct, as not so much as a single monster appeared and tried to attack them. He didn't even receive any experience for discovering whatever these new monsters were, which meant they were definitely staying out of sight.

The prison itself was pretty much exactly as Vin had imagined it. They walked past dozens of cells, each without so much as a cot or anything even close to resembling furniture. There were rooms filled with what were clearly torture instruments, hooks and horrifying looking devices lining the walls where Vin could only imagine the prisoners spent most of their time chained up, and splotches of dried blood all over the place.

After seeing what all those former prisoners had been forced to suffer through for who knew how many years, Vin was beginning to understand why they refused to build anything even closely resembling a prison in their makeshift town. He may have finally stumbled upon a fragment of people that valued their freedom even more highly than he did. It wasn't long before Vin stumbled upon the corridor entrance leading to the underside of the fragments.

A small part of him, his natural, burning curiosity, wanted to continue exploring the prison and see what else he might discover. But a far larger part wanted him to get the hell out of there before he somehow found himself trapped just like Golrim and his people had been.

"Here it is," Vin said, laying a hand on the corridor frame and watching as Shia and Scule both flinched as it suddenly became visible to them.

"Let's get out of here."

"Don't have to tell me twice. We're a little busy at the moment, and I don't want to risk my master showing up right now," Shia admitted, starting down the corridor.

"I just know if he saw this place he'd demand to see me fight one of these shadow monsters to satisfy his own curiosity."

"I believe it," Vin muttered, following them down the corridor. He hadn't chatted with Shia's master for long, but the elf definitely struck him as a bit eccentric. The giant room linked to the prisoner's fragment looked the same as all the other ones Vin had seen so far, so Vin quickly pointed his team toward the Earthers' fragment and started running. He'd originally intended to run through the room linked to the Sacred Forest, before remembering that Scule hadn't actually ventured into that fragment just yet.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. While Vin was able to use his Dungeoneering skill to bring people into this weird dimension, one of the main caveats they'd discovered was that people could only travel through rooms connected to fragments they'd visited up above on Edregon proper. There was some sort of dimensional barrier that prevented one from even trying to force their way through.

The only exception Vin was aware of was Lumel, who was able to use her dimensional magic to peel back whatever protections this place had and travel between the giant rooms freely. It was thanks to her that they'd managed to bring Alice all the way over to the trogums' fragment via the dungeons, despite Alice never having left the Earthers' fragment before. Seeing as the prisoners' fragment was only two away from their own, it didn't take long for them to make it back.

One quick fight through the forest dungeon later, and they found themselves once again on the outskirts of the Earthers' camp.

"Damn, I could get used to dungeon travel," Scule muttered, getting an affirmative squeak from Reginald.

"If only it wasn't so creepy in there."

"Unlike all the other skills, Dungeoneering seems to give me new stuff every few levels," Vin shrugged, waving at the combat classes posted outside of town and getting two nods in return.

"Maybe it'll make the journey even easier as it keeps leveling?"

"A petian can dream," Scule sighed.

"Anyway, I assume you're off to go meet with your boring old council?"

"That's the plan. Why, you have something better to do?"

"I was going to start teaching Theodore about muscle relaxants today," Scule said, scratching his chin.

"Still plenty of daylight left, so I think I'll go get him started at the very least."

"Thanks again for taking him on," Vin said, vividly recalling just how energetic and flamboyant Theodore could be at times.

"How's he been doing anyway?"

"A bit dramatic, but honestly, he's a good student," Scule admitted.

"I'd never seen a Spy class before, but after seeing what his starting passive could do, I'm pretty curious to see what becomes of him."

"Lucky you. Vin's other sub councilor won't stop bugging me when she's in camp," Shia drawled, shooting glances every which way as they walked.

"She definitely has some sort of an elf obsession. I'm pretty sure she's been trying to not-so-subtly figure out if there's any way she can turn herself into an elf."

"I definitely got that vibe as well," Vin laughed, remembering Kelly's fervor whenever she got to talking about the Sacred Forest and the elves within.

"She's back in the Sacred Forest again right now though, isn't she?"

"Oh yeah she is, you can bet I've been keeping tabs on her," Shia said, her lips pursed.

"I'm going to go take advantage of the quiet to get some spellwork in. Normally I have to use Split Mind to talk to her and practice at the same time, so it will be nice to devote my full attention to magic for a change."

"I'll come grab you guys if I need you, but I think I'll be fine arguing the former prisoners' case on my own. Chat with you later!" The group split up, and Vin continued deeper into the ever-growing camp, checking on the clean-up effort as he did. Most of the destruction resulting from the surprise battle of wave three had been cleared away by now, which meant Witherson and her crafters would be getting started on rebuilding the camp anew anytime now.

Like always, Vin ignored the many looks and hushed whispers as he walked, already growing used to the strange effect he seemed to have on people. Most of the third wavers were still situated out in their temporary camp, but there were enough out and about that the rumor mill was running in full force. He heard murmurs of The Roamer as he walked by, and he tried not to let his embarrassment show on his face. Thank God he was alone. His friends never would have let him live this down.

On his way to the main council building, Vin was surprised to run into Witherson. As far as he could tell, the general was in the middle of overseeing a small handful of crafters as they ran around taking measurements of just about anything and everything. Every few seconds one would run back up to her and provide her with a handful of numbers which she would jot down on her clipboard, before giving them a new assignment. Spotting Vin, she nodded, calling out to him.

"Vin! If you have a moment, I could use your assistance."

"What's up?" He asked, walking over and taking a look at her clipboard. Sure enough, she had sketched out a rough approximation of the entire camp, and had begun marking where certain buildings should be put up.

"Your Mental Map passive. Does that give you precise measurements?" She asked, not wasting any time.

"It's precise enough for my purposes, but I don't think it is for yours," he admitted, closing his eyes and focusing on the maps his passive had made of all the different places on Edregon he'd traveled at this point.

"It's hard to explain, but it doesn't give me any real measurements exactly. I just kinda… know how far one thing is from another."

"You're correct, that is not nearly precise enough," she frowned.

"Never mind then, we'll just have to keep doing this the hard way."

"Any chance you know when the next council meeting is going to be?" Vin asked after she jotted down another series of measurements and dismissed the runner.

"I have something I want to run by everyone. Two somethings, I suppose."

"After lunch," she said, not bothering to look up from her clipboard.

"Are you planning to actually show up for once, then?"

"Yeah," Vin said, grinning sheepishly. Despite having been in camp the last few days, he may or may not have gotten into the habit of not bothering to show up for the daily council meetings unless specifically asked.

"I haven't caused you guys any trouble, right?"

"Not yet. Spur gets two votes in your absence, but just about everything we've decided on recently has been unanimous. However, if you're finally showing up today, I have a feeling we might finally see some motions put forward that might divide the council. Alice and I have been discussing one or two things we know Spur won't be a fan of."

"Why are you telling me this?" Vin asked, giving Witherson a confused look.

"Because I am well aware you don't understand the first thing about politics," Witherson stated bluntly, finally looking up from her clipboard and fixing him with a tired stare.

"It's obvious just from how you asked that you're worried whatever it is you're planning to ask of the council might get shot down. If you're willing to side with our proposal, we'll be more willing to side with whatever inane thing you're planning to ask for, so long as it's not completely idiotic. See how this works?"

"I think so…" Vin said, trying to hide his frown. Witherson was absolutely right, he wasn't a fan of this kind of stuff in the slightest. Politics and the like were half the reason he avoided the council meetings in the first place.

"What are you guys planning to propose anyway?"

"Nothing you'd be inherently against from what I understand of you," she said, turning back to her work and finally dismissing him.

"Go grab a bite to eat and get ready. If this goes how I'm expecting it to, this might very well be the first council meeting to come to blows."