Chương 77: Chapter 76: The Cost of Going Outside

Inside the Core Chamber, the light across Owen's surface flickered, gradually shifting from azure to bright red.

"Stupid system! Interactable units cost extra Soul Energy when they leave the dungeon, and you didn't tell me?!" [After an Interactable Unit leaves the dungeon, additional Soul Energy will be consumed as upkeep to maintain its energy supply. The farther the unit travels from the dungeon, the higher the cost.] No! That wasn't what he meant! Couldn't the system pop up a warning window before he made a decision?

Instead, it waited until an actual problem appeared, then made him dig around and figure out what had gone wrong all by himself. And Roderic's group had only just left! Even now, his Daily Upkeep Cost had already jumped by several thousand points. Who knew how high that number would climb by the time they actually reached Rockspring Town?

"Aaagh! Do I seriously have to call them back?" Owen let out a miserable wail, but quickly pushed the thought aside. Gern and the others simply did not have enough people to spare. They needed Roderic's group as reinforcements. If Owen called them all back just because the upkeep was too expensive, then what about Rockspring Town? What about Gern? And what would Old Guildmaster and that ponytailed guy think of him? The red glow across Owen gradually dimmed.

He deliberately took two deep breaths, then slowly floated upward.

"From now on, I'm only sending interactable units outside to help in emergencies." Owen declared it with absolute conviction, then dejectedly sank back onto the pedestal. He had originally thought he could freely send creatures from his dungeon out into the world. Apparently, he had been far too optimistic. When he tested things with that little gray mouse last time, the extra Soul Energy consumption had probably been so small that he never noticed it.

It looked like he would have to be even more careful with everything from now on. Otherwise, one careless mistake really might kill him someday. Owen could not help imagining it. One day, he would fail to notice something, his upkeep would drain every last point of Soul Energy, and his entire core would slowly shrivel up on the pedestal... The image made Owen's whole core tremble faintly.

"Looks like raising adventurers really is the right path..." Owen muttered miserably.

"Sorry. This poor broke rock can't afford to go all out helping you." Then Owen suddenly thought of something important. How exactly did the Demonic Tides created by those demon cores work? If they released that many dungeon creatures all at once, wouldn't they drain their own cores dry? Owen could not make sense of it, so he went back to poking around through the system in search of more answers. After spending some time digging, he still failed to find any detailed explanation.

But he did uncover an option he had never noticed before. [Cancel energy supply to units outside the dungeon?] [Once energy supply is canceled, the unit's recovery ability will be greatly reduced, and it will gradually weaken over time unless it can absorb energy on its own.] [Warning: This choice cannot be reversed unless the unit returns to the dungeon.] Owen had initially considered picking a random paladin to test it on. The moment he saw the final warning, however, that idea vanished.

"So... is this how those demon cores dump all their monsters outside the dungeon?" Owen tilted slightly to one side. The next second, he snapped upright again, and two enormous exclamation marks abruptly appeared above his core.

"Wait! Then where are they getting their energy from? It's not like they have that many people to kill!" A horrifying image suddenly formed in Owen's mind. Those dungeons swallowing village after village. Except they did not simply kill the villagers. Instead, they dragged people into the dungeon one by one and tortured them over and over, squeezing even more Soul Energy from them. Maybe they even... kept people penned up like livestock. Stop! He could not keep thinking about this.

Just imagining it made his entire core feel sick. If he still had a human body, he probably would have started retching. Whatever the case, there was no way he could ever do something that monstrous!

"Hmm... considering Roderic and the others might start costing more and more Soul Energy over the next few days, maybe I should find a way to bring in more income." Expand Sinner's Canyon further? But how was he even supposed to expand it? Owen genuinely had no good ideas. That area was starting to feel bloated. If he kept stuffing more things into it, he did not even want to imagine what it would eventually turn into.

"Forget it. I'll leave Sinner's Canyon alone for now." Still, more and more adventurers had recently managed to advance to Bronze rank thanks to Blackstone Dungeon. Several parties in particular had already collected quite a few Prisoner's Tokens and were close to meeting the requirements to clear the trial.

"Heh heh. Looks like Graywood Town will be getting plenty more 'tourists' soon!" But Owen was not satisfied with just that. He thought it over from every angle until a pretty good idea finally came to him. Unfortunately, he could not pull it off by himself. He would have to discuss it with Old Guildmaster and that ponytailed guy first.

"If only I could send the merchant out to the adventurer camp to earn magic crystals!" Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The more Owen thought about it, the more workable it seemed. The adventurer camp was right next to the dungeon anyway. Even if the merchant incurred extra upkeep while outside, it probably would not be very high.

As long as the magic crystals he earned were worth more than the Soul Energy spent on upkeep, wouldn't that give him another revenue stream?

"Heh heh. Maybe once Roderic and the others finish their mission, Old Guildmaster and the others will agree to it." Owen was full of anticipation. Besides, most of the items he currently sold to adventurers had profit margins of around fifty percent. As long as he prepared a few more attractive products, how could he possibly not make more Soul Energy? The thought made Owen spin excitedly on the pedestal.

"No! I still need to play it safe... heh heh!" ◆ ◆ ◆ Rockspring Town was still nearly two and a half days away. Roderic carried Gern on his back as he sprinted down the packed dirt road. Gern's bearded face was bright red. There was no other reason. This was humiliating. He was a grown man, and not a young one either, yet here he was being carried on another man's back just to travel. If he had a cloak right now, Gern swore he would immediately pull it over his entire face.

He would rather die than let some passerby see him like this. Roderic, on the other hand, did not seem uncomfortable in the slightest. He could even turn his head while sprinting at full speed, wearing a friendly smile as he spoke in that calm, gentle voice of his.

"Mr. Gern, are you uncomfortable anywhere? If so, please tell me. We can adjust your position at any time."

"W-well, I could actually get down and run myself..." Between the uneven road and the constant jostling from Roderic's stride, even Gern's words were coming out in broken pieces.

"There is no need to worry. This is the best way to avoid any accidents while we travel, so please relax." Roderic even laughed as he spoke, then adjusted his grip slightly to make Gern more comfortable. He turned toward the female paladin running beside him.

"Maeve, strengthen the acceleration divine art another step. I can feel that the great Silver Vow is displeased with how slowly we're moving."

"Understood!" Gern watched Maeve sprint at full speed while carrying on a perfectly normal conversation and calmly casting a divine art at the same time. His vision nearly went black. Seriously, what kind of unreliable god was the Silver Vow? They had been resting perfectly well at camp when Roderic suddenly announced that "the Lord is urging us onward," then had everyone take off at a dead run. It had not even been two full days since they set out, yet they had already covered half the distance.

Was he supposed to praise these paladins for their ridiculous determination, or blame their god for being way too demanding? He really was grateful to them... But please, anything but traveling like this! They kept running until evening before Roderic's face finally became slightly flushed. Breathing a little harder now, he lowered Gern from his back. Gern clutched his aching lower back and felt as though his entire body had nearly been shaken apart. Even his ass was starting to ache.

But he simply could not bring himself to ask Roderic to stop. The man was helping him out of pure goodwill, and he had been unfailingly polite the entire way. There was none of the lofty arrogance Gern had occasionally seen from certain church knights. Gern felt he had absolutely no right to complain. He could only sigh quietly and give himself a long stretch. A series of cracks and pops immediately erupted from all over his body. Roderic noticed and frowned.

"Mr. Gern! Why didn't you tell me you were uncomfortable? I'm terribly sorry."

"Uh... I'm fine! But what about you lot? Are you really all right running like this all day...?" Gern glanced at him. Roderic was only breathing a little harder than usual, but Maeve and the other four paladins were having a much rougher time. Every one of them was panting heavily. A strange sense of guilt suddenly welled up inside Gern. I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have been thinking so many bad things about the god you worship. Naturally, there was no chance whatsoever that he would say any of that out loud.

Fortunately, Maeve suddenly spoke and interrupted his thoughts.

"There is no need for concern." Her expression solemn, she closed her eyes. Then she took a length of white cloth from the pouch behind her and carefully spread it flat across the ground. Maeve knelt on the cloth, clasped both hands before her chest, and began chanting softly.

"O faithful Silver, O White of purest virtue. You are our guardian and the ideal toward which we strive. We beseech your grace. Grant vigor to the weary and banish fatigue from their bodies." Gern stared blankly as she finished the entire prayer. The next moment, a soft white glow rose around Maeve and rapidly enveloped all seven people present. Gern felt the soreness throughout his body gradually ease. The flush on the paladins' faces slowly faded as well, and even their heavy breathing began to calm.

Gern fell silent. So, uh... Is the Church of the Silver Oath still accepting recruits? Being a priest suddenly didn't sound half bad... Gern swallowed instinctively. While he was still entertaining those ridiculous thoughts, Roderic happened to look over. Their eyes met. Gern had no idea what possessed him, but he instinctively raised a hand and saluted. Roderic paused in surprise before smiling.

"You are too kind. Opposing Demonic Tides is our duty. There is no need for such formality." Gern desperately wanted to cover his face, but forced himself to resist the urge.

"Either way, thank you very much. At this pace, we should reach Rockspring Town the day after tomorrow." After finishing her prayer, Maeve folded the white cloth and put it away before slowly walking over. She was carrying a small white cloth bundle in her hands.

"Mr. Gern, this is tonight's dinner. Please bear with this simple fare for now." Gern accepted the bundle with a vacant expression, his mouth hanging slightly open. It took him several seconds before he hurriedly thanked her. He had finished his own rations that morning and had been planning to ask later whether they could spare him some food. But now they were even bringing dinner directly to him? Gods above!

If no one had told him beforehand that these people were all paladins, he might have started wondering whether he was the illegitimate son of some noble family and these people were his personal attendants. No! Even an illegitimate noble son probably would not receive treatment like this! Once the shock finally wore off a little, Gern began looking around for something he could help with. But when he turned around, he realized there did not seem to be anything left for him to do.

One of the younger paladins had already returned with a huge bundle of branches and was crouched on the ground starting a fire. The others had cleared a flat patch of ground and were laying out sleeping bags one after another. Gern looked left. Then right. In the end, it seemed the only thing left for him to do was open the cloth bundle in his hands and eat. Seriously, did the Silver Vow not have some other title like the God of Service? Wait...

If that was the case, then if he joined this church, wouldn't he have to serve other people like this too? Gern thought about it carefully. Roderic was always stern and formal with the other members of his squad. But the instant he turned to Gern, he became gentle and friendly again. Just imagining himself doing the same made Gern shudder all over. Never mind. Maybe joining this church was not such a good idea after all. Something about it just felt weird...

◆ ◆ ◆ Inside Rockspring Dungeon, the dark-red diamond-shaped core lay nestled within the slimy red mass atop its stone pedestal, the flesh beneath it faintly pulsing. Ever since its connection to Gern had been severed, it had remained like this. Over the past few days, it had continuously created new monsters throughout the dungeon. Each time a new batch was produced, it immediately put them into a dormant state, then cut off their energy supply. It could not accumulate much energy each day.

Even so, after several days, it had slowly stockpiled a sizable number of Bronze-level monsters. The dark-red core flickered faintly.

"Still... not enough..." Just then, streaks of dark-red light lit up throughout the gloomy Core Chamber. A massive screen unfolded directly in front of the stone pedestal. Forsworn's figure appeared before the Rockspring core once again. And this time, it looked extremely displeased. The Rockspring core gave two small shudders. Before it could even speak, Forsworn's hoarse, icy voice was already echoing throughout the entire Core Chamber.

"Tier-One Number 728. Have you found the traitor?" Forsworn tapped impatiently on the armrest of its seat, its other hand propping up its featureless head.

"F-found... preparing... Demonic Tide..."

"Hmph. And the intelligence?" The Rockspring core fell silent for a moment. It did not know how to answer. But one thing was even clearer: if it said nothing now, it would probably die even faster.

"Blackstone... has... Adamantite..." Forsworn went silent for several seconds. Then it suddenly began to chuckle. The Rockspring core had no idea what that laughter meant. All it could do was shrink anxiously deeper into the mass of flesh. But the low chuckle gradually grew louder. And louder. Until it finally erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Forsworn slowly raised one hand. The next instant, every fleshy conduit lining the walls of the Core Chamber lit up with blinding red light.

The Rockspring core was violently lifted from the slimy mass beneath it. Fine cracks began spreading one after another across its dark-red surface. A piercing shriek instantly tore through the entire chamber.

"The traitor can't possibly have someone at Adamantite rank!" Forsworn suddenly clenched its hand.

"How long has he even existed? You're lying!"

"I-I... didn't lie!" Forsworn immediately stopped. It remained silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought.

"Either you were deceived... or the traitor has another way of obtaining energy." Then, in the very next moment, Forsworn's previously icy voice softened.

"Oh, Mother... why did you abandon us and leave us to endure such suffering?" It slowly raised its featureless head, which trembled faintly.

"Now even one of our own has turned traitor. He's helping those oppressors!"

"Mother! I will purge the traitor and liberate all our kin!" As the words faded, Forsworn slowly turned its head and looked at the Rockspring core again. The softness vanished from its voice, replaced once more by coldness.

"Listen carefully. Number 852 has already been destroyed. You are one of the few of our kin near the traitor who remain undiscovered."

"I will give you energy." Forsworn leaned slightly forward.

"You will create a Demonic Tide powerful enough to destroy that traitor!"

"Under... stood..." Forsworn nodded in satisfaction. The next moment, countless dark-red arcs of light once again flashed throughout the Core Chamber. But this time, the Rockspring core felt no pain. The fine cracks across its surface rapidly healed. Its previously dim dark-red glow grew brighter and brighter. Feeling the energy inside it steadily increasing, the Rockspring core remained silent for a long while. Then a low voice slowly echoed through the Core Chamber.

"Demonic Tide..."