Chương 249

Rudra turned around. He looked at Dante and the panicked guards.

"Stand down!" Rudra ordered. His high Dignity stat carried his voice perfectly over the roaring wind.

"He is with me! Put the swords away!" Dante blinked. He slowly lowered his blade.

"My Lord... you tamed a Calamity of the Sky?"

"We have an agreement," Rudra corrected. The screaming in the streets slowly stopped. The citizens peeked out from their windows and alleyways. They looked at the giant white snake. Then they looked at their Duke, who was casually leaning against it.

"I told you," Jace whispered to Bob near the armory doors.

"The Duke eats dragons for breakfast. That's why he caught a live one."

"That doesn't even make sense," Bob whispered back, though he kept his spear lowered. The panic faded into pure, unadulterated awe. The security rating of Stormbreak didn't drop. It spiked. If their Lord could bring a legendary sky monster home as a pet, they had nothing to fear from normal bandits or kingdoms.

"Alright," Rudra said, rubbing his hands together.

"Let's get this kitchen set up." Rudra pulled a heavy metal block from his inventory and dropped it onto the cracked cobblestones. He tapped it twice. The Protean Crafting Cauldron unfolded into a massive, wide grill and several large boiling pots. Chief Thalassa and High Priestess Neria walked out of the manor. They had been finalizing the trade agreements with Silas. When Thalassa saw Vritra, his single eye widened. He gripped his jagged bone spear tightly.

Neria just smiled serenely, sensing the massive energy signature of the beast.

"You brought the storm serpent back with you, Champion," Neria said softly.

"He is my partner," Rudra said, pulling out a huge slab of premium beef. He tossed it onto the hot iron grill. It sizzled loudly. Piaro walked over and stood next to the grill. He looked at the meat, then looked at Rudra.

"My Lord," Piaro said.

"You mentioned you cleared the trials of the Ocean God. It sounds like an incredible training ground."

"It was," Rudra nodded, flipping the steak with a pair of iron tongs.

"It pushed me hard. The bosses don't play around." Piaro's eyes sharpened. The battle-hungry Sword Saint woke up.

"I wish to test my blade against these trials. If it can push you, it can surely help me reach new heights."

"Me too," Haster yelled, jogging across the courtyard. The former gaming legend looked completely hyped.

"I just hit my third class advancement. I need a place to grind my new skills." Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Rudra smiled. He liked the enthusiasm. He turned his head and looked at Chief Thalassa.

"Chief," Rudra called out.

"Can my knights run the Champion's Rite?" Thalassa frowned. He leaned heavily on his spear and shook his head.

"They cannot, Champion," Thalassa stated firmly.

"The Rite is sealed. Only a warrior who carries the direct blessing of Asterion may open those temple doors."

"Ah, that's a shame," Haster groaned, kicking a loose pebble.

"Even if they had the blessing," Thalassa continued, glaring slightly at Rudra.

"You completely ruined half the trials." Rudra blinked innocently.

"I didn't ruin them."

"You pulled the Starfish King out of his pool so he couldn't heal," Thalassa accused, crossing his arms.

"You smashed the Blind Leviathan to death instead of sneaking past it. You broke the puzzle door by reading a dead language. The temples are in complete disarray. They need decades to reset."

"I was just having some fun," Rudra defended himself, tossing some crushed sea salt onto the steaks.

"It is fine," Neria interrupted gently. The High Priestess walked forward, her white blindfold fluttering in the cold wind. She turned her face toward Piaro and Haster.

"The Champion's Rite is closed," Neria explained softly.

"But the Archipelago holds a second path. It is called the Warrior's Path." Rudra stopped cooking. He looked at her.

"The Warrior's Path?" Neria nodded.

"When the Ocean God created the trials for his Champion, he knew the Champion would need a strong vanguard. The Warrior's Path is a massive, endless dungeon hidden deep beneath the central island." Thalassa grunted in agreement.

"It is a brutal place. The dungeon reads the strength of whoever enters it and scales the monsters to match. It is designed to push the retainers of the Champion to their complete breaking point." Rudra's eyes lit up. Pure gamer greed flooded his brain. An endlessly scaling dungeon. Normally, players had to travel across the entire continent just to find hunting grounds that matched their current level. When they out-leveled a zone, they had to pack up and move. It was a massive waste of time.

But a scaling dungeon meant his knights could stay in one spot and grind forever. They would never out-level the content. It was the perfect, ultimate training facility.

"That sounds perfect," Rudra grinned widely.

"Piaro, Haster. Pack your bags after dinner. I'm sending you to the ocean."

"I am ready, My Lord," Piaro smiled, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"I'm going to hit Level 310 by the end of the week," Haster bragged, cracking his knuckles. Rudra went back to cooking. He chopped carrots and wild onions at lightning speed. He tossed them into the boiling pots. He was making enough food to feed a small army. He looked over at Vritra. The giant snake was watching the grill with intense focus. Make mine rare, Partner, Vritra demanded telepathically.

"You'll get what I give you," Rudra shot back. He was in a fantastic mood. Mumud was human. Vritra was here. He had a new scaling dungeon for his troops. His people were going to be unstoppable. But as Rudra reached for another block of butter, the heavy wooden gates at the front of the estate groaned loudly.

"Halt!" a guard yelled from the watchtower. Rudra paused. He looked toward the entrance.

"Lord Rudra!" Jace shouted, leaning over the stone wall. The guard looked incredibly nervous.

"We have a situation at the gates! A massive group of... of Beastmen just arrived!" Rudra raised an eyebrow.

"Beastmen?"

"Yes, My Lord!" Jace yelled back.

"Hundreds of them! They are heavily armed, and they are requesting an audience with the Duke!" Rudra wiped his hands on a towel. He looked at Piaro and Mumud.

"Well," Rudra sighed, tossing the towel onto the table.

"I guess Amelda and Icarus's negotiations were successful."