Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign

Chapter 334: Dungeons 101

Four days passed.

One the second day, the second dungeon lit up with light like the first.

Zydrax concluded that it took 24 hrs from activation for it the dungeon crystal to activate.

Also, Ezra’s mother was now staying at the town beyond the barrier.

She had arrived at the twenty first week, with Isabella-her hand maiden from the palace-in tow.

Since was just at early master rank, Ezra gave her and Isabella refilled mana stones for cultivation, which was why he wasn’t in the cultivation land.

Though with level of development it had undergone, it was almost a city now.

In these four days, Zydrax could be said to have more progress than all the weeks before.

No, that was incorrect.

The fusion of accumulated effort of the many weeks before and his sudden discovery were the catalyst for such explosive speed.

With it, he now understood the mana cubes usage perfectly, which was why he infused the dungeon crystal into it.

Apparently, the mana cube was not caused by a natural phenomenon.

To his speculations, the mana cube was just anothe mana stone at one time.

Somehow, a tinge of Zydrax’s essence had leaked onto a mana stone , causing it to absorb the mana stones beside it.

Basically, it devoured the mana stones closest to it and eventually evolved into the mana cube we see today.

As such, Zydrax used it as the base material, before stacking mana and negative mana into it.

Then, he balanced it with his own essence to halt the volatility, giving him more breathing space to exert his strength.

After that, he began creating his modified version of the Life Ark.

But he put it on hold and went to see the familiar figures returning.

The Grandmasters had returned.

Each group of four had at least one Grandmaster with them.

Some groups had even collaborated for greater efficiency.

The siblings had partnered with Frederick and Cabrera, bringing four Grandmasters with them, of which there were only mid Grandmasters and Peak Grandmasters.

With his will, they gain entry into the barrier, where each Grandmaster looked at one another.

Many were unhappy being bossed around like mere sheep, but after a quick bout of which they were thoroughly beaten up, they swallowed their displeasure and did as told, not wanting to kiss the earth just yet.

Zydrax did a quick count and nodded.

Exempting the case of a Grandmaster being born on this day, every Grandmasters on Orion was at this gathering.

As such, Zydrax didn’t waste time before clapping his hands to catch their attention.

"I assume you’re all wondering why you’re here"

They nodded like good little children.

Zydrax floated in the opposite direction.

"Follow me"

They reach the first dungeon.

Touching it, Zydrax started the introductions.

"This is a dungeon" he says. "It a line of connection for enemies to send down their troops to invade, and afterward, they will appear to take our world"

"What?"

"Impossible!"

"I will not that happen"

"We must destroy it!"

The Grandmasters burst into a fervour of heroism before Zydrax motioned for them to calm down, looking at them with hidden disdain.

During Ezra’s time as Kevin, most of the Grandmasters were unable to do much in face of the otherworld monsters.

"I have ventured within once before and found out many things. Arrange yourselves and follow me"

Reaching the dungeon, they couldn’t be helo but be sceptical.

How was such a small monolith going to fit them all.

Entrering the dungeon, they find themselves in a whole new world.

Firstly, what was in front of them was no more the narrow cave of before.

While still a cave, it had expanded at least five times its orginal size.

It now had more paths, making it seem more like a catacomb rather than a cave.

Then, as a basic level dungeon, it had no restrictions nor requirements for entry.

As such, the party of sixty five Grandmasters and one Mythic rank entered without any hassle.

Now within, Zydrax’s voice echoed.

"The mismatch between the inside and outside as a result of a higher level space magic beyond which we are capable of"

They listened with rapt attention like students given a tour, as did Ezra, for even he didn’t understand it much either.

"This place is used to prepare the enemies forces, and after enough time, they will be let out into Orion"

"If we kill the enemy forces before they are released into Orion, their attacks will stop, until more reinforcements arrive"

He continues. "Through my findings, I have been allowed a glimpse of their forces. Among them, master level beasts lay aplenty as do Grandmaster level beasts"

Grandmasters started murmuring as they took in the new information and digested its contents as the apprehension filled the air.

"Nevertheless, all is not lost" Zydrax’s tone rose up a notch. "We still have the element of surprise"

"The enemy doesn’t know who or what they’re dealing with, so the first few waves would be too probe our strength" he continues. "Meaning, the troops sent this time would likely be-

Close to the end of a path, a creature’s head pops out.

-weak"

With a simple gesture from Zydrax, mana covers the creature and draws it into Zydrax’s palm against its will.

With light green skin and a miniature build, it squirmed with its neck in Zydrax’s hand, but it didn’t have enough strength to even make Zydrax feel the effort being exerted.

Like a painting, Zydrax raised it up for those behind him to see. "Feast your eyes on this creature. It is of the weakest kind and called a Goblin"

"Goblin" the other Grandmasters muttered.

With a little squeeze, the Goblins head burst into a shower of green blood, with a bit of it splattering on him.

Tossing away the corpse like a rag doll, Zydrax cleans the blood and speaks.

"There exists master and even Grandmaster level variants of that same creature and many others beyond even that"

Ten goblins rushed over at this point with some holding crude weapons.

Like before, Zydrax restrains them completely and even binds their mouths to stop their annoying noise.

"This is but the littlest of which they can do. If they descend at full force, none of us will be able to stop them"

The atmosphere was solemn.

"But if you all listen and act as I say, it may never come to that"

Their eyes glowed in understanding.

They didn’t question how he knew such things or whatnot, it wasn’t he was going to tell them anyway.

He motions to the squirming Goblins. "Each time one of them is killed, the enemy troops are informed"

"The faster we kill them signifies how easy they are to defeat, and if the rate is higher than expected, stronger troops will sent"

"But why us? What do they want from Orion?" Someone blurted.

"How would I know? How do you expect me to know such a thing?"

"Well...you seem to know everything about it"

"I don’t" stated Zydrax. "Could be a random affair bright about by unusual occurrences, or a purposeful attack for reasons I cannot ascertain"

"Whatever the case may be, the enemy have decided to attack, and that is all that matters. No matter what reason, we must watch idly by as our home is attacked, we must keep it from the hands of intruders"

They nodded heavily, swept up in the atmosphere Zydrax created.

Coughing, he gets back to his explanation.

"As I was saying, how fast we kill them signifies to the enemies how strength. To delay the deployment of Master and Grandmaster level troops, we must deceive them"

"Just like now" he says, motioning at the Goblins now still having used up their energy in futility.

Releasing his palm, the Goblins fall to the ground, quickly scampering back into the cave, very frightened.

"We must maintain a farce showing our forces to be the weaker side while we increase our strength"

They nod. "I understand that faking your strength you’re used to doing. In that case, we’ll have those weaker than these monsters confront them. Even better if you empty your prison cells to do it"

"We will create an illusion for the enemy to underestimate our strength, is this understood?"

They nod.

"For how long will we do this?"

"For as long as needed" he replied. "We do this till we’ve built enough strength to avoid being crushed like bugs when they decide to launch a larger attack"

"That is all" he claps. "I expect for many other dungeons like this to land in each of your the territories in the coming days"

"When it does, accurately access the level of monsters within and then send people a level weaker to confront them. We must buy ourselves as much time as possible"

With the message passed, the Grandmasters quickly emptied out of the dungeon, leaving Quartez soon after.

While Zydrax had told them the basic level functions of the dungeons, it didn’t cover how it really worked.

The beasts within were sent to invade, upon crossing the portal from their side, their molecular structure changed to grant them to ability to weather spatial displacement.

In better terms, because of the terribly far distance between the two dungeon and the troops, the portal granted them a special way to handle deconstruction, because their bodies were deconstructed the moment they entered the portal and then the particles were sent to the other end and then reconstructed.

The energy it took to do such a thing was not small, and along with that, the effects of such a drastic act took a while to fade.

This was why for a time, the troops would be unable to leave the dungeon.

It was because their bodies were yet to be shrug off the effects of deconstruction.

In order words, going of the dungeons energy field before recovery would have

making them turn to dust instantly.

Once recovered, the dungeons work is then done, and as such, the troops are let out into the surroundings.

This in turn meant that killing the creatures while stuck in the dungeon ate up its energy, and reduced the speed of which the monsters are released, if ever.

Placing good rewards up for grabs, many D rank adventurer parties in the city nearby lined up to attack the dungeon in no time, making sure to clear it out multiple times a day.

This would make sure the monsters never come out.

Even then, Zydrax didn’t intend to dominate the dungeon.

By placing D ranks within, a healthy portion of them would die, giving the observing enemies satisfactory results.

Enough to halt their urge to send more dungeons and stronger forces, thereby giving Zydrax the one thing he needed most.

Time.