Chapter 221 - 221. Bare Dungeon
Noah was inside the Hunters' guild, carefully inspecting the boards describing the various hunting areas.
'I can go almost anywhere now but I should still find something that doesn't attract too much attention.'
What he was looking for was a danger zone with a low number of rank 4 magical beasts.
He wanted to fight a rank 4 creature alone in order to find out his actual strength!
'I need to choose one that I can justify easily. My name has become too known inside the guild, the fact that I'm entering a danger zone alone won't go unnoticed.'
His mental energy swept through the various boards until he found something that could meet his requirements.
'Excavating worms activity discovered in the Bare Dungeon, only one rank 4 specimen confirmed with more than a hundred rank 3 beasts in the lower areas. This might work.'
The Bare Dungeon was the prison of the previous Royal family.
After the Elbas family took the throne, that structure was abandoned and the magical beasts had slowly turned it into their lair.
However, the concentration of "Breath" there was quite low so it took more than two thousand years for a rank 4 creature to be born from the dominant type of magical beasts in there.
As for why Noah considered that area, it was due to the magical beasts that lived there.
Excavating worms had a long and sturdy body, with three circular rows of sharp teeth as their mouths.
They weren't among the strongest magical beasts, actually, their battle prowess was low due to their simple attack patterns, they could only rely on their bodies and they had no peculiar ability.
Also, the value of their bodies was particularly low.
Only their teeth were somewhat valuable but, other than for those, they basically provided no useful material.
Yet, they had one quality that could be used as an excuse by Noah: their bodies had the highest amount of blood among the magical beasts.
'Kurt and the others will just think that I want to occupy the time between the hunts with them in unpopular hunting zones to maximize my growth. Rank 3 Excavating worms are only worth fifteen Credits each, no hunter would be willing to go there with the possibility of meeting a rank 4 creature.'
Even if the worms were relatively weak, the Bare Dungeon remained a danger zone due to the rank 4 specimen in there.
If hunters wanted to go in danger zones to gather a higher number of rank 3 corpses, they would choose an area where the beasts had a higher value like Noah did with Mellow Forest.
Indeed, there were no hunters signed for that area.
'Excavating worms is it!'
Noah decided, placing his mark next to the name "Bare Dungeon".
Meanwhile, inside the alchemy division of the academy.
Daniel was controlling the temperature of the cauldron in front of him with his eyes closed.
The flame under it was created by a special technique that used the "Breath" of the cultivator as fuel in order to give more control to the alchemic process.
Daniel had always been talented in that technique due to his element but he had to work hard to reach that kind of proficiency.
In the eyes of his followers, he had always been the perfect cultivator.
His family was wealthy and among the most powerful in the country, capable of providing to him any kind of cultivation resource or technique, nurturing a cultivator of the light element required an exorbitant sum after all.
His manners were polite and sophisticated, he was loved in any noble circle, and many young heirs had already sworn their loyalty to him during his time in the academy.
His talent was also exceptional.
Not only did he have one of the rarest aptitudes, but his centers of power were also at an amazing level for his age.
He was only twenty-three but his dantian was reaching the peak of the gaseous stage of the second rank!
His sea of consciousness had recently broken through the second rank, making him one of the youngest rank 2 mages in the Utra nation.
Also, he had a rank 4 body!
Since his future strength was ensured, the Udye family was heavily investing in him, providing him the best resources to increase his training speed.
His aptitude also made him one of the most promising alchemists of the nation, further increasing his fame.
However, his family was quite against his studies in the alchemy faculty of the academy.
The first reason was that cultivators ultimately relied on strength, spending time in a profession that was not battle-related was against the policy of most noble families, especially if the one to do it was the main heir.
The second one was that the faculty was inside the academy, which was a structure of the Royal family.
Since the Cause was using Daniel as the main reason to kindle the fire of rebellion in the country, the Udye family was against his usage of structures so linked to the Royal family.
Yet, every youth was a man of his own.
Even with all the pressure that his family was putting on him, Daniel still went to train his alchemic skills in the academy.
Daniel controlled the flame silently, lowering or increasing the temperature of the cauldron as he followed the procedure that the seniors in the faculty had taught him.
In about one hour, he stopped providing "Breath" and the flame was extinguished.
Daniel sighed and excitedly opened the cauldron, lifting the lid with one hand.
A huge amount of white smoke came out of the cauldron, yet, when it dispersed, there was nothing inside it, it seemed that the refinement had failed.
'It seems that I still can't concoct rank 2 pills in the high tier, I have a long way to go.'
Pills and potions were ranked in the same way as inscribed items, the rank of the dantian was the most detailed expression of power after all.
As he stared disappointedly at the empty cauldron though, a young attendant appeared behind him.
"Lord Daniel, a mission has been assigned to you."
One of Daniel's eyebrows arched and he turned, asking in a surprised tone.
"What's that about?"
The attendant bowed and replied to him.
"I'm sorry my Lord, I could only understand that you will be sent to the Bare Dungeon."
