A short while later water dropped down Tepo’s body as he left the bath. Once more it was boiling hot as the elemental spirits couldn’t contain their enthusiasm upon seeing him return.

Even now a wind spirit was circling around him, a small whirlwind drying his body. Fortunately, Line was now a fledgling warrior so he could endure more.

The young man looked into the mirror as he put on fresh clothes. Most of his wounds had been healed by now. Only a small spot on his neck was still scarred, resembling a burning wound.

Without a good healing spell this might be a permanent reminder of his second dungeon.

After leaving his room Line took a seat at the dining table. Quill and Anvil were already waiting for him.

Some food was placed on the table. Although it wasn’t cooked, Tepo still felt the taste of a simple bread to be heavenly after living off of disgusting roots for over a month.

His stomach was jumping in joy just like the elemental spirits scattered throughout the floor.

In this cozy atmosphere Tepo slowly told his friends about his experiences.

When Quill and Anvil heard about his time within the Winged Border City, they were still nonchalant. It was normal to make enemies on the path of a warrior.

The Web gave its members a lot of freedom, but it also wouldn’t intervene in their grudges. Only Quill and Anvil might offer their help if others shamelessly bullied Line.

Even as he talked about the ruw’s conspiracy, Quill and Anvil stayed unperturbed. They only told their protégé to report this to the intelligence area for some contribution points.

Line naturally understood that the Web wasn’t a local power and not even a human one. They didn’t feel obliged to oppose the ruw. Thus, he didn’t harp on the topic and continued to speak about the pirates’ pursuit.

When Tepo began talking about his experiences within the dungeon though, Anvil had shock written all over her face. She felt somewhat guilty and her eyes blamed Quill for not getting rid of the pirates.

The scholarly warrior however remained calm. He was even somewhat proud that Line made it out of another dungeon alive.

Not knowing what was going on in his friends’ heads, Tepo continued. He didn’t hold anything back.

Finally, Line’s story finished with his return to the tower.

Anvil could only let out a sigh. Her first months after recruitment definitely weren’t this exciting.

Quill’s attention on the other hand was caught by something else. He was deep in thought. Suddenly a bell rang in his mind, his eyes opened in shock:

“Line. You said you received Ahiluscendum form the dungeon?”

“Yes.”, admitted Tepo, somewhat surprised that Quill voice showed this much motion.

“Ahiluscendum… Ahiluscendum… who would have thought…”

Watching Quill mumble to himself, Anvil also understood something:

“Quill, have you heard about Ahiluscendum before? Is it something impressive?”

“Yes. Even I needed some time to remember. Ahiluscendum should be among the legendary materials.”

Noticing Anvil drawing a sharp breath as the word legendary fell, Line grew curious:

“What’s significant about legendary materials?”

“Basically, it means the material is incredibly rare. So rare that its existence can’t even be confirmed. But since it can be listed in different history books independent form each other, most people assume that it had appeared sometime in the past.”

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Mulling over those words, Line was surprised. But suddenly he got a bad feeling.

“But… if the Ahiluscendum was in Zarim’s hands, shouldn’t people know more about it? At least the Shooting Star Tribe should have some recordings, don’t they?”

Hearing Tepo’s question his friends could only smile wryly.

“I never heard from a Shooting Star Tribe.”, stated Anvil carefully.

“Me neither.”

Tepo sighed as he sorted his thoughts.

I should’ve expected this. Now this leaves only a few options.

Either the Shooting Star Tribe never existed, it has been renamed, it is too unimportant, or it doesn’t exist anymore.

Either way, it will be difficult to fulfill my promise.

“Hmm. Do you guys know if there have been occasions where something mentioned in dungeons existed in the real world?”

Quill didn’t need much time to think about this question. He answered confidently:

“Yes, there have. Most of the time those places and people have been long dead though. Only on one or two occasions could a city from dungeons be found in the real world.

This is a phenomenon many study intensely. Researchers expect that this is the clue to understand where dungeons come from and how they work.”

“If people are still researching this, then what is the current theory?”, asked Tepo with curiosity.

“Most people think that the void is filled with the Force of Creation. It might constantly create all kinds of worlds. Sometimes major, permanent worlds like the Carrying Winds World will come into existence, but most of the time only small, unstable worlds are churned out. Those would then form dungeons.”

“From the tone of your voice you are not convinced?”, asked Tepo as he processed the information.

“I’m torn. Although this explanation makes sense, there is no evidence pointing towards a Force of Creation. The Force of Natural Perception actually comes close, but why would it create dungeons?”

Anvil also listened in interest, despite having discussed this matter with Quill multiple times. In fact, this was a favorite topic for all kinds of scholars, sometimes letting them hold philosophical discussions for months.

Even fights between believers of different theories have happened before.

“In the end… “, added the female artificer. “… we are limited by our tools. No one can prove that they have a tool or spell which can observe all forces in existence. Just like the force sensor it always depends on the user’s aptitude.

If someone could build a universal force sensor, we would learn a lot.”

Line smiled faintly as he saw the eager look in Anvil’s eyes. He could only wish the ambitious woman good luck. Unfortunately, he had no understanding of artificers and wasn’t interest in learning the profession.

But suddenly this let him recall something.

“Oh right, I just remembered. I brought something for you, Anvil.”

The woman rose a brow in surprise:

“For me?”

“Sure.”

Suddenly Tepo waved his hand dramatically. A large paper appeared, covering the entire table. An image and a lot of notes were drawn on it.

It took Anvil only a single glance to understand what Tepo took out.

“The Sun’s Punishment’s schematic!”

A surprised exclamation left the female artificer’s mouth, but Tepo wasn’t done yet. In his hands appeared a transparent tube containing a viscous, lava-like liquid. The room’s temperature rose abruptly.

Immediately the young warrior regretted his reckless actions as a burning heat cooked his palms.

Shocked, Tepo reacted instinctively, throwing the Holy Sun Fire in the air.

Seeing this, Anvil and Quill didn’t panic. The former did her best to suppress her laughter, letting out strange sounds. Meanwhile Quill followed the tube with his eyes, apparently not inclined to move.

Suddenly a stream of wind blew through the room. One of the elemental spirits took action, pushing the dangerous liquid away.

To the side a fire spirit was already waiting. It jumped up, effortlessly catching the tube. It proudly stuck out its chest, showing off.

Tepo took a moment to recover before chuckling.

“Thanks guys.”

“Mhm. Good job.”, praised Quill as well.

“Can you let me take a look?”

Hearing this the fire spirit didn’t hesitate to jump on Quill’s outstretched hand. The warrior rose his brows in appreciation as he studied the Holy Sun Fire.

Even for the veteran the lava-like liquid’s heat was not easy to endure. If it wasn’t for the glass tube not even Quill would be able to endure.

For a second Tepo imagined what would happen if they didn’t have a container for the Holy Sun Fire. The entire tower might burn down before Wave could save the few remnants.

Tepo shuddered faintly, quickly focusing his eyes back on Anvil and Quill. He smiled wryly. The former was captivated by the schematics while the latter couldn’t divert his attention from the Holy Sun Fire.

Tepo shook his head as he stood up from the table.

“Ok guys. I’ll be training for a while. I need to engrave new spells.”

The two veterans only waved their hands absentmindedly. Tepo smiled, not taking it to heart. But just as he reached the stairs, Quill’s voice came from his back:

“You should take a look at the intelligence area. They can also provide you with spell materials for contribution points.”

Tepo kept Quill’s words in mind as he reached the training room. A relaxing smell of nature welcomed him. The warrior sat down, eyes taking in the tranquil ocean outside.

With some excitement Tepo connected with his storage bag. Suddenly materials began to appear on the empty floor. Most of them came from the two corpses within the tower.

By now the young man knew that those were soldiers form the Hurricane Army. Thus, it was better to be careful and never take out any of their equipment.

But what else should I do with it? Maybe I can give it Anvil to reforge or destroy.

Well, this is not of high priority. Right now I should concentrate on engraving spells.