Chapter 62
Keith was so immersed in the battle two hours went by in a flash.
It was only when the last Undead Warrior collapsed that he realized today’s Blockade defense was basically over. Invigorated by his Sword Mastery progress, Keith pulled up the leaderboards and saw his rank at 41st place.
Not bad, Keith grinned, knowing that he had spent a lot of time training instead of killing monsters. Truthfully, Keith didn’t want to abuse the power granted to him by the War Array to go on a killing spree. He wanted to leave monsters to the others so they could level up.
If he didn’t hold himself back, he guessed he’d easily rank within the top 20.
Maybe even the top 10.
Keith returned home to take a shower, thinking about how potent Arsenal of the Desert became once it reached level 1,000. It was simply a qualitative change. With that in mind, he needed to choose a second skill to begin researching.
There were two paths he could take.
Keith could study another divine grade skill or a low grade skill like Fireball.
The reason he even considered studying Fireball was simply due to the notification he received when first leveling Arsenal of the Desert to level 1,000.
Congratulations, you leveled a skill to 1,000!
Reach level 1,000 in three more skills to attain additional benefits.
Based on Keith’s gut instinct, the stated additional benefit probably meant an evolution opportunity for his innate gift. The first evolution reduced the cost of the functions in the Function shop. He wanted to find out what benefits the second evolution brought.
Of course, it didn’t have to be Fireball.
Keith was also considering Mana Barrier.
Even though it was a rare grade skill, it boasted tremendous flexibility in its usage, such that Yara’s self-developed Dragon Regalia mode raised Mana Barrier’s defensive capabilities to the mythic grade. With more research, it might be possible to push it higher.
Additionally, unlike melee fighters, there weren’t many defensive abilities available for mages. For example, people above level 500 still relied on the Mana Barrier skill to protect themselves.
After showering, Keith drank some elixirs and contemplated what skill to pick, going through the pros and cons of each. An hour later, he finally decided on Mana Barrier. It still had a lot of potential, and Keith thought it would be fun to see how far he could push it. He sent a mental message to his clone, informing him of his decision.
Once all was said and done, Keith prepared to leave for his next sparring session when a notification came from his magic tablet. Picking it up, he saw it was a message from the military, with the first two words being ‘Highly Confidential’.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Intrigued, Keith read on.
According to the message, which was sent to specific individuals, the military had discovered a celestial grade dungeon. Upon explaining what a dungeon was, they went on to say that to not affect the Blockade’s defense, only a limited number of people could head to the dungeon at a time. Following that, there was a list of hundreds of people with different dates.
Scrolling down, Keith soon found his name.
Should he accept, he could leave for the dungeon in two days, which meant he was one of the earliest to go.
Keith was unsure of how dangerous a dungeon was.
Thinking briefly, he sent a message to both Yara and Markus, asking for their opinion.
Yara replied first, simply telling him not to go.
Markus answered soon after, saying that while risky, it was manageable. The dungeon’s challenges could be completed one at a time. By gauging the difficulty of the first challenge, you could decide whether to continue or leave. He warned Keith to keep in mind where his limit lay.
Keith was relieved by his father’s response.
If he could choose to leave after every challenge, then he didn’t have much to worry about. Keith was interested in delving into a dungeon. As an adventurer at heart, he wanted to explore what the Grandsky Realm had to offer.
Two days went by.
During that time, the contract enhancing Keith’s sword talent expired. Other than that, nothing noteworthy happened.
After eating breakfast, Keith went to the teleportation array hub, where a military liaison responsible for leading Keith to the dungeon approached. “Mr. Walker, you’re early. We still need to wait for the others.”
“Understood,” Keith replied, then stood off to the side.
The rest of the individuals heading to the dungeon arrived over the next ten minutes.
There were four in total, excluding Keith. Each was like him – War Array holders defending the Blockade. Keith greeted them with a nod. Everyone there recognized each other, for they all ranked within the top 100 on the leaderboard.
One of them, an elderly dwarf, approached Keith, asking, “Say, as the High Commander’s son, you wouldn’t happen to have any inside information, would you?”
The others perked up their ears.
“Nothing that wasn’t in the report,” Keith answered with a shake of his head.
The military liaison frowned at the dwarf, berating, “The High Commander wouldn’t endanger your lives by withholding any pertinent information.”
“My bad, my bad,” the dwarf chuckled awkwardly. “I’m just anxious, that’s all.”
Seeing that the dwarf meant no harm, the military liaison relaxed. “Fine. Since everyone’s here, let’s go.”
Upon leading the group to a specific teleportation array, the military liaison activated the array and they soon vanished with a flash. After making two more teleports at different hubs, they appeared within a recently constructed building. Keith could tell by the smell.
“We’re now on the border of the Elemental Nation’s territory. Follow me,” the military liaison walked ahead as he explained.
Once out of the small teleportation hub, Keith found himself inside a military fortress, unaware that a massive battle had occurred here just days earlier. After the Innate’s victory, they secured the dungeon by building fortifications around it, equipping the base with everything they needed to defend it.
In less than a minute, Keith’s group arrived before the dungeon, surprised by its lackluster appearance.
“Is that it?” The elderly dwarf exclaimed, having expected something more intimidating.
“Yes.” The military liaison turned to face the party. “This is the dungeon, named the Colosseum of Limits. All rewards you obtain within belong to you. We simply ask for a detailed report once you leave. Are there any questions?”
Keith was the first to speak. “Is it true that you can obtain transcendent grade items?”
“Historically, yes,” the liaison answered firmly.
The elderly dwarf rubbed his beard in excitement. “What about the High Commander and Sir Ska’dur? Have they gone in?”
“Affirmative,” the liaison responded.
“What did they acquire?” the dwarf grew agitated.
The liaison spoke cooly, “That’s classified.”
The dwarf turned to Keith, who shook his head with a wry smile, “Don’t ask me. I didn’t even know they entered.”
The liason looked over the group. “If that’s all, then you may enter. Good luck.”
Keith watched as the others in his party entered the dungeon one after another.
Taking a deep breath, he approached the entrance to the moss-covered structure and started walking down the steps into the darkness.