"Well, to explain this, I'll have to recall some events that go back about a year."

I nod as Monk continues.

"My monastery here and the Galeheart Guild came to a reasonable agreement ages ago. They have overwhelming power in numbers, so in theory, they could wipe us out in a turf war, but many of their men would die as well. It would make us both too weak, and the land beneath our feet is far too valuable to leave us vulnerable to attack from a third party. We thought if we worked together, we'd be strong enough to keep anyone from attacking."

"So you have an alliance?"

"More like an agreement."

Monk stands up from his seat and starts pacing slowly along the back wall with the weapons lining it.

"Lith gives us work sometimes to farm or subjugate dungeons, and in return, he allows us to live rent-free in the city behind many layers of defenses."

I nod slowly, sensing this isn't the root of the problem.

"Although many in our group resent this city, others are grateful that we still get to live peacefully as we once did in the changing world. Almost all the animosity has gone away, that is, until earlier this year when the Dark One attacked."

My face lights up with curiosity.

"The Dark One?"

He nods and continues.

"Yes, ever since the abyss in the center of the continent began to grow, many dungeons in the area have been breaking constantly. Every few weeks there's a new surge that needs to be taken care of."

Monk's eyebrows scrunch and his jaw clenches as he says his next line.

"Usually, my team was more than enough to handle any breaks within 100 kilometers of this place. The population in sector 1 is fairly spread out, and even though this is the capital, there aren't many people that stay for long as their money gets eaten up and they move back to the surrounding villages."

"So what happened? Was there a labyrinth break or something?"

"There are no labyrinths in this sector, only a few very strong dungeons. We often code them with the outer continent's grading system. There are many C and B Class dungeons deep in the mountains, and quite a few that have formed beneath the city itself from constant tourism. This is how the arena we fought in earlier easily farms level 500 and higher monsters with ease. However, the day the A-Class Dungeon broke was the day we lost our freedom."

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There's a long silent pause, then I speak up.

"So what happened? Was there a break in the city? Everything seems fine to me... Someone must have handled it."

"Something... Something handled it."

There's another pause before he continues again.

"You remember that notification you received after defeating the Stage 7 Ghoul in the arena, right?"

I nod slowly as he keeps speaking.

"That's one of the monsters from the A-Class break. In the almost year-long process of hunting them down, there have only been 114 defeated, including the one you killed in the arena. They cannot be killed with mana. None of my disciples are strong enough to take them on solo just yet. They need training outside the city or would have to fight in the arena like me. Allowing more attention to come on my people as the only soul energy users in this city would be a fatal move. My desperate attempt of fighting in the arena to slowly knock down their army is risky enough. This is why I ask for your help specifically."

I stare at the man in the orange robe with another thought on my mind for a moment, then decide to let it out.

"These monsters are middle B Class at best. How is this an A-Class break? Wouldn't the Royal Guard just handle them? How do they keep them contained in the arena and let people fight them in the first place if they're so hard to defeat...? Wouldn't it just be best to kill them as fast as possible once they're contained?"

Monk shakes his head.

"The Ghouls are just a tool for the Dark One. That being is the true monster that came out from the break. It leads an army of 1000 Ghouls, and they follow its every order. It may be a monster, but it's highly intelligent; smarter than any human by far. I never got the chance to fight the leader myself, but this may be a blessing in disguise. All the strongest Elders before me with far more power were all defeated in a single battle. After both my troops and many of the Galeheart Guild's highest paid mercenaries were defeated entirely, the Dark One made a deal with Lith in his weakened state and took over the city..."

"Just like he did with you? So you're saying there's a secret leader to Valor City?"

Monk nods.

"Similarly. However, the real intentions of the Dark One are unknown to me. All I know is, the Royal Guard is controlled by that creature now. It is not in human hands. Still, even though it's an entity that came from a dungeon, the select few that know about the break refer to it as the Sector 1 Leader. Others are in the dark. Many think all the recent changes in the city are because of the Galeheart Guild, in reality this is not the case. It's the Dark One. The strongest Entity ruling the economy and trade deals of the Dark Continent as well as some stretching into other far-off lands."

I remember back to seeing the eyes of one of the Royal Guard glow orange through the slit in its mask, and theories begin to creep into my head.

I respond, now thinking about the "Lich King's Curse" that was on the Ghoul's buff slot when I fought it.

"You mentioned to me after the fight that even the strong can fall to its curse. What did you mean by that?"

Monk stops pacing and stares at me.

"All of the elders and paid mercenaries that were defeated by the Dark One were killed and turned into undead puppets. Every one of the current Royal Guard is not a human anymore; they're monsters in disguise, being manipulated by the soul energy of an unbeatable Undead King. I've never felt soul energy as powerful as its in my life... that is, until I saw the power you wielded in the arena last night."

He walks over and sits back down at the table with a hand stretched out to meet mine.

"If you unlock the power of your own soul energy, I believe you may be the key to saving this city. Please, allow me to train you."