Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, in a certain garden something mysterious was happening.
These garden was as large as Armad's entire village. It was lined by rows of green trees carrying succulent fruits of different varieties. Almost eighty percent of these trees weren't available in the outside world. They gave a pleasant smell that was perceived from a thousand meters away.
The trees and fruits were amazing but the real beauty was the aesthetically appealing, clear water that ran between these trees. Toward the edge of the garden, the water tributaries joined together into a large water body that transformed into a beautiful waterfall.
The garden was an imposing view, but what was even more imposing was the house at its centre. A two story building built entirely with gem stones. There were many gem stones but any stone was worth its weight in gold. To think that someone would be so extravagant...
The walls glowed with a subdued light that would make any jewel jealous.
The only people living in this house were two people: a grown up woman and a young lady. In fact, if you were to look closer, you would see that the most glowing part of this house was a room on the second floor where these women currently sat. Both women wore splendid costumes but the young lady was especially noteworthy because of her extensively fair skin. So fair it literally glowed in the daylight. In fact, it would be difficult to know whether the glow coming from this room was because of the room itself or the young woman inside.
These two women were in the middle of a conversation.
The older woman stood from her seat and walked to the nearest wall where she placed her palm and pushed the wall back. The wall creaked and glowed with a black light for several seconds before a simple two-by-two doorway appeared at the centre.
"This is the thirty-fifth attempt, it will be the last, princess. Your father has given up. He doesn't want to put you and your brothers in any more risks." The older woman told the young lady.
The young lady addressed as princess nodded. She silently walked into the doorway and disappeared inside.
The older woman sighed softly, then said, "may the Old Sword be with you."
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Four days later, the young woman addressed as princess sat in front of a sea. The sea was unique as its water was pitch black and absolutely still. Anyone looking would wonder how a ship could travel over it.
She sat cross-legged in meditation. Her glowing skin illuminated the area around her. She was alone except for a young man lying on the ground two meters away from her. His clothes were eighty percent gone, half his skin was gone and he was bleeding. There was a red headband on his forehead and a blue light cycling over it. If you looked closely, you could see this young man was Armad Wilberforce.
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The princess sat there for three more days, probably observing something in the black sea, or maybe she was waiting for Armad to wake up.
On the fourth day, she put her left hand on his chest. After a minute, the glow on her skin and the light that was previously cycling over his forehead disappeared into his body. His wounds immediately healed and his skin regenerated back to normal.
The princess removed a paper from her pocket and put it in Armad's last remaining pocket. She looked at him deeply before she turned around and dived into the black water.
Armad spent another day unconscious before he finally opened his eyes to see notifications.
Your team has conquered the fallen city of Bayajidda.
Contribution: 30%
Reward: 1) transportation to the Fourth World 2) You can use the nature energy of the dungeon to cultivate for three days. 3) +0.6 year 4) You have received one spell slot and one sword slot.
Saif Iqra has been added to your Spell Book.
Saif Iqra has been added to Sword Book.
Armad frowned. He shouldn't have frowned because he actually felt better than the last time he was conscious. However, he couldn't remember conquering or even leaving the fallen city of Bayajidda, which obviously meant someone must have taken him out. What happened to his clothes? Why were they burnt? And he even had a new spell and a new sword. What was even more confusing was the fact that these new spell and sword had already been added to his Book. It took him two years to add the Dance of Uncertainty to his Sword Book and three years to add the Yellow Dance. You couldn't just add a sword to your Book, you had to learn it first.
And what the hell is Saif Iqra?! Am I supposed to understand what that means? Or am I supposed to know why this Saif Iqra is both a spell and a sword at the same time?
The last thing he remembered was hearing that voice and falling unconscious, there was no fire. He had probably....
Armad frowned as he suddenly remembered the spell paper. If his clothes were burnt then the paper was probably gone...
He hurriedly searched himself. He had stored the paper in his front pocket but the whole front of his robe was gone. But as they said, if you were desperately looking for your camel, you could even search your bag. Armad reached out to his other pockets. All were gone except one.
Luckily, the paper was inside.
He heaved a sigh of relief and opened it. The first thing he saw was a sword sigil and a name which read princess Nostalgia Nára. This was definitely not the spell paper he'd received from the guardian.
He wasn't the brightest in his village but he could guess what happened.
He had lost consciousness and there was probably a fire... then someone took him out of the city and dropped him there. This someone knew how important the spell paper was and they were kind enough to leave one behind. It was obvious they needed something from him.
Armad couldn't think of anyone. After several minutes of deliberating, he decided it was time to leave this dungeon.