The kingdom of red dust which was situated in the continent of red sands was a major trading hub, apart from the puzzling reason why they named the kingdom and continent red seeing as the sands were white, the kingdom was a major stop for merchants and traders from other nearby continents and even planets in their system.
The kingdom was built in rings that went progressively higher the deeper you went, explained to him by a merchant they met, it signified status and power here in the kingdom.
The whole planet of Duhiri consisted of two continents, one an arid desert with oasis filling the landscape and three distinct kingdoms which were lorded over by a clan headed by one diamond ranked expert. The other continent was a lush jungle, filled with hills and supposedly carnivorous plant life forms, it had two kingdoms ruled over by a diamond ranked expert also.
Between these two continents were a set of islands linked together, and on those islands were supposedly the master who ruled this planet along with his entire lineage.
The rest of the planet was a sea of ocean, stretching all around the planet and filled with expert and even a few master ranked monsters. The kingdom of red dust bordered the kingdom of the glowing sun to the east and the kingdom of black blades to the north, all kingdoms were somewhat hostile to each other when it came to dungeon delving.
Which was stupid to Moyo seeing as the number of dungeons that filled the desert lands between the kingdoms and the ones that spawned in the kingdom themselves. Ashira had explained to him however, that higher tiered dungeons were the cause of dispute, not dungeons between 150-300.
Dungeons 300 and above, was where the fights usually broke out from. Silver rankers and above tend to want to monopolize dungeons a bit higher than them so as to ascend faster, plus the fact that dungeons in the expert realm took over a day or two to finish even with a full team, the silvers were very observant about any dungeon that bordered on levels 350-400.
Moyo could care less about those at the moment. He stood with Ashira at a dungeon delving office in the second ring of the kingdom, the bronze ring.
In worlds such as these or any world in the archailect for that matter, dungeon delving offices were situated all around kingdoms. They were in charge of informing ascenders know about new dungeons the moment they become available and if they’ve been booked by some ascender or guild of the kingdom they were in so as to avoid clashes with fellow allied ascenders at the spot of the dungeon.
If the dungeon hasn’t been booked by an allied team of ascenders though, the rankers were free to engage in battle with any rival kingdom’s ascenders they meet at the spot should they wish to.
The rings of the kingdom as previously stated were four, the lowest ring and biggest being the iron ring, then the bronze ring in which they were in, then the silver ring exclusive to silver rankers alone and then the royal ring made up of the gold ranked expert and his royal family. Moyo watched as Ashira spoke with the man in front of the desk with the large crest of a red shield behind him, the crest of the gold ranker that ruled the kingdom.
He munched on some fried creature that tasted oddly enough like beef while not thinking too deeply on what it might had been. Glancing around the room, various bronze ranked and iron ranked ascenders moved around, looking at a holographic table that showed the position of dungeons and their ranks.
Most were between the ranks of 200 and 400, the former being so numerous, they were sold at a price of one single gold coin. Moyo was of the opinion they should go for silver ranked dungeons, Ashira had given him an odd look, stating that he was overestimating his ability, silver ranked monsters were a chore to deal with and they wouldn’t die just as easily as bronze ranked monsters.
Moyo simply smiled at her as she shrugged and booked a rank 300 dungeon that was situated a bit from the kingdom. While true that he hadn’t even fought a bronze ranked monster, he had fought five bronze ranked wyvern experts and those were monsters enough as it was.
He spied a team of ascenders that walked into the building, bruised and battered with their armor in pieces, one of their members that held a staff, possibly a mage limping as two other members of their team held him up with one arm each. Their leader, a giant carrying a shield walked briskly to the same man behind the table Ashira had just paid and left,
“We demand a refund!” he growled,
The man behind the desk neither moved nor seem perturbed, rather he took out a piece of paper and spoke,
“I see, and on what grounds?” he asked,
“The rank 300 dungeon was taken by the broken swords guild, you expressly gave it to under the terms that it was free” he said,
The man frowned,
“a moment if you please” he said as he turned behind him and seemed to be making a call through his HUD,
Moyo knew well enough now not to check the stat of ascenders without their permission seeing as they’d know immediately, but he couldn’t help but guess the rank of the man behind the table, the giant man looked big enough to compress him into a coin if he so wished, plus by the looks of it, the man was probably silver ranked. Ashira saw the look of concentration on his face,
“High end silver ranker” she said,
“What?’ he asked,
“you’re trying to guess the rank of the rank of the secretary, high end silver ranker” she said,
“oh” Moyo said, eyeing the mans’ lanky frame,
“Looks can be deceiving you know, the dungeon delving guild, an archailect spanning guild by the way, is made up of mostly silver rankers and above” she said,
“Plus, the fact that a silver ranker getting the rights to a rank 300 dungeon on the bronze ring goes far enough to tell you how weak the silver is, so yes, the secretary could wipe the floor with him”
Moyo munched on the meat again, eager to see a display of power when a thought came to him,
“Why are there even silver ranked dungeon notices on a bronze ranked level then?” he asked,
“Silver rankers rarely go for dungeons ranked 300-320, the higher you climb the greater ranked dungeons you need to delve, so they send down those dungeons to the high-end bronze rankers that need it for their ascensions”
He nodded at the explanation, watching raptly as the secretary turned back to the fuming silver ranker,
“Apologies ascender shaft” he started as Moyo snorted silently,
“But it would seem like the broken swords guild were not at the dungeon, you have in fact been duped by a team of ascenders masquerading as the broken swords” he said,
The silver ranker shaft growled,
“We saw the crest and attire, they were from the broken swords” he said,
“I just contacted the guild themselves Mr. shaft, if you so wish, you could table your complaint at the guild chapter here in the bronze ring or the main branch at the silver ring, however going on the words of the guild, it wasn’t any of their silver rankers and any silver ranker we know of” the secretary said,
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“So, who’s going to pay for the damages to my team?” shaft said,
“You mean to tell me a team of silver rankers can’t handle the cost of injuries themselves?” the secretary asked,
‘That isn’t the point” shaft said, hitting his hand on the table,
Immediately the face of the secretary changed and Moyo felt a presence in the room, the ticking hand of a clock resonated around him, counting down to some imminent doom, shaft himself stumbled backwards and Moyo winced at the power of what he was beginning to suspect was either a concept or a realm coming into play.
Ashira touched him and the feeling vanished, even as he nodded. The secretary glanced at them and immediately Moyo felt the presence leave the room, turning back to the silver ranker shaft, the secretary spoke,
“You have insulted the delving guild ranker shaft, get out of my office before I decide to penalize you, your teammates need treatment as soon as possible” the secretary said,
Shaft nodding, face white as he scrambled to help his teammates leave the building. The secretary sighed, glanced at them and beckoned them towards him with a finger. Ashira and Moyo trudged up to the man, curiosity on their faces,
“First of all, let me apologize for such display in the guild, we usually have such…cases you see” he said,
“Understandable, no problem” Ashira spoke,
The secretary nodded and continued, glancing at a sheet of paper,
“It says here that you are ascenders Ashira threefold blade and Moyosore titan blade, swordsmen I’d presume?” the secretary asked,
It was the first time Moyo had heard the sobriquet of Ashira, he guessed she used it rather than her family name, the name Kairos might draw a few attentions she was hoping to avoid. They nodded along,
“Good, you may call me Mr. A, he said and I have a proposition for you” A said,
The odd name aside, Moyo sensed where this was going, Mr. A nodding also at the looks on their faces,
“It is as you think, the guild doesn’t like cases such as these when its integrity is questioned” he started, looking back at the piece of paper that held their details,
“And looking at your ascension ranks of 370 and …160, am I seeing this right?” A asked, eyeing Moyo,
Moyo was the more surprised of the two of them, looking at Ashira and wondering why he never asked her rank. 370, she was closer to gold than he was close to silver, then he wondered about the rank Kenuran held and a chill went through him, he had been lucky. Mr. A eyed him before nodding in admiration,
“An inspiration, interesting” he murmured before continuing,
“That by the way side, normally we’d send our enforcers to go find out what was going on, but I have a feeling those who perpetrated this offense would only scramble when they see our ship moving towards them”
“Hence why you need ascenders unaffiliated with the delving guild to check it out and respond back” Ashira said,
“Precisely, and seeing as you’re a high ranked silver ascender and he’s a low ranked bronze ascender who can fly under the radar of these people, it would be perfect for a scouting mission” A explained,
Ashira glanced at Moyo who shrugged, finishing the meat and licking his fingers. He wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about fighting silver rankers, but a scouting mission should bring no harm to them. Ashira turned back to Mr. A,
“we’ll take it, however, what do we get as payment?” she asked,
“I believe an extra rank 300 dungeon should be sufficient a payment, agree?” he asked,
“agreed” Ashira said with a beaming smile, Moyo nodded and turned to leave when Mr. A called out,
“Oh and Mr. titan blade, the delving guild would be willing to settle on your world after its calamity had been concluded, we offer a reasonable payment for the contract to settle with your clan first of all, seeing as it’s the dominant power on your planet” he said,
Moyo froze and turned to Mr. A, still chewing the meat, Ashira glancing with him inquisitively, he nodded,
“I would try my best to get in touch with the authorities of my clan to inform them, I believe you can both work something out” he said,
Mr. A paused, then with a twinkle in his eye and a soft smile, he nodded,
“All we ask Mr. titan blade, thank you for your time” he said, effectively dismissing them.
“I had no idea there was a clan on your world already” Ashira said,
Moyo shrugged, eyes trying to find the store where he bought the meat, his mind processing what had just happened,
“Factions grew out of the presence of the archailects arrival on my world, the clan to which I belong to is one of those factions and we hold an entire continent” he said,
“I’m guessing whatever house took over your acclimating period did a great job” she said,
“No house or sect, or clan or school from the greater archailect “he said, pride in his voice,
Ashira glanced at him as they began walking towards the direction of the market,
“You mean your planet survived the integration stage by themselves?”
“We did, and we beat back those that descended on our world, sects like the crimson rose and the likes” he said,
“House crimson rose, that explains that issue” she remarked,
“Issue?”
“a while back, house crimson rose was accused of trying to enter a new world, I’m guessing yours before the one month of immunity was up and also dabbling in powers related to the abyss” she said,
Moyo had wondered what Atreus would had told his superiors concerning the matter,
“Their rulers were sent to the frontlines, the house disbanded, its allied factions stripped of a few planets and the powers that held the house also sent to the frontlines” she explained,
“The brigade?” he asked,
“The brigade handles any case of rule breaking, especially when it comes to situations involving the abyss” Ashira explained,
Moyo spotted the stall and bought an absurd amount of the fried meat for one silver coin, effectively clearing the stand of the seller who beamed as he set up another batch, turning to Ashira who stared at him in exasperation,
“What?” he asked innocently,
“there’s no way you’re eating that amount of meat” she said,
“Watch me” he replied, stuffing his mouth full with the meat as Ashira shook her head.
The bronze ring market was made up of both edible foods and items suited mostly for ascenders, shops displayed items ranging from weapons suitable for bronze ranked experts, to wears that gave defensive boosts or increased mana of wearer, mostly for the mages and the kingdom of red dust had predominantly mages. It was the first time Moyo had gone to a place where swordsmen weren’t the majority and it was a bit relaxing.
They trudged round, Ashira dragging him along as she bought things needed for their trip. The delving guild had given them a map of the dungeons and the path towards them, they bought light clothes that helped block out the frequent sand storms that raged with the bite of intent in the air, harmless to swordsmen but devastating to mages without air affinity if caught in them.
The disguise they were going with was one of mages, complete with the staff and robe, Moyo thought it was a bit too dungeons and dragons for his taste, but the look of childish eagerness on the face of Ashira made him drop the issue.
After splurging on over 10 gold coins, Ashira having a fit about spending such an amount, an amount Moyo still considered cheap seeing as his funds were mostly in diamond coins, he shook his head as they walked to the gate, going to join up with the throngs of fellow experts who would use the tele hub of the city to get as far as the closest tele pad to the dungeons.
Moyo keenly watched his surroundings, his realm close to his body the same way he had it on him during his time on Agabod. They finally joined the long line that had grown, waiting for whoever was in charge of the tele hub to arrive, most of the ascenders on the line were bronze rankers, but Moyo could feel the subtle hum of the few silver ranked among them, plus the bronze rankers gave the silvers a good space.
A woman climbed the stone platform where the tele hub was placed on, a large circular structure made of stone with blue light that glowed withing it. She had yellow hair with yellow eyes and a hazy figure floated behind her, looking comically like one of the abilities of an Asian animation. He asked Ashira about it, eyes on the woman who wore a white uniform, arms raised to draw attention to herself,
“a mage, the ability is popular among the members of house Ironash, sort of like their major ability” she said,
“So, she’s from a great house then?” he asked,
“Extended member, the direct descendants of Ironash have more physical…not sure what they call that ability of theirs, but it’s like an extra body for them, and most times it follows another path and another use of aether” she explained,
Moyo marveled at the ability even as the crowd quieted down, if the mages of house Ironash had a skill that gave them an extra body that could possibly use another aspect of aether, like intent, it meant they could have overwhelming advantage on the battlefield. He spoke his mind to Ashira who nodded,
“Usually that’s true, but the rate of ascension becomes slow, really slow, plus it doesn’t really show it’s true capabilities till they get to master, a reason why house Ironash has the highest mount of masters in the archailect” she said,
Their attention was drawn back to the woman who began speaking,
“Good day ascenders, my name is Mira poison staff, a peak silver rank expert and one of the 5 shining guards of his majesty, lord dazzling fist, king and” she said,
Moyo snorted silently, with a sobriquet like that, he could see why Ajax went hard on the man, the guardian Mira continued,
“I’ll be your protector during this round of delving, this is due to the perceived threat from the kingdom of the glowing sun” she started,
Moyo suddenly grew interested,
“Now as ascenders, it is not my place to step in should a fellow bronze ranker from either our kingdom or the glowing sun challenges you to a duel, however should any silver ranker appear, I’ll handle them, got it?” she said as the bronze rankers nodded,
Moyo noticed the silver rankers in the crowd narrow their eyes dubiously, it seemed they weren’t ready to risk their heads for any bronze ranker should any silver show up, Moyo was just anxious to do battle and as the portal opened, he grinned slowly getting closer to the portal before passing through.