Caesar paced through the market, searching for bags that could withstand heavy wear and tear. He’d have to rely on adventuring to find dungeons since he had no university or a reliable group of people to do the searching for him. But this helped him keep his power a secret. People desired and hunted for special catalysts like what he’d gotten. It would be sheer arrogance to think he’d be the only one. And whoever pursued his parents would be his first major hurdle. Thus, the north might be the sole place where he could succeed quickly enough unless Arnold approached him again.

It took him the majority of the day for him to purchase enough bags, backpacks, and pouches to store the things he wanted on this trip. He brandished a new, sleek, and sharp spear acquired from one of the more reputable blacksmiths. Having learned from his earlier excursion into the tomb, Caesar wanted to hold food, water, clothes, bedding, and especially light sources on demand.

His normal skeleton could carry a large backpack and a large bag while sitting in his crown. That took care of bedding and extra clothes. He himself wore a medium backpack containing dried meats, fruits, waterskins, and torches while two medium-sized potion pouches hung on his waist. His skeleton mage could equip his two small pouches for extra potions or loot, and a small bag meant for more food.

Caesar left the city satisfied with his purchases and hitched a carriage heading north. Unlike other carriages, this one left with a similar mindset as him. The driver had made his fortune as an employee of a major trading caravan, selling desirable goods acquired from the north until he had managed to secure his own.

A guard sat inside the carriage, and another stood in front. Two other wagons with plentiful goods trailed closely behind. They looked credible and reassured Caesar of having plentiful rank one defenses for this trip. He paid the driver fifteen silver coins, and, after an uneventful trip, they stopped in a city for the night.

In the morning, Caesar replenished supplies and continued on his trip. The rest of the journey would take thirty-five silver coins and most of the afternoon. A few other travelers joined him on the caravan. This team of four took an aggressive stance in the carriage, pushing him off to the side. Their voices rang loud as they chattered away about their adventures and plans. He ignored them, not wanting trouble.

With only two viable essence core slots, Caesar had to make a choice. He chose to keep Max for sentimental reasons since his skeleton mage and tomb hippo served as a sufficient fighting force. That meant his other two slots should either be filled with utility humanoids like his current Mundane skeleton or specialized summons like a mage with augmentation magic.

No ideas about where to find them sprang to mind, however. But he became firm. His Rare Awakening potion would be kept until something lucky happened, like a rank zero Rare summon. The final nutrient ball would be used on Max. He also needed to test the grape’s juice on various lifeforms to see its effects. Caesar just hoped it wouldn’t be related to the chains on the hippo.

His carriage came to a sudden stop, jolting him out of his thoughts. The adventuring group looked pale and had stopped talking. The guard in the carriage put his hands on his sword and walked outside.

Caesar looked out the window and found the caravan surrounded by a group of hardy bandits. Their leader sat frowning on a gray horse. Four burly men clad in leather armor and equipped with more horses awaited his orders. Ten more bandits stood around, gripping weapons. The situation was tense as the two parties began to negotiate.

“Hey. Are you guys going to fight?” Caesar said in his carriage.

A few seconds passed. He leered at each person. One of them responded, “What? No, definitely not. They’ll leave us alone, for sure.”

“That might not be the case.” He tried to convince them to act.

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“Not talking.” The entire group put their heads down and kept quiet. Caesar frowned in disapproval. If a fight truly broke out, he’d be limited to his skeleton mage unless he killed everyone present, sparing nobody. Furthermore, it couldn’t use its ability in public. The tomb hippo was too exotic a creature and represented major trouble if news spread out. He shook his head – too much of a risk.

Tensions between the two parties began to snap as the bandits grilled the caravan for information. Accusatory tones rose among the bandit footmen as they watched the conversation. Caesar furrowed his brows. Did they mention an Uncommon awakening potion?

The bandit leader ripped out a knife from their pouch and threw it at a guard. It sank into the dirt. All guards and bandits drew their weapons. But a little while later, the carriage got going again. Caesar hummed in approval.

The rest of the journey remained uneventful, save for the occasional wandering beasts. Wolves, bears, foxes, and rabbits appeared most often. Compared to his home city, the north contained similar wildlife. What made the northern side more dangerous was the higher occurrence rates of natural materials and catalysts, often creating packs of rank one animals similar to his last dungeon. But the weather often posed more of a threat to wanderers looking for treasure. Finally, human greed made the perfect third ingredient in sealing the fates of explorers. Experienced northern bandits, looters, scavengers, and other hostile groups could pose a threat at any time.

Caesar’s carriage stopped at a stronghold where white snow drifted like feathers on gray walls. As he stepped out, he took a deep breath and stretched. Around the city trudged small pockets of people dressed in warm clothing along the road. They talked in hushed tones and looked busy. He first searched the market for anything interesting like a artifact weapon-smith, but found nothing. Perhaps, the university's city might have one.

He instead followed a well-dressed and well-armed group to a tavern.

As he walked in, the smell of hearty rabbit stew and ale overpowered him. Caesar took a seat in the corner, ordered the same, and listened for information. The sounds of laughter and drunken speech rang through the air, but nothing seemed critical. Fists occasionally banged on wood followed by chuckles. He rested there for hours, eyes only opening for an occasional snack and drink.

After hearing enough, he rested in an inn and awaited the next day. He summoned his skeleton mage for self-protection and closed his eyes to think. Three options stood out to him. Wolves were rumored to roam the dense woods in the north. Bears were spotted a few times near a cliff to the east. And in the northeast, an icy river that flowed in some places and froze solid in others glittered like stars once in a while, even at night. But only two people had seen this phenomenon. Although they spoke at different times and in different groups, Caesar had heard of possible ambushes that used this method.

He awoke at dawn and settled on hunting the bears first. He could explore the river later, possibly with other people, to reduce the risk of ambush. A cliff appeared eastward, and he sent Max out to search. The bears should have been sleeping in a cave covered by trees and snow. Caesar walked in and came back out a second later, bloodless. They were rank zero – not worth killing.

The icy river stretched over vast territories. On his map, it ran over multiple rank one zones and a rank two zone. The source of the river lay further north, in publicly unexplored land, making it a larger risk to enter. But if the dungeon truly existed, environments less traveled by veteran adventurers like his teacher would be the best place to find it.

Caesar followed the river downstream toward the sole rank two zone. In here lived various rank two beasts, with new ones sighted each day. Rank two dungeons had appeared twice, but he believed other occurrences just weren’t reported. Taking on a rank two dungeon posed a challenge, but a necessary one.

However, nothing happened. He met a few wandering animals but none of them had awakened. A couple of adventuring teams could also be seen near the river. For days, he investigated. But with no results to show, Caesar started to get antsy. In frustration, he placed his faith in his tomb hippo instead and walked straight into unmarked territory.

He summoned Max and fed the gray wolf with the large Nutrient Ball, raising its Vitality to ten and Strength to nine. Max then scouted ahead. The two journeyed far for a few more days, resting at sunset, searching for signs of life. Caesar ran whenever he had the stamina, desperate to find anything. He almost lost himself in the monotony of white and gray, but when a roar ripped through the forest, the two scrambled for cover.

Max looked back at his summoner and whined softly. The wolf smelled blood on a bear warring against an apparent team of four different humans, who walked in close proximity. Caesar furrowed his brows and unsummoned him in favor of his skeleton mage. They dropped their bags next to a tree and smothered them in snow to hide them. He hugged his spear close to his body and crept towards the battle.