Inside the dark tent, a tall man was motionlessly sitting on a few layers of animal fur. The man looked like someone in his forties, he had a well-defined body similar to that of culturists; his clothes and tattoos highlighted his muscles especially since he was only wearing a pair of trousers.
It was the first time Five was seeing that man and was wondering about his intentions. While he and Ariel had been forcefully pulled into the tent, the force disappeared as soon as they entered the tent and the pair was gently placed on the ground.
Ariel was the first to move; as soon as she was no longer held by that invisible force, she immediately pulled Five behind her. Without caring about hiding her appearance, she spread her wings to cover as much area as possible while placing herself between Five and the silent man.
However, Ariel did not attack and neither did the man. Contrary to what Ariel expected, the man did not even move as she stepped forward. In fact, the man did not even open his eyes and seemed to be meditating. As long as he did not attack, there was no reason for Ariel to make the first move. She instinctively knew she did not stand against him which was why she decided to reveal her identity as a harpy. Not only could her wings allow her to fight at her full potential, but it could also divert the man's attention from her master, allowing Five to escape in case the situation turned sour.
As for Five, he quietly stayed behind Ariel and observed the man. Once he calmed down from his original panic, Five started to analyze the situation and tried to determine the identity of the man. "A barbarian? No, his look does not match with the ones I've seen and the Shaman swore that no barbarians would look for trouble? Could it be an intruder? The security of this place is really questionable..." said Five to himself.
The tent remained silent for a moment as no one moved until the man slowly opened his eyes and spoke, "Young harpy? Could you stop charging your attack like that? You are trying to be discreet but if you continue, the barbarians outside will soon notice. You know that I am not here to harm you. If I was, we would not be here talking, right?"
Ariel's wings trembled as she heard the old man. She had indeed been discreetly gathering the wind outside the tent to launch an attack just a few moments ago. The wind's movement was very subtle, yet, the man was able to detect the anomaly in just a few seconds. She was unsure of what to do when she felt Five move behind her.
"Then may I ask: what are you here for?" asked Five. He slowly moved to the side and directly faced the man at a reasonable distance.
"You should sit down first. I apologize for approaching you in this fashion, but it was the only way I could think of which would not attract the barbarians' attention!" answered the man. He spoke with an expressionless face and although he was apologizing, his tone barely conveyed his intentions.
Five stared at the man, trying to guess his intentions. After a few moments, he turned toward Ariel, signaling her to calm down and let him take control of the situation.
"It is fine if you don't want to sit. Since I came here, I suppose I should present myself first. My name is Noon. The reason I approach you is simply that I am looking for a dungeon master and I believe that you are one of them. Am I right? Five?" The man spoke slowly, he was full of confidence and seemed to be laughing internally.
Five was initially stunned as he heard the words "dungeon master", but quickly recovered. "As expected, since he is strong enough to deal with Ariel like that, he should be able to see through the amulet," thought Five.
A worried look appeared on Ariel's face. She initially thought that the man was here to deal with them; at worst, she and Five would die but now, the situation had changed. He knew about Five's identity which meant that he could have hidden motives.
"I suppose that this amulet cannot hide my identity from you. Yes, I am a dungeon master. Why are you looking for me?" politely asked Five. He was not feeling very comfortable, but he could not afford to offend that man at the moment.
"I am naturally here to ask for help! I came here for reproduction purposes," said Noon with a serious face.
Five was stunned and did not know what to think. "Reproduction?" internally exclaimed Five. He instinctively turned to look at Ariel who was also visibly shaken by Noon's request.
However, before the two could say anything, Noon hurried spoke, "No, not that kind of reproduction. Although that harpy is beautiful, I am too old for this kind of thing. Let me explain my situation first."
"Please go ahead," said Five. He was relieved and quickly dismissed his previous thoughts. Ariel similarly calmed down and let out a sigh of relief.
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"Although I look like a human at the moment, I am not one. I am in fact a totem spirit."
"A totem spirit? What is that?" curiously asked Five.
"Mmm, how do I explain that? Essentially, each barbarian tribe has a totem spirit. We were once living beasts or entities who at some point, decided to seal ourselves into special objects. Since then, many of us decided to help the barbarian tribes and in exchange, they prepare sacrifices and offerings for us."
"You have been at the barbarians' meeting today. Were you not surprised when the barbarians were not scared of fighting the townsmen even though they are greatly outnumbered and have poorer equipment? That is all thanks to us, totem spirits!"
Five calmly listened; he had indeed found it strange that the barbarians would fight such a disadvantageous fight, but it turned out that they had such a trump card!
"Then how is that related to your request?"
"Isn't it obvious? I am now just a spirit who can barely stay away from my tribe for more than a few hours. But I was once alive and full of vigor. But in my current situation, I cannot reproduce by normal means. Fortunately, the dungeons would allow me to bypass this small trouble. I am sure you understand what I am talking about," answered Noon.
Five's eyes immediately lit up. The situation was very similar to how he recruited Dreidus! It was obvious that Noon was a very powerful monster but somehow, Five felt that things would not be that simple.
"Haha, don't get the wrong idea! I will not allow you to mess around with my race. I am the very last member of my race and I take this matter very seriously. I just want you to summon a child to who I can pass my legacy. However, you will have absolutely no control on that child, nor will you ever summon other members of my race!" said Noon with a serious expression. As he spoke, a faint cold air current started to flow into the tent, making Five and Ariel shiver.
Five quietly nodded, it seemed that he went slightly overboard with his expectations. "It seems that you know a lot about dungeons. Considering your knowledge, why did you approach me? There are several dungeons over the continent and many have existed for quite a while. Why did you not go there?"
"That's a very good question. Many other dungeons exist but the majority of them are on the townsmen's territory. However, a few dungeons also exist on our own territory. Unfortunately, I am not the only one seeking an easy way to reproduce. Although all the tribes appear to be united, several conflicts exist among the tribes and those controlling the dungeons would not allow me to do as I please. Also, there are also a lot of rivalries between totem spirits, these old bastards would never lend me their dungeon. But recently, quite a few dungeons started to appear which once again gave me the opportunity to try to reproduce. You just happen to be the first dungeon master that I encounter, that's all."
"Judging from what you've said, you are the totem spirit of the Wandering Ram Tribe, right?" curiously asked Five.
Noon nodded, "Indeed, but that is not too hard to guess."
"Very interesting. I sympathize with you but isn't this exchange disadvantageous for me? Not only am I not getting anything, but I am also indirectly creating some grudge between my dungeon and the ones you've mentioned earlier?" said Five to test the waters.
"Huh, I knew that all humans are greedy! Are you not already satisfied with the fact that I am not forcing you into doing that? I could easily destroy your dungeon and wait for you to revive! Because yes, I know that you and some of your monsters can revive again and again." As Noon spoke, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes and quickly vanished. It only occurred for a fraction of a second but Five was nevertheless able to notice it.
Five and Noon stared at each other for a moment. A few seconds later, Noon let out a faint smile for the first time, "Sigh, alright kid. I was just teasing you. Since that's the case, I will owe you a favor if you agree and we'll swear an oath to ensure both parties' safety, how about that?"
Five pondered for a moment; this offer was extremely alluring. Although he did not know much about Noon, it was clear that he was a powerful monster. Although he failed to recruit him, if he could ask for his help, then that would make things much easier. As a matter of fact, there was one thing that lingered on Five's mind for a while: the auction.
That event that was meant to occur right after the trials was quite worrying. Based on his previous experience, if he started to save some DP for the auction, then there was a huge risk of him failing the trials. However, if he could use the help of someone like Noon, he would be able to easily smooth sail through the trials without investing heavily on the dungeon, allowing him to save a lot more DP for the event!
As for the flash of anger that he noticed, Five was not worried about it. Although it was intimidating, Five was not threatened by it simply because he felt that it was an empty threat! It seemed that Noon was really just testing him as although the stare was ferocious, it did not contain any killing intent or malice.
"That is a very attractive offer but shall we discuss the details a little bit more?" asked Five.
"Alright, the night is still young, we have a lot of time..."
...
[Stellar Transposition]
Ariel watched as Noon cast his spell and vanished from the tent bringing Five with him. The harpy stared at the now empty spot, unsure of what to do next.
She spent the last hour anxiously standing behind Five, ready to intervene. The two men had spent almost an hour discussing the details of their deal and as soon as they finished and both stood up, they both left without even notifying her.
Ariel had stayed on the edge for the whole duration of the encounter with Noon and now that they had both left, she finally felt the pressure on her shoulders disappear. However, that pressure was soon replaced by a strong feeling of guilt.
She had long wanted to be useful to the dungeon and now that she had finally received the opportunity to do so, she failed miserably. She was way too weak in comparison to Noon and failed to detect a potential threat in time.
Ariel lowered her head but did not stop staring at the empty spot, wondering if everything was going well on Five's side.
She was so focused on her own thoughts that she did not even notice as a slim silhouette appeared at the entrance of the tent.
"Ariel, is everything alright?" asked the newcomer.
Surprised, Ariel quickly turned toward the entrance, "Mother, you were here?"
Harriet kindly smiled and pulled Ariel in her arms, "You don't have to blame yourself for that. That man spoke to me last night and I allowed him to contact Five. This deal will be beneficial to the dungeon!"
"You spoke to him before and allowed him to? Why? Why did you do so? It was clearly dangerous for master to talk to him and he even seemed very threatening," asked Ariel as she pulled herself from Harriet's embrace.
The latter lowered her head and answered, "If he really wanted to force Five to allow him into the dungeon, even I won't be able to stop him. I hate to admit it but even with my current strength, I am unable to even hinder him. I cannot even see through his level. Noon has all the qualifications to be arrogant and proud, with his strength, few can rival him on the continent. Moreover, he was quite polite when he approached me. You have to put yourself in his situation. He is the last member of his race and has spent countless years alone."
"He was indeed a bit rude but think about it. Isn't it normal for him to be affected after living alone for so long? He barely interacted with others and always stood on top of everyone else; after this long, his communication skills certainly took a hit. Think about it, how would you behave if Angela, Alice and everyone else left you for a long period of time? I think that he at least held his own temper," said Harriet trying to comfort Ariel.
Ariel once again fell into deep thoughts. She could not imagine her life living alone without her sisters. "I understand but will everything be alright?"
"It should be. If Five acts smartly, the dungeon will benefit quite a bit from this small trade."