Lisa looked at Murai, frowning and surprised by his question.“I... I think it's right to assume this sort of reward, only when considering Origin Dungeons like Somalis, that is. I know at least this much, so I can tell you this is rather... strange. This room is, but the Trial has been passable, but the rewards that depict this room are crazy. For example, this God's Shrine and everything about this statue or this Mana treasures are ridiculous. It is all so strange to see this sort of thing in the old, and rundown dungeon with no visitors or challengers.“
So it makes sense... Murai thought. That it doesn't make sense, that is.
“Depends. I bet some guilds and religions would pay a fortune to get access to this dungeon since these sorts of trials aren't something accessible to anyone. Whoever will come here will get access to this room if they can do so, but I doubt anyone was here for a long, long time.”
The knowledge of Dungeon Diving was always an open topic around the Battleworld since dungeons were huge plots of land and interest. The Blessed and Gods were all subjects that Lisa more than knew from her previous life, although she was closer to the Blessed part, rather than Gods.
Hmmm... I guess this just means this place is special, but what is this Somalis Dungeon's purpose? I don't see the appeal of this place at all. You and the Battleworld speak of it as if it's somewhat of a big deal to meet it, beat it, or die in it. What is up with that? Murai wondered.
“It is a huge deal, Murai Hisagi, and I am doubting your luck since you met this sort of place so early. It is of high importance in the grand scheme of things, as it is a big part of the Battleworld. This world and how it is portrayed is full of a powerful source of greater powers and histories. Dungeons are a place for the Blessed and Challengers—who are fortunate enough to find them—to get more powerful. Like with this trial of yours, the Somalis Dungeon rewards the winners and forgets about the rest.”
“It's trial... Obviously, it's like that.” Murai commented. “Are there others like this place?”
“Of course. This seems like an old, special kind of dungeon that was intentionally hidden. But Somalis Dungeon as a whole is a rather big structure under the supervision of the Battleworld and entity continent. It is a place where the Blessed are following their Path, getting stronger, and the Will of the Battleworld is a huge part of this. This whole Somalis Dungeon is made into many sub dungeons with this one being the example, I guess.”
“Why make it like that? Shouldn't it be better to have one big place to make it seem responsible?” Murai asked.
“Don't ask me that. I don't question how this works. I just told you the basic and unimportant stuff that any adventure should know, let alone a Blessed.” Lisa said and continued. “The main parts of the Somalis Dungeon are under the flag of the Centralis Kingdom from my memory. It is an important source of power to any kingdom. Centralis is a country full of Blessed humans and their take on the Battleworld is rather harsh. At least from my memory, you know... It's my guess at the moment, and I doubt many things changed, whether I died a long time ago or not.”
Oh, that answers some things. So a playground of the gods... it is. I see. I see. Even humans get to form some ploys and do the usual stuff they do. Nothing weird and strange in that sense. Murai nodded repeatedly and began walking away from this trove.
He figured he could get some choices out of it upon the success of the next Trial and even get some other goodies. His interest was surging with power and his greed and desires flooded his heart. He was quite intrigued by this. A good reward and treasures were well to his liking, and it also seemed the mana material would be already processed, which was great.
“So, with that being said, what are you going to do?” Lisa asked, noticing that Murai calmed down from his previous emotional turmoil that she couldn't stop. “Isn't it a good idea to deal with this dungeon now that you saw the rewards and how good they seem?”
Lisa was worried that he had another weird or harsh idea hidden behind his calmness. She was here this time, so she definitely didn't want him to make any kind of mistake.
Lisa realized the cause of this whole situation. It was because of his mistake that he ended up jumping from that wall, so who was she kidding? If she made him not go beyond that wall in that cave, they would've never been in this dungeon. Murai would go to the surface and not discover this thing and could follow his path there, and not here. It was fortune disguised in misfortune, but it could all be a huge disaster in another bliss. The only reasons it ended up great were Murai's ability to overcome his problems and the Will of the Battleworld messages and help.
“Sure. I will follow this, but I will also get a meal first... This dungeon will be a piece of cake so I won't have any regrets. Mainly for the stuff in that corner! Heheheheh.” Murai laughed behind his back, feeling the rich mana coming off of the treasures that became like that because of Everflower's effects. Murai acknowledged that someone was using this place as a garden, cultivating the stuff of important legends.
“Not like you have some choices here, Hisagi Murai. I will follow you on this one, so let's hope it's nothing harsh, and these Gates are nothing crazy.”
Murai agreed with her and went back to the middle of the tower where the corpse of Speedo Shark was lying on the floor. He ignored the last of the corners for now.
Alright, little fish. I will eat you whole, and maybe get something else in return. Murai thought and made a thin and long blade again.
Slicing the Speedo Shark into long and thin stripes, Murai also removed the guts to use everything that was best and discarded the rest. What he was left with were 8 strips of meat and a dozen or so smaller sections that came from the end of the tail. Murai nodded to himself, glad and satisfied with how his control over the blade felt.
He figured out a special way to move his mana, which had to be incredibly gentle and not as forceful as he was used to. It shouldn't be anything brute, and it needed care of his Shaping to connect and move the Mana Blade a millimeter at a time. With a few weeks of more practice, Murai was sure he would get the hang of Shaping his mana and move to the better Conjuration methods from his knowledge. His Beast Core's problems were also smaller thanks to this gentle approach, but the output of mana was much lower.
This could be a huge advantage for his past experience and possibilities. Easier understanding meant better magic. Although adding the unfamiliarity with the Beast Core he had at the moment, it wasn't as effective as he would have liked.
However, unlike before, he already held the flame in his Beast Core, and he didn't struggle with the process of forcing the affinity to the Core. It was easy, and incredible since the Battleworld gifted him with that instead, letting the Flame into his Core, and stabilizing it there. Such a gift had hard-reaching possibilities and saved a lot of time. If he got more of these gifts, he was sure he could follow through with some better methods of magic and not do the basics.
All it required was time and more training.
The question was, when he would be able to move on, or if he should be patient, or do it in the faster form. There was some way to get things done quickly, and they should be no different in this world. Those were the Magic Tomes that he noticed in the last corner of this room. He glimpsed at that corner only a couple of times.
A small library, as well as storage of weapons and additional materials, were there. Lisa explained it in the basic forms and that this was a traditional way the dungeons were formed, but Murai found it totally impractical. An incentive of rewards was sensible, and they should provide great value for efforts. He got nothing out of the 1st Trial, but he will have a choice after the next.
His blood surged much faster through his veins, making this place praised and desired by the Blessed, or any mage or adventurer. It came in danger, of course, but what didn't?
There was a catch. What use did these rewards and treasures have, if no one will challenge this place, let alone use them? This dungeon didn't have any visitors for a long time, so what of them then? Such a clumpy method of making a dungeon of this caliber was the worst concept Murai had ever seen.
However, Lisa also mentioned a few surprising pieces of information that he found rather interesting. The fact was, that there were many more dungeons and not only a Somalis one. In fact, there were hundreds of larger or smaller versions, while some could be small and others enveloped whole cities. The concept of the dungeons as a whole was much larger, however. They involved whole countries like Somalis Dungeon and had many sections, and versions, with depths and rewards that could put any singular nation to shame.
They could have all kinds of gimmicks to them, and it all revolved around the base idea of the Battleworld and its mysteries. Though, Lisa didn't reveal too much information for now. Just the bare minimum so Murai would get a better understanding of what he was doing.
Lisa found it more than normal to view dungeons as a basic form of progression of the Battleworld. But Murai wasn't familiar with them, and he didn't find their principle appealing. What he found the issue with, was somewhat of his problem. It all stemmed from the idea of the god's playground, so it was no surprise a lot of things weren't met with his approval.
And Gods were involved with pretty much all dungeons. That was at least what Lisa argued with.
He viewed the library with interest since he figured there were Tomes and even some weapons for the taking. Some of them should be rather important for his current needs since his future Path may be like the many previous ones. He thought of his previous reincarnations, so he viewed the treasure corner and these Tomes in a good view that could fasten some of his tough-to-seek progression.
The core idea was, what to choose or what the 3 Gates meant.
Alas, Murai had other thoughts in mind. He began grilling the shark to have filling meat before deciding on a choice. He guessed the main event of this dungeon was this last Gate, while anything that happened so far was nothing but an appetizer.
Murai gambled with his life quite a lot against the Speedo Shark. Getting out of his Diving Sphere twice was also another issue. He didn't like to endanger himself for the sake of anything unworthy, yet he did so twice. This was what an adventure was, and Murai found his mind and core satisfied. Overcoming difficulties always lifted his spirit and loosened the thorns in his heart.
Using some barely clean stone as a base, Murai used his flame to cook the meat. Eating the first batch in a couple of minutes, he was looking forward to the Gates.
Hmmm! Soft. That is surprising. It's also somewhat fishy, but nothing that a bit of salt can't fix. Shame I don't have any seasonings. Hell... Do ducks even have such a tasteful pallet? I feel like a monster! Murai scowled inside but continued to eat even though he noticed Lisa's questionable gaze, who was once again, unable to do anything but watch him eat.
Speedo Shark was a rather small fish and much less of a hurdle to eat than the Horn Snake. Murai was done with it in less than 5 minutes. That included him, not hurrying and enjoying the taste of the surprisingly good meat. After this, he was viewing the content of the Eater Status, which amounted to nothing surprising apart from a few attributes to his Vitality and gust of that mysterious power that boosted his body.
It was a similar message to the Horn Dragon, but it had some differences in explanation. Speedo Sharks were a rather rare species of shark, much to Murai's surprise.
Heh... Did I kill an endangered animal? What is it... Heh. I should be also endangered as far as I am concerned, so what if he killed me too? This is funny and ironic at the same time.
He chuckled and fell on his back to relax. It didn't take long before Lisa appeared around his line of vision and his beak.
“So? Watched and ate enough? How about getting out? These wild and powerful waves of mana are getting on my nerves.” Lisa said, pointing at the glowing pond of water, as well as the Everflow at one corner.
“Nah. Let me enjoy this life. I am in no hurry.” Murai quacked.
“MEN! Satisfied and stuffed men are indeed a bother...” she complained in silence, floating towards the corners to seek the Gates in silence.
She wanted to research them to make some discoveries that she could tell Murai in return. After all, if he succeeds in the next Trial, he will get to choose some stuff from these Gates.
Stopping suddenly before the Everflower, she got a sudden idea that was present in the recent message.
C-can he choose this thing from Endless Skies??? No way! No way the Battleworld would let him choose that. She made a quick excuse, before believing such a possibility. So, she moved along the corners in her own research. There were a lot of things that piqued her interest, but she didn't know what Murai needed or wanted.
Still, she continued with her time until Murai got back to his tiny legs. Stretching his head and munching the bones as a snack, he looked at the distant Lisa with smirking intentions of unknown thoughts.
“Ahh...” he moaned and pulled his Will in a tremendous voice to her soul. “That was good. Hey! Lisa! Let's get this over with!”
Lisa shivered from the sudden shout in her soul and almost stumbled to the ground. “Hey... What was that? Don't suddenly shout to my soul... I know your connection to the Soul Space is far more powerful than mine, but I almost lost my physicality!”
Yeah. Right. It worked. Murai thought, successfully forcing his Will on Lisa. “Do you want to get rid of this worry and get back to my Soul Space? Wouldn't that be perfect to not worry about this or anything else? 2nd Trial may not be that easy, and worry about you isn't my issue.” Murai tried to offer her peace of mind. It was for her sake, but more so for himself, so she would be gone for the following troubles.
There were troubles coming, and worrying about her wasn't what he wanted, so he planned to try his hardest and focus solely on the sake of this upcoming trial. He found something more interesting than eating, so it was no wonder. An adventure and flow of power that seemed versatile, albeit a little cheap.
That would be his first time having a direct path in this life, and it all revolved around those rewards and nothing else. In fact, he dismissed the idea of getting out of the caves anytime soon. That's how serious and quick he was about changing his mind to pursue the power and the rewards.
Lisa shook her head, not wanting to leave the land of living at all. It was her choice in the end, and Murai couldn't force her to his soul space. He also didn't have the mood to blackmail her, or do anything, so she left her be and looked at the Gates instead.
Each was on the wall in each corner. One was beyond God's statue, the second was around the library of Tomes, and the third one was beside the World Essence Trove.
However, there was something Murai didn't know, and he soon realized it. Which Trial was for which gate? They had no numbers around them, nor anything indicating what was Trial for Combat, Wisdom, and Talent. Even Lisa didn't know that, so what was he supposed to do?
Murai wasn't sure, but some hints could indicate which was which, wouldn't it? The Gate of Combat should be the one with weapons and tomes, while the one with the Wisdom and Talent can either be the statue or the trove. Which was which was questionable.
Wait, what am I supposed to get from the god's statue If I will choose that? There is nothing but some ornaments around... Wait... The probability of some divinity or something of that kind seems like a possibility. I don't care about either of them though so it's treasures or the tomes that I want.
Murai eyed the two corners.
One of them will be his choice.