So… dragons. Dragons were scary, and in all honesty, there was no way in fucking hell Jake was going to be dealing with one. Any true dragon was B-grade and a high-tier variant, meaning even the weakest of them could blast Jake to pieces without him ever really standing a chance.
This begged the question… with dragons suddenly returning, what the hell was Jake to do? Well, he learned that only half an hour after the guild employee had gone to fetch him. The dwarven woman had led Jake to a meeting room where Jake saw quite a few influential figures already gathered. Royals from many different countries had shown up, high-ranking people not part of any country, and Jake even felt the aura of a second S-grade present beside the Founder.
When Jake entered the room, he only got a few glances from the roughly seventy people present. Not a single person there wasn’t at least A-grade and either a duke, royal, or leader of some organization. He instantly questioned why he was there, but seeing as no one else did, he decided to just bow slightly and find a seat off to the side.
A dozen or so more people arrived over the next half an hour, all of them also A-grade. No more S-grade appeared beside the Founder and a woman Jake recognized from a poster he had seen in the Phoenix Wing Empire. The Phoenix Wing Empire was the only empire in the world solely because they were the only faction with an S-grade ruler, and the Phoenix Empress stood proudly side by side with the Founder, giving off an aura that, while inferior to his, still outshined everyone else present. Alright, Jake could also try and enter the race, but he didn’t really feel like attracting any attention.
”Good, we are all here,” the Founder said after a few more minutes passed and everyone had gotten settled. ”I believe you are all aware why we are here, so let us not delay needlessly. Our world faces a crisis, and we will need the help of everyone present to weather this storm.”
Murmurs filled the room, but no one asked any questions. From the looks of it, everyone indeed knew what this was about as the Founder began to elaborate with a bit of lore and what exactly they were dealing with.
”Forty thousand years ago, I killed the Dragon King, yes… but the queen still managed to flee along with her whelplings and other survivors. No one knew where they went, and despite searching everywhere on the planet and all the local solar systems, not a single trace was discovered. We believed they were gone forever or had perhaps died… but as of a few hours ago, a group of dragons was confirmed in a neighboring solar system, rapidly heading this way. They are led by the Dragon Queen, the now S-grade Dragon Prince, and three other S-grades, with hundreds of A-grades and over ten thousand B-grade True Dragons, while the number of C-grade dragon spawn, wyverns and dragonkin are impossible to count as they are all being transported in secured barges.”
”Moreover,” the Phoenix Empress added, ”we have reason to believe that some dragonkin and dragon tribe sympathizers have already arrived on the planet and have been here for a while, preparing for the return of the dragon tribe. Now, many of them have begun to make their moves, and we have strong reason to believe even some nobles are supporting them.”
The Founder suddenly turned to Jake and motioned toward him. ”Recently, as I am sure you all know, there was an internal struggle in the Human Kingdom where some nobles went too far and exploited the Guild. This was all discovered through the vaiiant efforts of this legendary Courier. During the following interrogations with the Duke of Flames, we discovered that the Duke had not only been committing many crimes and exploited the Guild… two centuries ago, he also entered an alliance with the dragon tribe who offered him an S-grade Dragon Flame Elemental for his cooperation in toppling the Human Kingdom and weakening the Guild. It was only due to the efforts of this Courier we were able to learn this and even get an early warning, giving us more time to prepare.”
Jake just sat in the corner as all the A-grades and even two S-grades gave him respectful looks for his contribution to the war efforts. He tried to look humble but honestly had no idea what to do or say, so he just nodded solemnly, which the Founder luckily took as an opportunity to continue.
What followed was a long explanation of their war efforts, and to sum it up, things weren’t looking good. The plan was for all of the B-, A- and S-grades that could possibly be gathered to come together and face the dragon tribe in space before they even reached the planet. However, even if they gathered a powerful army, the dragon tribe still simply had more powerhouses. From what the Founder said, this Dragon Prince was also more powerful than the Dragon King had been, so even if the Founder had continued to make some progress in the last forty thousand years, he was unsure if he could win. If the other four S-grades were factored in, things were bleak for sure with their side only having two S-grades.
I wonder… if I had sided with the Duke of Flames completely and continued to assist him, could I have ended up on the side of this dragon tribe? Jake considered as all the talks continued. They still had a while before the dragons arrived – the early warning courtesy of Jake uncovering the crimes of the Duke of Flames – and during this time, all the preparations that could be made would be made.
As the meeting began to wind to a close, the Founder asked Jake to follow him to a private office. Jake could already feel another Special Courier Job coming as he closed the door behind him, and he saw the Founder activate some magic to seal off the room.
”Courier… things are even worse than I presented them out there,” the Founder began as he sighed. ”If things continue as they are, we don’t stand a chance. While we may be able to defend for a while, we simply do not have the power to beat them in a straight-on fight… not unless we get more allies.”
Oh… this trope, Jake thought as he already knew what was coming next.
”The Phoenix Queen and I are the only ones who can fight the S-grades among the ranks of the dragons, but there are also others from our world who can. Two old comrades from back during the war, known as the Blademaster and the Nine Seals Demon. The problem is, I am not entirely sure where they are; all I heard was that both went off to train many, many years ago.”
”You need me to help find them?” Jake asked the obvious question.
”Yes,” the Founder nodded. ”While I do not know where either of them are, I do know someone who at least is aware of the location of one: the Blademaster. He sealed himself away for isolated training about ten thousand years ago, but his wife should still be living in the Elven Kingdom, and if anyone knows where my old friend went, it’s her. Seek her out, and ask… and try to do this without raising any suspicions. I am certain that I am currently being tracked, the same as all the other A-grades, and I have to head to the frontlines soon to establish our defenses. As a C-grade courier, you should be mostly inconspicuous, but be warned there will likely be many pursuers anyway.”
”Alright,” Jake nodded as he got yet another Special Courier Job.
Special Courier Job 20: Locate and recruit the Blademaster.
Sweet, short, and simple. With a mission that just had to be the start of the final arc of this Challenge Dungeon, Jake headed off to find the wife and convince her to tell him where the Blademaster was. He expected a lot of difficulty during the journey, as he found out that the woman lived far away from any of the major cities on a small farmstead, meaning he had to travel a lot on foot without any teleportation circles available. At least he could get to the closest city pretty easily.
As Jake left the city, he saw that things were really busy. Everyone knew an attack was incoming, and while the normal citizens couldn’t do much, they helped those with power as much as they could. Powerful defensive formations were set up, and people charged what looked like big mana batteries to send to the frontlines to power massive defensive barriers to assist the fighters up in space. No one even tried to flee, as they knew doing so wouldn’t help with anything... if the dragons returned, their living in a city or hiding out would mean nothing.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Jake was certainly noticed as he left the city, but surprisingly, no one followed him. As he kept flying, Jake wondered when these people the Founder warned him about would show up, but he didn’t see anyone. Well, not with his eyes, anyway. He did spot a group of people roaming around with a Pulse of Perception a few hours from the city and promptly made sure to be in stealth as he flew around them. He did the same with whatever else he got the feeling could be an enemy on the way. He honestly didn’t want to meet or talk to anyone but this wife, so he stayed clear of everything possible. This was not a combat-focused Challenge Dungeon, so he had no reason to fight when unnecessary, right?
Now, if he could get experience, things may have been different… but alas.
Due to his careful and stealthy approach, Jake reached the farmstead about a week after leaving the elven city without meeting any trouble on the way. As he got closer, he saw many powerful formations already defending the place, so Jake stopped right outside and he yelled as loud as he could.
”Excuse me, but I’m looking for someone known as the Blademaster! Asking for a mutual ally! I was hoping you could give me a moment of your ti-”
Before Jake was even done yelling, he was rudely interrupted as his entire body turned into an ice statue, and even the air itself froze all around him. He physically became unable to let out any sound or even move a muscle as his insides were entirely frozen over. Yet he didn’t feel any danger at all, despite the less-than-pleasant sensation of being a popsicle, showing the one who had frozen him wasn’t aiming to kill but simply capture him.
An A-grade elven woman appeared in front of Jake a second later as she observed him closely. With a wave of her hand, she unfroze his head. ”Speak. Who are you.”
”Courier here on a job directly from the Guild Founder to ask you for the location or a method to find the Blademaster,” Jake answered in his usual polite tone. Even if the woman was being a bit rude by freezing him, he wouldn’t lose his professional attitude.
The woman looked surprised as she narrowed her eyes. A bit carefully, she melted all the ice on Jake’s upper body, allowing him to move freely. Just as she did, Jake took out his Courier Medallion and showed her before she could demand for him to prove his identity.
She looked at the Medallion carefully for a second. ”A legendary Courier… this must not be a small matter… why do you need the Blademaster?”
”I take it you are pretty isolated out here and don’t get news that often?” Jake questioned.
”I enjoy the solitude when my husband is not here,” the woman scoffed as if offended by the question.
”Well, to bring you up to speed. The dragon tribe is back, currently fighting the Guild Founder, Phoenix Queen, and many others in the neighboring solar system. Things are not looking good, and they need the help of the Blademaster,” Jake quickly updated her, offering the news delivery service completely complimentarily.
”This is…” she muttered. ”Alright, I’ll take you to him.”
”Great,” Jake smiled as the woman entirely unfroze and dragged him along as they flew to a nearby mountain range. Once they entered it, Jake felt that they entered a vast system of formations, likely set up by the S-grade to defend himself during his isolated training. Looking around, there were hundreds of caves spread around the mountains.
”He is here, with one of these caves leading to his location… however, I am unsure which one, and seeing as each has defensive formations, we will need to carefully search each of-”
”That one,” Jake pointed after he was done scanning the result of his Pulse of Perception.
The A-grade woman looked at him. ”You speak with such certainty… how would you possibly know which one it is?”
Now, it was Jake’s turn to scoff as he looked offended. ”What do you mean how do I know? I’m a professional Courier.”
Half an hour later, Jake and the wife stood in front of a huge gate leading into a sealed chamber as they knocked a few times. With the wife by Jake’s side, the Blademaster soon opened when he noticed her, and after a brief talk where Jake flashed his token and said he was working for the Founder, they had a second S-grade in the back. Powerwise, he was somewhere between the Phoenix Queen and the Founder, so he was definitely a good addition.
Jake did ask if he knew where any of the other S-grades were, as the Blademaster frowned.
”The Phoenix Queen sure knows where the Nine Seals Demon is. Last time I checked, those two were an item.”
For a moment, Jake considered if this was yet another plot twist… that the Phoenix Queen was actually with the dragons all along, and that was why she had kept hidden that she knew where this Nine Seals Demon was. That didn’t feel quite right, though, so he would have to confirm.
With the Blademaster recruited, the S-grade quickly helped Jake get back to a major city, where he promptly went to the Guild and reported his success as the Blademaster and his wife headed toward the frontlines. In the Guild, the employee gave him a token from the Phoenix Queen.¨
Seeing no reason to delay, he headed to a nearby room and infused some energy into it.
The projection of the Phoenix Queen appeared in front of Jake a few seconds later as she spoke in a grave tone. ”I heard you found the Blademaster… good. You have proven your skills are indeed worthy of respect, and if anyone can do this, you can. I did not hide the location of the Nine Seals Demon maliciously; I just had to make sure you may be skilled enough to find her. While I do not know where the Nine Seals Demon is, I know a way to get her to come to us. She left the planet a long time ago, but before she left, she set up a trial to find any prospective students worth teaching, meaning it can only be entered by C-grades. Inside this trial, I also know she placed a teleportation circle for her to return from borderline anywhere in the galaxy. Pass her trial and tell her we need help… and we need it fast. The location of the trial is already known by the Guild, so get it from them.”
”I will head there straight away,” Jake confirmed as he received yet another Special Courier Job.
”Good, but be warned. The Nine Seals Demon is a master of traps and formations, and her trial will be filled with them. I wish you luck for the sake of us all… this task will not be easy.”
… to make a long story short, Jake would put this ”trial” at the difficulty level of a moderately hard Minaga’s Endless Labyrinth Section. Far below the best Jake could do for sure, which made for an easy Special Courier Job.
At the end of the trial, Jake indeed found a large chamber with a massive teleportation circle in the middle, as well as an orb that one could infuse power into. Jake didn’t really think much as he went and did just that as a projection appeared soon after.
A woman with red skin, barely wearing any clothes and covered in tattoo-like markings, stood before him soon after. She looked down at Jake for a moment before she spoke.
”Ten thousand years and someone has finally passed my trial… and it turns out to be a mid-tier C-grade. A bit unexpected but not unwelcome. Now tell me, why did you pass my trial?” the Nine Seals Demon said.
Oh yeah, Jake had changed his level to show his actual one a while ago. He also didn’t wear his mask anywhere, as he came to learn that it only had a detrimental effect when dealing with clients. Not that he could blame them.
”Greetings,” Jake bowed. ”I apologize, but I am not here for anything strictly to do with the trial. I am a Courier here to inform you that your homeworld is getting invaded, and I was tasked by the Phoenix Empress to contact you. She told me this place houses a teleportation circle to bring you back from wherever you are.”
The Nine Seals Demon was quiet for a while before she sighed. ”Tell me… has the Phoenix Empress gone to the frontlines to fight?”
”Yes,” Jake quickly answered, as he got an odd feeling from her question.
”I see,” the Nine Seals Demon said, sounding a bit concerned. ”Very well. To activate the magic circle, take the crystals in the adjacent room and place them in the four focal points of the formation, and I shall return promptly to meet her.”
Jake looked at the projection for a moment as he nodded. ”Alright, but one question first… since when did you side with the dragon tribe?”
The projection stopped as she stared down at him. ”What do you mean?”
”Yeah, that being your response pretty much confirms it,” Jake shook his head. ”Seriously… you didn’t ask any questions, didn’t ask me to elaborate about anything, and instantly asked about the frontlines despite knowing nothing of what’s going on. That’s suspicious as hell. If you didn’t already know what was happening, that is.”
The projection kept looking down at him as she sighed. ”Too clever for your own good, huh? Tell me, if you are so clever, how much do you truly know about this entire conflict? Why there ever was a war, to begin with? You are on the wrong side of history. The planet you stand on was originally inhabited by the dragons and beasts. We who dare call ourselves enlightened arrived much later as nothing more than refugees, but the dragons took us in. Helped us rise to power… and once we did, we turned around and betrayed them. Killed their leader and forced them from their own home while rewriting history to make us look like the victims. All the dragon tribe is doing is setting things right, and-”
”Ma’am, I don’t care,” Jake interrupted her, truly not giving a shit. ”Just here on a job, and seeing as you aren’t an ally, I’ll be taking my leave.”
”And here I thought you would see sense… very well, if that is your choice, so be it. But don’t think for a second you are leaving here alive.”
With those words, her projection exploded as magic formations on the walls activated, and everything around him rumbled as a collapse was imminent. Seeing as he was over a hundred kilometers below the ground in a heavily fortified trial, this could definitely be a problem. What’s more, in the distance, he heard several explosions as all the traps he had passed began going off, and from the sounds of it, these explosions were getting closer, making Jake swear internally.
Bloody hell, why can’t this shit ever be easy… and I don’t even get hazard pay.