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Chapter 50: Dungeon Door #1

CHAPTER 50: DUNGEON DOOR #1

Soren was puzzled. Although he expected the information to fail at being chronicled since the original info about the subject was much more detailed, he didn’t expect it to not change in the slightest. He ordered his Soul Weapon to bring up the event log.

Event Log

New Entry Updated: [Blue Apricot Grass] (Herbarium)

New Entry Updated: [One-Eyed Chest Ogre] (Bestiary)

New Entry Updated: [Glowthorn Leaves] (Herbarium)

New Entry Updated: [Whisperwillow Wood] (Herbarium)

New Entry Failed: [Moss Eater] (Bestiary)

New Entry Failed: [Emberbloom Shrooms] (Herbarium)

New Entry Failed: [Horned Goblins] (Bestiary)

New Entry Updated: [Lunarite] (Sciences)

New Entry Failed: [Abyssite] (Sciences)

New Entry Recorded: [Void Levitation] (Magecraft)

New Entry Failed: [Whispering Winds] (Magecraft)

New Entry Recorded: [Demonology Contract] (Magecraft)

New Entry Updated: [Aether] (Mystery)

New Entry Failed: [Avalonian Silver Arc] (Mystery)

New Entry Updated: [Spatial Bracelet] (Mystery)

.

.

.

The event log continued to list more and more things—from magecraft spells he had seen on the battlefield during the Nightshade raid, to more random things such as cups and other silverware that he had seen in Floramere Keep. There was so much information being chronicled that the list went to several more pages before stopping. Aside from his amazement, he was also fascinated by what the Event Log was listing.

“New Entry Failed…” That message was repeated countless times. It seemed that only a fraction of the information he had stored in his mind was actually chronicled into the book—the rest was discarded.

How interesting… This did, however, confirm his theory. His Soul Weapon had some sort of filter or mechanism that allowed it to discard false information and only keep what was useful or new. It also meant that pages or sections could theoretically be added to. What was even more fascinating, however, had to be the pages that did get amended.

Sacred Treasures (Mystery)

A Sacred Treasure is a mystical item that had once been a Soul Weapon. These weapons come from ancient Phantasms who either left them behind after falling in battle without their Abstract Runes being reclaimed, or whose Soul Weapons themselves rebelled and took control of their wielder’ bodies.

Addendum 1:

A Sacred Treasure can only be born under very strict conditions. Most Phantasms who die do not have their Soul Weapons solidify into objects in the real world. This condition is rare and tends to only happen to Soul Weapons of the Object-class. Abstract-class Soul Weapons could also be transformed into a Sacred Treasure through ritualistic magecraft or some other form of Mystery. In all cases, the Phantasm’s soul that once hosted the Abstract Rune governing the concepts of their Soul Weapon will need to be safely hijacked by the Abstract Rune itself, allowing the Soul Weapon to come to life as a Sacred Treasure.

Addendum 2:

A Sacred Treasure user must establish a contract with their chosen Sacred Treasure, binding their souls to it in a manner similar to how a Phantasm forms a Soul Chain. The primary advantage of Sacred Treasures over normal Soul Weapons is that users are not at risk of being corrupted by their weapon. Additionally, a user can contract with multiple Sacred Treasures simultaneously, allowing for greater versatility. However, their biggest drawback is that they cannot be upgraded; a Sacred Treasure remains fixed at the tier it was originally forged at, with no potential for growth.

The descriptions about Sacred Treasures truly surprised him. When he first used [Record] on this information, only the original paragraph listing what a Sacred Treasure was had been chronicled. The “Addendum” sections were entirely new. The first Addendum was obtained from the Nightshade Raid—the Memory Void Corruptors, as they were called, had a similar description to how Sacred Treasures are born. After all, the Nameless Mist was essentially hijacking the soul of the Phantasm then piloting the person’s flesh with this higher authority anima through their Soul Weapon. In a sense, the Memory Void Corruptors were essentially Sacred Treasures in their own twisted way. The information was added right after he made this connection, which meant that information through personal inference could be obtained—not everything was handed to him immediately.

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The Second Addendum, however, was information he had acquired from the first floor library of Floramere Keep. He had scoured countless books and tomes, using [Eyes of the Fairy] on whichever ones Myrin had told him were safe to scan. Still, keeping this information only in his mind had certainly degraded it a bit.

Now that he had learned about his Soul Weapon’s ability to filter through false information, he could let go of his doubts about his own Soul Weapon. One of his biggest fears when it came to overutilization of his abilities, had to be that of misinformation polluting the ‘database’ of The Records. This became an even bigger worry for him when he met that Knowledge Demon, Tazzith. Not only did he have the capability to grant information according to his affinities, he was also very deceitful. The fact that he was able to somehow bypass him and directly add things into his Soul Weapon terrified him.

What if one day, he tries to utilize a magecraft spell he had previously chronicled, only to find out that the spellform had certain issues, causing it to fail at crucial moments? An even scarier thought emerged—his map. If the information on it was maliciously altared, he could follow down a path that could lead to his own death and he would be completely oblivious to it until it was too late.

This experiment helped quell this distrust he had, but it did introduce another question to him: how was his Soul Weapon filtering the truth from fiction? He had no way to find out about this, at least not yet.

All of a sudden, Soren heard a faint bell sound echo in his ears. His gaze shifted to the door—there was a visitor.

Soren immediately got up from the bed and closed his Soul Weapon shut. He walked to the door and opened it slowly—a woman with ginger hair and blue eyes greeted him—Tina.

“Wow, you were the last person I thought would show up at my door.”

She rolled her eyes, “get yourself ready. We are about to disembark.”

“Huh?” His eyes widened. “Already?!”

“No duh,” she said sarcastically. “We’ve already reached Dungeon Door #1.”

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Soren hadn’t realized it, but a couple hours had passed while he was huddled inside his room. The sun was close to setting—it was just above the horizon, casting a beautiful gradient of oranges across the sky.

Stepping back out into the deck with Tina, Soren noticed a lot of the ship’s crew were scrambling around, moving crates and other belongings. He glanced over at where Myrin was standing—his signature white robe and hat was easy to identify.

“Did you get enough rest?” He said with a devilish smile.

Soren tilted his head, “Yes, the room was fairly comfortable, I'd say. Tina told me we’re approaching our destination?”

Myrin nodded, “The air is going to shift slightly, so keep that in mind.”

Soren didn’t know what he meant by that, but he assumed it might have to do with Dungeon Door #1. Even now, he still had no idea what exactly this location was. All he heard was that it was apparently some sort of teleportation device—something Myrin called a Spatial Gate.

“Nevermind that,” Tina interrupted. “Soren, when the skyship stops, I want you to hide your Soul Weapon. Do not even think about showing that book in public anywhere.

“Do you understand me?” Although she was always very harsh with her words, he could feel her seriousness this time.

Soren nodded. It wasn’t like he couldn’t understand why she’d request this of him, anyway. Unlike Yadria, Phantasms weren’t a commonly known thing in Aellora. Most citizens who weren’t involved in the Mysterious World only knew of the existence of Magi—they had no way to differentiate between magecraft and Mysteries.

He nodded, “understood.”

“As long as you understand…” She smiled and glanced over at Myrin. “And you, don’t even try to be funny or wander somewhere again, you hear me?!”

Myrin flinched, “can’t I at least visit aunt Luna’s bakery stand?…”

“No, we will be heading straight for Star Fate Guild. We need to make sure no one is tracking us back to our hideout…”

Hearing this, Soren couldn’t help but be confused. Why was it such a big deal that they couldn’t even roam around Celestine Citadel? Who exactly would be tracking them down?

“B-besides…” Tina interrupted. “We can always visit aunt Luna later in the day…”

Soren couldn’t help but want to laugh. She can’t even be honest with her own stomach…

“All hands, prepare to disembark! We’ve reached Dungeon Door #1!”

Soren heard the lookout of the skyship yell.

“Let’s go,” Myrin said before heading for the boarding ramp—Tina and Soren followed after him. The skyship tilted its course, and almost immediately, something appeared in his line of sight.

Right in front of him by a meter or so was a regular looking panel door, levitating in the sky. Soren couldn’t help but stare at it in awe. The door was completely made from rotten wood—Soren couldn’t help but think it might fall apart by the next swing. The doorknob itself was extremely rusted as well. Even in its dilapidated state, however, the door stayed frozen in the air—unaffected by any winds or gusts, making it even more unsettling than it already was.

“That door leads to a dungeon, you see.” Myrin answered. “Long ago, a dungeon explorer opened it thinking it was going to lead him to a treasure room. But the moment he took one step inside, he plummeted from the sky to his death.

“This Dungeon Door is a common trap within most labyrinths. Doors that lead to unsavory places are everywhere in dungeons. But this one was a bit special. After its discovery, it was repurposed into a skyport.”

Tina decided to weigh in as well, “As you know, Soren, the relationship between Yadria and Aellora is very rough. It would be a diplomatic nightmare to allow a Yadrian skyship into Aelloran airspace. And the same could be said about Yadria—that was why we needed to go there by foot.

“This Dungeon Door not only acts as a checkpoint between Yadria and Aellora, but also as a neutral ground. The spatial gate doesn’t reside in either of the nation’s borders, so disputes over its ownership have not occurred, and will probably never occur. After all, keeping a discrete communications channel even if they are hostile to one another is important.”

“I see…” Soren answered while glancing at the door. Myrin glanced back at the crew who signaled them to enter. He smiled and looked toward Tina and Soren.

“Alright, let’s meet up on the other side then, shall we?”