After defeating the Fragmentor, we let ourselves out of the underground chamber since everything there is creeping us out. That was an easy quest, and it seems like I gained a few skill points for it.
I open up my interface, which is a plain suspended panel in front of me, though I strongly refused looking at it directly. I slightly open my left eye while covering most parts of the details on my status and skills, leaving only the total skill points for me to see.
---
[Skill Points: 345 SP]
---
Whoa... Seems like I gathered a lot of them all this time when I am not looking. I just need to keep up with it and gather more.
Like in every standard reincarnation novel, I obtain a system in which I could allocate points into my status through an interface where I could only see. But I tried to get rid of it from my memories so that I won't be tempted to spend my skill points when it is not needed.
Even now, I don't know my general stats and hidden skills because I never tried to peek at them.
And also, I could actually raise my stats by training! I think...? Skill points are like an extra thing for me, but I have a pretty huge distaste for this system, basically because they are a CHEAT!
Come on, guys, if you're a gamer, you are bound to understand. What's the point of playing a game with cheats? You're taking away the immersion and challenge in the equation of entertainment, you know?
Well, I'm still gathering more skill points because I am aware that this is not just a game. This is now my life, and once you die, there is no save point to load your data. I need to use my cheat ability wisely and allocate my SP depending on the enemy I need to face. No need to be hasty, I need to survive for more years and enjoy my life.
It is already nighttime, and I can see the moon glowing bright and big in the sky as if trying to swallow down the whole world.
Old Yurn fills us in regarding what the Fragmentors are. It seems like they were created by the ancient humans to prepare for the war against the Lunarist. Lunarists are aliens that live on that moon, so probably that's why in the real world, the moon is already exploded into fragments since the Lunarists lost... assumingly.
"Here's your reward."
Old Yurn gave Vinetra the gold coins as a reward. Homorotabi have a different currency, but they understood that humans particularly use gold and silver for economic exchange.
Old Yurn held a firm grip on Vinetra's hand before saying his words of appreciation, "Thank you very much for saving us. We will carry our gratefulness to you until our deaths."
Vinetra gently smiles... Wait! Vinetra smiled!? I couldn't believe what I am seeing! Vinetra is finally becoming feminine!
"Thank you, Old Yurn," she said...
"Fielma," Old Yurn called to me next, so I come closer near him.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"Here's for you."
He gave me a small bag that fits in my hand. At first look, it is just a plain drawstring bag, but I could feel something wobbling inside as if liquid. I tried to pick that thing out, but I couldn't touch anything!
"What's this!?"
"That bag is an infinite inventory; it's a special bag woven from the hair of Magroth. You could store any amount of items in here, and it would fit regardless. This will prove useful to you in your adventure."
An infinite inventory! Whoa, a cheat item.
"Thank you very much!" I gladly accept the bag, and I couldn't stop my face from smiling.
Yurn looks at our party and bows his head to us, "I'll gladly appreciate it if you stay in this city longer. We already prepared rooms for your stay."
The display of hospitality by Old Yurn is appreciated by our group. We look at each other and nod.
"We'll gladly take you up on that offer," I said.
I have a huge feeling that Old Yurn is planning to throw a party for us, and we won't refuse free food. We need to have a break once in a while, even though we really don't do anything that much.
We are walking down the road now with Old Yurn as our lead, but one thing caught my attention as our eyes explored the expanse of the city. There was a huge pitch-black temple on the south. It was almost shaped like a pyramid but halfway, it became a dome. There are four high pillars surrounding the temple, and its roof is made of shiny blue stone.
"What is that place?" I asked in curiosity.
"That's the Temple of Igrus," Old Yurn answered. "King Igrus is the first king of the Homorotabi who commanded our ancestor to build that temple to seal a god."
Seal a God?
"Does that mean...?"
"Indeed... Currently, a god is trapped inside of that place, so nobody is permitted to go near it. But you shouldn't worry; it will never break its seal no matter what."
He's talking like that god will bring disaster if it breaks free! Aren't gods supposed to be the good guys who created all living things and reincarnated me in this world to save it? No, I couldn't remember that plot in my storyline, but that's the stereotype!
"Do you mind me asking another question?" Vinetra cut in on our conversation.
"Go on, knowledge is never harmful."
"Ever heard of the King of the Demon Outskirt?"
Suddenly, Old Yurn's blue face became pale, and he twitched. "W-what? Why are you asking that?"
That reaction, Vinetra, you should probably not tell him that our dungeon trial is to kill that guy. Old Yurn might be affiliated with him; that's why he reacted that way.
"It's nothing. We are just curious since we often heard about it on the lower floors," I said.
"You're lying. Every inhabitant of the lower floors is afraid to even speak his name. It's your Dungeon Trial, isn't it?"
He's spot on. As expected of an experienced man. But he seems not to be related in a good way with our target. More like, he is terrified, but he gulped his fears and tells us what he knows about the guy.
"The King of the Demon Outskirt is the ruler of the lower floors after the Upper Imperial Demons have abandoned us. His name is Proust, the leader of the outlaws."
We didn't quite anticipate this; he's speaking like demons are...
"Wait! Do you mean the demons are real!? Didn't they go extinct in the first holy war!?" Vinetra grabbed Yurn's shoulder in shock.
At first, when we saw our dungeon quest, we thought the demon part is just a metaphor for something evil. But it turns out to be literal. Demons are just something we read in books and rumored by priests.
Old Yurn answered nervously, "I am not aware of what you're talking about. But according to our records, the demons migrated and settled in this dungeon for more than what we could ever remember. And ever since then, they acted as if they rule this place."
Yurn curved his hand into a fist, his eyes looking down on his feet. "The outlaws are the worst of the worst. They are the ones who killed my wife and my..." he bites his old lips while reminiscing about the past. "I'll never forgive them..."
"We will avenge your family, Yurn," Vinetra assured, but it didn't satisfy Old Yurn.
This time, the old homorotabi grabbed Vinetra's shoulder, taking her off guard. "You can't... There are many others who had the same Dungeon Quest, but everybody was just captured and tortured like playthings. You should avoid them at all costs, especially because you are humans."
Because we are humans?
"The demons particularly abhor your species. You might suffer a fate worse than death at their hands."