Chapter 163: Core  

Sian was running through the plains with Stiel, reminded of what Conrad had explained to them.

“I should make it quick.”

“Well, it will take some time for the commoners to recover and for the alteration to the rune to be finished. You should come back before that is over.”

Conrad seemed overly relaxed and Sian wondered why.

“Isn’t it a serious problem? You look too relaxed.”

It was a race that made humans suffer terribly enough to drive it out. In comparison, Conrad seemed like he was more irritated than concerned.

“Haha... well we did alter all the Ciculus Trees to work as small barriers. Even without the twenty-one trees, all the big cities that a Marquis or a Count ruled over had their trees altered to work as a barrier to block the infestation underneath it. You can enter the tree if it’s infested though.”

“Oh, then...”

Sian realized why Conrad was so relaxed.

“Yes, it’s good that they wiped out most of the monsters around the area. The only ones that they can control are either some Counts... Viscounts or Barons... and some Narija races. It won’t be enough to fight against big estates of a Marquis or a Count. Given a long period time, it will still become dangerous, but we will finish it before it takes that long. We just need you to fetch that core to seal it tight.”

This was why Conrad wasn’t worried.

“Oh, and you should take this Stiel.”

“What’s this?”

It was a small marble.

“It works for one person, but it will block any Gerna from entering. It’s easy to make but we don’t have any Talic Stones to make any more. It’s for me, but I won’t be leaving this place until the barrier is finished so it’s okay. They can’t come into the tree anymore.”

Conrad was working on something when the situation was over and Sian realized what it was. Stiel nodded.

“I see.”

“What about me?”

“We have not seen any Gerna powerful enough to invade you. If there were such Gerna, they would have already broken the barrier. Have a safe trip.”

“Hmph. So wiping out those races helped that way.”

Even if the Gerna was threatening, they were not much of a threat when they had no host to consume.

“Let’s have a nice trip.”

“Yeah, but we still have to hurry. First, we have to head in the direction of Apental.”

“Yeah. It was...”

Conrad had simply answered Sian’s question on where to go.

<Lorvall told me... that it’s at the west end of Apental. I’ve never been there but is this enough to find it? Hm... hold on.>

It seemed like Conrad wasn’t too sure and he tried to communicate again with Lorvall, but that was the only explanation.

“Sian, do you think you can find Apental’s entrance?”

This was a place without any maps so Stiel was worried that it might be hard to find a simple lake but Sian wasn’t concerned.

“Don’t worry. Oh, there it is.”

“...”

Stiel realized why Sian wasn’t concerned about trying to find Apental. There was a crater in the forest as if a large meteor had fallen there.

“So we just have to go straight toward the west from here... but can we really find it that way?”

Conrad said not to worry as they could easily find the place. As they ran, Sian knew what he meant.

“It should be that, right?”

“Yeah... I can’t think of anything else.”

They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. This continent was full of powerful people but there was no civilization. There no literature, art, or manners. But there was this huge structure beyond the forest. What lay ahead was a wide ocean over the horizon.

“Hmm, that’s why no one lived over on this side. There’s only an ocean.”

The building was located at the end of the cliff. It was huge and had an unusual look to it.

“It doesn’t look like it’s made out of stone.”

“It’s metal... but to create the entire building with metal?”

Stiel tapped on the building wall curiously.

“I don’t think there’s any danger. Let’s head in.”

They walked inside the building.

“This is interesting.”

Sian glanced around. This was like the armory <Amaran> that Lagaope showed him before. This one, however, was lifeless and was dusty.

“So... this is the place where Lorvall stayed?”

“I’m not sure. But it’s amazing.”

Sian was never good at machinery so he couldn’t understand what all this was for and so did Stiel.

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s find the core and get out.”

“Conrad said we just need to go down and we’ll find the core.”

Stiel shook her head at the explanation and sighed.

“Go west of Apental, find a strange building and go down... how detailed.”

“Yeah, but it’s amazing that no further explanation was needed.”

“Right.”

They couldn’t find the core yet but the direction did get them to the right place and they began finding a way down. He thought about just smashing his way in but he couldn’t as it might destroy the core.

Stiel then found something placed in the middle of the building.

“Sian, is that it?”

“Hmm. I can’t find anything else, so...”

There was no stairway connected underground. The place Stiel pointed to had a strange-looking ring installed there. Inside was a blueish barrier that shielded the view of the other side.

“I don’t want to go in, but I think that’s where the core is being held.”

“Yeah.”

“It reminds me of Apental.”

It didn’t feel that dangerous so Sian decided to go in.

“Do you want to stay behind?”

“Yeah. I’ll look around.”

“Sure. Come in if you find any danger.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think there’s anything around here.”

Sian nodded. He scanned the area a while ago and found nothing. He then jumped into the blue barrier.

“What is this place?”

It was a vast space. The floor was created with some unknown metal and the ceiling was created with some various crystal orbs so it was very dark.

It did not bother Sian. What bothered him were the living beings inside. They were all different shapes and sizes but they all had one thing in common. Powerful energy flowing through their bodies and armor-like outer carapaces. They were each placed at the corners of this vast space.

“This continent really a lot stronger. They’re all Betas.”

Conrad said there were names for those who overcame the barrier like Sian. He overheard it back then but he realized that it meant that this world had a lot of those beings. These were all Betas. It seemed that they had barely reached the first stage, but there were a lot of them.

Sian then realized why Conrad said it was nothing for Sian.

‘It’s about Apental’s level.’

The ones in Apental were all blocked by the wall, but there were more of them there.

‘And they’re all fatigued.’

These Betas looked very tired. Sian should be an intruder to them, but they did not pay much attention and just sat at each corner.

‘Good for me.’

Sian thought it would be good if he didn’t have to fight. He began glancing around to look for a way downstairs but the Betas began changing their attitude.

<Kar..gg..>

“Hmph. I knew it.”

He didn’t expect to walk peacefully and the Betas began standing up.

‘Will they cower if I unleash the full energy?’

Sian couldn’t find the entrance yet so he exerted all of his energy outward. If these things had instincts, they would not try to fight someone stronger than them. Sian was wrong about that.

“OH my.”

All the Betas, including the ones that were resting further away, stood up instantly and began charging at Sian.

Sian let out a sigh.