Wess let out a sigh of relief inwardly. If a fight broke out before he arrived here then it may have already been too late to keep a friendly relationship with Izroth. The situation would've been even worse if someone was killed in the process and a grudge was permanently formed.
Wess was the highest ranking guild member present and so the responsibility rested with him to keep the situation under control. Ewan would not punish him, he would be disappointed with his performance.
There were two full parties of six players present making for a total of twelve players. Most likely all of these players were at a higher level than Izroth. Even though Izroth did not fear a fight against them, he would prefer not to waste his time doing so.
Izroth still remained vigilant as he spoke with a carefree expression on his face, "A small miscommunication, I'm sure. However, if you also plan on telling me that I'm unable to enter this dungeon, then you'll have to forgive me for being impolite."
The Cross Haven players were all baffled by how someone with such a calm and carefree appearance could be so arrogant. There were a twelve of them and only a one of him and not to mention the fact that Lieutenant Wess was also present. Did this guy have a death wish? Wasn't their Lieutenant already being beyond understanding?
Wess smiled, he was intrigued. Personally, Wess wanted to fight against Izroth to see what exactly made him so confident, though there was another reason as well. Wess was recruited by Ewan himself and is the most recent addition to the main roster for the «Cross Haven» guild.
It was only natural that he would have a competitive spirit against someone else who was being scouted by Ewan. He wanted to see which of them was the better player as his battle aura rose when Izroth said those words.
But in the end, reason won Wess over and he let out a disappointed sigh. There was plenty of time to see who was better in the future when Ewan finally makes his move.
"There's no need for that. While it's true that this dungeon is currently under the jurisdiction of my «Cross Haven» guild, exceptions can be made. Of course, you can enter inside if you'd like. If anyone gives you trouble here again, just mention my name." The previous battle aura that was swelling up inside of Wess vanished completely.
Izroth did not understand why Wess held himself back as he clearly wanted to fight, but he didn't concern himself with such matter. He gave a small nod before heading towards the circular gateway.
"Wait a sec, you aren't planning to run this dungeon alone are you?" As Izroth walked past Wess, he couldn't help but ask him that question.
"That's the plan." Izroth stopped walking and turned his head a bit to the side to look back towards Wess.
Wess shook his head, "You won't be able to complete the dungeon alone. Of course, I'm not questioning your strength it's just that..."
Wess seemed a bit hesitant to speak. This was something people would normally have to find out by experiencing it firsthand.
Guilds like «Cross Haven» and many others, sold information or traded it something of equal value. It wasn't typically given away for free, but he decided to make an exception this time as Ewan probably would not have minded.
"Oh?" In fact, the first thing Izroth thought was that Wess was questioning his skill.
"Once you progress about halfway into the dungeon you'll understand why I said those words to you. Though I will give you a tip, just remember that a trident has three points." Hopefully, he would understand such a clue, as the rest was solely up to him.
Wess, however, knew that Izroth would be unable to complete this dungeon alone even with this extra bit of information.
Izroth furrowed his brows, 'A trident has three points?' Wasn't that pretty common knowledge?
"I'll remember. I will be taking my leave now." Izroth jumped into the circular gateway as a brilliant light flashed, illuminating all of the surrounding areas.
"Lieutenant, why did you let him enter inside?" One of the players who were in a party with Wess asked out of curiosity. His player name was Toxic Epiphany and he'd been with Wess long enough to know that he wanted to have a battle with the player who just passed by. It was unlike him to not fight when he felt like doing so.
Wess felt even more depressed after that player spoke, being reminded of missing a perfect opportunity to fight.
Noticing Wess mood take a downturn, one of the players, Camellia, tried to cheer him up.
"It's okay Lieutenant, I'm sure we'll run into him again in the future and you'll have a chance to fight until your heart's content."
"Camellia, you're such an angel~" Wess used the crying emote to make his character manually cry and he hugged Camellia.
"There there, Lieutenant," Camellia said as she pats his head as if he was her adorable little brother. She gave a lovely smile as she did so and the others all shook their head inwardly. They all were used to this behavior when their Lieutenant did not get to have his way.
Toxic Epiphany let out a sigh as he shook his head, "If you keep spoiling him he's going to keep being all pouty. Just let him wallow for a bit, he'll shake it off... Eventually."
"Agh..! Cruel! You're so cruel Toxic! Come on, let's fight! Let's fight!" Wess angrily flailed his arms at Toxic Epiphany.
"I'll gladly go a few rounds with you, Lieutenant." Toxic Epiphany placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
"Now now you two..." Camellia smiled helplessly as she tried to calm both sides down.
The six players who were guarding the gateway were all dumbfounded. Was this the same fierce Godspeed Wess who was known for his love of fighting?
...
When Izroth first entered into the circular gateway, a bright light shone as if he was floating in midair. However, it also felt as though he was jumping across space itself to arrive at his destination.
'This almost reminds me of the teleportation arrays back in the Seven Realms... Though these lights are peculiar...'
When Izroth examines the light closer he came to discover that it was not produced by a single source. There were tiny light particles of light drifting around throughout the atmosphere.
They were difficult to spot if one was not already aware of their existence. However, since Izroth was at the second stage of the «Heavenly Golden Body» physique and taking the «Five Cycles Pill», Izroth senses we're definitely the best within RML at this moment. The whole trip only lasted a few seconds.
When the bright light vanished, Izroth's environment went through drastic changes. He was no longer standing in a pile of ruins like when he first slid into the swirling sands.
〈System Alert: You have entered the «Dungeon: Sea Palace Graveyard»〉
There was a beautiful scene that unfolded before Izroth. Crystal clear water was falling down from the sky above. You could not see where the waterfall began as it seemed to stretch upward endlessly towards the firmament.
Various species of plants were growing from out of the ground, most of which took on unique shapes. There were some plants that resembled an hourglass and was dark blue in color. Another plant was dark green in color with white spots and looked more like a sculpture than a plant.
There were no suns or moons in the sky above, but there was a massive magical symbol that stretched across the sky, all the way to what was probably the very edge of this place.
'I suppose I should not get too used to a scenery... Though what's really strange is that this place looks nothing like a graveyard.' Less than 15 minutes passed and Izroth already went through three different kinds of sceneries. To be honest, he was expecting undead creatures and a gloomy atmosphere, not one so rich of life.
Izroth took a brief moment to study his surroundings, and it wasn't too long until something caught his eye. He walked a few steps forward and pushed one of the strangely shaped plants aside.
What he found was a small statue around 90cm tall made of material similar to the decayed stone-like object his foot knocked against when he first fell into the ruins. The statue was of a woman with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a fish holding onto a trident, she was a mermaid.
There were three words written below the statue, it was most likely the name of the mermaid but it was not in any language that Izroth had come across before.
'I wonder if it's one of the goddesses of this world like Helilatiaa.' Izroth did not think about it too long and continued on his way forward. The further Izroth ventured into the dungeon, the more large bodies of water began to appear around him.
There was always a clear path forward, however, it was becoming increasingly narrow. Now, there was barely enough room for three people to walk side by side in a comfortable manner.
When Izroth stepped onto a path surrounded by one of the large bodies of water, he immediately unsheathed his «Blade of Lightning» and became vigilant. He stared down into the water and in the distance as a small dot began swimming towards him at a fast speed.
As the dot grew closer to the surface of the water, Izroth managed to make out the appearance of the creature rushing at him with so much hostile intent.
'It's a merman...'
A few moments later, a creature with the upper body of a human male and the lower body of a fish broke through the surface of the water. The merman flew over Izroth's head and within his hands was a bronze trident. With the trident, he swung directly at Izroth aiming to knock him off the path he was on.
"Surface dweller! You dare to taint the holy Sea Palace!" The merman sounded furious, his rage made it appear as if Izroth was his mortal enemy.
Izroth, however, was already prepared for this and evaded the incoming trident strike. The «Five Cycles Pill» was truly worthy of being a Spirit rank pill that was infinitely close to being of the Earth rank.
Izroth could see and hear every single move of the merman and used his «Blade of Lightning» to launch a swift counter-attack as it flew over his head, slicing the tip of his sword right across the merman's torso.
-220
The merman fell back into the water, but Izroth managed to get a clear look at its information before it managed to do so. He could still feel it lingering around beneath him, ready to strike again.
Name: Sea Palace Guard(Normal)
Level: 18
HP: 3,780/4,000
ATK: 350
DEF: 50
AGI: 200
MAG: 0
Skills:
Underwater Speed(Passive): While underwater, this creature has their speed increased by 50%.
Water Pulse(Active): Using its innate gift of water control, this creature propels itself out of the water and launches a strike using its trident dealing 150% of its attack as damage to the target.
Aqua Wave(Active): Swings its trident upward while within the water, causing a wave of water to crash against its target violently, dealing 200% of its attack as damage and stunning the target for 2 seconds.