⟨⟨The kingdom's dilemma ⟩⟩

The man only tapped Carol's shoulder and shook his head.

I wondered what was the man's relationship with Carol and this “Scarlett '' Guy or a Girl. I'm really sorry

Carol unexpectedly knelt down and swung her arm to punch the ground. The punch left a mark in the ground,a mark of blood from her fists.

Carol who was kneeling down cried.

“W-why…… Scarlett….WHY!” She shouted.

I looked down to Carol and asked. “Can I ask? Who's this Scarlett?”

Claude unexpectedly answered my question in a refined manner like a royalty would do. “Scarlett is my sister, she's also a close friend of Carol.”

“What happened to her?”

“She left the kingdom and went straight for the kill”

“What do you mean by that”

“She…Challenged the demon king of the north”

As Claude explained what happened to Scarlett,I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. Scarlett challenged the demon king of the north? How and why would she do such a risky thing? Did she know the consequences of her actions? Is there another reason for her challenging the demon king?

I kept a calm and composed attitude in front of Carol and Claude but deep down I knew this was not good news. If Scarlett failed to defeat the demon king, I could only imagine the disastrous outcome of the situation.

“....”

It seemed like Claude wanted to say more about Scarlett's sudden decision to challenge the demon king but he kept his cool as he realized I was still nearby. I couldn't help but feel curious about what Claude had to say and I wanted to hear more about Scarlett. Why would a young girl like her deliberately challenge a demon king? Was she that confident in her powers? Did she have some sort of ability or power of her own?

It was really intriguing.

I was about to offer my help but then I remembered that when I woke up in this world...Most of my skills from my skill set are sealed and cannot be used in the time being. Why do my skills get sealed or if they're not sealed I get sealed.

“Say Claude… are you planning to save her? If yes then maybe I can help”

“Save her? I intend to. But before her I am just a weakling, she's the strongest princess in the world after all”

“Just give me a sword that doesn't break easily and we'll start travelling”

Claude looked at me curiously before answering my offer. He clearly didn't trust me yet and was wary of my real intentions. But it did sound like he was willing to take me along, if I did manage to convince him that I was truly sincere in wanting to help.

“I'll consider it....but first I'll need to check something and I will get back at you next week”

Claude then left and went towards the Castle which was visible to all people.

Carol on the other hand stood up and held my hand.

She walked to the nearby bar and entered with me.

I followed Carol into the nearby bar without a word as she seemed to drag me along. We made our way towards the bar counter and I could see the looks and stares we were getting as people were starting to recognize her.

The bar counter was attended by a man with a rough exterior and piercing eyes. Before I could say anything, Carol spoke up.

“I would like beer please”

The bartender then nodded and asked for my order to which I replied simply with the same order as Carol’s. A large glass of beer.

Two large glasses of beer were handed to us by the bartender. I gave one glass to Carol.

She then started to gulp the beer like there's no tomorrow whereas I only took a sip every time I would glance at her.

“You should probably slow down Carol”

Carol didn't seem to hear my concern as she kept drinking the beer that was handed to her. It seemed like she was drinking at a rapid tempo, almost like she had never tasted beer in her life.

I could understand that we both needed to calm our nerves somehow but this was not the right way.

I looked into Carol's face and saw that she was clearly affected by the alcohol. Her lips were starting to become red from the consumption.

I decided to stop her even though she was visibly drunk.

“Okay, that's enough drinking”

Carol looked at me with blurred and glazed eyes. All the alcohol that she had consumed till now seemed to make her completely drunk.

I was a bit worried about her, I was afraid of her making a fool out of herself in public or making a mess. Or worse still….

I took her glass of beer and gently put it on the counter table and she slowly started to sink down.

I held her up before she could hit the ground face first. I supported her head with my hands as we both sat down.

Her face was a bit pale from all the alcohol she had consumed and she seemed to be struggling to keep herself awake.

She fell asleep on the table while I was still drinking.

Thinking about my sealed skills. I checked my status sheet using [Observer] which I still had access to.

The results came in and it was more horrible than I expected.

⟨⟨Elliot Grande⟩⟩

⟨⟨Classification⟩⟩: Human

⟨⟨Level⟩⟩: 479/1000

⟨⟨Attributes⟩⟩:primordial magic, nihilistic energy, dark matter, cosmic stardust energy, anti-matter.

⟨⟨Abilities⟩⟩:Stellar Ark, Null Domination, Core destroyer, Zero Breaker,Khaos Devour, Cosmos Armageddon, White Void: Forbidden Paradise, Teleport,Core engineering system, Instantaneous Movement,Magic manipulation

⟨⟨Mana⟩⟩:47,000/50,000

⟨⟨Strength⟩⟩ 28,000/28,000

⟨⟨Speed⟩⟩ 50,000,50,000

⟨⟨Durability⟩⟩ 10,000/10,000

⟨⟨Hp ⟩⟩ 58,000/58,000

My attributes were also incredibly high with my mana and speed being at maximum level. The abilities listed were also of high tier and most of them were locked or restricted for some unknown reason.

As I stared at the sheet, I couldn't help but wonder why my skills were sealed. Was there a reason for this or was it just simply an unfortunate effect of being transferred to this world?

The third party that has cut my connection to the spaceship is also not exempted from being a suspect of my skills being sealed.

But why would anyone seal my skills? Oh… Yeah I'm too strong even in this world.

I could sense eyes staring at me, some were adventurers and some were ordinary folks.

Just as suddenly,there was something poking me from behind. This made me set my defensive senses and turned around with a swing of my fist.

Something caught my arm easily, it was an adventurer wearing leather armor,broadsword on his back with a red bandana on his head. He had yellow hair and brown eyes.

On his back,there were people who I assumed were his companions. two intermediate mage class, two intermediate fighter class men and him who was a master class fighter.

No wonder he catched my arm easily like that.

“Who're you and what do you want?”

“I'm sorry for the sudden appearance, we're from the adventurers guild,surely you have heard of us”

I have no clue or idea whatsoever.

I could hear whispers around me that were saying they're a really famous group among the adventurers guild and just approached us.

I should act along the lines and be honest

“Sorry mister but I don't really know your group”

The warrior in the leather armor stood firm and looked at me with an arrogant smile as he spoke once more.

“Let me introduce myself, I am Arthus, captain of the silver wolves”

The others behind him were also nodding and agreeing with Arthus.

I didn't care about the name Arthus or their nickname “silver wolves”.

What I just needed to know was why they had appeared before me.

The warrior in the leather armor,Arthus,seemed to have already realized my disinterest in their group's information and name.

“I won't bother you with more of our group's information.What we need to discuss with you is,have you heard of the recent increase in the number of dungeons around the kingdom?”

“No,I didn't know anything about that”

Ah dungeons,how nostalgic and bullshit

Arthus looked back towards his companions and sighed in disappointment. It seemed like he was aware of the fact that I didn't care in the slightest about this conversation. He then turned back towards me and spoke once more.

“Look, we just need your help. The king has offered us a very hefty reward for clearing out any dungeons nearby the kingdom and we were hoping you could help us out”

Hmm… Speaking of gold. I actually need it, don't I,like to buy stuff because of my wealth …. Oh yeah it's in my world

“I'll consider it,but when is the clearing happening and why'd you choose me? I'm just a kid”

“A kid wouldn't be able to knock bandits at the speed of light and drink alcohol right?” Arthus then smirked at me and tapped my shoulders

He has a point,welp it's not like I can deny it anymore

Arthus was right, what other teenager could drink like a sailor and move that damn fast?

Then he asked me a question that made me think.

Why would the king give such a hefty reward for clearing the dungeons in the first place?

It was a good question that I didn't take into account. The king doesn't usually just give away rewards for nothing in return.

There was certainly some kind of catch to this deal that we probably need to find out.

It was time to ask some questions now that I had caught their attention.

“Why is the king offering such a substantial reward for clearing the dungeons?”

Arthus looked at me once more and this time, his arrogant face had now turned into an expression of surprise.

“Well you're already asking the important and right questions. The answer would be this,the king doesn't want to send all the men from the army to clear out those dungeons as they're busy with patrolling the borders.”

I stood up and replied. "Couldn't it be that the king wants to clear these dungeons because they have dangerous beings like Minotaurs,Dragons and demons?”

Arthus nodded his head and smirked.

"You have a good point there, that's pretty much the only reason why the king can't send his soldiers for dungeons. The monsters inside them are just too powerful for the men to handle."

With this information,it was clear why the king needed outside help.

I clicked my tongue and sighed to the fact that they have known my power since I set foot in this kingdom meaning they have spies.

I was feeling guilty leaving Carol so I decided that I will help them the next day and tell this to Carol

I watched the silver wolf leave the bar before I turned back to Carol who was still fast asleep on the table. After realizing how drunk she was from drinking so much alcohol, it wasn't a good idea to just leave her here. So, I decided to carry her to a nearby Inn

I picked Carol up and managed to carry her easily with my strength. I then started making my way to the nearby Inn and checked in with the gold I had in pocket.

I carried Carol to the nearest inn and checked in with the limited money that I had in my pocket. After getting a room for the night, I carefully laid Carol down on the bed and looked at her face. She was still unconscious and was breathing heavily while drooling.

It seemed like she was pretty drunk.

I sighed in disappointment and sat on the nearby chair to keep a watch over her.

I subconsciously fell asleep as I kept an eye on Carol.

The next day.

I was jolted from my sleep and woke up to the bright light of the sun gleaming inside the room. I sat on the bed for a moment and stretched before getting a glance at Carol.

She was still asleep and looked quite peaceful even in her drunken state. I realized that I must have slept for the entire night while keeping an eye on her, which had made me quite tired.

I took one more look at her before deciding to leave for the guildhouse to meet Arthur and his companions.

I also left a note and some gold in the table beside the bed that was saying 'Sorry Carol. I have some business to attend to,you can have the gold to buy yourself food.

With the note left behind to Carol, I exited the inn and started making my way to the guildhouse where I had scheduled a meeting with Arthus and his companions who were going to take me on a dungeon clearing quest.

On the way, I noticed a few adventurer's looking my way and whispering amongst themselves. It seemed like I had attracted a lot of attention from many people in the town.

As soon as I reached the Guildhouse,I was greeted by Arthus and his comrades outside the door. They all seemed excited to see my arrival. Arthus stepped forward and spoke at a quick pace.

"Good to see you,it's been a while since I have had an encounter like this. Most people would have declined the quest or just avoided us when they see our group coming”

I didn't know what to reply to Arthus' enthusiastic gesture, so I just smirked and decided to skip past the small talk.

As I followed Arthus inside the guildhouse, I couldn't help but notice a few stares being pointed towards me. I guess my presence is pretty out of the ordinary now after the display of my skills from yesterday.

It didn't take us long to reach the guild's lounge which was filled with all kinds of adventurers and adventurers guilds members.

As I expected, the room was quite silent when we entered and everyone was staring at me. I didn't know if this silence was out of fear or if it was out of respect but I could definitely see it on their faces.

Arthus then took me to one corner of the lounge and pulled out a big map from his bag before laying it down on one of the tables. He then called out his team and one by one his companions came and joined him.

"So before we begin,do you mind introducing yourself?"

"I'm Elliot Grande,a normal kid”

When I introduced myself, Arthus and his companions were a bit perplexed on the part where I said 'a normal kid'.

But they quickly brushed it off and decided to focus on the actual matter at hand.

"Alright,so the king has given us a very difficult task. The job that he has given us is to hunt down all dungeons within the kingdom and clear them out”

The room went silent for a moment and I could feel a few surprised glances being directed towards me. This was because most people in this world were unable to handle even a single dungeon on their own. This is why the silver wolves were tasked with clearing out the dungeons as they were famous for being one of the strongest groups in the adventurers guild.

But with their leader Arthus suddenly asking for help from me, the task suddenly seemed quite trivial and easy.

“There are a total of 13 dungeons that need to be cleared out within the kingdom but we've been given information on only 5 of them”

The task was more overwhelming than what I had anticipated and it was much larger than just clearing a few dungeons. I didn't have high hopes of clearing out every single dungeon but I still needed to help Arthus with at least a couple of these.

Arthus began to point out the locations of dungeons on the map with a red stone. The locations he had pointed out were spread all over the kingdom which made the task even more daunting.

From what I could gather, some of these dungeons were more infamous than others for containing more dangerous and powerful monsters.

near a small village, near a waterfall, deep in the forest,near a hill and the last dungeon was located near the city walls.

“The work is divided into 5 groups since we only have 5 locations in hand”

As the locations of all these dungeons were shown on the map, I started imagining the different monsters and enemies that I would have to fight inside them. The fact that I had to clear out 13 dungeons one after another also made me wonder how long it would take.

It seemed like a very taxing yet interesting task and the rewards that came with it were quite significant too.

I was about to ask some questions about these dungeons when Arthus cut me off.

“Alright everyone,our primary objective is to investigate the dungeon and clear out the first level within each of these dungeons. Do not underestimate any of these dungeons,we don't know what type of monsters lie within them. So we will be taking this mission one step at a time”

We spent quite some time discussing the details regarding these dungeons before dividing everything into smaller tasks. Each group would be responsible for clearing out one level each and would receive a reward every time they did.

I was a part of one group who was responsible for taking care of the small dungeon near the waterfall.

As we were discussing the details regarding which group would be responsible for which dungeon, I suddenly realized that the leader of each group was a silver wolf. It was a bit odd that the silver wolves were the only ones that were capable of handling this task.

I decided to keep this thought in my head for the time being and not make an open discussion about it.

After the discussion concluded, we were given one hour to prepare ourselves for the dungeon exploration task.

Arthus told us to be prepared because we didn't know what we would have to face once we entered the dungeon. He also told us to make sure we had enough health potions and other supplies with us as we could not expect to heal ourselves in the dungeon.

Even though I didn't need to heal myself with healing potions. I still took some if ever my teammates that are running low

With that,Arthus bid us farewell and I prepared myself for the task at hand.

I had packed sufficient healing potions as Arthus had suggested and some other supplies which may be important inside a dungeon. After this, I waited for my team members to arrive so we could head towards the dungeon near the waterfall.

One female newbie level 30 mage class, One male intermediate level 79 assassin class and One level 99 tanker.

These were the result ‘Observer’ gave me

My team members arrived on time with their own supplies and equipment that were necessary for a dungeon trip. The female mage was carrying a staff and a large pouch full of various kinds of healing potions. The assassin had numerous daggers,throwing knives and various poisons hidden all over his body.

As for the tanker,he had a very unique looking sword that was much larger than the rest of his equipment. He also had a sturdy shield on his left hand and was armored from head to toe.

The female mage approached me and was eyeing me from a distance. When she got close enough,she spoke to me with a soft voice.

“So you're the one that will help us clear this dungeon,right?”

I nodded silently as I prepared our things in a backpack.

The female mage seemed to be a nervous and shy person based on her demeanor.

However,she was now acting quite bold when speaking to me.

“Well,I must say that I never expected someone like you to help with this dungeon clearing. I thought it would be a silver wolf or an experienced adventurer would be accompanying us.”

I smirked as I noticed her expression of boldness.

“Well,it's true that the silver wolves are more experienced than me but I do not lack power either. I'm sure I'll be able to handle myself just fine in this dungeon.”

The female mage still kept eyeing me and couldn't hide the look of surprise that was written all over her face.

She kept looking at me for a few more seconds before finally nodding in agreement.

“That may be true but still,we would very much appreciate it if you show us your power if things get tough out there.”

She then turned towards the assassin who seemed to be preparing his equipment for the dungeon.

And with that,we left the city towards the gate

We set off towards the waterfall where the dungeon was located and the journey seemed to take a few hours. On the way,we encountered many monsters and it seemed like the forest itself was getting darker the further we went.

As we got closer to the dungeon,we started hearing sounds of roaring and growling coming from the forest.

The trees and bushes also became a lot more thicker and it started getting very hot as we were heading towards a more tropical area.

Arching tree branches,thorns and other obstacles were slowing is down and the temperature was getting higher as we moved deeper into this forest.

The temperature here was easily 35-40 degrees Celsius which was very uncomfortable for us. However,the assassin was completely fine because he was used to such hot conditions.

And since I could Manipulate my material body. I could just make myself adapt to the environment

However,the tanker and the mage were slowing down because of the heat.

"Hey Cleon, can't you two slow down for a second? Me and Rendon are in a state of dying"

The assassin then stopped walking and sighed as the assassin approached the mage.

Cleon,the assassin,nodded in agreement and slowed down a bit so that the others could keep up. The others immediately felt the temperature dropping slightly and they started to regain their stamina back.

However,it seemed like the assassin was just immune to the heat and he seemed to be doing just fine with the weather condition.

The three of us kept on walking and the sound of the waterfall began to get louder with each step. The forest suddenly ended as we reached the base of the waterfall. The whole area was filled with the sound of rushing water.

The temperature seemed to get cooler and we could feel the mist of the waterfall on our bodies the moment we reached the bottom of the waterfall.

Cleon led the way as we walked along the narrow path that was carved out into the side of the waterfall. The mist continued to surround us as we walked further into the waterfall and it also made us all damp.

The temperature had dropped significantly and it was now quite pleasant to walk around here. The path we were walking on became more slippery with each step and we had to be mindful of our footing.

The mist and the waterfall made the whole atmosphere a lot more mysterious and it seemed like something very interesting awaited us further down the path.

We continued walking for almost 5 minutes before the path started leading towards the left instead of downwards. By the looks of it,we would have to continue this way to reach the dungeon.

Another 5 minutes of walking and we finally reached the entrance of the dungeon. The assassin started to reach for his dagger but the female mage stopped him.

“Hold back for now,we don't know what to expect inside this dungeon”.

I was also quite curious and was expecting some sort of a trap that would attack us once we step inside. However,nothing happened as we carefully entered the dungeon.

A nostalgic feeling huh?

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