Chapter 115: Background Preparations

"Gah!" Regriel gasped for breath, getting up with a start to notice that he was within a cave, sleeping upon a small pile of sand that acted as his bed.

He was perspiring all over, his face pale, and his fingers trembled constantly, a sign of his nervous state. He turned around to see the figure of General Artica seated nearby, intending to habitually hug her when he paused, hesitant, recalling the words said in the nightmare he had experienced just now.

But suddenly, a pleasant aroma wafted into his nostrils as the soft hug of General Artica embraced him, enveloping him in her warmth, easing up his mental state automatically.

"There, there, everything is fine now." She whispered, patting him on the back a little.

"Hic!" Regriel broke into tears, hugging her tightly as he cried profusely, "I thought you would leave me."

"Silly," General Artica laughed, lightly hitting him on the head, "Why would I do that?"

"I thought…I thought…" Regriel tried to word it out but failed to do so, fearing what might happen the moment he spoke of it.

But, as if she had read his mind, General Artica brushed his hair, muttering as she looked into his eyes, "It is true that I hated you to the bone before. But, that was in the past. You have changed a lot from that time. You are no longer trash that is a waste of breathing space."

"But…" Regriel was just about to speak further when she locked lips with him, calming him down.

Only after a minute had passed in such a way did she retract her lips, speaking with a gentle smile, "In the past two months, you have helped a lot of people, cured a lot of soldiers that have been crippled from wars, and even helped those suffering from diseases."

"Sure, what you did before was absolutely detestable. But over the past two months, you have been trying to redeem yourself." She brushed his hair, pinching his cheeks once, "In the future, you'll become an extraordinary man that I can be proud of. I'm sure of it."

"If you ever stray off from the noble path, I'll be there to stop you and bring you back onto the rightful path."

"Thank you, Artica." Regriel teared up once again, hugging her tightly, "I don't know what I would do without you. Thank you for being here."

"I'll always be there for you." General Artica sighed, patting his back as she consoled him.

Standing beside the cave's entrance was Rikune, hands folded, her back leaning on the cave walls, having been standing at the place for the past two hours while Regriel was unconscious.

Upon hearing the conversation shared between the two and knowing the fears bottled up within Regriel, she snorted, walking away, her thoughts unknown.

Once she arrived atop a rock, she condensed the Crescent Moon energy blade under her feet, expanding them to use the force to jump high up, scaling the cliff as she landed on the ground above.

She then rushed through the forest, soon spotting a lone Haggon that was asleep, using a tree stem to rest its back. Unable to endure its weight, the tree had bent unnaturally. But, all it did was cause more comfort for the Haggon that slept peacefully.

Hiding behind a thick tree, Rikune unleashed her Crescent Moon energy blade, severing the hand of the Haggon, retracting the energy blade instantly as she hid.

The Haggon woke up with a start, feeling confused for a couple of seconds. It then noticed a severed hand laying on the ground beside it, wondering just how it arrived at the place. After all, it looked at its hands, noticing that both of them were in their rightful place.

After staring at the severed hand for some time, it noticed that it wasn't feeling hungry, returning to sleep. Staring at such a scene, Rikune was flabbergasted, trembling, 'Just how strong is this freaking Haggon? It regenerated its hand within a couple of seconds. Why is something like this in Level 1? Shouldn't it be on Level 4 or Level 5?'

She then carefully used her energy blade to pick up the severed hand and returned to the cave, stopping at the entrance upon hearing thumping sounds from within. Without any hesitation, she entered the cave, saying, "I've brought meat to eat. Without Wakuta around to help us, we need to eat our fill to replenish our expended Darlac reserves."

She saw Regriel and General Artica looking at her in shock, like thieves caught in the act. Smirking, she placed the severed arm on one side, licking her lips once as she pounced upon the two, "It seems fun. Let me join too!"

Situated opposite to the cave was a tree, looking no different from the surrounding trees. But, it seemed older than the rest, looking like it was beginning to rot. But in actuality, it was a Wood Puppet, built into the tree itself.

It was something only capable of being produced by the Great Megwest Empire, the technique they used to keep track of the surrounding Kingdoms and Empires. It was a closely guarded secret and hence was only known by the upper echelons of the Great Megwest Empire.

Such Wood Puppets had been planted across the entire Mohart Dungeon a couple of centuries ago. They were replenished once every interval spanning a couple of decades. It was how the Great Megwest Empire kept track of the activity of the Haggons, taking action the moment it seemed like the Haggons had birthed one that could become their Dungeon Boss.

And now, it was used by them to spy on Regriel's group. Even though they hadn't been maintained for a century, they were functional enough for the task at hand.

Standing far away was a Haggon, not even flinching at the Darlac expenditure for using a Puppet from so far away, muttering, "Alright, Artica and group are within that cave. Based on what they are doing, it seems like they won't move from there for at least a day until they fully recover their expended Darlac."

He then waved his hand, looking at the team of Haggons beside him, seeing the figures of Princess Raecha and Wakuta tied up after being knocked unconscious, "Hurry up and transport them to Lord Spirit."

"Yes," The two Haggons in charge of the captives saluted before carrying them, running deeper into the level, intending to head into the lower levels.

The Haggon then instructed the rest, pointing at Chikon, "As for this Darble Puppet, break it into pieces. Start by shattering its Darlac Connection Point."