Chapter 748 - A Sad Smile That Lingered In His Memories

"So, you've finally found some time to see me," Celeste said as she glanced at William. She was reading a book when the Half-Elf came to visit her, and judging from her voice, she wasn't very pleased.

William lightly coughed as he sat on a chair. He then looked at Celeste with an innocent expression on his face. "Sorry, Professor, I completely forgot about it because of the Phenomenon in the sky and Elliot's death"

Celeste snorted as she closed the book in her hand. She gave William a contemptuous look before setting her book to the side. The beautiful elf didn't want to admit it, but she had been waiting for William to find her and ask how to advance his profession for quite some time now.

"Since you're already here, let's not waste each other's time and discuss the details of your ascension." Celeste waved her hand and a golden beam of light shot towards the center of William's forehead.

Soon, a projection appeared between the two of them.

In it was a tablet where several runes were written in an ancient language. Celeste read the information with great interest.

William, who had no idea what the words written in the tablet were, asked the System to translate it for him. Optimus had already researched all the languages in Hestia. This was why it was not a problem for William to understand the meaning behind written words, even those that came from Ancient Texts.

—--

< Ascension Requirements >

< Dungeon Core Essence >

< The Dungeon must have Sixty Floors and Above. Anything below Sixty Floors will not activate the Ascension Requirement. >

—--

'Dungeon Core Essence?' William tilted his head. 'Optimus, what is a Dungeon Core Essence?'

< The Dungeon Core Essence is a type of energy that can only be extracted from Dungeon Cores. You can think of it as the Dungeon Core's Mana. Extracting all of it will cause the dungeon to stop spawning monsters. 

Although the Dungeon will not die, it will need a few years before it starts to function like a proper Dungeon again. >

William nodded his head in understanding. He then realized that this requirement must be due to Elliot and Conan being born from the two dungeon cores that he had absorbed in the past, as well as fragments of his soul.

'Since they were originally dungeon cores, they needed Dungeon Core Essence to become stronger,' William rubbed his chin.

Celeste, who had also finished reading the information, translated it for William. She didn't know that the Half-Elf was already aware of the requirements, and was merely thinking of ways to find a Dungeon that had Sixty Floors and above, in order to boost the power of his two Familiars.

William nodded his head after Celeste finished her explanation. This was his way of telling her that he was listening to what she was saying.

"Professor, I'm fairly new here in the Central Continent," William said. "Can you tell me where I can find Dungeons that have Sixty Floors or more?"

"You look very confident," Celeste commented after seeing that William didn't have any traces of worry on his face after hearing the requirements that were needed to raise the rank of his profession.

"As long as I'm not dealing with a Dungeon with a hundred floors, I believe I can manage. It's just sixty floors. No big deal."

"Well, I'm sure that compared to the Tower of Babylon, a Dungeon with Sixty Floors is just a walk in the park for you."

William only smiled at Celeste's comment and didn't say anything else. His thoughts then wandered to the two dungeons that he was familiar with.

'I won't be able to clear the Dungeon of Atlantis anytime soon,' William thought. 'The Mirage Caverns on the other hand is only fifty floors. This doesn't match the requirements needed to upgrade my profession.'

Before he left the Silverwind Academy, William had already cleared the Dungeon located at the City of Silverwind. The only problem was that the Mirage Caverns only had fifty floors. If the requirement was only a bit lower, he could easily travel towards the Kraetor Empire using his Prince of Thunder Job Class, and return to Hestia Academy using Soleil.

"Professor, do you know of any dungeons that meet the requirements needed to advance my profession?" William asked. "It doesn't matter if it's a bit far from the academy."

Even if William hadn't asked this question, Celeste would definitely give him the information he needed. For her, the Half-Elf was someone that had the ability to spread the Familiamancer Job Class to other people.

Although William wasn't her direct Disciple, the boy was the Disciple of her Familiar. Celeste wouldn't be petty enough to make things difficult for the red-headed teenager, especially now that the latter was serious in becoming a Familiamancer Sovereign.

"A week from now, the Academy will start giving out missions to its students," Celine replied after organizing her thoughts. "Some of these missions require rare items that can only be found in Dungeons. Since you are already a Third Year, you will be allowed to take on Class A Missions, which also include going to Dungeons that have Seventy Floors to gather materials."

Celine took out a scroll from her storage ring and passed it to William. 

"This scroll consists of a list of Dungeons that are accessible using the teleportation gates of the academy," Celeste explained. "Just pick one of them and return to me once you have completed your mission."

William grinned as he browsed the list of dungeons on the scroll. The information was quite detailed and it informed him of everything he needed to know about a particular dungeon.

"Thank you, Professor," William said. "But, do I really have to wait a week before I go to one of these dungeons?"

Celeste nodded. "The academy is very strict when it comes to expeditions. I'm not entirely certain, but I feel that the Headmaster holds a grudge against you. I'm sure that if you tried to go to one of these dungeons right now, he would use that as an excuse to punish you for breaking the rules of the academy.

"It will be best for you to just wait for a week, so that we can dodge this issue. For now, you can make your preparations for your dungeon expedition. Feel free to bring some of your classmates with you, so that they can earn Merit Points as well. A maximum of six members per party is allowed. It will be best to use this opportunity to form strong connections. You never know when you'll be able to use it."

William planned to dive in the Dungeon Solo in order to hasten up his journey. However, after hearing Celeste's words, he thought that it wouldn't be a bad idea if he brought those that were familiar to him on his expedition—like his Wives, Zhu, and Sha.

As long as they cleared the mission together, they would all get merit points, which they could exchange in the academy for items.

After thanking Celeste, William went to look for his wives. He wanted to visit Shannon a few more times, before he left the academy to do his ascension quest. 

It didn't take long before William saw Princess Sidonie, Chiffon, and Ian in the garden of the academy. Ian had informed him that they were having a meeting in one of the Gazebos in the garden.

William followed Ian's direction and found his three wives waiting for him. There were a few baskets, filled with cookies and cakes on the table. Clearly, the three were enjoying an afternoon snack, and the Half-Elf happily joined them.

"Will, there is something that we need to tell you," Princess Sidonie said. "Even now, we still haven't figured out the Sin that Shannon bears."

"Really?" William was quite surprised because he thought that it would be very easy for the Seven Sins to know what Shannon's Divinity was. 

"I also consulted with Kenneth and Lilith, but the two of them share the same opinion," Princess Sidonie explained. "They can't identify Shannon's Divinity."

William rubbed his chin as he contemplated. For him, knowing Shannon's sin was crucial because it would allow him to find ways to counter her powers. 

Their brief encounter had left a deep impression on William.. If possible, he didn't want to faint every time he laid his eyes on the young lady, whose sad smile lingered in his memories.