Despite their caution, Leon and Darya didn't see a single goblin inside the dungeon. However, they found one hundred goblin shamans around the purple crystal... as if they were waiting for something. They observed the situation for a few hours, but nothing happened.
"What do you think they are doing?" Darya asked.
"Considering that they are living in this world... those goblin shamans are probably guarding the crystal in case something comes from their world to this one." Leon answered. "They fled from their world because of something, and they are afraid of that something."
Possibly, it was a predator of their world, or perhaps an invader like the harvesters. Since Leon could use the purple crystals of that world, then, invaders could also travel between worlds using the crystal of other worlds…
"Shouldn't we make some preparations?" Darya asked. " I don't think the entire population of a world could fit in a small area around a dungeon. Most likely, the goblins almost went extinct of their world, and that is why they fled to this one."
"… I think Mana Armor will be enough to keep us alive," Leon answered. "If anything happens, we just have to touch the crystal as soon as we appear on the other side."
Before heading to the other side, Leon and Darya cleared the path. The power of mithril weapons was absolute... in ten seconds Leon and Darya killed all the goblin shamans. That only made Leon more sure that those creatures only had those skills because they received them. Otherwise, they should have at least one skill like Mana Armor.
"Come to think of it... that shadowy figure said that he granted skills to Donan... is he a spirit too?"
Leon shook those thoughts out of his head, that probably wasn't the case. That creature has similar powers... but then again, the only information Leon could see when used Appraisal was that that thing had the property 'Shadow'. It was weird to use his game knowledge, but it was clear that shadow was one of the elements...
"So many questions and so few answers..."
In the end, Leon concluded that the shadowy figure wasn't a spirit. Even though spirits could make pacts with sentient beings, the goblins were different from the liches. The goblins weren't slaves of anything, and they were living in that world without some shady goals, after all.
After picking the magic items of the goblin shamans, Leon and Darya touched the purple crystal. Half a second later, they saw themselves in a wasteland. The place made Leon recall of the slimes' world… soon, Leon understood was also a world that was being plagued by creatures that devoured anything that has mana. However, unlike slimes, those creatures were far more grotesques.
Devourer
Health: 10000/10000
Mana: 10000/10000
Stamina: 10000/10000
Active Skills: Mana Absorption Lv 150
Devourers were fifty meters long earthworm-like creatures. Those creatures were so big, and their mouth had so many teeth that even Leon felt shivers looking at it. Darya's face was pale as a ghost after she saw them... In any case, the devourers tried to jump and eat Leon and Darya. However, even before Leon could use his mithril spears to destroy them, the creatures stopped mid-air, as if they had hit an invisible wall. Leon noticed that everything, even some parts of the ground, had been eaten by those creatures, but everything around the purple crystal was being protected… however, the area protected was less than ten meters wide.
"Now, I can see why the goblins escaped from this planet…" Darya said. "It looks like they weren't the dominant race of this world."
Leon and Darya could see some hills and mountains in the distance, but aside from that, there was nothing. The devourers ate everything that had mana in that world, for a second, Leon even imagined that those creatures could have eater the spirits he was looking for… but he couldn't confirm that even without searching for some time.
"Let's fly, I don't think that they can jump that high," Leon said.
"Okay," Darya nodded.
To avoid any unpleasant surprises, they flew upward at their top speed, and just as Leon had suspected, the devourers couldn't reach them. It looked like those creatures were very powerful. Leon certainly could make some useful magic items out of them. However, he hesitated since they had Mana Absorption and Mana Tracking.
"Well, let's make some tests first," Leon said.
Darya frowned after hearing that, but soon she understood the meaning behind Leon's words when one of his mithril spears approached the ground, and several Devourers tried to eat the weapon.
"… Yikes, those creatures really like to eat mana." Darya said. "Do you think we can defeat them before they consume our weapons?"
"I don't think your knives will last that long," Leon answered. "As for my spears… there is only one way to find out."
Leon made all his nine spears fly low, and at the very moment the devourers tried to eat them, he made them spin at their top speed. In the end, those creatures regretted trying to eat the spears. The power and the spinning speed behind them destroyed the creature's head before they could even close their mouths.
"Ah… I can't create magic weapons if I kill them…" Leon sighed.
Fortunately, several other devourers approached the moment the first four died. It looked like they were divided into territories. Regardless. If his spears could defeat those monsters with ease, Leon had a hard time using a staff to knock just one of them down. Leon also had to move that massive body upward using Telekinesis, so he spent a lot of mana. They were troublesome enemies in many ways…