Chapter 202

Chapter 202

Charlotte, the orange-haired bartender comes over to us with a bright smile across her face and two steaming hot circular trays of food.

Pitchers of juices and ice-cold water slosh around, making my mouth water at the sight of them.

"Dig in, you all have a long day ahead of you!"

We do as she says.

After 30 minutes of a satisfying feast, the 5 of us sit back and enjoy the peace and quiet of a near-empty tavern in the middle of the open desert on a full stomach of good food.

Charlotte watches from the back of the bar, keeping an eye on the door and other lingering guests.

I'm too curious to wait any longer. I look over to her and our eyes meet as I speak up.

"Hey, great meal! I appreciate the hostility but could I ask... what do you do for the Association exactly? I'm just new around here, I didn't even know these walls existed yesterday.."

She replies in an excited tone as she makes her way over.

"Well you're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you must know, I'm the Gate 1, Section 4 lookout. There aren't many towns around here, so if anyone's looking to catch a ride on the train out, they'll have to stop by this town. I have a pretty good eye for troublemakers, and can get people to talk If I need them to."

My gaze tightens.

"You can... make people talk?"

Leo interrupts.

"Char's the best the Association's got. If you need questions answered, she'll get 'em for ya!"Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

The orange-haired bartender turns to Leo, tightening her lips and letting high a half-nervous laugh before responding and hitting Leo on the shoulder with a playful slap.

"Hey you know I like to keep that a secret before I get to know new guests."

He rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. These 4 aren't your average hunters though, try it out, let's see if your smooth talk can do anything to this bunch."

She looks back over to me. Instantly, I feel that soothing sensation I experienced when I first walked in.

The first time around it was nice, but now, I know something's up. My battle instincts kick in, and I activate my All-Seeing Eye. Something doesn't feel right....

The woman begins walking over to me and speaks in a slower rhythmic tone.

"Sure Leo, I'll give it a shot, but it's always more fun when they aren't suspicious."

As my perception skill activates, I begin to see a light orange-colored mist surrounding her body. It spreads out and engulfs our entire table the second she gets close.

I don't feel threatened...

Quite the opposite actually.

The closer and closer she gets the more I don't mind this odd invisible mist.

My smile matches hers and my All-Seeing Eye deactivates once she puts her arm around my shoulder.

"So, tell me something about yourself, Jay. Something I wouldn't know."

In a daze, I begin to speak.

"Something you wouldn't know? Well there's-"

I pause as I feel MP being drained from me...

I tighten my jaw and lurch back, realizing exactly what's going on. My poison resistance passive skill has kicked in, and it's nullifying the effects of something...

Everything clicks as I dart my eyes back and forth to see my teammates blissfully unaware of what s going on.

Charlotte's eyes meet mine, sharper than before. I reactivate my All-Seeing Eye to watch the light orange mana-imbued fig retract back into her body.

She takes her arm away from my shoulder and lets out a laugh.

She takes a sharp left turn, following a small sandy dirt road away from town. Her steps are quick and nimble, much more agile and coordinated than she first lead on.

No more than 3 minutes pass and we're already hundreds of meters away from the small settlement of wooden buildings.

She calls out.

"Almost there, don't you worry."

I wipe sweat from my forehead and follow. Maria skips along by my side as Abby stares up at the high wall to our left side.

Arie follows behind with his arms crossed.

We're walking closer to the massive wall, but also making out way parallel to it. I don't see a gate or entrance in sight. All I can see for kilometers is an impossibly high stone wall...

Something has been off ever since we left the small city. I can feel small vibrations in the air. I activate my all Seeing eye.

The moment my skill activates, it all begins to make a bit more sense.

The wall is mana imbued... just slightly. Not nearly enough to fully pick up without my precision skill, but clear as day with it activated.

I whisper under my breath as my eyes follow the towering mana-shielded wall all the way to the horizon.

"How odd..."

Shielding like this would cost a fortune... and this wall was made 50 years ago....

I ponder the thought for a few minutes but give up on trying to figure it out once Charlotte's voice rings out from in front of us.

"Here we are. The entrance to Gate 1, Section 4."

We all come to a halt.

The desert air is dry, there's hardly a plant in sight, and the hot sun is beating down on the back of my neck is already burning my skin.

I blink, staring blankly at rungs of thin dark metal that create a ladder jutting off from the side of the wall all the way up to the top.

The corners of my mouth begin to curl and I let out a laugh followed by the chuckles of my teammates.

"This is the entrance... to the wall... ha!"

The orange-haired woman jumps up to grab one of the rungs and begins to climb quickly and gracefully.

"The real section 4 entrance hasn't been touched in decades. This is one of the only non-shielded portions of the wall that we can climb. Other than here, you'd be fried to ash the moment you got close. Come on, no more questions, follow me."

I smirk, then jump up to grab one of the metal rungs. The moment my hand touches it my skin feels like it's being seared on a hot pan.

I let go and curse under my breath, regenerating my hand behind my back.

Char calls out again.

"Oh yeah, and be careful. The bars are hot."

I activate my body hardening crystals to cover my palms. This makes holding the rungs a lot easier.

I follow the redhead upwards.

Maria activates her ice magic to do that same and follows behind me.

Abby similarly covers her hands with a layer of stone.

Arie grabs a pair of work gloves from his item storage.

I should have thought of that...

It's a long climb upwards. Even at our fast pace it still takes a few minutes to get to the top. I'm sweating and breathing heavily by the time we do.

The 5 of us look over the edge, and I can't believe the sight before my eyes.

Charlotte was right, the first dungeon break is nearby. It's right below us in fact.

Our mission in the Dark Continent has finally begun.