Chapter 61 61: Stuck In A Dungeon [Pt1]

It took the better part of the day to explain to Amy what was going on. She kept on interrupting Keith and Priestess Athena with questions that had nothing to do with the current situation.

Had Keith been the real grandmaster, he was sure that blood would have been spilled by now. But Keith decided to be patient with Shinu's mother.

In the end, the lady seemed to agree with his suggestion to take Shinu back hesitantly.

"A-Alright, fine. Shinu can go with you but not without me. I do not trust you, even if you say you, are the grandmaster. I will not leave my kid in your care."

Amy clutched Shinu closer to her body. Shinu's face was covered in a red flush and he looked embarrassed to have his mother clinging to him.

"M-Mom, can you let me go? It is a little embarrassing for you to be holding me like this. And K-Keith did not lie. He is the grandmaster and I have proof. When we were kidnapped-"

"Enough Shinu. I understand the situation but I am still coming with you. You want me to come with you as well, right?"

Amy asked and Shinu looked away. He wanted to lie so badly but it would not be fair. In the end, he chose to tell the truth.

"Yeah, I do want you to come with me. I even asked Keith if you could come and he said yes."

Keith chose not to say anything or to meet Amy's eyes. He had made it plenty obvious that he would like to have Shinu no matter what. Amy's distrustful look was nothing much in comparison to his desire.

"Alright, I get it. We should go and pack our stuff now Shinu. When are we leaving, grandmaster?"

Amy finally seemed to have come around and dropped the suspicious attitude. She did not show Keith the same hesitation she showed before but she was not overfriendly like before as well.

Keith was happy to see this change and he felt relieved as well.

"We will be heading out in the evening. Someone from our guild will be here to take you and your luggage later. I will be traveling ahead of you to plan for your stay. Shinu, would you like to come with me or come with your mother?"

Keith questioned the young dragon and he looked torn. On one hand, he wanted to try traveling with Keith but he also did not want to leave his mother.

"Shinu, there is no need to hold back. I can see that you want to travel with Keith so you should go. We are the people of freedom so we should not try to hold our desires back, alright?"

Amy patted Shinu's head and he finally decided. He turned toward Keith with a determined expression.

"I will come with you. Please take care of me."

With that, the traveling parties had been decided and plans were made.

...

Shinu and Amy left soon after that to start their packing. They seemed to have a lot to do and they also needed to spread the word that their village was going to shift.

It was going to be a busy day for the Hermits.

On the other hand, the priestess looked quite free right now. She was relaxing on her couch, her body stretched out and posed in a lewd manner. Her light dress allowed one to see her everything.

Keith's eyes moved up and down the priestess's body in appreciation before he took a seat opposite her on the couch.

"What did you do regarding my request? How soon do you think you can help me out?"

Keith questioned, getting straight to the point. He did not see a point in beating around the bush with someone as straightforward as Athena.

The woman in question took one whiff of the pipe she had lit up and released the smoke in the air.

"Hmm, I have your identity ready to be used. But only if you are sure you want to use it and are alright with all the terms. I would advise you to visit the background of your new identity to gain more insight."

Athena held out some papers toward Keith and he took them quickly. There was only one image on the paper, a blurry sketch of a greenish-black-haired man who had a physique like his.

The man in question had an unkept appearance and a dark background. The village he was spotted in looked burned to the ground as well.

"The man's name was Noah, and that was all anyone knew about him. His whole village disappeared from mysterious circumstances and he was the only survivor. As such, he traveled around a bit before being killed by the beasts."

"The only reason I know this was because I came across him and read his memories with the help of a special one-time-use medium. This is the perfect cover for you, right?"

Keith looked down at the paper in his hand. This man looked to be in his twenties with a fit body and a clear background. He was the perfect person to pose as since he did not have anyone left from his past.

"I see. This does look promising. I would check out the village this man is from if you tell me its location."

Keith promised the priestess and she sighed. She brought out another small piece of folded paper and held it in front of Keith. He opened it to see a map in front of his face.

"This is the only map left that can tell you how to get into this village. You will need to enter it precisely at the given time or you might risk dying. Are you sure you want to still do it?"

Keith stiffened from the inside but his face only showed calmness. It unnerved the priestess to see someone look this composed.

On the other hand, Keith cursed Athena inside his mind. She just had to add the 'dangerous' part and try to scare him, huh?

'If only it was not for my survival, I would not have tried so hard to face all these challenges. But now I have no choice but to take the risks anyway.'

"Don't worry. I will be alright even if I go to this place. I am not an ordinary person who will fear such small things."

Keith reassured the priestess and she looked resigned. But in the end, she agreed to let Keith go to this village alone.

In the evening, Keith left the village with Shinu. His plan was the drop Shinu off at the guild headquarters and then head out toward his hidden village with Clair. As a goddess, Clair would have a better understanding of what was going on.

But Keith should have expected his plans to rarely work at this point. Of course, he had to fall into a dungeon and get stuck in there with Shinu.

Dungeons were places that often came up in the original MMO. These were the places where players could get amazing artifacts and other powers if they cleared a dungeon.

Keith had to say that he was tempted to try and clear this dungeon. The reward he would get as a result was not small and Keith would also be able to solidify his reputation.

'Let us not get ahead of ourselves. I cannot clear this dungeon alone. Let us focus on getting out of here first and then think about other things.'

Keith also had an innocent kid to think of at this time. Shinu seemed to be on edge as soon as they entered the dungeon. He was growling and he looked overwhelmed with everything new in this dungeon.

"Shinu, calm down. You will alert the monsters of our current location if you continue to be like this."

Keith warned Shinu and he tried to calm down. But it was difficult for some reason. His instincts were not listening to him and his body felt hotter than ever before.

It was like his body was warning him and getting ready to defend itself from all the danger around him.

"Shinu, it will be alright. We do not have to challenge this dungeon just yet. I would prefer it if we got out of here for your sake."

Grandmaster's hand on Shinu's shoulder calmed him down and brought him out of his trance. He suddenly realized how he had been behaving and Shinu could not help but feel mortified.

"Sorry, I did not know what came over me. I will try not to tense up again."

Shinu apologized as he forced his instincts down. It was not the time for him to show such uncultured behavior.

Grandmaster's hand on Shinu's shoulder was like a blessing to him. The lack of aura brought Shinu back to his senses and he was finally able to calm down. But as soon as the grandmaster let him go, that dreadful feeling came back over him.