"And that's the end of the story... You guys liked it?"
Despite Katherine having finished the story, all five of them remained silent until Sophia spoke up first.
"That story was amazing, Mom... I never knew there was so much backstory to the dwarfs and gnomes."
"Thank you... Anyway, look like we're almost there now."
As the five of them shifted their attention back to their surrounding, they quickly noticed everything looked a little dead.
From the black grass to all the trees having no leaves, there were barely any signs of life.
"Mom, is the dungeon we're going towards formed by one of these anomalies?" Alex curiously asked.
"Yep... Fortunately, this one has become smaller over the years, so it's actually relatively safe for us to visit."
"Wait, Mom, are we heading to Nytheris?" Mary suddenly asked after matching the story from earlier.
"Good guess... Do you remember I said Nytheris is permanently sealed underground——"
Mary looked a little disappointed, along with Alex and Sophia, as they all hoped to believe the dungeon they were visiting was Nytheris.
"——But we are going to the part of Nytheris that remained above ground. You guys are going to be stunned by the ruins.
And the dungeon there that had formed nearby is full of monsters for you guys to fight."
As soon as Katherine finished answering, the faces of the kids were easily swayed back to excitement.
"Kate, are you sure where we are heading is safe enough for those three?"
Meiya asked, looking a little concerned as their surroundings started to look increasingly grim with the dark sky in the middle of the day.
"I'm sure of it. Amelia and I went here a few years ago, and there was barely any dark energy left."
"Lady Katherine——"
"Ahem."
Before Luqing could ask her question, Meiya cleared her throat, interrupting her from finishing. Stay updated through mvl
"Katherine, I thought you said the damage is irreversible. But if the dark energy is fading, then how would it maintain itself?"
"That's actually a very good question that I can't answer... However, various theories have tried to answer this question.
Some say that once it is formed, the increases and decreases are just a natural elemental cycle, so it never fully disappears.
The other theory states that these kinds of anomalies come from a dark dimension that fuels the increase and decrease."
"So a bloody battle could lead to forming this kind of anomaly?" Meiya interrupted as she asked her question.
"Yeah."
"Huh... It's just like the one we have on our continent." Meiya murmured as they continued walking down the road.
---
After walking for five more minutes, the six of them finally arrived at a hill near their destination.
The moment they could see the ruins that Katherine promised down below, they were completely stunned.
Everything was uniformed into a well-shaped grid, almost as if someone had planned the city to perfection.
Various kinds of buildings were divided into different parts, with a clear distinction between the residential and industrial sides.
Despite all the perfections, everything was completely pitch black, with the buildings all crumbled into pieces.
"Slow down. There's no rush. The dungeon isn't going to disappear because you show up late."
As Katherine gently patted Sophia's back, the other two rapidly slowed down their eating speed.
Meanwhile, Meiya and Luqing had already finished the sandwich that Katherine had handed over.
"Do you guys need mine? I'm not that hungry," Katherine asked as she took her sandwich out of the backpack.
Both of them shook their head, so Katherine began to eat the sandwich herself.
After everyone had finished the short lunch, they finally resumed heading towards the dungeon that Katherine had promised.
---
Just as they arrived at the dungeon entrance, they had only walked less than three minutes away from the ruins themselves.
It was an oddly shaped cave with a steep entrance that looked barely walkable, spiraling underground.
"Kate, are you sure this is the dungeon you're talking about?" Meiya asked as it looked just like a random hole on the floor.
"Yep. But before we go down, we need to prepare something first."
As Katherine put her backpack away into her pocket dimension, she began taking out stacks of different armor pieces.
"Alex, you want to be the knight for this mission, right?"
Before Katherine could finish asking, Alex had already taken off his jacket and his shoes.
"You don't have to take off your shoes. The armor doesn't come with the shoe sets."
Alex's face blushed a little as he quickly put his shoe back on, with all of the armor gathered on the side.
"Don't move. Let Mommy help you put this on... If it is too heavy, tell me, okay?"
Alex nodded as the four of them watched Katherine grab the first pieces of metal.
Ten minutes later...
"Nice! You look so good in this." Katherine complimented as Alex's body was now covered in armor.
"Really?"
As Alex tried to look down, his head was slightly restricted due to the neck guard prevented him from looking too far down.
"What do you guys think?" Alex curiously asked.
"You look so cool, brother! I never knew you could be this manly!" Mary exclaimed as she excitedly grabbed Alex's arm.
"You look very strong in this. Is it heavy?" Sophia curiously asked as the sheer size of the armor had made Alex look twice as big as usual.
"Not as heavy as I imagined. Maybe it's because this is only a single layer." Alex answered.
As he turned his head to look at Meiya and Luqing, he noticed that they complimented him in the same way Sophia did.
However, the two of them weren't really intimidated or interested in the armor at all.
"Is this armor really necessary?" Meiya curiously asked after noticing how slow Alex was turning.
"It's 100% necessary when exploring a dungeon, at least in a small party with low-level mages.
Sometimes, the area inside is so small that there is no other way to block it than having someone tank it."
Katherine paused for a second, then continued.
"You guys probably have Qi that can just make up for the defense, but knights don't have that luxury."