Chapter 93: Infinite Predicament

Chapter 93: Infinite Predicament

Reivyn walked out of the Dungeon feeling good about the situation. The familiar Notification popped up as soon as he stepped across the threshold.

Exiting Dungeon

Calculating...

First Floor: Complete

Combat Experience: Exp +0

Boss Defeated: Exp +0

First Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +500

Calculating...

Second Floor: Complete

Combat Experience: Exp +0

Boss Defeated: Exp +0

Second Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +5,000

Calculating...

Third Floor: Complete

Combat Experience: Exp +22,000

Boss: N/A

Third Floor Completion Bonus: Exp +15,000

Dungeon: Complete

Dungeon Completion Bonus: Exp +30,000

Hard Mode: 1/2

Total Experience: Exp +72,500

I didn't get any experience from the first two floors because I just let the Adventurers smash through it as fast as possible, Reivyn mused. Looks like I got close to 90% of the Experience from the third floor.

I wonder what the second Hard Mode is? I can't think of anything that could be considered "Hard" for the first floor, and the third floor doesn't even have a boss. Reivyn threw the thought to the back of his mind. He was going to clear the Dungeon solo the next week. Maybe he would learn something new then.

"It was a pleasure," the leader of the "Adventurer" Party said, clapping Reivyn on the shoulder. "Always glad to have the leader of the Frostfire Thorns join us."

Reivyn gave the smiling man a skeptical look before he realized what he was doing. Putting up a pretense for all of the observers, and giving my group a bit of face while doing so.

The entrance to the Dungeon was always extremely busy, and people were constantly coming and going. If the city ordinance didn't prohibit it, Reivyn was sure there would be hawkers setting up shop right here instead of the central market area. Some of the passersby noticed the exchange, but it wasn't really of all that import to Reivyn.

He's probably trying to get my Party name talked about a bit for the guide in the Adventurer's Guild, he thought. Speaking of, we haven't checked the balance in a while. I should go pull some money out for living expenses.

Reivyn nodded and waved to the group. They quickly faded into the background, still doing their job of shadowing their charge, as Reivyn strolled over to the Adventurer's Guild Branch.

They had been withdrawing a little bit of funds each month while in school, and Reivyn had insisted that Melissa, Larissa, and Erik take a share as well. They didn't withdraw all of it, though, as the Adventurer's Guild basically functioned as a bank for its members. There was no reason to take it out of the Adventurer's Guild to either just carry it all around or deposit it in another institution.

The funds from the guide hadn't taken off until several months after the Dungeon Break, as not many people had returned to running the Dungeon for a time while the town was rebuilt. The income had steadily increased after that, though, and they had accumulated almost 20% of the total profits seen from selling the Experience Crystals, which was more than Reivyn had expected.

Reivyn quickly made the trip and grabbed some pocket money. He went ahead and grabbed enough to distribute to everyone in the original Party so they wouldn't have to make another trip for themselves.

I might as well head over to Prince Galwit's manor and see if he's available to talk since I'm out, Reivyn thought.

He secured the money in a pouch he kept in his inner breast pocket. He kept the money split up, so even though it was worth over a gold, it was split six ways in silver and copper. He wasn't used to carrying so much around, even when in The Capital. He could feel the weight and feel the jingle as the coins clinked against each other.

Reivyn made his way to the manor, and it looked exactly the same as it had half a week before. It looks like everyone's here, he thought. The Dungeon resets the same day of the week for everyone, but that doesn't mean everyone is going to rush to get their run done the first day.

"Is the prince available to meet right now?" Reivyn addressed the same guard as last time.

The man eyed Reivyn for a second before indicating for him to wait a moment. Reivyn stood outside the gate, contemplating how he was going to bring up the discovery to Galwit. He only had to wait a moment before the guard returned and jerked his head to motion for Reivyn to follow him.

The guard led Reivyn to the same study, and Prince Galwit once more greeted him with an enthusiastic smile.

"What's this? Back already?" Galwit asked. "Did you already think about my proposition? That was pretty quick."

"No, actually," Reivyn said as he took a seat. "I haven't really had the chance to consider it further. I'm going to wait to speak to my parents about the issue. I don't keep any secrets from them, ever, for any reason. I might forget to bring something up from time to time, but it's never deliberate.

"No, I came today because I cleared the third floor with a higher Level Party earlier today." Prince Galwit's eyebrows rose, and he nodded in appreciation. "I don't know if you know anything about the third floor, but it should be a playground for you and your people. The Abyss Mana is dominant down there, and it suppresses this Realm's Mana."

"Yeah, we've peeked into it once, but we weren't confident we had enough Stamina and Mana to last through the horde. I guess over-Leveling it is an option."

None of the three were sure how much they were going to need, so they simply pumped as much of their Mana into their orbs as they could. The pulse within Reivyn continued to intensify as more mana was pushed out, and after a certain amount was channeled into the palms of his hands, he felt a click.

The mana orbs from Galwit and Lenerd were sucked into Reivyn's orbs like a magnet, and then those two orbs combined all on their own, forming a sphere perfectly halved by the two types of Mana. Energy built up and then exploded toward the gate, like an empowered Beam Spell.

Ripples of alternating white and black lines spread out from the impact of the Mana on the center of the gate, and a loud groaning sound echoed throughout the cavern as the gate began to move.

The very air in the cavern was sucked into the maw of the opening doorway like a vacuum, and the three young men stumbled forward before maintaining their balance. An equilibrium was quickly reached, and Abyss Mana began to pour into the Dungeon from the now open gate.

Reivyn peered into the darkness, but he couldn't see anything. It was like a wall of black separated the Dungeon from whatever was on the other side of the gate.

"Well..." Galwit said, clearly a little unnerved by the sight, "no reason to hesitate now. Lenerd, you stay here. We're just going to peek inside real quick. I'll let you know if we need you in a moment."

"Yes, my lord," Lenerd said, a little out of breath. He stumbled over to the side and took a seat to recover from the Mana expenditure. Reivyn checked his own Status and saw that it had taken 1,200 Mana points to open the gate.

I was doing Dual Casting, though, so looks like it cost him 600 Mana. I don't know how much Mana he has, but I do notice that Galwit seems to be perfectly fine after supposedly spending the same amount. Galwit returned a knowing look when he caught Reivyn inspecting him in thought.

"Ready when you are," Galwit said.

Reivyn nodded and drew his sword and shield. No reason to not be cautious. We have no idea what's on the other side. Galwit followed suit by pulling out a gnarled wand from within his inner breast. Anticipation thrummed in unison with the pulsing of the call.

Reivyn walked through the partition of blackness on high alert. He took deliberate steps, weapon at the ready and Mana on the cusp of being called. A chill ran through his entire person as he stepped through the portal.

He took a couple of steps inside before stopping to goggle at the sight before him, Galwit turning into a statue next to him.

Before the two young men was a long, rocky bridge spanning over an infinite abyss. Behind the two was an orb shining with a light that gave off the comfortable feeling of Veridical Mana, and on the other side of the bridge was a similar orb giving off the feelings of the Abyss. The orbs were the size of a large house, but when Reivyn gazed into the orb, he felt as though he was viewing the entire infinite expanse contained within the confines of the orb.

There were thousands of strands connecting the two orbs, and upon closer inspection, they were similar bridges to the ones Reivyn and Galwit found themselves on. They appeared to be tiny strings, but focusing on one gave a similar impression as the orbs themselves. Reivyn instinctively understood that each bridge was actually identical in size and scope to the one he was standing on.

There were millions of orbs similar to the Veridical and Abyss orbs floating in space all around: above, below, in front, and behind. There was no source of light, the orbs shined unto themselves without seeming to illuminate anything around them, but his vision was crystal clear.

Surrounding the Realms were an uncountable number of flickering lights. They were incredibly tiny, like sparks from an open fire. They were all traveling in the same general direction, but huge tides of the sparks were attracted to the various orbs like gravity. At the same time, an almost equal number of the sparks were expelled from the orbs to join the others in their journey to some other, unknown destination.

"Wha...?" Reivyn choked. "What is all of this?"

"I have no idea," Galwit said, gazing into the vast expanse. "It's beautiful though."

"What's that?" Reivyn pointed. Attached to the millions of Realm orbs was a similar thread to the ones attaching the Veridical and Abyss Realms. These threads, though, had a sort of golden shine surrounding them. Every orb had one, and they stretched upwards into infinity, all appearing to lead to the same place.

All of the orbs had one, except for two.

"Our Realms don't seem to have one," Reivyn said.

"No, they do," Galwit pointed. Reivyn followed his indication, and he could see that the threads with a golden sheen did exist for each orb, but they didn't lead up into infinity. They were severed and floating around aimlessly.

"What does that mean?" Reivyn and Galwit shared a look.

"Do you feel the call?" Galwit asked, bringing their attention back to the main topic at hand. Reivyn nodded toward the center of the bridge.

"Whatever it is, it's not coming from the actual Abyss Realm," he replied. "It's coming from the center of the bridge, but I don't see anything from here."

"Well," Galwit rolled his shoulders, "let's go see if we can't find anything over there."

Reivyn sheathed his sword and holstered his shield on his back. There were no monsters of any kind, so he felt no reason to keep the weapons at the ready. The two of them strode across the bridge, the pulsing within his core continued to intensify as they got closer and closer to the center of the bridge.

Reivyn took a step beyond the center of the bridge, and the pulsing suddenly stopped. He paused and looked around in bewilderment.

"Excellent," a deep voice came from behind them. The sound vibrated in Reivyn's chest, and he and Galwit spun around, weapons coming back out at the ready. "The Gateway has been opened right on time."

Reivyn held his sword at the ready, shield up, as he saw the person who was speaking. A masked man in dark robes like the cultists took easy strides across the bridge toward the two of them. Reivyn felt his hairs stand up on end, and his stomach plummeted. The man's white mask was completely blank except for the two eye holes. Reivyn could feel, as well as see, the red irises of the man as he stared at Reivyn.

He walked up to just out of reach of Reivyn before stopping to consider the two youths. Reivyn's Sense Danger was completely silent as the man stood there, but his Sense Threat Skill had exploded. It was practically off the charts, and his knees threatened to buckle at the pressure the masked man gave off. His Sense Threat Skill was telling him only one thing.

Instant death.

This man is stronger than dad, Reivyn gulped. A lot stronger.

"You have done well, young Galwit," the man said, his voice still vibrating Reivyn's body with each syllable. Reivyn glanced at Galwit, a feeling of betrayal welling up, but he saw only a look of confusion on the other young man's face.

"Do I know you, your excellency?" Galwit asked with a frown. The masked man chuckled at the question.

"No, but I know you," he responded. "A creature of the Abyss, floundering in a world that rejects him. I know exactly what you're going through. About your struggle to find a place for you and your kind.

"A naive wish.

"You will find no acceptance. Not from the people. Not from the System.

"But rejoice! If you can't find accommodation, you can simply force it upon them. Now that the gate is once more open, the War can continue, and this time, we will end the conflict and absorb the other Realm, stripping it of its power for ourselves."

Reivyn's eyes widened in alarm as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. He realized that the situation was exponentially more dire than a simple run-in with a powerful cultist.

What have I done?