Chapter 48: Chapter forty seven

"Is this your first time going there?" Takashi inquired.

 

"That will be the first time."

 

"Then we'll have to go to the guild master's office."

 

"Sure, let's go there."

 

“If I may ask, how did your father die?” Akira asked Takashi after a while on the way to Porta Nigra.

 

He was perplexed as to how a character who was present in the game even at its later stages could now be dead, completely forgetting the fact that he himself was an exception to that rule.

 

"My father?" Takashi inquired, clearly uncomfortable sharing this information.

 

"It's fine if you don't want to share it; I understand." 

 

‘Sigh’

 

“Well it’s not really a secret or something so why not?” Takashi sighed and narrated the events leading to his father's death.

 

“You know the whole deal behind Porta Nigra right?” He asked.

 

Akira nodded and reflected on the Blossom City's hidden truth, which had also changed as a result of the church's involvement.

 

A dungeon had appeared out of nowhere somewhere in the history of this border town, but due to certain factors, such as the fact that this was a disputed area, it was subject to constant warfare, resulting in mana fluctuations, making it extremely difficult to detect a new dungeon.

 

There was also the fact that this dungeon was probably the smallest on the entire Origin continent, making its discovery even more difficult. Finally, the presence of a dense holy aura courtesy of the Church and Saintess made it highly unlikely that a dungeon could occur here.

 

So, while the two empires fought over ownership of this location, the dungeon was left unexplored, which caused a huge problem over time, as the monsters inside the dungeon continued to grow because there was no deterrent to their growth.

 

And when the dungeon's threshold for monster storage was breached, it exploded, a phenomenon later known as dungeon desync. The monsters that emerged from it caused unprecedented mayhem and destruction, which soon caught the attention of the empire and the church.

 

The capital and the Church both quickly dispatched their strongest warriors to the scene, and to say that even they were horrified by the destruction caused by monsters would be an understatement. 

 

The church's apostles quickly dispatched the lower tiered monsters with their AOE spells, while the groups from the capital fought the high tiered monsters, which proved to be quite difficult to deal with. 

 

These high ranked monsters not only had the strength of a high tier being, but also the intelligence of a human; they could rally the other weaker monsters around them, create a formation that would increase their strength even further, and retreat when they felt threatened.

 

After fighting for a while, the apostles of the church and the other groups understood that these high ranked monsters could not be defeated in the traditional way, so they devised a scheme in which they would create an alternate dimension similar to that of the dungeon. 

 

They first encircled all of the high-tier monsters, then used the artefact 'Osix' to create an alternate dimension in which all of these monsters and the unstable dungeon would be stored, preventing further destruction in the empire.

 

The 'Osix' was the same device used by the cultists to capture Ivan Feodor and the members of Dark Swords in another dimension; it was a very powerful artefact with one major flaw i.e. it needed a constant flow of mana.

 

While this did not appear to be a major issue, the fact that this constant flow of mana would have to be adjusted to meet the requirements of the artefact was. For the time being, this was resolved by constructing a small base for the adventurer to supervise the artefact and protect it from monsters.

 

With all the monsters and the destabilised dungeon carefully put into the alternate dimension created by the "Osix," now came the bigger problem of managing the consequences that this whole fiasco had caused.

 

The presence of a dungeon right underneath the noses of both the church and the empire indicated a huge lapse on their information network and that had caused the lives of thousands of people, people that were innocent and had nothing to do with all this.

 

Rather than accept responsibility for their inaction, the Von Astrom empire and the church decided to save their reputation by suppressing the entire ordeal and ensuring that the general public was unaware of it. The Romanov empire attempted to raise this matter in the Dragon council, but they, too, deemed it unnecessary.

 

As a result, in a few hundred years, both the people and the rulers had forgotten about the "massacre."

 

“It’s a very sad story.” Akira replied to him when he thought of the injustice done by the Von Astrom empire on its own people.

 

He didn’t knew that the Church was an equal partner in that crime.

 

"It was, indeed, a sad story, but guess what? We humans are like that; it's in our nature to prefer the easy path over the difficult one. We don't want to accept responsibility for our mistakes, but we also want everyone to praise us." Takashi said back.

 

“It’s true we are like that.” Akira laughed a little to ease the situation.

 

"My father tried to change that, and he was a fool for it, because what else do you expect when an ordinary guy wants to fight an entire empire? He dies, leaving his family to fend for themselves." Takashi's tone was melancholy and helpless.

 

“I am sorry.” Akira didn’t knew what else to say, he was an orphan in his previous life but he hadn’t experienced what it was to lose someone important.

 

“It’s okay, anyways we are here.” They had arrived at the adventurers guild building which paled in comparison to that of the capital.

 

The building was small, with only the ground floor, and the entrance had two doors that flapped open when someone passed through them. Inside, there was the traditional receptionist's desk, a notice board with mission listings, and a small office in the corner for the Guild master.

 

Once in Takashi didn’t looked anywhere else but went straight towards that office with Akira on his back. He knocked the door twice and waited for the reply which came soon enough,

 

“Come in.” 

 

The door opened and both of them went in there, the guild master’s room was very neatly arranged with all of its furniture, bookshelf, curtains, artefacts, trophies placed at perfect place. 

 

The guild master sat opposite the table, fiddling with his watch; he didn't look a day older than thirty years old, and his red luscious hair and green hazel eyes complemented his handsome appearance.

 

“Hello Takashi, long time no see. How have you been?” He asked with a smile on his face.

 

“I have been great, can’t complain and I presume you have been good as usual?” Takashi looked much happier here.

 

“You know me kid.” And he laughed after that.

 

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"But Takashi, who's the kid behind you? Does he want to be an adventurer or something?" he asked lazily.

 

“Porta Nigra.” Takashi said and all the laziness on Guild master’s face vanished like it was never there.

 

“Is he?” He inquired seriously.

 

“Yes, he is.”

 

“Interesting, what’s your name kid?” 

 

“Akira.” 

 

“What’s your family’s background?” 

 

“Both of my parents are retired adventurers, my father had opened a small gear shop in the market district while my mom is a simple homemaker.” Akira replied honestly fully knowing what kind of man this guild master was.

 

“Quick and honest, I like that but still how have the times changed? A mere teenager who doesn’t have any special family knows about the deepest secrets of the empire. But who are we to question anything?” He said while standing up from his seat and going over to the bookshelf.

 

“Before we go in can I have your ID, young man?” 

 

“Sure.” Akira replied while handing over that, he had deliberately not updated it in a long time so as not to raise any suspicion.

 

The guild master looked at that and with each passing time became less and less interested, in his mind he couldn't understand as to how this kid with such trash abilities could get into the Origin academy much less about the whole Porta Nigra thing.

 

‘Sigh’ 

 

‘Have the standards of the Origin academy stooped so low or is there something I am missing? It’s better to be on the safe side rather than leaving a variable. We can’t fail at this stage.’

 

“Follow me.” He said while handing over his ID card.

The guild master then went to the bookshelf behind his chair and moved one of the books; the entire room was suddenly illuminated by a blue light, and various glyphs began to form on their own. After a while, they merged to form a larger glyph, which opened a portal-like gate.

 

“No matter how many times I watch this, it never ceases to amaze me.” The guild master commented.

 

 “This portal or as we say Porta Nigra will take you to Sector X.” 

 

“Thank you.” Akira said and entered the gate like portal.

 

Once inside, the glyphs supporting the portal disintegrated into dust particles, illuminating the entire room like a dance of fireflies; the scene was so captivating that both the guild master and Takashi couldn't help but focus on it.

 

"Did you double-check it, Takashi?” The guild master leaned back in his chair and inquired. air and asked.

"Yes, his mana signature shows no signs of being tempered or distorted." 

 

"Good, in this day and age, we can't trust anyone; everyone could be a threat."

 

"You are correct, guild master, but I still don't understand why someone so young is going in there." Takashi may not have shown it when he was with Akira, but he was awestruck by him from the start.

 

"The world is changing Takashi; what was unthinkable a century ago is now well within our grasp." His tone smacked of nostalgia.

 

"In any case, I believe you should leave."

 

Takashi then left his office and returned to his shop, where some other customers awaited him; his day had only just begun.

 

After some time, the guild master used his watch to contact someone.

 

"It's me." 

"Yes, sir." A voice came from the other side.

 

"Akira, Origin City, is a student at the Origin Academy; his parents are retired adventurers."

 

"All right, boss... did you say the origin city?" 

 

“Is there something wrong?”

 

"Boss, the extermination groups are combing every nook and cranny of that city; it's like entering a dragon's lair." The man on the other end of the line was clearly dissatisfied with the mission.

 

"Tsk, those cretins had to be there."

 

"All right, then wait for them to leave and then bring all of the information about that boy."

 

"All right, boss."

 

"Akira huh, let's see what you've got for me."

 

Back with Akira, after entering the portal, the first thing he noticed was the presence of a gigantic orange moon illuminating the night sky of the alternate dimension. Then came the notification from the system.

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