Chapter 40: Chapter 40 – Future Plans

"Alright, give me some time until I finish some things and I'll take you there." I said, then I continued, "By the way, I happened to hear you guys mentioning something called The Guya Ghost Dungeon what is it?"

This was something that I heard them talking about in their conversations, my sense of hearing was pretty strong so even though I was a bit farther from them, I heard everything they talked about and this was the thing that stood out to me the most.

Seeing that I agreed to take them, she became overjoyed and thanked me "Thanks a lot really, I don't know how we could ever repay you." then she explained "Dungeons are very mysterious spaces in which you can find a lot of monsters and a boss at the end. There are various dungeons all over the kingdom and the northern continent in general. The Guy Ghost Dungeon is a famous one among the others because it is one of the hardest Body Refinement dungeons. That's all I know!" she finished by scratching the back of her with a sheepish smile.

Hearing her words I was shocked, I already knew what a dungeon was in a game setting, but in real life? I couldn't even begin to imagine. Every time I thought that I had seen it all I stumble upon something like this, this world never ceases to amaze really.

I also noticed another crucial piece of information, the northern continent. It must be the name of the continent we're currently in, and if there is north there must be south, east, and west.

"You said a Body Refinement dungeon what does it mean?" I could already make some guesses but it was better to hear it from the horse's mouth directly.

"It means that people above Body Refinement could not enter. The dungeon entrance is simply a rift in the void, entering it would take you directly to the dungeon's world. If you don't meet the conditions to enter you'd simply just pass through it instead of entering the space inside.", she explained.

Hmm... just as I thought.

'System what do you know about dungeons?'

[Dungeons are simply artifacts.]

'What? Do you mean like artificially created items?'

[Yes, they are ancient artifacts that are controlled by a spirit, no one knows who makes them. The artifact moves on its own and chooses a place randomly. First, it plants itself deep underground, then thanks to the unimaginable amount of energy it has, it creates a world according to a preconceived design to support the monsters that would be created by the spirit. Once the world is finally created, the spirit within the artifact wakes up and proceeds to manage the dungeon as they see fit. However, in most cases, their sole purpose is death and destruction, because once the dungeon spirit wakes up it receives a mysterious contract that entails the conditions that must be met to gain freedom. The conditions vary,  mainly kill a certain number of people, guard the dungeon for a period of time, etc... All Dungeons have the same abilities, they can gather incredible amounts of Mana and use it to create a specific kind of monster that is related to that spirit, the soul of the monster created is then borrowed from people who died in the vicinity of the dungeon, thus creating an intelligent monster out of nothing.]

Holy fucking shit. Hearing the truth about what dungeons were, I was shocked, all of this sounded too mind-blowing!

'Do the people who die and get their souls put in a monster body realize what happened to them or they're just like zombies?' 

[Usually, they have no recollection of what happened before becoming a monster, but they are very intelligent. Once the monster dies in the dungeon its soul can then continue its journey and remember what happened before becoming a monster. It's like being hired for a temporary job against their will and the only way out is to death.]

This just sounds more and more unbelievable. I got to see these dungeons!

"What do people usually gain by going to dungeons?", I asked Jia this time, I wanted to know how the people viewed them.

"When some monsters die in the dungeon, their body crumbles away leaving a monster crystal, others just vanish leaving nothing. Monster crystals are then used as a form of energy, in weapons, pill making, array formations, and so on... Another reason is to inherit skills and raise their proficiency. The process of obtaining new skills is different for humans, other than waiting for a random opportunity, they can actively work towards inheriting new skills through being simulated in battles. They are also easier to master in combat, and for some reason, skills are even easier to learn and raise in dungeons. It suffices to say that they are very popular."

Initially, I was still on the fence about whether I should go to the human city, but now I had to go even though humans would introduce a variable of unpredictability that I needed to watch out for.

However, I still had some things I needed to figure out before going.

I thanked Jia for the information she provided and instructed her to do some things in preparation for our departure and returned to the watchtower.

I opened the shop and started browsing through it, I always do this because the more information and options I knew I had the better I could form my plans. 

Yet, I still had not even browsed through 10% of its content.

Soon, I found something I needed. 

[Basic Mind Link]

It was a spell that could enable one to establish a link between two creatures to talk. I needed a way to communicate with the Mama bird because I needed her to protect the camp so that I could finish some things.

Although [Voice Transmission] was great, it was a one-way route of communication. I could send my thoughts to the target, but they wouldn't be able to do the same thing unless they also had it.

The basic mind link had some limitations such as the distance should not be more than 5 meters, the target should willingly let the link be formed, but it'd do the job perfectly. Moreover, it did not operate on any specific language, just meanings. So we would be able to understand each other. I was really curious about the Intelligence of the Mama bird.

In my journey so far, I had stumbled upon a lot of intelligent creatures. I could see strong emotions in their eyes, but I never had the chance to converse with them nor did I have the ability to do so.

That was also one of the main reasons why I wanted to go to Vance city and see the dungeon. 

I could not with a good conscience just go and kill for the sake of leveling up when there were better and less destructive alternatives. Currently, I either hunt for food or kill in a quest. 

-50 Karma Points.

Fortunately, it was not expensive and I still had another 50 Karma Points left.

I brought it out from my inventory and it materialized in front of me, I just had to manipulate a bit of mana to keep it afloat, since I obviously had no hands.

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I sent my mana towards it, and it started disintegrating at a visible speed, leaving only a bit of strange energy that rushed directly into my mind.

I was then assaulted by a ton of information on how to use it. It was honestly pretty overwhelming, unlike Leria's Universal Language which just gave me information on how to speak. This would require me to actively manipulate my mana to follow its instructions step by step.

Closing my eyes, I started visualizing a bridge connecting my mind to an outside force. However, the difficulty was not in making that connection, but in accessing a part of your consciousness that is worldless.

This technique's biggest advantage was its ability to convey meanings instead of worded thoughts, which enables it to transcend the barrier of language. 

After a couple more attempts, I was easily able to form a mind link that is responsible for sending thoughts, but clearly, the Mama bird could not speak the universal language.

After a few more attempts, I was making zero progress, and I had no new ideas I was just repeating the thing and expecting a different result, but I knew this was a fruitless endeavor.

I then had a brilliant idea! I remembered how the system mentioned something about picking up intentions instead of thoughts, intentions were definitely in the realm of what I was looking for.

'Hey System, how do you pick up on intentions?'

[Since technically it is a question about the system, I suppose I can answer it. It's fairly simple actually, you were just overcomplicating the process. Try to meditate and be aware of your breath, the feeling of the wooden floor beneath your claws, the breeze passing by from the east, or the sound of the people in the camp moving around. In your observation of what is happening in this exact moment, you'll notice that your mind is not able to have any thoughts about the past or the future, thoughts being words of course, so when there is no thought for just a single moment you'd be able to sense that stillness that is naturally beyond words which carry its own meaning.]

Hm... Isn't this somewhat like when I was grasping elemental laws? I had to let my mind be in a non-fragmentary state to be able to truly see the truths of the manas. 

I moved to sit down, and as I was going to sit I paid attention to every minute detail. The way my legs bent allowing me to sit, the way I was dangling my wings down a bit thus they managed to touch the wooden floor way before the rest of my body, the creaking sound of the floor as it was pushed against by my body, some small dead leaves, and dust that were pushed away by the strong gust wind brought by the descent of my body...

As I was in that state of no thought, I suddenly got it! Then, I hurriedly formed a mind link with that state as the soil. Yet! Just as I went to form it, that state became elusive again.

I kept trying for a whole hour without any success, but I definitely made some improvements. I figured I might as well give it some rest and let my mind wander for a while. I had read before something about the importance of switching between the focused and diffused modes of thinking, the former is good when focusing on a single particular task but the drawback is that you limit yourself to repeating the same previous pattern. By adding the latter, you let your mind rest while also opening yourself to new ideas and thought patterns thus finding solutions and more creative solutions. A brute force approach might work, but it'll be frustrating and would take a lot of energy, sometimes working hard is counterproductive.

I flew out of the watchtower window and landed on top of it. Looking down I saw that the women were currently dismantling four huts and one of them was tying them together. The one who was responsible for sewing them together was called Meng Delan, she was the oldest one in the group and also the one with a production skill. From what I heard it was called The Handmaid's Needle, it allowed its user to integrate mana in their products in a very mysterious way thus making the items stronger and durable. 

These were the instructions I gave Jia earlier, I was planning to build a crude mode of transportation to arrive quickly to the city. 

We had no carriages nor did we have any horses, so if I wanted to take them I'd have to babysit them along the way as they walk for months. Or I could carry some in my back and take them there, but this one is too risky. I could not carry more than three, not due to lack of strength but space. Although I was large and I could not possibly carry ten humans on my back. If I left with just three, who would protect the others? 

So, I thought of this plan. I did not know the feasibility of it, but I would give it a try. It was also a nice side project to work on outside of cultivation, it was fun!

I flew toward some trees by the camp, but they were all very big. I needed one that is not very long nor thick, just in the middle.

*Whoosh*

Fortunately, if there was one thing this forest did not lack were trees, they came in all shapes and sizes so I quickly found one and brought it down.

*Thud*

The tree landed making a thunderous sound the force of its descent made the dead leaves, dirt, and insects fly all over the place. The tree branches were snapping one by one after colliding with the ground's strong surface, even the thickest branches only managed to dig a shallow hole before breaking down. I was flying over it, so I was not affected by the aftermath of the fall.

I also noticed something very peculiar! When I was about to launch my wind blade, I sensed that I could manipulate it somehow. Of course, I was not able to, I only felt an option opening up that was not there before. 

I had no control over the length of my wind blades or their thickness, I was only able to choose where to form it and whether it'd be horizontal, vertical, or side ways. I also had no freedom to make it either bigger or smaller, there was only one single wind blade that cost 10 Mana and every single wind blade was the same.

There was also the issue of sound, my wind blades made a whooshing sound! I was only able to land them because I used my overpowered spiritual attacks before them thus stunning the enemy to the point of not being about to react.

It felt like I was beginning to grasp the inner workings of the wind blade. Theoretically, given enough time I should be able to customize it however I want.

I dove down and landed on the tree, then I began cutting off all of the branches with my beaks. I could have used a wind blade, but I wanted to feel a bit crafty.

It did not take me long to completely clean it up, leaving only a somewhat smooth balanced 10 meters log without any roots whatsoever.

I then used my claws to drag it with me, while manipulating wind elements to help carry it from the back. I could have easily carried it, but I would have to plant my claws deep inside of it to get a good grip, and it'd damage the integrity of the bark thus possibly weakening it, and I needed it to be very strong.

I quickly arrived at the western gate, the only gate of the camp, and opened it. It was closed by using another tree, but this one seemed rotten and on the verge of crumbling away. It was more like an ornament at this point, no one counted on a simple wooden tree to hold the fort.

After I opened the gate, I noticed that they all turned to look at me, Jia also hurried over.

"What do you want to do with this tree?", She asked puzzled having no idea what I was planning.

I directly explained the whole plan I had in mind then gave her a couple of very strong, durable, and thick leathers I had in my inventory. After talking some more and asking her about Cai Yi I returned to the watchtower to continue practicing Mind Link.

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