Inside a spacious room, the dragon ancestor stood with Leon, Athena, and Miranda before a large rectangular table.
Spread across the surface was a brown-toned map—remarkably detailed and impressively accurate.
"What an incredibly detailed map. Did you make this yourself, dragon ancestor?" Leon's eyes widened, clear admiration on his face.
He had seen many maps, both for war and exploration, but never one with such precision.
The dragon ancestor smiled and gave a slight nod. "Yes, I made it. I'm soone who enjoys exploring the unknown. After the war against the Evil God ended, I wandered the world to experience all the things I never had the chance to see before. To make things easier for myself later, I decided to map out the routes I traveled."
He paused, letting out a quiet sigh before continuing, "But when I returned to Eryuentium, I realized my ti was limited. The wound inside had worsened, and I had to enter a deep slumber to suppress it... while waiting for your arrival."
Recalling that ti, the dragon ancestor gave a bitter smile.
With his strength, he could have lived for thousands of years without needing to sleep.
But he had no choice—his body had been corrupted from within by the dark power of that cursed Evil God.
Miranda chuckled, covering her mouth with the back of her right hand. "Well, that's all in the past. Now that you're healed, you can do whatever you want, right?"
"Yes, you're right, Lady Miranda... Hahaha!" The dragon ancestor burst out laughing.
"By the way," Athena said, frowning as she studied the map closely. "Is this map still usable, ancestor?"
As he had ntioned earlier, the map was created before his long sleep—aning it had existed for around 7,000 years.
That was an incredibly long ti. Surely the landforms, mountains, forests, and other features must have changed, making the map potentially outdated.
Leon was taken aback by Athena's question. But after a mont of thought, he realized her concern made sense.
Ti had passed, and although the dragon ancestor's map was impressively accurate, it couldn't guarantee complete reliability.
"Don't worry," the dragon ancestor said confidently, patting his chest. "It's true this map is from 7,000 years ago, but it's still incredibly useful. We're not trying to find places that only appeared a few hundred years ago. What we're after are the territories of the hidden races. And although the land may have shifted over ti, the places where they reside have remained unchanged."
The logic behind his explanation made Leon and Athena nod slowly, as if the pieces had fallen into place.
"Then, can you point out where the Elven territory is, dragon ancestor?" Leon asked eagerly.
The dragon ancestor smiled and glanced at the map before him.
He pointed to a city depicted on the map that seed to float in the sky—Eryuentium, the very place where they stood.
"Our current position is here," he said casually, then shifted his finger eastward to a dense forest surrounded by circular mountains.
The na was clearly marked: The Forest of Eternal Silence.
He opened his mouth to speak again. "And the Elven race... resides here—the Forest of Eternal Silence."
"The Forest of Eternal Silence?" Leon frowned, as if the na sounded familiar.
Suddenly, his eyes widened. He turned his gaze toward the north of the forest, a faint smile forming on his face.
"That's right... the Forest of Eternal Silence is the sa forest located south of the Holy Orthodox."
Having grown up in the Holy Orthodox region, Leon was well-versed in the famous, forbidden, and scenic locations surrounding it.
One of the most forbidden places was the Forest of Eternal Silence—rumored to be ho to ancient monsters from thousands of years ago.
The myth surrounding it was so deeply ingrained that the area within a kiloter radius of the forest remained nearly uninhabited.
Of course, there were still towns and economic activities nearby. But the belief in the myth of the Forest of Eternal Silence was so strong that most people avoided the area entirely.
It wasn't just Leon who realized it—Athena did too. Her brows furrowed as she asked with a hint of doubt, "Does the Forest of Eternal Silence fall under Holy Orthodox territory?"
"Yes, you're right." The dragon ancestor nodded slowly. "Perhaps you don't know this, but the territory of the Holy Orthodox is actually incredibly vast—stretching across millions of kiloters. It's even larger than the territory once held by the demon race."
"It was once the sole supre power of mankind, known as the Ancient Holy Orthodox. To ensure the Elven race could remain hidden, Luminus Troya entrusted their safety to his wife—the First Saint of the Ancient Holy Orthodox. That's why, even though the Ancient Holy Orthodox has long since fallen, the Forest of Eternal Silence still remains within Holy Orthodox territory today."
"Ancient Holy Orthodox, huh? This is the first I've heard of it." Leon rubbed his chin, a contemplative look on his face.
Records from 7,000 years ago were indeed scarce. Very little had withstood the passage of ti.
And it was no surprise—considering the ones who had erased the truth were Hero Luminus of Troya and Demon Emperor Amon Crimson.
"To the west of Eryuentium lies a vast, barren mountain range. That's where the giant race resides," the dragon ancestor added, pointing to a dark-colored mountain range on the map.
The mountain range was known as Karsthaal—a territory that belonged neither to the demon race, the human race, nor the dragon race.
It was an independent land with no ruler, yet it was renowned for the many mystical stories surrounding it.
One such tale spoke of a group of rchants traveling to Solmira, a border town of the Holy Empire of Elysium closest to the mountains.
According to them, they had witnessed a towering, human-like figure nearly ten ters tall.
The creature had stood silently at the mountain's peak, watching the rchants from afar.
News of the sighting spread quickly, eventually reaching the capital of the Holy Empire of Elysium at the ti—Astralyn.
Although this world was steeped in fantasy, only three races were known to exist: humans, demons, and dragons.
So when soone encountered a being that didn't belong to any of those races, it was only natural to regard it as sothing mysterious—and terrifying.
"And here is the territory of the dwarf race. They live in very remote regions," the dragon ancestor said, shifting his finger southward on the map.
He pointed at a massive mountain near the bottom edge. Written along the mountain's upper slope was a strange na: Durnhak.
"Durnhak? Wait a second... Why does that na sound so familiar?" Leon narrowed his eyes, trying to recall.
He searched through his mories—hazy and fragnted—until it clicked.
"Durnhak... Isn't that the mysterious city ntioned in so many legends!?"
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