1124 Chapter 1124 Journey through the Darklands
As Marcus' feet touched down on the ground, he looked around inquisitively.
Sadly, there was nothing of note to see. After descending around half kiloter from the crevice that opened up on the surface, he found himself in an ordinary looking tunnel.
'I guess I shouldn't suspect so hidden civilization to be right by the entrance. If that was the case, soone from above would have discovered it long ago.'
Until he had reason to believe otherwise, Marcus was planning on enjoying his foray into the Mirrion's underworld. He had read a few stories about people that had supposedly been down here and returned back to the surface, and all of them described it as if it was practically an alien planet.
Of course, for Marcus, Mirrion itself was already an alien world.
"This feels a bit mundane for a place called the Darklands." Marcus comnted.
"We're still on the boundary between the surface and the world below. Don't worry, before too long you'll notice a difference."
Relia seed almost excited to show them the place where she lived. It seed that her earlier discontent had already vanished now that they had begun their decent.
For a couple of hours, they simply walked through a maze of tunnels. Relia seed to know where she was going as even when there were several different forks in the path, she never hesitated on which direction to go.
During this ti, Marcus caught up with Quillon and Lyra.
"You wouldn't believe how much paperwork I had to go through each day just to make ti for this trip. Managing an entire duchy is exhausting. Especially with Tralenstein's looming rger with Borealia. When this is all over, why don't you co back and help . With your intelligence stat, you should pick things up pretty quickly. And since you don't need to sleep you can work twenty-four seven."
Marcus chuckled at Lyra's offer that sounded like an offer from an extrely exploitative company.
While he did not mind helping her out actually, he could only imagine an existence of being chained to a desk and working paperwork endless as so sort of hell.
"What about you, Quillon? Have you gotten up to anything interesting since we last t.?" Marcus asked, shifting the topic of discussion.
"Yes, I went and visited my master. He made it especially difficult to find him this ti. And when we finally t, he challenged to a duel. It was truly exciting, though I did lose in the end. Still, my performance was good enough for him to acknowledge my abilities. No longer am I just his disciple, I can now proudly call myself a master of the Sword Savant Style."
Quillon was undoubtably pleased with his achievents. The man that had taught him how to wield a sword fully recognized his growth.
"Nevertheless, my path to perfect my skills are still far from completion. Even Master Asher has not reached the true heights of this world yet. I must continue to strive to get stronger." Quillon said zealously while gazing at Marcus like a predator that had already found its next al.
Not wanting to prove his friend, Marcus decided to steer the conversation in another direction.
"I've also been aning to ask about Aerial. I don't sense her with you right now."
"Ah, she entered the spirit world a while ago to complete so sort of trial. I didn't get any specifics about it, but she said she'd be back once she was finished."
After that Quillon did not give any other details about his contracted spirit. Instead, he shifted back to talking about his training and pretty much just rampaging through the dungeons in Tralenstein.
"He's always like this." Lyra said with a sigh. "All that's ever in his head is swinging his sword. Though, I do have a few ways to distract him sotis."
Lyra wrapped one of her tailed around Quillon and gave him a coquettish grin.
This display was enough to fluster the normally dauntless swordsman, and he awkwardly looked away while blushing.
However, their carefree conversation soon ca to an abrupt end. At a certain point the atmosphere around them changed. It was as if they had suddenly walked into another dinsion.
"That's what I would expect from people as perspective as you lot. Yes, we've now officially entered the upper level of the Darklands. There are a lot of dangers down here you won't find on the surface, and not all of them are creatures. But with your levels, I don't think we'll encounter any real problems. Just follow my lead and try to stay out of trouble."
With Relia leading the way, they continued through the tunnel system deep below the surface of Mirrion.
Eventually the scenery around them began to shift. The area opened up slightly and small streams of water were flowing down the walls.
Along with this moisture were mosses and long, thin vinelike plants.
So of them let out faint glows periodically, and small insects that were scuttling around would co to investigate.
Then when these unsuspecting bugs reached the light, a small bud with protrusions that looked like teeth bit down on them.
"That's a good representation of this world. If it looks pretty, stay away from it. You'll find that life down here can be a bit harsher than up above. There are more monsters and beasts, and far less civilizations. Proper order is lacking down here, and few hold the sa sensibilities as you do."
Marcus, Lyra, and Quillon took Relia's words to heart. Certainly, there could be major differences between nations that existed on Mirrion's surface, but likely nothing compared to what it would be like down here.
Once around thirty hours had gone by since they started, Relia slowed to a stop and began looking around intently.
'I don't sense anything threatening. She must be observing the surroundings for landmarks to compare with what she rembers.' Marcus surmised.
And Relia not long after he had this thought confird his suspicions.
"We're getting close to our first destination. We'll be stopping by a relatively safe settlent to rest and gather so information." Relia explained.
She then looked towards Marcus and Quillon, and she made an expression like she just rembered sothing important.
"Ah, that's right, you should probably take on your female form." Relia said, addressing Marcus. "The people inhabiting the area ahead are part of a matriarchal society. Only won are born to their species, so they see most n as lesser and enslave them. It's best to avoid what trouble we can.
Accepting Relia's explanation, Marcus seamlessly transford into Irene. While he was certainly partial to his original body, at this point, it did not really matter what appearance he took.
"I can also take on the guise of a of different types of beasts or monsters if that ever beco relevant." Marcus said, informing Relia of one of his unique powers.
She did not outright deny the possibility that it might be advantage as so point for Marcus to take on an inhuman form, but she did not comnt on it either. Such a situation coming about would be quite rare.
"Okay, Marcus solved his masculinity problem. But what about Quillon? Are we supposed to dress him up in drag?" Lyra said with a snicker.
The man in question did not look particularly enthusiastic about this suggestion. But what Relia proposed honestly might have been worse.
"No, he'd be sniffed out pretty quickly and trying to hide his identity would cause a whole host of problems once we are found out. If it's only one man, we can probably get away with him wearing this."
From out of her item box, Relia pulled out a thick tal collar that had a long chain attached to it.
She then handed it to Lyra and directed her to put it around Quillon's neck. Much to his distress.
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