“Do you need healing?” Overlord Johann asked Karl as he settled down on the grass by the trail zone to relax for a bit, in case there was another challenge.
Karl shook his head. “No, I’m good. He didn’t manage to break the second barrier, and Eternal Lighting refreshes stamina. So, I should be fine after a quick snack. I am just relaxing to see who shows up next.”
The Knight laughed and joined Karl on the grass.
“I don’t think that there will be too many more nations that will be willing to challenge you. Those were some pretty decisive victories, especially unarmed against a Tortollan Monk after proving yourself in a magical battle.
If anyone does challenge for free entry, they will at least take a day or two to try to plan before they come for you.”
“Well, that’s a start. I guess we’re going to be hanging around here for a while then. How long are the trials open before they just have to pay to enter?” Karl asked.
“One week. We’re already nearly halfway through the trial period. Normally, it is only a day or two of trials after the other nations find out about the dungeon. Not that they open all that often. More commonly, it’s only one round of trials before the portal destabilizes and the event is over.
Having one open full-time is going to drive the clerics insane.
They are the ones who arrange the formal visits to keep the nations who don’t get along from having a conflicting schedule and starting fights at holy sites.
This one will be busier than most, as Commander Rank resources are so rare on this continent.
The only ones that might still show up are the beasts, and that could be somewhat difficult for you, as we don’t know how they will respond to your class bonding with actual beasts. They aren’t the biggest fans of Rangers, and they only bond with regular animals.
You’ve got Royal Rank Magical Beasts on your side.” Johann explained.
Karl nodded. “Yeah, I can see how that might become an issue if they object to the situation. But I think that once they talk to each other, they will understand.”
After an hour, Lotus and Doug brought out food for everyone awaiting the next challenge.
But no challengers were coming.
By now it was fairly certain that every human nation would have been informed of the situation by their spies, so if they were planning a challenge, they were delaying for some reason. More likely, they simply didn’t care.
Most nations had their own training resources, and paying to come here and use another nation’s dungeon was unnecessary.
Some would come to train here later, likely from the smaller factions among the Newbon Empire. Not all of them had access to the resources in that nation’s territory if they didn’t belong to a large faction.
But very few of the small factions would have five peak Ascended or Commander Rank trainees to make up a team. It was the same in the east, the Mage Towers were too small to assemble a team without working together.
That was a chore on its own, and might not be worth the effort when a traditionally trained mage could advance peacefully in their tower.
It was just getting dark when Karl sensed a new presence in the distance, staring directly at him.
He turned, trying to discretely determine what was watching him, but he didn’t see anything. He didn’t stop scanning, though, and after a few seconds, he spotted a massive body in the trees, barely visible from a kilometre away.
[Oh, the human can see me?] A deep voice asked in Karl’s mind.
[Not easily. But the trees don’t fully hide your silhouette.]
[Interesting. We will meet again soon.]
Then the creature was gone, and Karl was left wondering just what sort of beast it had been.
From this distance, and with the leaves in the way, he could only really spot it by the distinctive shape of its eyes, and the outline of its body was too broken up to say for certain what he was speaking with.
But if that was the visit from the Divine Beast Empire, and they were just curious, it meant he could relax a little.
So, when Karl went to sleep that night, it was with an easy mind. Rae was on night watch in the bell tower, and there were guards on patrol around the camp for the smaller threats.
Karl woke with a jolt as an alarm was sounded in the camp, pulling everyone out of bed.
[What’s going on, Rae?]
[I have no idea. I don’t think the alarm is about something that is happening here.]
Karl put on his armour and stepped to the end of the aisle to jump out the window.
The Overlords were rubbing sleep from their eyes, and the military officer on duty had a portable radio brought out to them.
“Overlords, what is going on?” Karl asked.
“Good, you’re here already. There is an emergency near the Lithium Mines. Some sort of Anomaly has appeared. We are the closest response team to them right now, with so many of the response teams currently deployed to the borders. They already sent two Awakened Rank locals, who are currently missing in action. The nature of the issue is unknown, but it is likely to be at the Commander Rank or higher.
Your team will be going with Niall, while the rest of us remain here with the Magic Knights to deal with resource challenges.” Johann explained.
The Knights nodded in understanding, while Morgana gave the fort a longing look. It was far too early in the morning for an emergency.
Karl gestured to the helicopter that was beginning to spin up its rotors.
“Should we get loaded?”
“Go ahead, if you’ve got everything you need.”
Lotus ran back to the fort to grab another container of muffins, and Rae gathered her shiny stones that she had been decorating with. Whoever took over the fort could provide their own shiny stones.
They loaded into the helicopter, making a nine-person response team, from Commander to Overlord Rank.
No matter what the issue was, they should be able to take care of it, even if they were mostly just buffing Niall. A [Circle of Protection] would go a long way to keeping the Overlord Rank Rogue safe, and as an Inquisitor, he would be one of the finest fighters among the Overlords to begin with.
The floor shuddered as they took off, and then tilted slightly as the pilot raced toward their destination.
“Get as much rest as you can. We don’t know what’s coming, but it could be a long day.” Niall warned them as he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
It might not be actual sleep, but a bit of meditation helped prepare everyone for the fights ahead.
But for Karl, this was somewhat personal. The destination was just outside his hometown, and if the situation got out of control, his parents would be in danger. They had moved to a nicer house near the centre of town, but there was still only one Elite in the Lithium Mine town. Well, he wasn’t much of an Elite. He was more of a prototype, having taken a test version of the Divine Serum in advance.
But while he had plenty of combat experience, he was starting to get older now, and he was slowing down with the soft life of a Mayor.
