Core of Knowledge

This brought a scowl to the face of the rider, but he did not say anything. Xu Han was not bothered by what the dwarf said. He did kill two of the dwarf’s friends, so it was understandable that he would be a little upset. The dwarf and rider turned as another of the adventurers appeared. It was the other fighter; the one Jemma thought was a [Knight].

“Bazel, Pos.”

“Hethon,” the now-named Bazel greeted back. “Any problem with the fog?”

“None. The poison does not seem to affect stamina or endurance. The passives from my [Knight] class were still in place as I ran through it, so I do not believe the fog had any additional debilitating effects outside killing you.”

So, the other fighter was a [Knight], and his name was Hethon.

“Tracks with what happen to me. My Ghost Steed skill works without any problem, and I did not feel weak or confused when I was in the fog. I did not see the two of you approaching through, so I think this is an instance floor. Only the start and the end of the floor are in the real world, the rest of the floor is in a spatial reality.”

“I have never heard of a dungeon that can create an instance on its first floor. Aren’t sub dimensions powers rare?” Pos asked with a frown.

“It is, but it just makes this dungeon all the more valuable. Get some rest while we wait for the other.” Bazel said, gesturing to the grass in the clearing.

It sounded very much like an order to Xu Han, but it was one both the dwarf and the [Knight] happily agreed with. They sat down in the area, and Xu Han wondered if he should build a proper rest area here. Maybe a pavilion, or a small building. Xu Han turned his attention back to the other three adventurers in the fog.

The [Priest] and [Mage] were doing the same thing as before, but whatever the elvish woman was checking for was now completed and she was now running to the end of the floor.

As she was from a species Xu Han had never seen before, the dungeon core took a special interest in the elf. Fortunately for her, Xu Han had lost any interest in the opposite sex, or the same sex, long before becoming a dungeon core. Unlike most Soup Emperors, male or female, Xu Han never had a harem of lower cultivators serving him, but he has to wonder if the elvish woman would have been able to change his mind if he had met her in his earlier life. For Xu Han, the pursuit of knowledge and immortality was all consuming, but she was gorgeous. With her sharp angular features and sharp pointed ears, Xu Han could understand why elves were known for their beauty in this world. It was just as well that he no longer has a body.

The elf reached the end of the floor and immediately spoke to Bazel, who seemed like the leader of the group. Xu Han gained a lot of information as he listened in to their conversation.

The elf was named Talata, and she was not a [Rogue]. Her exact class was [Explorer]. As Talata was telling Bazel about the toxicity and effectiveness of the poison of the fog, Xu Han asked his dungeon fairy about the class. Jemma did not know the details about it, but informed Xu Han [Explorer] was a Class that grants hardiness and skills to the Classed when they are exploring unknown locations. The explorers usually received strange skills such as Mental Mapping, Find Water, and Surefoot, to help with their survivability.

The group did not need to wait long for the [Priest] and [Mage]. Both arrived almost at the same time, but to Xu Han’ surprise, it was to the [Mage] that they reported to.

The [Priest], Father Raul, told the female [Mage] that the dungeon did not block his connection to his God, something Xu Han didn’t even know was possible, and that he felt no divine source in the dungeon. Evidently, Gods could bless a dungeon to give a boost to their followers, but the priest do not believe any god had lay claim to this dungeon yet.

He was right. It was something Xu Han would need Jemma to explain in the future because what the priest said worried the dungeon core. Having a God’s blessing was a double-edge sword in the Crimson Lands, and the dungeon core need to know if it was the same here.

From their talk, the dungeon core discovered two pieces of shocking news. First was the priest’s title. In the Crimson Lands, telling someone to call you ‘father’ was an insult. Here, it was a term of respect and the title of certain orders of priests. Secondly, Xu Han found out why Bazel and Father Raul were reporting to the [Mage].

She was actually a [Sage].

“I want to kill her.” Xu Han said, which caused his dungeon fairy to laugh.

“Not likely, Core. The members of this exploration group are likely to be between level 30 to 40. At those levels, they would probably breeze through your second floor.”

“You don’t think my second floor can beat them?” Xu Han was a little surprised by his dungeon fairy’s reaction. She had been delighted by the design of the second floor.

“Not likely,” Jemma said uncertainly. “The unique puzzles you made may slumped them, especially on their first run, so I don’t think they will be able to conquer it immediately, but I doubt killing them is possible. The Boss monster you made is just not strong enough. Sorry Core, but you are just too new and weak to be killing level thirty-plus adventurers.”

The exploration team finally decide to approach the treasure chest. Talata was the one who opened it, but she took the blast of poison head on instead of dodging. As if to prove Jemma’s point, the poison had no effect on her, and she coolly inform her team that anyone with [Poison Resistance] would be able to ignore the effects of the poison. Xu Han mentally sighed.

This was almost unfair. He felt like he was being bullied by some senior cultivators, not an uncommon thing in the Crimson Lands.

The exploration team were visually disappointed by the gold they found inside but seem to take it well enough. Xu Han had no intention to give out a technique to everyone who beat the floor. They took a lot of divine power to make, and anything that was too common was not valuable.

To Xu Han’s surprise, Bazel spilt the gold among the adventurers, a common practice according to Jemma. Adventurers do not want one person to hold all the gold or treasures because they will risk losing everything if that person dies in the dungeon. Hearing the explanation, Xu Han had to fully agree with the practice.

Once the gold was divided, the exploration team approached the two runes on the ground. Jemma did not like the portal he created for the dwarf as she claimed it was a waste of energy to do it every time someone beat the floor. To placate her, Xu Han used his knowledge to create two teleportation runes instead. One would bring the adventurers back to the entrance, while the other would take them down to the second floor. To avoid any mistake, Xu Han wrote the words ‘Entrance’ and ‘Second Floor’ before the runes.

The art of using runes was known in this world, because Jemma took one look at them and proclaimed them to be ‘Spell Circles’. That did not make much sense to Xu Han as the runes he drew were not circular in shape, but Jemma assured Xu Han that’s what they were called in this world.

There must be some cultural nuances he was missing.

However, Jemma was right in saying the adventurers would have no problem in recognizing the runes. After a break of a few minutes, they stepped on the portal down to the second floor of the dungeon, and Xu Han had to stop himself from laughing like some villain in a trashy cultivation story.

They are going to be so weird out by what they find down there.