Opening his eyes, Ulrich greeted a familiar, sparse room. A stench of mold and death washed over him, followed by a hue of golden light from the covered-up window. Guessing from the light, it must be daytime, praise to the goddess for such great timing.

  This was his second time in the Shadow Realm, but that foul smell affected him no less than his first descent. He had to adjust his movement, feeling that familiar swampy stickiness that stuck onto his joints and muscles, before being able to move freely.

  Ulrich wanted to dwell on the question relating to his talent a moment longer; however, two newcomers lying on the crude bed attracted his attention.

  Just as he noticed them, they also noticed his presence, jolting from their bed as they brandish their weapons and shield, aiming at Ulrich's direction. Their eyes were sharp, sharper than their steel dagger and sword.

  In that moment, Ulrich found himself standing awkwardly in the room, unable to utter a word.

  “Ladies,” He said, his words and body language aiming to be as friendly as possible, though for one reason or another, their reaction seemed to indicate otherwise.

  What’s wrong with these people…?

  He noticed their eyes weren’t looking at him, depths below, not even close. They were looking behind him, staring at what looked like a threat greater than his gentlemanly figure. Out of curiosity, Ulrich turned his head; the form of the shadow gate, giant and dreadful, lingered, slowly closing with raging winds and a cold aura that drowned his own presence.

  After what felt like a long interval, the gate closed, dispersed like the reflection of a moon on a lake. Yup, that made total sense. If he were in their position, he’d certainly be more focused on the flashy gate than the small, gentleman such as himself!

  Ulrich did not feel insulted, not in the slightest. He was a bigger man than that.

  “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to intrude on your residential quarters.” He coughed, walking forward with steady steps, eventually standing just arm's reach away from the sword tip.

  “Who are you?” One of them asked in Latin, a common tongue which he had not heard in a long while.

  “Johan Schrodinger.” He said, tipping his hat slightly.

  The name was evidently strange and bizarre to the duo, enough that they gave it some deep thought. That, or they could be trying to figure out if this was a famous or recognizable name. Ulrich prefer the first line of thought.

  “I was the previous tenant of this quarter. I apologize, I did not mean to…” He paused, waking the duo from their deep contemplation, “I did not mean appear out of nowhere, or peep on you ladies.”

  Perhaps he looked friendly and trust worthy as they nodded, slowly putting away their weapon. Though part of him knew that fighting within Helgan’s Keep was forbidden by Lord Helgan.

  When their dagger and sword lowered, Ulrich adjusted his black hat and silky gloves, then walked toward the door, hoping to leave the quarter as soon as possible. He wasn’t particularly interested in these two ladies, and he had limited time to prepare for the expedition to Cadry Ruin as he waited for Rosaline and Anna to arrive.

  “Wait!” Said the same lady who wielded the daggers.

  “Sir Johan, I’m Terris,” She introduced herself, then gestured toward her rather shy partner, “Olivia.”

  Honestly, Ulrich was not in the slightest interested in their name; he wanted to brush off the interaction as quickly as possible. But that would look rather rude, and Ulrich, true to his gentleman-like image, did not wish to tarnish his reputation, especially under the name of “Johan”.

  Woe is he, having to play this role. Yet, he quite enjoyed it, having to play a role which was different from his normal self.

  “What is it?” He asked.

  They glanced at each other, nodded, and then lowered their head. Not surprisingly, Terris took the initiative to speak.

  “Sir, are you exploring the dungeon that appears beneath Helgan’s Keep?”

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  Dungeon? Since when was there a dungeon in Helgan’s Keep?

  Caught off guard, his expression became visible, displaying his true thoughts. Terris, witty as she was, noticed his confusion and quickly apologized.

  “Sorry, it’s not surprising that you have not heard of it.”

  “I’m very curious, what is this dungeon you spoke of?”

  Terris sat back on the bed, looked at Ulrich as though to examine his attire, and then explained. “Recently, the ground beneath Helgan’s Keep opened up. We don’t know why, but some explorer had fallen during the opening. After that, no one dared to go down, but those same explorers came back with very valuable goods.”

  She didn’t feel the need to elaborate further, trusting that Ulrich understood her words. And he did. At the same time, his seer intuition flared, raising his internal body temperature in ways that he cannot explain.

  Something is not right.

  “How has lord Helgan not closed off the dungeon? Surely, such a valuable opportunity can’t just be given to an outsider without any costs, right?”

  “Of course!” Terris clapped her hand, praising Ulrich for his swift thinking, “How can there be free things in this world? I will say, Lord Helgan is a magnanimous lord. He could have kept the dungeon closed off and only given permissions to the noble houses and those permanent residents of the Keep. Yet, he chose to open it to the public at a fixed price.”

  “Oh?”

  Seeing Ulrich interested, Terris raised her index finger in the air with a smug look, “1 Umbra Shard for 1 entry!”

  “That cheap?”

  Honestly, he didn’t know what to expect, but 1 shard? That was way too cheap. His seer intuition was still flaring like a crazed dog. It was bizarre. Was there some sort of hidden danger that caused his spiritual body to react this strongly?

  I can’t be the only one that feel this feedback…

  “Say, Terris, are there any… Seer who enters the dungeon?”

  She tilted her head, not quite understanding his questions. Still, Terris gave it a deep thought, then hesitantly answered.

  “No, not that I heard or seen.”

  Now that was strange.

  “How many people have entered the dungeon since its opening?”

  This time, she looked completely lost. Surprisingly, Olivia, who had already sat down some time ago, spoke up.

  “At least 100, but no more than 150 people.”

  Her voice was softer and quieter than Ulrich imagined, given her rather tall stature. As a matter of fact, he’d noticed that she was the tallest in the room.

  At least 100, yet not a single seer? Is it the case that Seers are rare, or is it that there Seer, but none dare to explore the dungeon?

  In this matter, Ulrich admitted he was lacking in experience. If he had the experience, he would certainly know how common or uncommon seers and the like are, yet the truth eludes him. Lament as he may, Ulrich decided to perform a divination on the spot.

  Ignoring Terris and Olivia's perplexed gaze, he took out a familiar copper coin from his pocket, then entered Resonance, feeling his spirituality being stirred.

  Quickly, Ulrich raised a series of questions aiming at the latent danger regarding the dungeon. Since the subject of the divination stems from himself, there was less interference. And in the shadow realm, Shadowmancer had the home advantage of being ‘favored’ by the realm itself, add onto his own Blessing of the Shadow, Ulrich's divination result was as accurate as it could be.

  Quite honestly, he doubted that there are any seer that could obtain the result as clearly as him, even if they are Rank 2 or 3, though he wasn’t so confident when it comes to Rank 4 and above.

  It didn’t take long for him to conclude his thoughts regarding the dungeon. Though, in the eyes of Terris and Olivia, the strange man named Johan closed his eyes and flipped the coin several times while whispering to himself. This lasted for a minute or two before Ulrich turned to the fair ladies.

  “Ladies, I recommend you not to enter the dungeon for your own safety.”

  Confused, but recalling the terrifying gates that stood behind Ulrich, Terris gulped, realizing that the man before her might be one of those powerful seer. Subconsciously, she blurted:

  “Are you a… Seer?”

  He smiled and walked to the door, twisting the knob and leaving without answering. Whether they believed him or not was up to them.

  The danger in the dungeon… It’s from the core; an ordinary explorer should not have the chance to enter that deep. If they explore it, their life won’t be doomed. I suspect Lord Helgan had already attempted to explore the dungeon before opening it to the public. The result was definitely not great, even he could not solve the issue stemming from the dungeon’s core.

  As he made his way outside Helgan’s Keep, Ulrich shivered at the horrifying implication of his speculations. What sorts of danger lay in the depths of the dungeon that even Lord Helgan, a rumored Rank 5 Weaver, was unable to solve?

  Ulrich also suspects that the opening of the dungeon was far from being generous or kind. Regardless of the truth, Ulrich had decided not to involve himself in this storm, focusing his attention on Cadry Ruins.

  Mainly, he wanted to accumulate as much lesser runes as possible. Reaching the crystallization stage for his vital runes at any rank will not grant him a qualitative growth in power, but it surely will enhance his current abilities and attributes beyond what is standard.

  And as he made his way toward a familiar direction north, a small group of wandering beasts greeted him.