Electus - Chapter 483

“It sure took a while to get here.” Alia gave out a faint thought as side by side her and Isabel glimpsed upon Dragon’s Flame Kingdom, standing 100 meters away.

Looking at her surroundings to make sure that enemies won’t get the opportunity to snitch and cause trouble, Isabel grabs Alia around the shoulder and cites. “Well at least we got here, although your lover man was wrong about time. It took us a month just to get here, you run slow.”

Her tone rising at a high pitch, Alia gives out a loud whisper while trying to escape the side hug. “Of course I run slow, you were supposed to carry me!”

Hugging her head now with one arm, allowing the smaller lady to smell the taller’s pits. Isabel shortly expresses, “I’m not your mother.”

…

“Now where’s that Dungeon supposed to be? Mogranius said that it’s easy to find it.” Commander Alia puzzles, not sure where to look first as dawn has not yet broken but confusion still remains bright.

Taking this situation logically, Isabel butchers. “Well it can’t be near the Kingdom, that wouldn’t make sense because no one would build anything over a 2,000 year old Dungeon.”

It’s truly fulfilling hearing Isabel be this talkative, she and Alia didn’t speak much at the old Lan Zhe. Isabel was always a person to say the minimum, a word or two maybe.

But now, she is holding a full conversation in the Ignite language even. She wasn’t fluent in Ignite but learned it because of the constant contact with Ignites and ill.u.s.tratios whose language is only different by accent.

Commander Alia helped to crack Isabel out of her isolated social shell, it makes sense how these two took this quest but it also sheds a glowing friendship.

Practically trying to find an excuse to slumber, Alia went on. “I think the Dungeon will be easier to find once the sun rises, this place is on clear lands. There aren’t many hills either so it will work out perfectly.”

It’s easy to spot a ruin, it’s old, out of stone and has a lot of moss so it will stand out like a zit when the sun grants its prime illumination, but the chances of finding it with a torch at night are slimmer.

Shortly, Isabel teases. “You are sleepy aren’t you? Small Human, don’t worry we will rest for now.”

…

“Morning already?” Alia asks, sitting up and looking at her surroundings.

Sitting on her sleeping bag, Isabel answers. “Yes, it’s time to move.”

Noticing that Isabel is carrying a tired face, Alia asks once rubbing her eyes and stretching out. “You didn’t sleep, did you?”

Admitting it indirectly, she points at the flaw of slumbering here. “We’re in enemy territory, we can’t be off Guard.”

Taking a few seconds which stretched the silence, rolling her own sleeping bag in the process. Alia weighs in, “Oh well we didn’t face any danger, let’s move so we can find that Dungeon before anyone finds us.”

…

Now taking a better look at Dragon’s Flame Kingdom itself, the view truly proves captivating.

The Domain doesn’t look too large, probably doesn’t even have more Houses than Gaster Kingdom, it has 180 Houses maybe?

Regardless of those considerations, it has other characteristics adding values.

The stonework for example, the walls are different from most of the Kingdoms in this Continent although some would say it has been built cheap.

The walls are constructed in a square manner, while on most Domains, the first walls would be round in order to yield more space behind the protection.

It is different but we can’t underestimate its value, especially considering how smooth it is on the eyes.

The Stonemasons here perhaps have a fancy for making their work spiffy because the walls here don’t look blank, it doesn’t have one colour.

Stone is used on the walls from one end to the other without a doubt but these people somehow found different coloured rocks.

One type can be identified as basalt, that’s easy to spot considering its darker shade. But it also points out the difficulty to get them, as they are mostly found deeper underground.

There are rocks light brown in colour, some reddish and mostly grey but those can be found easier.

The forest isn’t too far away, and forests commonly carry creeks. In most cases, creeks have rocks giving this piece of nature characteristics.

The colours arrange in such a way, that one would think random but actually they sync in perfectly.

Red stones start from one top edge of the wall and slowly descend to the bottom all the way to the other side.

The rocks light brown in colour follow a similar procedure, but are placed to form a stretched out X across one side of the wall.

Of course there is more work here instead of just a fancy X.

There are rectangles, possibly 3 meters long each and a meter wide, set up straight.

One Rectangle starts out grey in colour, then the other follows pitch black. In this matter, the rectangles stand apart from each other, imprinted on the wall from one side to the other.

However beauty aside, it is still a blurr why Dragon’s Flame Kingdom is named the way it is.

Mogranius didn’t explain much about it, Alia had no interest in this place although she heard of its existence and Isabel doesn’t know anything either considering the isolation from the outside world and not walking on the Clear Lands before she was accepted in the old Lan Zhe.

History books might not prove useful, especially if it has an Ignite origin but considering the territory, this Kingdom most definitely belonged to Ignites before the third Era began.

Walking around the Kingdom, the break of dawn granting no sound from any Human since most people are under a blanket right now.

The two ladies spot what they could be looking for, an old looking formation of rock, square in a way but covered with vegetation.

There are Dandelions growing on top of it considering spring, but most oddly there is a tree over it, giving it shade.

In the Clear Lands, trees grow sometimes but not close to each other enough to form a forest. More clearly, they are often far from each other.

The tree’s roots spread down to like a complicated river, over what seems to be the entrance of what they think as the Dungeon.

Hesitant to walk in considering its instability, not willing to squat and squeeze down either just to go through the 1 meter tall entrance, Isabel asks. “Do you think this is the Dungeon? I thought the entrance would be bigger.”

Looking at the entrance’s rivering cracks, chipped out pieces too, a 5 foot long slab imprinted on the ground even, Alia tries to find reasons to go in here. “Well it looks wide at least, plus I don’t see any other old smelly place around here so it can’t harm us to try.”

Putting her backpack down, pulling out a torch along with a flint. Alia smashes the flint against her Short Sword, illuminating the torch she set on the ground.

Trying to lift the overall mood here, Alia points out. “Good thing we brought torches, I wouldn’t want to explore in the dark.”

Soon after, they hear a tone male by origin behind them, shouting. “You aren’t supposed to be here!”

Staggered how they didn’t notice this person come, Isabel turns around and pulls out her Long Sword in a break of a second.

Turning around, she sees a middle aged ill.u.s.tratio 15 feet away, holding a wood cutting axe beneath his palms, the tail of it meeting the ground. Obviously, he isn’t threatening to attack with it.

Her Sword forward, almost reaching the man, without moving her eyes Isabel asks. “Should I kill him?”

Walking in front of Isabel and pushing her sword down with the tip of her Gauntlet, and actually sheathing her own Short Sword.

Connecting strong eye contact with the man, Alia asks. “Depends, is he going to become an obstacle?”

Regardless of the fact that Isabel looks extremely different from normal Humans considering her race, and even holding a Sword up with aims of murder, the middle aged man did not yet flinch a muscle.

Yet still not speaking once more, the man’s silence forced Alia to look at the man’s black hat, perhaps carrying a bald head.

This man is wearing torn clothes, wolf leather perhaps? And there is fur on his shoulders as well which makes one question if he is a Hunter or a Lumberjack.

Silence still remaining strong, the ill.u.s.tratian man turns around and walks towards Dragon’s Flame Kingdom.

You would think he got scared, but his face showed no fear whatsoever yet he is exposing his back to Swords as well.

Watching the man walk away about 50 meters now, Alia looks at Isabel and expresses. “That was weird right?”

Still not breaking her glare against the man, Isabel cites. “It was, but he can be dangerous so we need to keep our ears up like a fox.”