Cosmic Peak

"T-this...hahaha, we finally found it, Aren!" Luna said with an excited expression.

Both Aren and Luna were currently at the very top of one of the hills on this hill range. The most surprising thing was that after climbing the top of the hill, the ground became the same level as the whole hill range.

'Could it be that we were actually below all this time while the land from here is the real surface ground? So the forest in the other three directions should also end at similar hill ranges with high ground on their other sides. Oh well, who cares about such things. Instead, the town in front of us looks advanced indeed.'

One kilometer in front of them, they saw high walls and a big entrance that likely belonged to a big town. Aren and Luna could see that this town was more advanced from those high and tough walls with proper construction and the big entrance gates.

After they put their sight on the big town and shortly after Luna finished speaking, they heard a voice and got notifications.

[Congratulations on moving on to the bigger stage. The real adventure will start from now on.]

[You have arrived at Dusalmeir Duchy, the territory of Duke Heigan of Focrent Kingdom.]

[The hidden condition of killing the slumbering Ancient Blood Python activated. Duke Heigan has been notified about you two killing the Ancient Blood Python, and he will reward you for that. The proof is the ancient python's tooth.]

Aren and Luna were shocked to see a giant python tooth in front of them that was blood red and was curvy.

...

Not just Aren and Luna, but many other people had a similar quest when searching for spirit stone and red berries.

[The hidden condition of killing the slumbering Ancient Blood Liger activated. Marquis Carhose...]

...

[The hidden condition of killing the slumbering Ancient Thunder Wildcat activated. Town lord Hoken has been notified...]

...

[The hidden condition of killing the slumbering Ancient Earth Alligator activated. Duke Yolazi...]

...

Some already managed to find those bigger towns and activated the hidden condition before Aren and Luna, while many others who killed similar slumbering ancient creatures had yet to find the bigger towns and activate this hidden condition.

Unfortunately...some also failed to kill the ancient creatures and were wiped out along with the nearby small beginner town, causing thousands of deaths.

...

Aren stored the tooth inside his inventory before both he and Luna started moving towards the big town.

After a while, they arrived at the town entrance and saw people going in and out with several roads parting outside of the entrance.

Aren and Luna entered the town with a curious expression. They were constantly surprised by its magically advanced structure but still retained buildings that resembled that of the medieval period.

The paths were wide, the house and buildings were exquisite, and they could feel that most of the people here were actually very strong.

Aren instantly had thought about buying a house here as he thought, 'Hmm...But the price will certainly be high. The currency used here are bronze, silver, and gold since the people in beginner-town used them, so we need to earn money too.'

They could see knights were standing guard at every parting path in the town.

They also saw beast carriages of merchants and other stores that sold various kinds of things while walking.

After walking for a while, Aren and Luna approached a stall filled with fruits and vegetables.

They asked the owner of that stall the address of Duke Heigan's place before moving deeper into the town.

After walking for half an hour, They saw a magnificent palace that was fifteen meters tall with twenty meters wide front.

They went to the entrance, where two knights that exuded powerful aura stood guard.

"Halt!"

"What business do you have here?"

Aren smiled and said, "We were called here by Duke to receive our rewards for killing the ancient blood python."

They couldn't see the faces of the two knights because they were fully armored from head to toe, but Aren and Luna could feel their gaze on them.

After being silent for two seconds, one of the knights spoke, "You may go inside but remember that if you couldn't produce the proof after going inside, you will have to leave your life behind."

After saying that, the knights moved aside and put aside their heavy swords.

Aren and Luna nodded at the knights before they went inside the lawn garden with a path leading to the big doors of the palace.

Before they could reach the door, A person opened the door and approached them with a polite smile, "I am one of the servants of this palace, and I will be leading you to the duke. Please follow me."

Aren and Luna entered inside the palace and were in awe of its exquisite structure and magical motes that floated near the ceiling to light up the corridor.

After leaving the corridor, they arrived at a hill and saw a person with glasses reading a book while sitting on a big chair made from exquisite red and brown wood.

The chair looked comfortable to sit on with some kind of soft material on it which acted as a cushion.

In front of him were two couches on both sides and a table in the middle.

After Aren and Luna entered the hall, The duke let go of the book from his hands as it slowly flew towards the bookshelf on the left side of the hall before the two books on the shelf were pushed away to create a space in which the flying book positioned itself.

The duke looked like a middle-aged man with black hair and no beard. His build was slim, but experts could tell at a glance that he was very powerful.

"I heard you two killed the ancient creature, blood python? We were trying to find it for the past few years to kill it since it was a hidden danger, and if it awakes from its slumber, the duchy would be in a bit of trouble," The duke spoke with a gentle smile, and from his words, it didn't seem like he was scared of the blood python.

Aren was intrigued and asked, "If that blood python awakened and attacked here, would you be able to kill it single-handedly?"

Luna also looked at duke with curiosity. She wanted to know the answer to Aren's question as well.

"Impudent!" The servant who led them here with a polite smile frowned as he exuded pressure from his body and shouted at Aren.

"Hahaha," The duke laughed out loud before he waved his hand towards the servant, "Leave it, Jeralt. It's just curiosity of an aspiring warrior."

The duke smiled and gestured Aren and Luna to sit on the couch before he spoke, "I can indeed single-handedly kill it, but if that blood python reached here, then it wouldn't come here alone but with a beast tide. If that happened, even if we won in the end, many people would've died."

"I see...," Aren and Luna nodded as they sat on the couch before Aren waved his hand on the floor as a large tooth appeared.

The duke looked at the tooth with interest for two seconds before he nodded with satisfaction, "The aura on this tooth is Indeed that of blood python. Jeralt, bring the rewards."

"Yes, duke." Jeralt nodded as he went into another corridor in the hall before entering a room.

"Sir Duke, have you heard of Red Dragon Emperor?" Aren asked as he thought about the two father and son red dragons who called themselves the descendants of the Red Dragon Emperor.

The duke raised his eyebrows before he chuckled and said, "Naturally, everyone knows about the Red Dragon Emperor, for he is a mythical being whose tales have spread far and wide."

'it looks like the duke is easy-going nature of the person and doesn't mind satiating our curiosity,' Aren thought.

"Can we ask about other things to you, sir duke?" Aren asked politely.

Duke smiled and nodded, "Go ahead."

"Is there any place here where we can gain some knowledge about this world? Like...how to get strong and things regarding supernatural powers," Aren asked.

"Doesn't your world have similar concepts?" Duke asked with doubt. He knew that the two people in front of him were otherworlders but didn't know much about them and their world. Now hearing such a question, he was surprised.

Luna smiled wryly and shook her head, "Nope. Our world is plain and boring. The powerful people are those who have more money, authority, politics, and such things, not in one's strength because even the most powerful person in our world cannot break a rock."

"Oh?... So everyone in your world is basically a level 1 mortal, I see." Duke was surprised and could understand the gist of their world in that brief description because this world is slightly similar as it also has politics and money power with a different concept, but if one's might is high enough, then one can change the situation to one's will.

Afterward, the duke looked at Aren and smiled, "The answer to your question is simple. After getting the reward, you should go towards Guild Venue and register and test yourself there. After that, you will slowly understand everything."

Right after he finished speaking, the server, Jeralt, also arrived with a pouch in his hand.

He walked to the duke and bowed slightly as he gave the duke pouch before speaking, "I have added the rewards in this storage pouch."

Duke Heigan nodded before he waved his hand towards the table as rewards appeared on the table: Three tokens and two glowing spirit stones.

"A total of three rewards: First, those tokens will allow you to select a gold-tier weapon and two silver-tier armors at Red leaves Armory Shop."

"Second, two uncommon rank spirit stones, and third is 5000 gold coins that are inside this pouch."

After saying that, he put the pouch on the table as well.