My Dungeon Life – Chapter 1731-1733

Chapter 1731

Although we didn’t get a lot of sleep that night, the next morning we were back on course. The forests of Dioshin started to peel away, and then we started to travel away from the Abyss. I had to say that I felt a sense of comfort traveling away from the Abyss. As beautiful as the lights were to see from afar, the entire place gave off an uncomfortable feeling overall. Looking into that darkness felt like looking into the darkness of your soul. Alysia even said it might have something to do with time, which only made me less eager to be around it.

Every time I had messed with time-bending dungeons, things hadn’t turned out so well. I had lost a month in the Illusory Sword Dungeon, giving my girls enough time to be convinced I was dead and fall into bad ends. Twilight Dungeon was a time in the opposite direction. I had gained two months, but all that had served to do was cause issues between me and the other half of my soul. Then there was the Twilight mindscape where every hour was a day. The last thing I needed was to end up in another dungeon that messed with the movement of time.

However, there was one thing. I had been expecting to meet a certain person, and I had even found myself growing a bit interested in what they had to say. I didn’t want to have my timeline messed with, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want some hints here or there.

“I guess we didn’t encounter the Soothsayer after all,” I spoke out loud as the Abyss started to disappear in the distance.

Rea had remained strangely close to me ever since the incident. She ended up hearing my muttering and then jerked upright while shooting me a hard-to-read look. Before, Rea had said something that tied her to the Abyss. In a moment of panic, she had said that she wouldn’t go back, which suggested she had come from the Abyss in the first place. I hadn’t pushed the issue, and she was probably hoping I had forgotten she said it.

Of course, such a thing only created more questions. How had she left the Abyss if no one could leave? Was that why she was at the border of the Abyss? What did that have to do with the assassin’s guild? The biggest question of all was why did she want to kill me? She didn’t know that I knew she wanted me dead, and it wasn’t exactly something I could ask, but I still kept her around hoping to learn more. That seemed to pay off by mentioning the soothsayer at the right time.

Her reaction told me that she must have known the soothsayer in some way. I only glanced in her direction, waiting for her to say more. Rea seemed to realize that after her exaggerated reaction, she had no choice but to say something.

“You… won’t be encountering her.” She finally responded, her words dripping out with some care.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Because…” She turned away, staring out toward the Abyss with a distant look in her eyes. “The soothsayer is dead.”

Chapter 1732

If it came to any information about the soothsayer or their apparent death, Rea wasn’t willing to give it. I asked a few questions, but she remained aloof and distant. Thankfully, I didn’t need to sit around in silence for long, because after about an hour, I started to see something new. In particular, I saw other airships.

“We must be in Jespain,” I spoke excitedly.

As we moved across the land, more and more airships appeared. They had many different shapes and sizes. I had thought they all had to have the balloon and the fins that this one did, but it turned out that wasn’t the case. The sight of airships was enough to bring most of the girls up to the deck. They excitedly watched as the ships floated around. However, soon, all of our eyes focused on something off the horizon.

Jespain was somewhat foggy, which kept us from being able to see out to the horizon. However, very slowly, dark shapes started to materialize in the distance. As we drew closer, they became clearer. At first, I had my doubts, but it soon reached a point where it was undeniable.

“Skyscrapers.” I breathed out.

“It’s the buildings from Master’s world,” Carmine revealed to the other girls.

“So, Jespain is like his world?” Bernice asked curiously.

“Hardly.” Shao sniffed. “There is no magic in that world. Everything is done with pure engineering and science. Jespain likely uses at least some magic as a shortcut.”

She probably wasn’t wrong, but it was still shocking to see a proper city in this world. Tall buildings reached up into the sky, making even the forests of Dioshin look like scrawny little things. As we drew closer, I began to realize that the roads were filled with moving vehicles too. They appeared to be carriages, but they moved on their own without horses. They were horseless carriages!

That wasn’t the only amazing sight. While there were vehicles on the ground, I couldn’t forget the airships flying through the sky either, although they didn’t seem to go between the buildings, instead of landing at an airdock to the side of the city. We turned to follow such ships, and I couldn’t help but look at the buildings. There was a building with massive chimneys, and those chimneys were depositing smoke into the air. I could feel trace amounts of magic in that smoke.

I realized that at least some of that fog that had obscured the city from a distance was steam and pollution. It had a slightly unpleasant smell to it. The large population in such proximity along with the factories had given the location that unique scent only a big city could have. Up in the air, it was all too vivid, and I saw some of the girls covering their noses in disgust.

The captain came out from the bridge and then took in a deep breath. “Ahh… it’s good to be home.”

At least some people liked the city life. I was once again reminded that Aberis was considered a backwater country. One look at this magnificent marvel put Aberis’s capital to shame. For everything I saw that seemed antique or old, I saw another thing that appeared new or even futuristic. There was only one word I could use to describe this incredibly unique environment before us. It was a steampunk city.

Chapter 1733

The ship lowered in altitude as it got closer to the docks. It eventually slowed to a crawl. They didn’t need to swoop down in landing like a typical airport. They seemed to like avoiding landing at all. Most of the airships remained in the air, exchanging goods and crew with platforms similar to the one used to help us board in Dioshin. However, there were also several tall buildings with doors leading out to platforms just high enough that a ship could park right next to them, making the deck and platform nearly level. In those cases, someone could just step off the platform just like in an airport.

Our airship ended up getting one of these platformed exits. As we pulled up to it and they tied off the ropes and even put out a wooden bridge for us to cross, I could see a woman standing on the platform. She wore glasses and had a clipboard in her hand, and she was looking straight at us. She appeared to be a young woman with aquamarine hair. I immediately thought she might be a fae, but that was when I noticed she had gills on her neck.

“This world even has merkin?” I asked.

“Oi… she’s a piscine. Don’t associate them with the animalkin. They get moody about that.” The captain warned me.

I nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. I wished I had brought Eliana or Elaya with me. They were usually the ones who could fill me in on my lack of knowledge. No matter how much lore I absorbed, there was a distinct difference between knowing some things in-depth, and having a broad worldview. I had only been in this world for a year, and I had very little time to just sit back and study, or even sit back and learn from the lore I absorbed.

I had learned all too clearly in the Champion’s Gauntlet that there was a major difference in how lore was received. Having access to the lore and making that lore part of yourself were two very different things, and the second part wasn’t something that could just be forced. Forcing it caused you to lose your sense of self, and you’d become nothing more than a dungeon master controlled by a dungeon. Only time could rectify that, time to sit back and sort through the lore, and time to process everything that you knew.

One day, when all of these dangers were gone, I would sit back and sort through it all. It wasn’t something that could be done in months or even years. It could take decades before I was one with the lore. This was one of the reasons I decided not to combine with the human lore. I had ultimately left it in my dungeon, sitting safely in the miasmic lake. As for my dungeon’s core, my daughter had become the core, which was why she couldn’t leave her dungeon whenever she wanted.

I shook off those thoughts and followed Pait and his group as they crossed over the bridge. The girls followed behind me, although a few lionesses had already jumped to the platform to keep a protective circle around me at all times. As we approached the piscine girl, she gave a small nod.

“Welcome, people of the east to the great nation of Jespain. My name is Marina. I will be your guide while you’re here. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask.”