Chapter 72: Decision

Under the sun, there are two floating islands of various sizes and shapes hovering stationary several kilometers over the ocean, thousands of kilometers away from the continent of Revoria. On one of the islands, there is a castle where five people gather in the castle’s lobby for a conversation.

It has been two days since their meeting with Carlene, and Azrael has an answer to the question she left. He wants everyone to hear it; that includes Zyren and Dareon. Therefore, the reason why he will reveal it here in the castle.

"All right," Azrael initiates. "After thinking about it for some time, I have decided to take Carlene’s offer by becoming an adventurer in the Siafran Empire."

"Are you sure about that, Azrael?" Claire, who is taking the same couch as him, asks. "Do you have a particular reason?"

"Well, I realized that there is nothing I can do here aside from training. I still despise that evil god for stopping the dungeon from functioning. I am just bored, and I want to experience more exciting things in this world."

One of the main reasons for the creation of the floating island is for Azrael to farm for the archdragon magic cores for himself to get stronger. Although he only consumed a portion of them for his power-ups.

With the main purpose halted by Vordoth, Azrael’s growth slows down, and he even resorts to hunting monsters in the ocean, which he finds tedious as he has to locate each of the monsters instead of just waiting in front of the dungeon boss room.

Since the dungeon has lost its primary purpose, it has become a vast empty space within a floating piece of land. However, it serves as a great place for his training, as the dungeon’s black walls still retain their durability. Therefore, he can train with Dareon and sometimes with Claire and Zyren for magical training, without holding himself back.

Other than those, Azrael has nothing significant to do on the island. He still enjoys spending lovely nights with Alina almost every night and wakes up with her every morning. With his unique physiology, Azrael does not actually require sleep to recover; he just wants to adjust with her.

Azrael is tired of the repetitiveness of his daily routine and seeks something new. When Carlene suggested that he should make a name for himself, Azrael really reconsidered it until he ultimately made his decision.

Out of the options he can choose, some of them are Carlene’s recommendations; he decides to start as an adventurer. The reason he decides to be an adventurer is because it has more freedom than the other choices, like the knight, which has to strictly abide by the imperial laws.

There is also a choice that Carlene suggested. The choice of becoming the empire’s secret weapon. By choosing that, Azrael can just laze around in the luxurious house the empire would provide with an endless supply of food and other accommodations, as well as worldly pleasure.

But Azrael dismisses that idea since he does not want to become the empire’s pawn. In addition, he cannot just enter any dungeons without anyone noticing his mysterious existence.

By becoming an adventurer, Azrael can freely explore nations and dive into dungeons for monster cores. He can also earn money since they are just spending Claire’s wealth without replenishing it.

The castle has some gold coins, but Azrael cannot just take them from them. Moreover, those coins are so ancient that no nation would recognize them as an acceptable currency.

In addition, the safety of Western Revoria is somewhat his fault. His fight with the Great Sorceress caused a chain of events that led to the potential invasion of the Tixiar Empire, which can occur weeks later.

He completely knows that he does not have to take responsibility for all of it. However, upon seeing the aftermath of the event he caused, the griffin attack on the noblewoman, he never thought that it actually made him feel guilty for the innocent.

He cannot escape from the consequences of his actions. Even though the effects of his second awakening heavily suppress his emotions, he still retains his morals and knows that his actions led to such events.

Before, all he was in mind was to survive and thrive before finding a way to go back to his previous world, which is still his topmost priority. But then he realizes that he needs the knowledge of the people of this world to achieve his goals. If the Siafran Empire were to be invaded, someone with that knowledge might be killed in the process.

If he were to ask, the closest lead to the answers of his questions is the evil god, Vordoth, himself. His sudden arrival with Veleriz into this world makes Azrael question if they were brought here the same way as him.

"An adventurer, huh?" Dareon ponders. "That is news to me, as they did not exist in our time. I only knew it from the books that Mr. Zachary brought."

"Adventurers don’t exist in your time?" Azrael mutters upon hearing that. "Well, it makes sense since dungeons exist because of Vordoth."

"Even without the existence of dungeons, monsters still exist throughout the continent," Zyren explains. "Even though the term ’adventurers’ did not exist, there were some people who actively hunted monsters for money. We called them monster hunters."

"I used to be a monster hunter before becoming a knight."

"I see." Azrael nods. "So it’s just the name changed, and it has been probably more systematic since then."

The term "adventurers" occurred a few thousand years after the emergence of dungeons in the world. As the number of adventurers continuously spiked up as time went by, the association had been established to legalize and systemize the term.

Every adventurer needs to register with the Adventurer’s Association before they can legally operate in a dungeon. The association was also created to control the supply and demand for monster materials around the world, preventing the incident of an economic collapse.

"But are you going to be adventuring alone?" Claire asks an obvious question.

"To be honest, I am not confident of adventuring alone. I still lack some common knowledge and understanding about this world."

He pauses for a few seconds to take glances at the people around him. They are wondering what he is thinking, but some of them have an idea of what he would say next.

"I am afraid to say that I need companions on my adventures. Since you are the only ones I can rely on... Can I ask any of you to accompany me?"

"I would like you since I used to be one, but as you can see, I am an undead."

Dareon is the first one to speak. Azrael is internally relieved that someone wants to, but their appearance prevents them from doing so.

"I appreciate your words, Dareon. But it cannot be helped. Even with full armor, someone with high observation skills can easily recognize you as an undead."

"I am interested as well." Zyren holds his chin as he says those words. "But I have the exact same problem, too. I have been staying on this island for a long time. I want to see how the world progresses. I want to know if it is still the same as I remember."

"Zyren as well, huh. However, didn’t you mention that you want to protect this island in accordance with the mission given to you by your lord? Can you really leave this place?"

"Hm. It may be true, but is there anything we can protect aside from this castle? All his constituents have gone, and most of the structures in this city have become ruins. This castle and the whole sacred island are all left for us to protect. It is also not bad to step out of this land for a while."

"The same goes for me." Dareon backs up Zyren’s statement.

"I am really glad to hear your thoughts," Azrael says with a straight face. "But you two cannot just walk on the surface with your looks. Your appearances aside, both of you are emitting an ominous aura that makes anyone nearby feel uncomfortable."

Azrael has some people willing to accompany him, but they are unfit for the society. As long as they cannot solve this problem, Zyren and Dareon cannot step on the human world. Even nonhumans and monsters might be hostile to them, as undead are considered the natural enemy of the living.

With a hopeful gaze, he turns to Claire. "Is there a way to revert the undead to life?"

"I don’t think a spell like that exists. Though there are a few spells that turn or make a being into an undead, at least in my Gramarye."

"I know no primeval spell that can do something like that either," Zyren notes.

"If you say so." Azrael seems defeated until an idea comes up in his mind. "Claire, is it possible for them to transfer their souls to a new body using Astral Invasion?"

"I actually have considered that idea," Claire responds. "But I am uncertain if they can actually cast that spell. However, I think it is possible to transfer their souls into a new body."