Chapter 959

Anton felt extremely down. It had been more than a week, and he hadn’t even seen a smidge of the Purple Corals, which were the goal of his mission. In two more weeks, the Diablo II ladder season would begin.

He had hoped to complete his mandatory monthly mission at least a week or two before the next ladder season started, but by the looks of things, the season would begin while he was still searching for the damn corals.

Anton did find a newly hatched wild dungeon. Unfortunately, it didn’t contain the Purple Corals. He wasn’t interested in wasting his time completing the wild dungeon, even though it probably had fewer than five floors.

He then thought that perhaps the corals would be on its final floor, so instead of leaving the dungeon behind as he had originally planned, he decided to complete it.

Anton was correct in his assumption that the dungeon was a newborn. It only had two floors, and it didn’t even have a boss monster. It was filled with low-level Sahuagin that Anton was able to destroy in no time.

As suspected, it didn’t contain the Purple Corals. He was just glad that it only had two floors, so he hadn’t wasted too much time on it.

Unlike the wild dungeon that had contained the spatial-energy-laced mithril ore, Anton destroyed this newly discovered wild dungeon because it didn’t contain any special resources that would make it valuable enough to nurture.

Destroying the dungeon simply meant taking its dungeon core, which was a very valuable magic item that could be sold for a large number of coins. It was basically a high-level mana stone on the cusp of gaining sentience.

The dungeon core wasn’t a living thing, per se, since if it were, he wouldn’t have been able to store it in his inventory. It was more like a set of programs contained within an orb—a primitive A.I. device.

An advanced dungeon core managed a lot of things, such as expanding the dungeon and producing the mana constructs normally referred to as dungeon monsters.

Anton had read theories stating that the cores used these mana constructs to lure sentient beings inside so they could feed on the mana those beings, also known as adventurers, emitted when casting mana-based skills or spells.

Dungeons were also one of the factors that made a planet magical, at least according to the book that discussed dungeon theories.

That was why most dungeons were nurtured by kingdoms instead of being destroyed outright, even though their dungeon cores were extremely valuable.

Not only that, but dungeons also produced some of the best magical resources, such as the mithril ore Anton had found inside the other dungeon.

That was why he hadn’t destroyed that dungeon and had instead submitted its coordinates to Master Vernatu.

Anton could have kept the dungeon for himself, and he could have earned a tremendous amount of wealth by managing it. But again, he had already turned his eyes toward the cosmos.

Nothing in this world could entice him compared to what the multiverse could offer.

His family also didn’t need that dungeon since they were already earning wealth through the mundane businesses they had established. At least with the businesses his family had created, they wouldn’t attract the greedy attention of the powerful.

Some people even considered the Sunder Family businesses somewhat of a joke because they mainly catered to mundanes—and for entertainment, at that. The cinema, fashion magazine, and all the businesses related to them focused on providing entertainment for the masses.

It didn’t matter to Anton or his family members what others thought. They enjoyed what they were doing, and it was earning them enough wealth to make their lives easier.

Submitting the coordinates of the wild dungeon in the Xinati Wilderness that produced spatial-energy-laced mithril ore had given Anton a huge amount of Traveler’s Haven credit and earned him the goodwill of his teacher, Master Vernatu.

The underwater dungeon he had found had nothing of value, so he simply took its core and continued his search.

When one of his wolves reported to Anton that it was being spied on by a Merman, Anton felt extremely relieved.

He had been swimming for a while, hoping to encounter sentient people because he believed that the only way for him to find the Purple Corals was through them.

The ocean was simply too vast for Anton to stumble upon the Purple Corals by chance.

He commanded the Dire Wolf to lure the Merman toward him. Since it was extremely unusual for a land animal to suddenly swim through the ocean and survive so easily, the Merman’s curiosity got the better of him, and the wolf successfully lured him to where Anton was.

Anton had already cast the Tongues spell just to make sure he would be able to communicate with the Merman. He didn’t want to scare it away.

The moment it arrived within the range of his Sending spell, he sent a message to the Merman. He was glad that the Sending spell worked even though it required the message to be whispered.

Anton could still whisper his message underwater.

Anton knew that the Merman had already seen him because the light from the Oak Sage spirit was bright enough for any creature to spot him from a considerable distance.

The Merman was brave, though. Even after seeing Anton, he continued curiously, following the Dire Wolf.

“Greetings. My name is Anton, and I come in peace,” Anton said, laughing internally at his choice of greeting.

He felt like an alien who had suddenly arrived on the planet. If he thought about it, he was indeed an alien, since he was a land creature exploring an underwater world.

Anton sent another message to the Merman, telling him that he could reply in the same way because the spell allowed two-way communication.

“What is that creature?” the Merman asked, pointing at the Dire Wolf.

The Merman’s curiosity about the wolf was so great that his first question to Anton was about it.

“It’s my summon, and its form is based on a land animal called a wolf. Wolves are land predators that hunt smaller animals for food, and they normally live in all kinds of terrain. Wolves wouldn’t normally survive underwater, but my summon isn’t an actual wolf. It’s a mana construct.”

“Why did you choose your summon to have that form instead of a sea creature?”

“I’m a land wizard, so most of my spells are designed for use on land. My summons have a permanent base structure, and I wouldn’t be able to change their forms.”

The curiosity in the Merman’s eyes was so great that Anton assumed he was probably a very young Merman.

The fact that he was alone also meant the Merman felt safe in this area, which probably meant this was his people’s territory.

The Tongues spell translated the language he was using to communicate with Anton since the man’s dialect and pronunciation were on point, meaning the Merman wasn’t speaking the common tongue.

The Merman introduced himself as Xynor, and Anton was just glad that he wasn’t xenophobic. There was only curiosity in his eyes.

Anton told Xynor that he was there looking for Purple Corals, and he sent him a description of the coral. He also told the Merman that he was willing to trade for them.

Anton was extremely delighted when he saw Xynor’s eyes light up with recognition as he described the Purple Corals.

Just like the sea elves, Xynor asked him to remain where he was so he could report Anton’s presence to his people.

Anton replied that he would comply and prepared himself to wait.

He just hoped that the merfolk would be willing to trade for the corals because, in truth, if they declined, he would probably return to Traveler’s Haven, report his failure, and look for another mission to complete.