Chapter 237 – History Unraveled

The Dean clearly enjoyed teaching. He had taught me Spatial Sense and Temporal Sense before during our private sessions. I knew he was indulging me since I was a top graduate of the College and had brought back valuable knowledge.

“Now we come to the Demonic Hunter skill. It should be called a title or achievement recognized by the System itself,” he replied.

“Truly, I didn’t think the System did titles?” I asked and the Dean nodded.

“You are correct. The leading theory is that the Seraphim created the skill and forced the System to recognize it, so they could know who aided them. I guess it could be called a skill title. Its only purpose is for others to recognize your greatness.”

“And has it ever been maximized?” I asked.

“No. There aren’t that many demons unfortunately. I also suspect creating demons to just kill them and improve the title wouldn’t work either. Don’t underestimate the Seraphim. Their divination skills are second to none.” I already knew this.

“Any knowledge of unique skills they might have?” I asked.

“No, unfortunately,” the Dean said as we both sipped our tea.

“What about the Great Ocean Empire?” I asked.

“A counter balance to the Seraphim, at least their Emperor is strong enough that the Seraphim rule the heavens while the Great Ocean Empire rules the water. We are just trapped on the land between the two with the dungeon, on what could be called the battlefield of the Great War.”

“If the Seraphim are so powerful, why don’t they just win?” I asked.

“A good question and one I have asked myself as well. I suspect they can’t enter the dungeon easily. You have seen how the dungeon reacts to threats. Such a threat as the Seraphim would probably create the strongest of responses possible. And Seraphim can die, it has occurred rarely in the past, but it has happened. The last such death was recorded on the beastkin continent.” I nodded slowly at this.

“Well, you now have permission to access our restricted section. Normally such a privilege is only given to legends in good standing, but this demon tome is more than enough for me to accord you such an award. I will also arrange for a team to begin working on your commission as well,” the Dean explained.

“Thank you. I will be staying until it is completed,” I replied.

“That is fine. The College will always welcome its top graduates back. And I am sure you have been practicing your math skills,” he said and I felt embarrassed. The Dean let out a chuckle. “Don’t worry, I am just teasing you a bit. Very few people are willing to work on their math skills in the dungeon, but don’t underestimate them.”

“I won’t. I will take this chance to study up on certain subjects.” I was also planning to look at what was available in the restricted portion of the College.

“There is another matter. Your team wipe. What happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon. Unfortunately, there is substantial political pressure for you to answer questions. Are you willing to do so under a truth orb by multiple parties?” the Dean asked.

“I will agree to using a truth orb if they submit their questions ahead of time. I won’t be subjected to endless questioning or suspicion. Or I could submit a written account instead,” I replied.

“I will be present as well. While you don’t require a guardian, this is the College and the legends might try to unfairly pressure you. If a question is inappropriate or misleading, then I will reject it,” the Dean said.

“Thank you,” I replied.

“Now, have fun selling the rest of your discoveries through the usual process. I will have Staff Member Melody keep you updated,” the Dean said in what was clearly a dismissal. I got up and gave him a small bow before leaving.

I owed the College 8,720 gold due to the Alchemical skills I wanted Ozy to get. I was only allowed to go into that much of debt because of my parents, my ranking at the College during that time, and pet studies being done on Ozy.

Time to see how much of that I could pay off.

22 Known Original Beastkin Historical Books – 220 gold

3 Unknown Original Beastkin Historical Books – 300 gold

2 Known Original Beastkin Supreme Legend Accounts – 30 gold

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

1 Unknown Original Beastkin Supreme Legend Account – 1,000 gold

1 Known Original Beastkin Skillbook – 10 gold

1 Unknown Original Beastkin Skillbook – 2,000 gold

1 Unknown Copy of Adventurer’s Journal During Dungeon Shift – 20 gold

1 Personal Account of Beastkin Continent – 10 gold

3 Personal Descriptions of Demon Encounters – 300 gold

1 Personal Account of Dungeon Abnormality – 100 gold

1 Unknown Demonic Illusion Rune Configuration – 100 gold

1 Unknown Copy of Skillbook, Single Skill: Mana Metal Creation – 2,000 gold

Total: 6,090 gold

Even after everything I sold, I was still 2,630 gold in debt. I could have sold information about the dungeon feature, the tomb, or the gnome’s anti-divination skills, but I didn’t. They truthfully wouldn’t have been worth that much.

The prices were primarily based on what others would pay for that information so the College could recoup its expenses. The beastkin didn’t have many books, which was why the originals, even if known, were worth some value to collectors. They would eventually be put up for auction by the College.

The unknown skillbook and account of a supreme legend were worth far more, since Professors would study that knowledge to develop certain skills further. Unknown knowledge held the most value for the College. That was why my personal accounts had more value attached to them.

By any standard these were large payments, but my sense of money was skewed. I wanted platinum, not gold. Now I knew why besides the demonic book, the Dean hadn’t wanted to go over the rest. It was a bit embarrassing that they weren’t nearly as much as I had expected.

While I could have tried to sell the books on my own, it would have been incredibly difficult and time consuming without the College acting as an intermediary. I knew they would be making money off me, but the College was a business at the end of the day. While it was also a center of learning, running everything wasn’t cheap.

The equipment, iterations on skill leveling, salaries, and general operations all cost money. While the College wasn’t poor, it wasn’t hoarding money either. Also, the legends residing here might not get a salary, but their accommodations and comfort had to be seen to.

I was a bit frustrated by my lack of financial solvency. I wanted to upgrade my weapon and look at more Alchemical skills. Unfortunately, I still owed a large debt. I could only shake my head and have a wry smile, thinking about how much work I would have to do in the dungeon.

Realistically I could make around 10 gold per day in the lower layers of the dungeon if I pushed myself from harvesting orange cores. About two years worth of work accounting for the descent and ascent to pay off my debts.

While I could borrow more from the College, they wouldn’t finance a Tier 4 sword. Looking over the Alchemical skills the only one that interested me was Slice. A favorite skill of my mother’s. That would add another 1,000 gold to my debt, but I was highly interested in the skill. A ranged attack with my sword would be quite useful.

I still had a lot of monster cores, but those were for my daily expenses and for my stay. While I could stay for free at the College, taking auxiliary courses while I waited would cost gold. I had a lot of skills I wanted to improve, especially my weapon and rune skills.

It would be a good break before going back into the dungeon. The College was also safe for me to remain at while the rest of the surface descended into chaos. I had made too many waves recently to feel comfortable going back into the dungeon. I had no doubt that some individuals would seek to get revenge on me for my actions, especially the elves.

The war was heating up. I could only imagine how crazy the Great War was back in its heyday. If individuals as strong as my mother were fighting each other. No wonder why the beastkin continent was nothing but ruins.

I didn’t even know which side was right in the Great War either. It was tempting to side with the Seraphim, but that was the propaganda of the winners, calling their enemy the Great Evil. Still, they were against demons, which put them in a good light. While it was tempting to think of the dungeon as the Great Evil, I wasn’t ready to make that leap just yet.

It was nice to finally be able to relax. There was something about being in the dungeon that put me on edge. It would be nice to have a sleep resistance skill, but it still hadn’t been created yet. While stats helped an individual need less sleep, like eating, the requirement couldn’t be removed entirely.

While it was only two years since I had left, it felt far longer than that. While my mother might be able to relax while killing monsters, I couldn’t no matter how long I was in the dungeon.

At least the skills and knowledge I had picked up had been amazing, even if I had earned two cursed skills. Gnomish Silence still hadn’t fallen away and I didn’t think it would ever be removed unless I purposefully removed it.

I was also able to catch up on news outside the war. The greatest bounty hunting team had been killed, The Relentless. Apparently Xanatos had killed them all. I would rate him as the strongest individual under the level of a supreme legend. His bounty had gone up to 1,000 platinum as well, since many alumni had contributed after his second attack on the College.

Since the attack he hadn’t made any waves. While it was tempting to blame him and the Dark Cabal for every bad thing that happened, that was giving him too much credit.

The curse on the Moonwood was getting worse as undead began to come out of the forest. Whatever ritual the elves had done had messed up the entire forest, bringing in condemnations from everyone, including other elves.

The war between the various nations and legends was only picking up. Dwarven weapons were making everything worse, since low leveled individuals could join in on the conflict and take down higher level individuals.

Even my siblings weren’t immune. The Kingdom of Terander had been overrun as several legends staked out their claim. My half brother Dereck and current Duke of the Burnstock Duchy had been killed when he had tried to stop a legend from forcibly taking over. His wife and children had been forced to flee and had disappeared in the chaos. I didn’t know what had happened to the rest of my half siblings.

That was the ultimate truth my mother had impressed upon me. Only strength would see one through into the future. Without strength, one was subject to the will of others. I couldn’t help but think about my stolen spatial pouch and how annoying that was.