Chapter 24

The night fall was almost there.

The dungeons also had the cycle of day and night and surprisingly the seasons cycle as well.

Karthikeyan's party had encountered about 40 demons until this point and had almost reached the end of the hill.

The demon which was taken as hostage by his party had estimated there to be around 1000 demons in total earlier.

But now that they had encountered these many demons they knew the estimates were even higher.

Also a mage in their team who stood in the middle was also wounded and couldn't deal major damage for at least 3 days leading to some complications in the team's formation.

Sophia and Micheal and other members of the party gathered inside a tent set up by Michael to discuss this and also some other formalities.

Meanwhile the tent inside was so massive that it could fit around 100 people. It was well furnished and had all the amenities from a working toilet to a shower, a kitchen a bedroom and a hall ans so on.

One could purchase this from the shop for a staggering 1500 currencies.

Michael was able to afford this as he had until this point hunted a lot of demons.

Karthikeyan himself after defeating about 4 demons got 150 currencies.

Also while Michael got to sleep in a luxurious tent others were not that lucky.

About 5 more people had tents set up like Michael including Sophia even though it wasn't as luxurious as Michael's.

Others could only sleep on the outside constantly on the watch for demons ambushing them.

But Michael being who he was was more than willing to accommodate the injured mage in his tent and was also ready to accommodate others in his tent to which others refused.

Rather sleep outside than to sleep with a stranger was their logic especially in time of danger.

After the meeting concluded everyone went to do their own stuffs.

Some rested while others trained while some ate food.

Karthikeyan was himself tired and just wanted to rest after eating good amounts of food.

He wanted a bonfire by the side of him so it could give him a feeling of him camping , but alas if a campfire were to be set it would attract demons as well as humans who could either betray you or accompany you.

As Karthikeyan was sitting by himself suddenly a voice startled him.

It was Sophia.

"Karthikeyan right?" Sophia said with a warm smile

"Yes"

"If you don't mind could I sit with you?"

"Hmm I guess, no problem"

Sophia sat on the log on which Karthikeyan was sitting .

The end of the hill had a forest kind of biome.

"So , how was your day today?"

" Um...Is this supposed to be a joke?"

"No no , it not a joke" Sophia quickly waved her hands and tried to sound serious.

Asking how your day was when you were literally on the watch for death and killing other beings was a ludicrous question.

"Its not a joke " Sophia began " I Just didn't know how to start the conversation."

Karthikeyan just nodded his head.

"Well to be honest , I was surprised by your fighting skills especially considering that this your second dungeon."

Karthikeyan had mentioned that this was his second dungeon in his application so as to avoid suspicions. No one would believe that he was level 10 just from the catastrophe.

"This is yours...?" Karthikeyan questioned

"My fourth"

Fourth just how many hours has this women spent in the dungeons?

Even though the time exchange logic was understandable but still who would raid 4 dungeons in this short amount of time considering each dungeon took about a month time to complete?

And what was even crazier was that it sounded like she was on the low end of the spectrum meaning there were other people who dived more dungeons.

"Well as I said your fighting skills are amazing , I hope to see more"

"Thank you , I would try my best"

They then went on with their conversation for 10 more minutes taking about usual stuffs and also sometimes about the dungeon. As time passed it became more and more apparent how talkative Sophia was. Karthikeyan was having a hard time talking to her as he was never the type to talk a lot.

Nevertheless he enjoyed it as talking to a jovial girl like Sophia gave some joy and energy.

After finishing the meal Karthikeyan and Sophia each went to sleep to begin their next day fresh.

---

Somewhere in the deep of the plains.

In the middle of the village under heavy fortification stood a building which looked quite out of place.

Compared to the other buildings present in the vicinity , this building looked grander and also it let off the vibe that it was some sort of an official building.

Inside the building there was a lavish room which looked like the courtroom where the king resided on this throne listening to the masses.

A heavy man with a beard on his face sat on the throne. He had a scar on his face , and the muscles on his biceps looked like they were at least 25 inches. He was the village chief.

The aura exerted from him was very scary and constantly asserted that his authority was the highest.

"Speak" his hoarse voice sounded across the empty hall.

The lizard man in front of him stood dazed. His back was sweating buckets and he couldn't stand his ground.

Even though he himself was level 18 and the man in from of him was level 20 , he was feeling this much fear because of the man's blessings.

Blessings were a very important aspect of demons that was more important than talents , curses and even levels.

Blessings was something each demons received that marked them different from the other kingdom beings.

This blessing was either passed down from generation to generation or inherited from birth even though rare.

The blessings was like a natural hierarchy which no one could ever cross.

Holding his breath , the lizard man continued

"Sir humans have infiltrated"

Silence descended across the hall. After a good 2 minutes a voice resounded.

"The situation?"

"Pretty much under control for now sir. 120 casualties on our side and 10 casualties on the other side. Major injuries have been caused on the other side while no major injuries on our side" He mentioned with a little of proud on the last sentence so as to gain a little favour in this conversation.

But--

The man pounded on the arm of the throne causing it to crack

"You call that under control? a ratio of 12: 1 is something to be ashamed of. So what if they have have more major injuries , in the end casualties is all that matters and you have done a terrible job at that."

The lizard man's soul left his body. The clothes he was wearing were now completely wet.

Stroking his beard the man replied

"I think John can do a better work in this matter than you Jacob"

John , the name of that person instantly raised emotions of hatred in the lizardman called Jacob.

He and John had a rivalry and that too not a good one.

"Sir , thats not it , just give me one more chance I will get the situation under control."

Still stroking his beard the man replied

"and what if you fail?"

"Please suck out my soul."

"You sure about that ?"

Even the village chief was taken aback. Giving one's soul was the biggest promise one could make. Sucking a soul would obviously kill them but also revoke of their rights to ever get reincarnated which was a fundamental aspect of the universe. And whoever sucked another's soul in case of demons would find their blessings increasing and getting a new talent of value depending upon the person whose soul is sucked.

"You may take my word on it sir. Lizardman don't lie"

"Well than speak no further , you may leave"

Jacob left the room with a determined look on his face to prove himself. If he were successful , he could get on the good side of the village chief and probably get benefits.

The humans on the other side rested without the awareness of the menace that were about to be unleashed by the demons.

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