Tip of Iceberg

Chapter 3

The third floor was a green lush forest, filled with a lot of vegetation and trees that reached as tall as three-story buildings, and not only was there a forest, half of the landscape was a green plain that spread across hundreds of acres…

I was in a dilemma at first If I decide to travel through the plateau, nobody can catch me by surprise easily like what happened on the earlier floor but I will be also exposed inreturn, and if I decided to go through the forest, I might get the cover I need but there will be a high chance other creatures will jump on me taking advantage same cover. 

I thought for a while, then decided to go through the forest, with my small physique I hope I can go unnoticed by the creatures on this floor until I can get an idea of how to deal with them. I trekked through the forest cautiously, walking for at least half an hour, and I was still not able to find any living beings on the floors. So I decided to take a day off, looked around my surroundings and found the tallest tree near me, and started to climb it.

With my reptilian-like limbs and figure, I was able to climb trees pretty easily. I mounted higher and higher until I found a suitable branch that was sturdy enough to hold my weight and made myself comfortable there. for safety, I curled around the branch with my tail, so I won't fall from this height

The sky here was also conquered by darkness but it wasn't as bad as on the previous floor, I can see much better here.

And I have to say the view up from here is just majestic, I don't know how the dungeon was able to support such a forest, scientifically that's impossible but I am not in a world where science has any importance....come to think of it, Trevor did say something about that, didn't he?

"Trevor I called out 

Out of nowhere a ball of white appeared, the only feature in it was the black screen and the two blue dots 

[Yes, ] he answered 

"my world path is science, right?"

[It is called many names in many different worlds but if I can put in the words that you can comprehend then yes your world path is Science] 

I nodded "so what is the path of this world"

[Again it is called different names in different worlds but if I put in a language you can understand then it would be 'Steel and Magic']

Ohhh so this is a world that does have magic, I mean I guessed it by now but getting a confirmation does help, "What can you tell me about magic?" I questioned.

[By this world's definition magic is the art of achieving something by stimulating mana or any other energy through system, cultivation, and other methods intentionally or unintentionally by any natural events and creatures ]

"This world? so there is another explanation for magic in another world"

[Yes, different worlds have different perceptions of magic, it all depends on the way the world traveled through its path]

I tilted my head in confusion, Trevor mentioned that there are hundreds of worlds out there, and that's so many explanations. 

"So which one is correct?" 

[All of them are correct] he said [and all of them are Incorrect] Trevor added

"Huh! How does that work!?" I asked with a confused mind, how can they be right and wrong at the same time? 

[It will not, not until you stop thinking like a human], Trevor said, [You are trying to decipher the truth of this world's existence through the logic of your world and knowledge accumulated from its path which is unfortunate to say 'is not enough'.your race is still a post primitive race, too young and inexperienced to pursue that truth much less understand it]

I was dumbstruck at his reply, realising the reality 'I' as a human species lacks many things but honestly I felt a little insulted called primitive. 

[post primitive!] Trevor corrected. 

I squinted my eyes at the floating ball "Are you sure you can't read my mind, cause I feel like you can"

[Affirmative]

"Ahhh whatever," I said, it seems I am too early to understand what kind of mess I got tangled with, although I am curious about what this world really is, but if Trevor thinks my mind is incapable of understanding it then I guess I have to wait until I am ready, sometimes restraints and patience can pay off, I don't want to be jumpy and end up like that one lady in that one movie who got her blasted because there was just too much knowledge. 

[That's an over-exaggeration]

Yep, definitely feel like he can read my mind. 

[you are imagining it]

I shook my head with a small chuckle. 

Suddenly I was hit with a sudden urge to sleep. Although I found it weird because it was my first time feeling like this, it was irresistible, I slowly laid my head down on the bark. I guess I was too tired today, my eyelids became heavier by seconds. But before going to sleep I felt like I wanted to ask the last question for today "Can you teach me more about magic tomorrow? " 

Trevor lowered itself, just above me [Yes, I will teach you as much as I can] he said

I gave him a final nod, my mind drifted into darkness finally embracing the goddess of sleep. 

After the young dragon slowly drifted into sleep, Trevor switched on his camouflage mode and returned to being invisible so as not to attract attention. It watched the little dragon sleep for sometime then turned its head, and the light in its visor turned from blue to golden. 

[This is the first Report on Guardian trainee, Ryan by his handler] Trevor spoke, Unlike before this time his sounds were distorted like he was speaking multiple languages at the same time like a broken speaker

[The candidate has shown excellent performance until now, although his adversaries are much weak and did not give him much challenge, he did not let his guard down, and his ability to be calm and think straight is quite extraordinary and although the future is unknown right now he has shown interest and determination to become a Guardian. He is not a born fighter, but he is learning fast and growing even faster, Assimilation didn't get a chance to prove its potential yet but it will soon change, the candidate has shown interest in Magic, and as if now he still haven't learned to notice mana yet but it won't take much time for him to learn that too, either on his own or through Assimilation, and that concludes my first report.] 

At first, there was nothing, ino one is on the opposite side, it was like he was speaking to himself then, then it came, a voice, a reply from the depth of the cosmos

T̷̨̧̼̥̠̖͈͎̻̱̼̫̘̱̃̿̆̐̈͆͒̄ͅę̶̢̛͖̰̦̳̬̠̼͚͈͕̗̳̫͕̔ͅâ̷̡̙̺̺̞͖͍̔͛̕ͅc̸̨͖͍̹͙͙͕̬͈̬͙̻̥̅̄̽̄́h̸̢̧̢͙̙̙̪̺͒̔͌͘ ̸̛̯̟̺̦͙͎͐̾͆̑͊̀͝h̶̫͕̆̽̉̾̀̐́̊̔͗͠į̴̲̣͖̹̫̞̙̼̓̎̑m̷͇̥̖̳̦͚̭̬̆̿̆̒̀̾̐̏̾̾̾̚ ̷̪̳̺͓̭̜̩̜̙͖̱͖͛̎̽͒̑͒͆̔͑̈́̉͊ͅt̷̛̠̪̟̼̣͉̥̬̃̔́̽́́̆̔̏͒̒͝ͅh̸͚͖͐̂̽͌̑̊̚̕ë̴̛̞̥͍̙̤̙̼͕̻̼͚̯́͌̉ ̷̢̼̗̬̙͖̖̫̫̣͈̉̄̈́͒̄̀̔̌̾̔̓̅̈́͘͠͝͠f̷̛̛̛̛̖̥͔͖̳͇̦̭̝̤̲̰̙̬̖̔̄̔̽͛͗̒͑̌̕̕l̵̢̢̛̟͙̘͓̪̣͚͇͕̜̗̟̯͎̎̿̂̂̇̎̉́̂͌̀̎̄̆͘ỏ̷̮̰̰̙͕̹̊̓͐̋͆̽̈́́̂w̷̞̣͎̯͙͇̯̭̰̗̘͉̙͗̄̔̏̓̈́̓̃̓̏̏̋̚͝͝ͅ ̷̢̨̢̛͕̲̜͓̙̱̪͎̘̠̀͐̈́͛͜͜͜ͅǫ̶̡̳͉̼͈͎̥͈̠͎̮̙͋͗̉͑͑̀͋̊́̓͛̚̚͠͝ͅf̴̛̖̤̥̠̎̄͗̓̎́̊́͘͘͠ ̵̗̪̪̳̜͓̭̲̪̻̭̗̞̣̈́̓̀̉̈́̾̓͗̃͊̈́́̅͠͝ͅt̴͕̿̓̌̀̂̄̈́́̐͆̌͛̚̚h̵͎͓͖͓̮͂̄̅̃͂̍̋̿̚ę̶̛̛̩̓̑̈̋̅͊̑̓́͂̔͋̈̏͝ ̵͖̜̫̣̥͍̱̄̀̊̃͗̔͂̆ͅȩ̴̢̼͉͓̟͈̦͖̌̌̔̏̒͑͊̌̈́̓͘s̵̥͕̜̲͙̭̭̥̱̹͚̈́̈́̇͆̆͒͌̅̑̾̕s̶̨̻͇͖̻͓̅̉͗͐̈̉̋͜ͅe̵͖̭̹͑̈́̀͌͘ñ̶̛̜͚̥̜͍̭͙͚̹̈̄̂́̀̎̿̾̀͋̅͝ç̷̢̭͎͉͍͖̦̈́̈́̑̀͛͋͑̑̋͜͝ȩ̴̗̺̩̫͎̟̮̱̬̠̳͓̯̍̈̋̒̈́͊̏́̅̎͂̚͘͝͝͝

The words reverberated, shaking the entire foundation of the universe and realities for a moment, only for a mere moment as everything returned like it was, as soon as the voice presence disappeared. 

Trevor looked at the young dragon child again, although Trevor does not have any facial features other than his blue now golden eyes, but if Ryan saw Trevor right now he would have understood, there was something wrong with Trevor. 

[It will be done]

****** 

Forest of Armelia

It was a brilliant day, the bright sun was up in the sky warming the land, and its forest, it was through the dense jungle a group was making its way on horseback, many of them wore metal armor with a blue cape that adorned their back, Helmets which covered everything but their eyes, just from a look you can make them out as Knights. 

"Halt!" one of the knights that were at the vanguard, receiving the order from their leader, the knights stopped without asking any questions like a well-disciplined army, they formed a circle around, back against the back, so they will not be caught from a behind

The vanguard nodded with satisfaction, although the part where they now are is the outer part of the jungle which is known to be fairly safe, but you can never be too sure about anything. 

He breathed in, sharpening his senses trying to discern his surroundings for threats, confirming there is none, he turned his head to his men 

"Now you brats listen to me!, tomorrow is the day Lady Meidya has chosen to arrive here in Armelia and we been instructed to secure a perimeter in the outer part of the forest and set up a teleportation gate" he bellowed with his ragged voice, gazing through the narrow gap of his helmet "Now many of you think this would be easy as chopping goblins nose but it is not, and even if it is, we cannot treat this as one, and if one mistake happens tomorrow, one mishap we can be out there under the blade for putting royalties life in danger, you heard me? "

""Yes commander"" The knights answered

"Good, now knight's on guard, scouts scurry the surrounding and mages construct a barrier first then install the teleportation gate"

Receiving the orders, the well disciplined soldiers moved out to do their respective duties that were assigned to them. 

The commander turned his head to the direction of their destination, The Dungeon of Armelia, he doesn't know what kind of plan royalty has for that dungeon for them to send a royal princess to this God forsaken land, but they really might be desperate whatever they are seeking for. 

There is a rumour in the borders that Necromancer's and other dark creatures are gathering in the Fort of Madroga in large numbers, preparing for something big. 

Although he does not believe these kinds of baseless rumors there is no smoke without any fire. 

Creatures of the dark do not cooperate with each other, even a child knows that. They are too selfish and arrogant for that . So the concept where the Necromancers which is said to be the most vile ones of the dark creatures are joining together is itself a joke. 

But that joke right now got foothold and now has become a 'rumour'.  

'Which means there is somewhat truth in them' 

A shiver went through his spine just thinking about it, there is only three more years for him to retire due to his old age, after that he have plans to go to south and live with his family, he really hope that what he thinks a joke stays as a joke, never turn to a cruel one. 

He contemplated his future for some time and then returned to his men, helping them speeding up the process

****** 

Back in Dungeon 

[You are going to be master of the mystical Arts by next week or an Elemental dragon by the next three days, now choose which one you want to go through]

"Excuse me, what the fuck?"