Kill The Old Ones!

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”Uncle...are they from the GMU or the City Lord’s faction?”

Mikel blinked and couldn’t help but stare at his nephew. He wasn’t expecting to be ambushed by this question.

It seemed innocuous enough, but the fact that Ren pointed out two camps out of the many present in Central City showed his awareness of the world around him.

”The latter,” Mikel replied, almost in a whisper. ”Don’t worry about it too much; just do as you usually do. It’s just some additional surveillance. They won’t overstep their boundaries.”

While Mikel had no idea how Ren could accurately pick the possible factions that might be sniffing around their compound, he’s not one to hide things from his nephew, especially when he knew that the young man already had his suspicions and was just looking to him for a confirmation.

To others, it might not be so obvious. But to Ren, the new people around the block stick out like a sore thumb.

Ren had been going back and forth to the clan and the Archstone Plaza for months now. Although he couldn’t name everybody that lives near the clan compound, he knew their faces since he frequently sees them every day he leaves for his exploration.

New faces around these parts are very rare. This is the edge of the Central City, and it’s not even close to the entrance or the exit to the city. Besides, this was one of the more barren and silent areas remaining in this city.

Basically, the chances of seeing new people here are low. That’s why Ren could spot them almost immediately.

What really stood out to him is that these people weren’t weak. They suck at hiding their aura. Their stride gives them away, too.

Besides, whatever disguises are they using? Ren almost learned it from a single glance. That alone was a red alarm to him, because why would people in disguises be walking around this area? What was their purpose?

Furthermore, they could be found so close to the clan’s compound, his very own home! How can Ren not be alarmed?

At first, he thought that they were from the White Haven Clan. Maybe they were here for revenge. It’s not so strange for him to think this way since the only ever conflict the clan had recently was with them.

But then he remembered that the White Haven Clan liked exposure. They’re vain. There’s no way they’d resort to these methods. So that made him reassess the situation.

After some deliberation, he rounded the choice between GMU and the City Lord’s faction. Because they’re the only two that made sense.

The Royal Court wouldn’t send anybody. They are disdainful to those who aren’t born with noble bloodlines and without any noble titles. The other martial families aside from their rival clan had their own troubles, if rumors were to be believed.

The martial sects are also a no-go; rumors about their recent struggles had been rather loud, so Ren didn’t believe that they’d send anybody here. As for the guilds, the only one the clan interacts with is the Lifestyle Guild, and they wouldn’t hide around like this.

That leaves the GMU and the City Lord’s faction.

Ren didn’t think that the GMU had any reason to be suspicious of them. If they were, they’d knock straight into their door with a martial king. But they might also have other reasons to hide.

So that leaves the City Lord faction. And so far, it’s they who have a reason to sneak around.

They do this often, especially when the city lord himself is involved. If something were going on in this city and the city lord were made aware of it, he’d release his hounds to sniff where the trouble was coming from, irrespective of whether the other parties agreed to it or not.

Ren just asked Mikel the question for additional input. But he already knew the most likely answer.

’It checks out with the timeline I know...’ he muttered inwardly.

But although he knows about it, sadly, he can’t do anything about it. Ren is too weak to be involved in this whole fiasco. It’s not his turn to worry about this.

”How’s it going with your party, by the way? How far have you guys climbed?”

Mikel took this chance to consult his nephew about his progress. This was one of the rare chances in his busy schedule to do so anyway.

”It’s alright,” Ren replied. ”We’ve started grinding stage 22 recently. It takes us a week to move from one stage to the next.”

”Oh!? Frost Wolves, already? Nice. You’re almost a quarter of the way through the Basement.”

”Hm? What basement?” Ren raised a brow and asked.

”Ah, crap. Sorry, I misspoke.” Mikel chuckled, but his expression looked uncomfortable. ”It’s an inside joke amongst veteran explorers. We call the dungeons the basement since in horror stories, the monsters are usually locked in the basement. Don’t worry if you don’t get it; it’s a really old joke, like, ancestor old.”

”Oh.” Ren nodded.

Mikel was trying really hard here, cleverly, too. Ren didn’t make things difficult for him. He didn’t reveal Mikel’s tells when he lies.

That’s okay. Ren wasn’t supposed to know about this ’basement’ thing anyway. But since he knew the story of this world, how can he not know?

But this too was one of Ren’s biggest secrets. It’s something he can’t reveal. Therefore, he had to play dumb and pretend that he bought Mikel’s lie.

”You’ve also reached mid-stage bone forging already. Your progress is really astonishing. Keep working hard. The clan might have to rely on you in the future.”

Mikel said this as a joke. But Ren didn’t treat it as such. He nodded and excused himself, leaving his uncle to his work.

Being a pillar of the clan is still a distant matter for Ren, but he’s working on it one step at a time.

Right now, his focus was on clearing stages 21 to 25 with his party.

After the hot and harsh environment of the kobold lairs, they were thrown to the cold and merciless lands of the north, where the Frost Wolves live.

From hot to cold. The party has already adjusted to the hot volcanic environment of the kobold lairs. Now, they have to adjust to the chilling breeze of the snowy plains of stages 21 to 25.

It was hard. Just as hard as when they first started adjusting to the volcanic environment. The snowy plains were so cold that moving through them caused them to slow down. The visibility was low, and the cold slows down their chakra flow, too.

Staying still in a place carries the risk of turning into a frozen statue, but moving through the low visibility land covered with ankle-deep snow blanket and frigid winds was also hard.

Not to mention, the pack of frost wolves waiting to pounce on them.

The routine of searching for resources first before killing monsters to clear the stage becomes extra difficult in these stages.

Because of the low visibility, it’s hard to maintain a sense of direction. Even Ren, who thought that he had a decent sense of direction, got lost in the haze about thrice already.

This, along with the scarce resources, makes it even more difficult. But even so, the resources here were rarer and more valuable. Therefore, they must be gathered. Plus, unlike the goblins or the kobolds, the frost wolves doesn’t hoard them, so they have to be found.

The first time is usually the most difficult part, as it’s usual for dungeons like this.

Ren found it difficult to explore the snowy plains too on his first time. In fact, it’s worse for him since he deliberately did not bring anything to protect himself from the cold.

He didn’t go in naked, of course. He’s not stupid. He wore his leather armor, of course. But since it only resists elemental erosion and weakens direct damage, it did not save him from the permeating cold of the snowy plains.

Ren had to endure it and force his chakra to evolve and adjust to this place, just like how he did it in the volcano.

He chose not to wear any additional protection from the cold to make the tempering more effective. He chose to suffer now so he could end it earlier.

Whether this was the correct choice or not, Ren hardly cared. Dungeons weren’t meant to be easy. It’s normal for him to suffer, and honestly, this isn’t the worst yet.

If anything, he much preferred enduring the cold rather than wading through the orc swamps. It’s a matter of preference, really.

Before leaving, Ren’s eyes swept across the new faces he’d seen hanging around the area once more.

Nothing changed. In his eyes, they still stuck out like a sore thumb. Only this time, Ren had fully comprehended their pitiful disguise techniques.

He doesn’t know its name, but it’s useful enough, he supposes. Because of this unexpected gain, he doesn’t mind them being around anymore.

Of course, that’s under the assumption that they wouldn’t do anything harmful to his clan.