Master Of None

Chapter 2898. A Place Of Peace

”Looks like a dungeon then?” The curious but sure tone made it more of a comment than a question at the end of the day. Especially seeing that the hole was less of a hole in the ground and had stones and metal pieces around the edges.

Most people would consider this to be a poorly constructed well left behind and turned into ruins, however, Su was smarter than that. She had the knowledge to sense the mana around and also to make notes of the fact that there was no other evidence that something like a ruin was here.

She had been out and about walking through the plains outside of the demi-human territory and heading toward the north where she might be able to explore some of the abandoned villages after they had migrated to new areas recently built by those who learned from Genesis.

This was common since many small villages had been struggling to build themselves larger. Hearing about chances to unify and create towns, parents brought their children leading to them leaving behind smaller villages entirely. Even the elderly ended up going along causing only the bare minimum to be left behind.

She had decided to search for them because sometimes people in need were left behind. Even worse, some adventurers had reported that some isolated farmers had been unable to leave and were now stuck without anyone to sell their crops to or able to travel to a new village alone either.

She has easily helped a few of them connect and build a carriage to take themselves and their herds to the demi-human kingdom or other places. It was easier for her since she knew the best ways for them to travel and could provide them with the knowledge they needed to avoid monsters in the wilderness.

For her, this was just a side effect of traveling to find her own strength and herself as a person. She had been through a lot, falling for someone who tossed her aside to travel, bonding with Midnight and breaking that bond to move on to a more familial bond, and finally realizing that she had let her sense of self merge with her sense of responsibility.

She was going to find her core values and baseline of who she was to ensure she grew in to the hero she wished to be and not the hero everyone seemed to make her in to.

But finding a dungeon between her travels? That was not in the plans, especially since this area had been mapped out already. While it had yet to be finely combed through, it was mapped out enough that the basic trade routes and some monster nests were already marked. It was why she found it so easy to traverse the area and share with others.

”An appraisal scroll should work.” She raised the scroll and found that the all around appraisal created wasn’t much to go on. It had some information but not enough to call it important and detailed to report back with certainty.

’Waterfall peaks dungeon

This dungeon is one that is always open, it constantly absorbs the mana from storms and the flow of nature. Because it highly relies on the nature around it to feed itself, it replicates a natural wonder within and allows for monsters that live within that environment to nest within.

It holds over seven hundred unique species of plants that can be used as herbs, however, this is the only place where they can all live in harmony. It also allows for nearly a hundred species of small to medium sized monsters to live that help maintain the valuable ecosystem within.

There are strict rules to follow within the dungeon to ensure that there will not be a predatory response from the creatures within.

Peace is required.

Destruction of the area and the things living within is banned.

Harvesting herbs can only be done based on quests given through the dungeon...’

The information was not as detailed as it would be if Walker or someone with a dungeon appraiser class did an appraisal. However, she also knew that a dungeon with rules based on peace as a whole was unique. They had not found such a place yet meaning that she was most likely the first.

Luckily, she had been smart enough to collect a small mapping orb when she left Genesis so she was able to map the inside of the dungeon as well as the area around it. What she was surprised about was that when she stepped within, the entire scene shifted.

The same sun hung overhead, the same breeze drifted by making her hair cover her face for a moment. What was different was that she no longer stood looking at an open expanse of swaying grass. It was like this cliff face had teleported in front of her. The mist from the small waterfalls coming over the edge were also fairytale like. Even the mist touching her skin seemed like it was an illusion since it was warmed by the sun and not cold whatsoever.

This wasn’t taking in to account the hundred of plants and small insect monsters all around her. She looked back and saw a small path leading back to the hole she stepped in to, but the change in space made it seem like this dungeon had just trapped a part of the world rather than became something from it.

Su didn’t bother with trying to understand it. She knew that even Walker understood that the dungeons were a complicated mechanism of the world that was developing to ensure it grew and developed. Pushing herself to understand the intricacies would just bring her more stress at the end of the day.

Regardless, she felt a peace that resonated within her. It was a similar feeling she had when she would help another within the cathedral. A similar feeling she had when her shield would block her allies from an attack. A calm and soft promise that everything was alright and would continue to be so.

This dungeon fostered peace and it was one of the rules. It made it the perfect place for a self reflection compared to running around with endless thoughts within her heart.

Looking down at a pool of clear water beneath a waterfall, Su saw that small fish swam about preying on the bits of leaves and herbs that came from the water fall. It encouraged her to open her wings and use the gifts she received from becoming a half dragon to fly up.

At the very top, she found a spring bubbling and feeding the waterfalls. Small monkey like monsters rested around it, breaking off twigs from trees and bushes to consume before they let the bits flow down the water falls. They were part of the ecosystem that helped everything else grow.

The dungeon wasn’t massive in the aspects that there was a huge area to explore. It was like a plateau with cliffs and waterfalls only. Isolated and small by comparison to other dungeons, but it was diverse. It was unique like a hidden garden curated to let everyone wonder just what could be if the entire world tried to work like this.

What she also realized though, was the lack of intelligence.

There were no races, nobody with emotions to push them to chase strength.

That lack could be a good thing or not, but to Su that lack felt like it made this place less beautiful. Not because it was too quiet or peaceful, but because I felt like the love she had was unfounded.

She cared for nature and the beauty that came with nature, but not at the cost of losing those she protected. She had made herself someone that needed to protect others so that they could live their best.

The realization hit her harder than she wished it to. At first she had pursued being an adventurer because she had protected people. She had needed money for her ill mother and always working father. Now her parents were safe and sound, enjoying their married life and praising their daughter at every turn. It was something they took pride in, but she also took so much more on to herself.

Here, she could sit and realize that she was not just a guardian, she was more than that and deserved to discover more too.

Once her feet touched the ground again, she found a small inlet where the water of the waterfalls calmed and babbled like a brook. The mist didn’t reach but the mossy ground was soft.

”This is a good place to meditate. As long as Walker doesn’t know he won’t tease me much.” Su ignored the potential quests allowing her to harvest herbs. She wasn’t here to take, just here to relax and let who she was show.

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Repent now and go here,

Drop those golden tickets!