Ryder and his team traveled throughout the day towards the depths of the Valley of Wandering Souls. Ryder had recovered his Mana from this, and he had again started hunting the beasts as much as he could.
His experience counter kept rising the further they went, but his Mana kept decreasing faster than it was restoring.
The number of beasts they were facing was more now. As they were almost at the edge of the outer region of the Valley of Wandering Souls, beasts were more powerful, and their numbers were more.
"That's the 8th golden tree. We should be getting near the safe zone soon. It took longer than I expected," Ryder muttered as he noticed a golden tree to his left.
In the Book of the Ancient Hobbit, he had read about the experience of the Ancient Hobbit that explored this region. In the book, he learned that the 9th golden tree would be right between the border of the outer region and the Inner Region.
There was said to be a cave near that 9th golden tree that was like a safe location. People could rest inside that cave without worrying about the attacks from the specters. The specters couldn't enter the cave.
The Hobbit that wrote the book had discovered the cave and its specialty. He also spent a lot of his nights inside the cave.
"I'm again out of Mana," Ryder muttered.
'"You guys can take over again," Ryder told Rale.
The team again surrounded Ryder to protect him as it continued to move forward. In fact, their speed of movement was only faster when Ryder wasn't hunting as their single attacks were enough to handle them.
Ryder was the one who actually took the time to hunt the beasts and the reason their speed was slow.
As he stepped back, they kept advancing faster and faster, and in no time, they reached near the 9th golden tree. The 9th Golden Tree was the tallest tree they had seen so far. The tree was twice as tall as the other eight golden trees.
"Look around. There should be a cave nearby," Ryder commanded others.
Everyone spread out to look for the cave except Rale, who stayed behind to protect Ryder.
"I found it!" One of the men said.
Ryder and the others followed that voice and saw that cave hiding behind giant stones.
Rale walked forth and moved the stones to the side, exposing the entrance of the cave.
"Who closed the entrance? It's not like specters could enter if the entrance were open?" Ryder muttered as he stepped towards the entrance of the Cave.
As he entered, he heard a notification.
<First Player to enter the Cave of Protection in the Valley of Wandering Souls>
<+300 Fame Points>
"Awesome. I guess I should find more places like this that give fame points," Ryder muttered.
Rale and the others entered the cave after Ryder.
Ryder was looking around the cave when he noticed something near the wall. It seemed like an egg, but it was as big as Ryder's head.
The Egg was blue in color that had beautiful golden dots on it.
"There's an egg here?" Ryder muttered in surprise.
"This egg… I don't think I've ever seen an egg like this before," Rale let out as he observed the egg.
Ryder walked towards the egg and picked it up in his hand.
"Mysterious Beast Egg recieved>
<Do you want to bind it to you>
<Y/N>
"It's a beast egg. Of Course, only a stupid would be the one who doesn't bind it," Ryder muttered as he selected yes.
<Mysterious Beast Egg bound successfully>
<Time before it hatches: 7 Days>
"Awesome. I got a pet monster. Wonder if it will be something badass like a legendary monster," Ryder smirked as he watched the egg.
"Does Your Highness know what this egg contains?" Rale asked Ryder as he noticed the smile on his face.
"I don't. I have zero ideas about its species, but I do hope that it would be a decent beast," Ryder muttered as he kept the egg in his inventory.
He looked around the cave to see if there was something else here.
"I wonder how that egg got here. No specter could enter here. There should only be two possibilities. One is that the beast came here, gave birth, and left," Ryder said to Rale as he gave his theory.
"The second possibility is more realistic. A person came here carrying this egg. That person left this egg behind and covered the cave with stones. He never returned for whatever reason. Most probably because he was killed," he continued.
"I also think that the second is more probable. We already know that someone came to the town outside after Master Hobbit left. The skeleton bones in the well were the proof of that. I think that person also entered the Valley of Wandering Souls," Rale responded.
"Whatever happened, it's good for me. I got a good beast," Ryder said. He looked outside the cave, and it was already dark.
"I don't know whose egg that is, but it should be special since it survived in a dangerous place like this," Rale nodded his head.
"You guys rest for the night. We'll continue the journey ahead. Also, even though specters can't enter this place, don't put your guard down. There can be other dangers that we might not know about. Be careful," Ryder told his men.
"I'll take care of them, Your Highness. You can sleep in peace," Rale said.
"Good," Ryder said as he smiled.
He opened the screen and logged out of the game.
*****
Ryder woke up on Earth. He took his Divinity Glasses off and put them to the side before he sat up.
He looked at the clock. It was 7 O'Clock in the morning.
"Right on time. After finishing this last mission from Janus, I would be somewhat free. The other missions have some time. I would definitely take a day just to laze around at home after dealing with this," Ryder said as he walked to the washroom. He took a shower and got fresh before coming out of the washroom.
He got dressed and left his room as he walked towards the dining hall, which was attached to the kitchen.
"Good Morning."
Alice noticed Ryder and greeted him.
"Good Morning."
Ryder greeted her back.
Alice placed the plates on the table and sat in one of the chairs.
"Are you really coming to the University today to meet the Dean?" she asked Ryder.
"Of Course. I can't miss out on today; otherwise, things might go wrong," Ryder replied as he started eating.
