As she was sorting out the files while adding her own knowledge, Shiro didn't realise that Nan Tian had woken up.
The only reason she noticed was because he placed a cup of juice beside her.
"Ah you're awake, was I too loud?" Shiro asked as she took a sip of the juice and smiled happily.
"Nah, I was planning on waking up to resume my research. When did you return?" Nan Tian asked curiously as Shiro glanced at the time.
"Hmm.. roughly 3 hours or so ago. Also I've been filling some blanks that you had in your research. With this it should be easier for you to come to a conclusion." Shiro said, handing over the documents while finishing the rest of her juice.
Seeing Nan Tian put away the documents without checking it, Shiro raised an eyebrow.
"Are you not going to check it?" Shiro asked curiously while Nan Tian nodded his head.
"I will but not just yet. There's something that I need to show you before that. It's something I found but I figured it's probably better for you to look at it first." Nan Tian smiled as he stood up and stretched his body.
"Can you at least tell me what it is first?"
"It's a surprise haha. You'll find out when you see it. It's something you saw before so you'll be familiar." Nan Tian reassured with a chuckle.
Hearing this, Shiro nodded her head.
"Then at least give me another cup." She grinned, holding out her hand for another cup of juice.
"Pft, you can ask for more than just a cup you know?" Nan Tian shrugged while pulling out another cup.
"The thing is if I try to drink too much, it becomes a chore. If I drink too little, it is over too quickly. With a cup, I can drink as fast as I want while savouring the taste. There's just enough so that when I finish I'm satisfied yet leaves me wanting for an extra cup. It doesn't get overwhelming like a giant tub of juice nor is it underwhelming like just a few sips. A cup of juice is just perfect." Shiro explained with excitement in her eyes.
Chuckling at her enthusiasm, Nan Tian activated a camouflage around them before teleporting them towards the Dungeon Plaza.
The Dungeon Plaza is where Shiro had transferred all of the Dungeons that they managed to recover. The plaza is made up of several levels that is split depending on the level of the Dungeon. Low level dungeons are on the first floor while the high level ones are on the higher floors. Each floor has multiple rooms that is connected to a subspace with a Dungeon Tower within and that is where they can enter the Dungeon.
Dungeons that haven't been cleared recently would have a weekly challenge attached to it and the first person to complete the Dungeon would be awarded with rewards that match the Dungeons difficulty along with the items they used during the clear. This is to prevent the Dungeon Break from happening. It wasn't that it'll be difficult to contain but rather it'll be more of a pain to clean up the aftermath. Therefore, a good choice would be to just make sure it doesn't happen in the first place.
Following Nan Tian to the first floor that contains the low level dungeons, Shiro could see a door that had been sealed off for the time being. Everyone seemed to ignore it as she realised that here was a ward placed on the door that would divert attention.
Opening the door, Nan Tian gestured for Shiro to enter the subspace.
Nodding her head, Shiro stepped through the door and was immediately greeted with the sight of a tower that was halfway through collapsing.
There seemed to be another tower that was trying to merge itself with the current one as the two was changing places every so often.
"Is it because of Aarim's experiment?" Shiro asked as this was the first thing she thought of but Nan Tian shook his head.
"Unlikely. I've already asked Aarim but she said that there are no 'reflection points' so it couldn't belong to another universe. This is just another dungeon that's trying to merge with this low level one. But what's more interesting is what's inside rather than what's happening now. This was discovered during the third day that you were gone and we immediately sealed it off. Thankfully there has been no casualties." Nan Tian said as he started to make his way towards the entrance.
Pushing it open with his hand, he walked in as Shiro followed behind without saying anything. She decided to save her questions for the end.
Upon entering the dungeon, Shiro furrowed her brows and covered her nose.
"It stinks quite a bit doesn't it? I will say that this dungeon is rather… unique I suppose. This stench can't be blocked by any gas mask that we create. We'll always 'smell' this stench." Nan Tian glanced back as Shiro stared at the thing before them.
Usually, one would have been given a dungeon task depending on the dungeon or several pathways that they could choose from where they kill mobs until the boss room. That was how it was for low level dungeons.
However, this one only had one room and within the room was a giant corpse that was rotting in the middle of the swamp.
[Tomb of the Betrayer.]
There was no description, only the location name. The giant corpse seemed mostly humanoid with no changes. A standard skeleton with flesh still hanging on the bones. The swamp seemed to be its old flesh that's been melted into a liquid, submerging the body until only the head and shoulders could be seen.
"Those that are below a certain level will find themselves poisoned while inhaling this air while those higher than level 500 would be immune. But that's not all, there are also a few assassin type mobs that will attack though you have that covered." Nan Tian smiled as Shiro waved her finger and revealed the mana strings she had laid out around them. Piercing into the bodies of the assassins who seemed to be covered in a layer of the swamp flesh, Shiro had frozen them in place using ice magic.
"I want to get a close look at the swamp. This place appearing on Asharia can't be a coincidence. Plus, with how things are progressing, this probably has a link with my awakening." Shiro sighed as Nan Tian nodded his head.
"That's what I figured. Though there is a secondary barrier that we haven't been able to cross yet. You could probably do something about it." Nan Tian said as Shiro nodded her head.
Walking towards the corpse, Shiro furrowed her brows as the stench increased to the point where she almost couldn't stand it.
"Hm?" Noticing something stirring below her, Shiro glanced down and widened her eyes.
A pool of darkness suddenly expanded and dragged her below while Nan Tian tried to grab her but failed.
Wanting to teleport out, Shiro found herself completely bound. The mana within her couldn't gather to form a spell as she could only struggle with her physical strength. Within the darkness, Shiro noticed a figure grab her by the face with its two hands. Concentrating her eyes on the figure, she realised that it was a muddied reflection of her.
Feeling the power of destruction gather around her, Shiro felt like she heard a voice ring out beside her head.
"Don't try to become what you're not."
It was her voice but cold.
Shaking her head, Shiro spun her body around and tried to see who it was.
However, the moment she turned around, she found herself sitting on a chair besides a lake. In front of her was a table and around her was a small building in the centre of this lake. There was no walls only pillars that supported the roof, allowing her to view the scenery fully. Looking down, she realised that she was now wearing the same outfit she did as Anima.
Just as she was about to mutter to herself, she noticed that she was unable to speak.
'Hmm… rather strange.' She thought to herself as she stood up and left the small building.
Looking at the garden and lake in front of her, she recognised it to be a replica of her old prison.
Walking up to the lake, she looked in her reflection and saw a shadowy mass that had a similar form to her and realised that she was looking and controlling an avatar.
'Is this something related to the Betrayer?' She thought to herself. Sensing 5 powerful signatures approaching her location, Shiro furrowed her brows and stared at their direction. One by one, they appeared, two female and three male figures but their appearance was blurred. They looked like ever-changing reflections of reality that didn't have a secure form.
'Strange but I guess I'll have my answers soon.'
