Chapter 671: Camping
As the sky darkened, everyone built tents around a tall Acacia tree and started making a campfire at the center.
At the same time, Nyx took an ancient book from his space ring and started reciting a strange chant.
After chanting for over an hour, he finally poured all his wisdom power into it and activated the book's ability.
A moment later, a forcefield-like structure appeared around them and covered an area around 200 meters in diameter.
Charles witnessed his every movement as he built his tent and soon realized this spell was more than ten times as complicated and powerful than [Ignis Sanctuary] spell!
'This guy is almost as powerful as me. I should use this chance to get closer to all the members and cast the [Curse of the Overlord] spell on them.' With that thought, he moved towards the nearby tent and started helping one by one while conversing fluently in Blen Tongue.
Due to most of their devotion to their language, it was very easy for Charles to get closer to them.
At the same time, he stealthily cast the [Curse of the Overlord] spell on everyone and started influencing their minds.
As the campfire started, he drank with everyone and even cooked good Earth food, impressing them thoroughly. Even Alistair joined the party and shared toasts with Charles.
The only one Charles couldn't get close to was Nyx. Even when he voluntarily went to talk with him, that man walked away like a rude neighbor.
'It seems he isn't easy to deal with.' He muttered as everyone enjoyed the food and quietly returned to his tent.
At that moment, the sleepy Shadow Princess had already awakened and was always looking at him.
'Maybe she is hungry? But what do snakes eat?'
[I advise the host to give her small magical insect and lizard-type beasts as food.]
'Wow, I thought you went into mute mode all this time.' Charles said jokingly and nodded.
After that, he released his wisdom power and checked if any lizards or insects were nearby.
Thankfully, he found more than three small scorpions, two fist-sized beetles, and two garden lizards and gave them to her as food.
But he soon learned her appetite was huge as she instantly devoured them. Other members also noticed his action and offered help.
"What type of snake is she, Charles? Even though she looks so small, she already ate enough for her tummy to explode." Rowan commented with a laugh.
"She is a Rank-1 Magical Beast I picked up in the previous layer. But I now consider her as my family."
"You are a strange one. Come on, let's go out and search for some good prey. I'm also looking forward to enjoying a cigar."
"You can't smoke here?" Charles asked.
"Lord Alistair won't say anything, but Lord Nyx is very strict. If he finds out I have a smoking habit, he will not only show a cold attitude, he might even give me more work as a punishment."
"It's hard indeed."
While saying so, Charles left the safe zone with Rowan and searched for Snake Princess's food.
A big moon-like star hung high in the sky, casting a silver glow over the dry land as Charles and Rowan ventured around. The air was thick, and the distant sounds of nocturnal creatures added an eerie ambiance to their surroundings.
Rowan led the way with his keen tracking skills. Charles followed closely behind, and his mind was occupied with thoughts of his next plan.
"So, Charles," Rowan began, breaking the silence as they carefully navigated through the dry land. "What's your story? How did you end up here, in the Dungeon of Star Tombs?"
While talking, he took out a cigar from his pocket and lit it with a matchstick.
Meanwhile, Charles contemplated the question for a moment before responding. "It's a long tale, Rowan, filled with twists and turns. But to put it simply, I'm after something called 'Star Monarch's Key.' Do you know something about it?"
"Star Monarch? I never heard of such a thing. But I'm sure Alistair might know something. But ask him when Lord Nyx is not around." Rowan released a puff of smoke in the air and then continued to walk.
Meanwhile, Charles smiled faintly and nodded. "You're right, my friend. I'll do as you say."
As they conversed, the two men continued their search for suitable prey for the Snake Princess. The dry seemed to respond to their presence, with nocturnal creatures darting through the shadows and foliage. Eventually, they stumbled upon a small clearing where a group of lizard-like creatures with iridescent scales were engaged in a territorial dispute. Although their size was only around 60 cm tall, they still looked deadly while releasing poisonous gas into the surroundings.
"Venom Emberlizards! I didn't expect to see such precious things roaming in this dimension." Rowan muttered in a low tone.
"Precious? Aren't they just Rank-1 Magical Beasts?" Charles couldn't help but ask.
"Even though they are Rank-1, the poison in their outer skin could kill even a Legend Rank in seconds. But what is more amazing is that they are rare creatures and only live in harsh environments. Even after living for over 5000 years, I've only seen it thrice in the market."
"What are they useful for?" Charles asked.
Rowan gestured for Charles to wait, and he silently notched an arrow onto his bowstring. With a steady hand and focused gaze, he released the arrow. But as the arrow fired from the bowstring, it suddenly turned into a pure greenish arrow and multiplied like clones, striking more than tens of the creatures with pinpoint accuracy. The others scattered, and Charles marveled at Rowan's precision.
"That was impressive," Charles remarked, genuinely impressed by Rowan's skill.
Rowan grinned. "It's due to years of practice, my friend. Now, let's collect our precious food."
"We are going to eat it?" Charles asked in surprise.
"The Emberlizards' flesh can be rendered edible and very effective on our body through a complex process that involves harnessing their innate magical properties. The process includes subjecting the lizard's body to specific enchantments, which neutralize the venom and transform it into alchemic food. The meat of the Emberlizard, once prepared correctly by a high-rank Potion master, can become a miraculous food that could even increase one's strength permanently. Lord Alistair will be surprised when he sees these." Saying so, Rowan walked closer to the fallen Emberlizards and started spraying some potion on them.
"Try not to touch it with your hand and store a few inside your space ring. Although I neutralized the potions, it's better to be extra careful."
Under Rowan's guidance, Charles approached the fallen creatures and retrieved four.
"When we return, don't tell them you have these Emberlizards. Although Lord Alistair is a good man, others might think of doing something stupid. Especially, Lord Nyx is a very narrow-minded person and selfish." Rowan warned Charles and stored the rest in his space ring.
After that, they kept hunting more than a few lizards and stored them in Rowan's space ring.
As they returned to the campsite, Rowan continued to share tales of his experiences within the dungeon and even gave a few important information about this layer.
Upon their return, the campfire was still ablaze, and the members of their group were engaged in lively conversations. Alistair greeted them with a nod while giving a questionable gaze toward Rowan.
Instead of responding, Rowan took a bunch of Venom Emberlizards' corpses from the space ring and dropped them near the campfire.
"You guys hunted these?" Alistair widened his eyes and soon nodded.
"Good. Store them inside your space ring. You might get some big reward later from the Patriarch."
Rowan looked hesitant and glanced at the snake coiled around Charles's neck.
Upon noticing his gaze, Alistair made an amusing smile and laughed.
"So, you want to give a lizard to Charles's pet? It's your treasure. And I can see Charles also helped you hunt this, right? Go on."
"Yes, this should keep our scaly friend satisfied," Rowan replied, his gaze drifting to where the Snake Princess was coiled, her eyes gleaming suddenly.
Before the others could even blink, she disappeared from Charles's neck, reappeared near one of the Venom Emberlizard, and devoured it with a swift, fluid motion.
Not only Alistair, even Charles barely managed to see her movement speed.
"I-Is she a Rank-1?" Alistair instantly realized that the snake pet before him was not some baby snake but something more powerful than him!
At that moment, Rowan arrived closer to Alistair and whispered something in his ears.
"Star Monarch?" He abruptly grabbed his chest and almost yelped out in sharp pain as he spoke those words.
"My Lord? Are you okay?" Rowan was panicked and called out in alarm.
Tears rolled down from Alistair's cheeks as he gasped for air and soon noticed that the pain was starting to fade away.
"I-I'm okay. Strange, I never felt this much pain in my life."
He suddenly paused for a moment and turned his attention towards Charles. Then, he massaged his heart region and started muttering.
"Even saying the name makes the 'Divinity of Hunting' within my heart quiver in fear. The person who possesses this title shouldn't be normal." He said in a solemn tone and fell into deep thought.
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