Chapter 360: The Principle Of Three
"So, how was your experience clearing the dungeon..." Dhruv asked, trying to understand why the demon lord was this disgruntled.
"I-It was alright, master," Vexar said trying to hide his disappointment.
"You sure!?"
"I mean... nothing could really fight me, and I cleared the first dungeon almost instantly... and thus made an entrance into the second dungeon. But the second one didn’t pose any problem as well..." Vexar sighed, explaining his tale.
"You conquered two dungeons... how exactly?" Dhruv asked, looking at him with surprise.
He was curious as to how this demon lord managed to clear two dungeons when he himself, with this much power, almost couldn’t clear a single dungeon in time.
"Ohhh! Isn’t this the normal speed..." Vexar asked back with a hint of surprise.
Previously he had thought that the speed at which he had cleared the dungeon was slow... but now he was finding it was quite the opposite.
"Well it depends on the setting of the dungeons but I still don’t think so... now tell me how?"
"So, the first dungeon I entered was filled with monsters named Minotaurs, and they weren’t giving me any challenges, so I bombarded their whole field with a meteorite-"
’Meteorite... a fourth-tier spell.’ Thinking Dhruv focused back on his words.
"It was a field-type dungeon, so I didn’t have to find a way to the second floor. They lived in some sort of herd, so it was easier to kill almost all of them in one strike." Vexar paused, remembering his experiences in the second dungeon.
"You can sustain casting multiple fire spells like that?" Dhruv asked.
"No, master, I had brought plenty of mana potions."
"Makes sense... what about the second dungeon?"
"The second dungeon was somewhat interesting. The orcs from the second dungeon are civilized monsters. They aren’t mindless like others and follow a duel system to find a champion... like a true warrior."
A smile appeared on his face as Vexar remembered the only good thing from this hunting.
’Ahhh! So the monsters who choose their champion through duels are civilized... why am I not surprised...’ Not surprised at all, Dhruv focused back on the conversation.
"So to pass this dungeon, I just had to duel with each one, and when I killed the tribe leader, they would let me enter the temple through which I could move on to the next floor."
"As not all the members of the tribe were warriors, I cleared the floor pretty easily. The same thing happened, and before I noticed the final boss was dead , I was in the mood to enter the third dungeon, but the notification came, so I had to return."
’So all in all, the demon got lucky with his dungeon setting... good.’ Nodding his head, Dhruv asked a question, "Have you seen Azarex?"
"We separated when he entered the station... after which I haven’t seen him. He should be clearing the dungeon."
"Ohhh! Okay..."
They continued talking for a few moments when the others entered the room. Looking at Alaric, Dhruv asked about his experience in the dungeon and found he had cleared it easily as well.
Using his shadow sense to the fullest, Alaric skipped everything on the first and second floors and just killed the boss. He only began his true hunting on the third floor and that so after killing the boss.
Happy with the general knowledge, Dhruv looked at Aurora and asked, "So, Aurora, do you have any idea as to what the third quest will be?"
"No, master..." Aurora replied, shaking her head.
"Why hadn’t you mentioned that your planet had experienced the quest as well?" Dhruv asked, surprised by her reply.
"Yes, master, you are right... but the thing is, everything changes after the third quest."
"Everything changes? Can you elaborate?"
"Of course, master... But first, let me start with a principle that is very popular throughout the cosmos," Aurora muttered, lifting three of her fingers.
"The principle of three... As you have already noticed, three is something that the cosmos pays extra attention to, and the principle revolves around this as well. It says that everything in the cosmos that is happening in the first three stages is just a preparation for what is later to come..."
"..A base, if you must say." Aurora paused, finding that everyone was paying attention to her words.
Smiling, she continued, "There are many things that validate this principle as well. Like the first three evolutions, considered as adolescent, teen, and adult for a monster. How the first three evolutions grant skills but not from the fourth tier..."
"One reaches perfection at tier IV and unlocks perfect manipulation. The organs and skills begin showing their true potential only after the third tier. One begins to get their own personalized evolution from tier IV and so on. If you were to nitpick, there are many more things, but these are the most popular ones." Aurora paused, explaining these things.
Hearing her words, Dhruv couldn’t help but be forced to think about it. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed this phenomenon related to three... it was that he hadn’t connected all these dots.
’So, there was a reason for all this... ahhh!’ Sighing, he looked at Aurora and asked if all this had any connection with her not knowing the content of the fourth quest.
"Yes, master there is... Considering the first three quests are just the beginning, there was no need for any changes in them throughout the cosmos. But from the fourth, where things begin to focus on personalizin––"
"I get it... so from tier IV, every planet will get a different quest. Right?" Dhruv asked, looking at her.
"Yes, master..." Aurora nodded.
"Say, based on your study, what would you say will be the difficulty of the fourth quest?" Alaric asked, trying to be as prepared as one could.
"Personally, I would say it will be somewhat easy... but as you know, nothing is certain..." Aurora said, giving her personal opinion.
Mid-way to their chat Azarex enters the island as well and joins others. The meeting only stops when Cosmos whispers something in their ear...
[The Main Quest #03- Hunt the Hunters has ended]
[Anyone still in the dungeon will be forcefully removed from it.]
