Chapter 691 Back into the Cordillera Depths
Shock was apparent on Jarek’s face as Marcus said that he could if necessary, bring Aria, the Grand Archmage of Borealia to help deal with the criminals that have currently invested the dungeon in Lethallan.
Naturally not just anyone could simply call up one for the most powerful people in the kingdom and ask them for a favor. But Marcus seemed completely confident that her could.
“I knew you had made connections with the royals through the rumors I heard of your abilities as a forge master and your friendship with a princess, but you must be far more ingrained with them if you believe you can simply call over someone so important.” Jarek said with disbelief written all over his face.
Even though Marcus said it so assuredly, he was not as easily convinced.
Of course, he was right that as Irene, Marcus’ connection to the royal family was not to the point of calling in such a favor. However, as his other identity he was.
“Well, no need to worry about it. I will get this problem resolved no matter the amount of favors I have to call in or promises I need to make. I cannot very well let Alaric who has been put in my care to be exposed to that kind of danger.”
Thanking Marcus for his help in advance, Jarek said that he was willing to help out if necessary and do what he could to help rid his home of the scum that had taken root in the dungeon.
‘I think that was enough to convince him that I will not do anything rash. But sorry Jarek. I am confident enough in my abilities to take out a group no matter how many there are. As long as none of them are stronger than me I should not have any trouble.’ Marcus thought as he planned to take care of these Dungeon Marauders.
At the very least even if they proved more dangerous than what Jarek had told him, he was confident he could get away and then call-in help.
For around another three hours Jarek and Marcus talked about what had happened with each other since they parted ways.
“So, you finally joined a stable party. That is good, I know that Dahlia was worried about you always going solo.”
“Yeah, I did not have much of a choice since I need to make sure that I stay safe for my daughter. Luckily, I was able to join up with the Depth Delvers. I do not know if you remember them, but we introduced you them at our celebration party after we beat the boss.”
Nodding his head, Marcus remembered them, but not with the highest regard.
They were the ones that had gotten Lilia involved in a drinking competition, and while she miraculously won thanks to her unique skill that nearly prevents her from getting drunk, he was still not happy that they had been giving alcohol to Lilia who at the time was only eleven.
‘I suppose they were friendly enough and did apologize afterwards. For Jarek’s sake I will not hold it against them and try to be friendly as long as they do not do the same things with Alaric.’
After that Marcus said farewell to Jarek for now and took Alaric who was looking extremely bored back to the guild’s library.
Once there Marcus told Clara who had collected a number of resources for them to go over, that he was going to head into the dungeon for a few days to scope it out.
“Lady Irene, I know you are strong, but should you really go into a place as dangerous as a dungeon alone? I think it would be best if you waited and formed a party with some of your numerous acquaintances.”
Clara knew she could not go into the dungeon alongside Marcus, but she hoped that he would at least take along some help.
“No, it will be fine. I am just doing some scouting around for the best places to train Alaric in. I will be moving around stealthy and do not plan on even engaging in any battles.” Marcus said with a reassuring smile.
Though what he actually planned to do was quickly take care of the criminals infesting the dungeon and also search for an entrance to the intelligent beast’s domain.
“While I am gone, Alaric you should focus on ranking up first and foremost.” Marcus said addressing the half elf boy.
He wanted to make sure that he was ready to enter the dungeon as soon as possible so that he could level up quicker. There was only a limited amount of time they had before Marcus was supposed to meet up with everyone else to challenge the special dungeon again, and if he wanted Alaric to join them then he needed to get stronger.
When he was finished giving his directions, Marcus headed out and made his way over to the dungeon’s entrance.
It was similar to the last time he was there, being surrounded by a fortress, but there were noticeably more adventurers entering and less soldiers and guards manning the facility.
‘Looks like what Jarek said was right. There are a ton more adventurers but less soldiers and guards.’ Marcus thought as he observed his surroundings.
Soon enough he made it to the front of the inspection line, showed off his guild card, and entered the dungeon without any problems.
Walking down the first corridor, he found it remarkably barren just as last time, and he would not even think that the dungeon’s configuration had changed.
The same could be said for the first area which was just an empty room that was filled with soldiers who stood guard to prevent any beast or monster outbreaks from reaching the city.
‘I think that there are even more soldiers here than before. I guess that those that they do have are stationed here where they are needed the most. With the new threat of those Marauders, I suppose that makes sense.’
Passing through the army’s encampment, Marcus headed down the right path which would taking him to a winter hills area.
As he approached, he could feel the temperature rapidly decreasing and a thin layer of frost had formed around the tunnel.
When he came out into the area, he looked out into a massive expanse of while.
There were dozens of hills as far as the eye could see covered by snow and a fairly thick forest of evergreen trees growing in the area.
‘Yep, I think this area will be perfect to start Alaric’s training in.’ Marcus thought as he looked around.
As a half ice elf Alaric naturally had a high resistance to the cold, but this would also serve as a good place for him to get used to dealing with creatures that were resistance to the cold.
For the most part he used ice magic as his main source of damage, but Marcus wanted to make sure he remained flexible and learned to deal with disadvantageous situations.
‘There are quite a few other groups here. But that makes sense with this being one of the starting areas.’
Looking around he saw that around a half dozen parties that had entered the area and were getting their bearings were looking at him warily.
Now that the Dungeon Marauders were around everyone was a possible threat, and all the other adventures were on edge around strangers.
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