Chapter 322: The Dragon Valley! Part-3.
Chapter 322: The Dragon Valley! Part-3.
"I heard that quite a few wise dragons were sent to investigate this strange phenomenon, but there's been no result until now..."
Liam nodded his head and said,
"Well, scientists have been trying to figure out the mystery of why dungeons are open for two millennia now, but there's been only theories and no concrete results... I highly doubt if those dragons can find anything..."
Gulija was taken aback by Liam's remarks and responded,
"Oh, I didn't expect that humans were also capable of investigating such powerful phenomena..."
Liam gave a slight smile upon hearing those words,
"You haven't been to the outside world, so you don't know what humans are capable of... We already have spaceships that can be used to go to other solar systems and conquer new planets..."
"Of course, if not for the insane number of dungeons and monsters in outer space, we would have already started colonizing other planets..."
Gulija was taken aback by those words, and although he doesn't understand what Liam means by a'spaceship', he can assume that it must be a powerful transport vehicle.
"Sigh, I have never had the chance to go out; otherwise, I would have liked to visit the outside world and see all the amazing sights for myself..."
At that moment, Link asked in confusion.
"So, why are you guys not allowed to go out?"
Gulija simply shook his head, saying,
"I don't know... There's no proper method to leave this place to go outside except if the Dragon King himself opens an exit portal for you..."
"No, I guess only SS-rankers can travel in and out of this place at will, as they can open portals..."
"In other words, if I want to go out, either I would need to ask an SS-rank dragon to open a portal or I would have to become an SS-ranker myself..."
"Which is basically impossible; I don't have that much talent..."
Dragon men are indeed strong, but rarely do any of them ever have the talent to become SS rankers, so they don't have much say in front of the Dragon King.
While the group kept talking about various things, they finally reached the palace after about half an hour of riding on the horse.
They were deliberately going slow; otherwise, they could have reached here faster.
"Oh, by the way, if you meet the princess, it's better to just, you know... Stay away from her; retreat from the area as fast as possible..."
"She has a 'unique' personality... You know what I mean, right?"
Rio and others were quite confused by those words, but they nodded their heads and agreed.
"Okay, here we are; from here, I shall refer to you all as honorable Guests..."
The outer wall's gate was opened by two dragon men, and the group got down from the horses.
And another group of Dragon men took the horses away on their own without saying anything.
Everything was done in an orderly and perfect manner.
The group walked through the path from the middle of the garden area. Beautiful fountains were placed on both sides of the path, and the fresh breeze blowing carried the amazing scent of the flowers growing in the vast garden.
Seeing all this amazing scenery, Rio couldn't help but say,
"This place is quite beautiful indeed..."
Just when Gulija was about to reply, suddenly a girl wearing a red dress with white designs on it appeared out of nowhere beside him and said,
"Isn't it? I am glad you like the garden; actually, I planted those white flowers myself..."
Not only Gulija and others, but even Rio was taken aback for a second when that unknown girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Even Rio didn't detect her coming close, and even his instincts or danger sense didn't react either.
It was as if she had appeared from a portal or something, but the strange thing is, no portals had opened at the moment.
'An illusion? No, if it were an illusion, true immunity would have been triggered... interesting...'
Even Rio was quite surprised by that fancy trick; it was actually quite similar to how he likes to sneak around and appear out of nowhere.
But unlike Rio, who suppresses his presence to the extreme, this girl was doing something totally different.
'It's likely some inherent talent...'
While Rio was busy thinking about that ability in his mind, Gulija suddenly started to sweat heavily and said,
"P-princess, uh... y-you shouldn't be here... People will be punished for letting you sneak out of the Dragon Temple..."
The girl smiled and said,
"No, this time, I actually have my father's permission; he allowed me to come to the palace and pick up the guests and take them with me to the dragon temple after having lunch, of
course!"
Suddenly, the girl remembered something and said,
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Selaindhux Raos De Draconia... You can just call me Princess Selain, though!"
Selain crossed her arms, and a smug look appeared on her face. She was proud of her lineage and happy to meet new people.
Selain glanced towards Gulija and said,
"I will take the guests with me; you go and play with the other knights on your own.."
Gulija nodded his head awkwardly. He still wasn't sure if the princess was telling the truth
that the king sent her, but he had no choice but to agree.
So, he nodded at Link and the others to say farewell and then left on his own.
Once Gulija was gone, Selain led the way forward.
"It's a pleasure to meet you at last; I actually watched all of your matches on that device you guys call 'Smartphone'; you really are quite impressive..."
Link and others thought that Selain was praising them, and they were about to say thanks in return, but she suddenly glanced at Rio and said,
"I am delighted to meet you, 'Champion'..."
Rio was taken aback for a second when Selain suddenly started talking to him while straight-
up ignoring the others.
Usually, whenever their group is out on a mission or anything, Link is the first person everyone unconsciously talks to, and then Liam does all the talking and negotiations.
Rio's has such little presence in the group that rarely anyone notices him, and they don't talk to him unless he himself asks a question.
But for some reason, Selain ignored all these steps; she didn't bother talking to the others and directly started a conversation with Rio, who is the most difficult person to talk to.
"I am honored... So, you watched all of my matches?"
At Rio's question, Selain nodded her head and said,
"Of course! It's extremely rare to see a swordsman as talented as you; I rarely find anyone who's as interested as me in sword arts..."
"Actually, I have been trying to learn 'sword intent' too, but I have yet to figure it out... But you, on the other hand, already have insane mastery over 'sword intent', which is an awesome
feat..."
Selain couldn't help but nod her head again and again when talking about Rio.
"You know, Father originally only wanted to invite 'Link Rex' for some reason that I don't know, but I asked him to invite the whole team Astra so that I can meet you!"
The whole group was shocked by this scene; they never expected that a person would be so interested in Rio, who's always out of the spotlight most of the time.
Aside from winning the title of champion, Rio has always avoided the spotlight.
On the other hand, Lia was already pouting her cheeks after seeing Selain talking to Rio so enthusiastically. From Lia's perspective, a new rival has been born all of a sudden. "Unlike the brutish way that others fight, I much prefer the elegance of swordsmanship. I have devoted a lot of my time to it, and seeing a fellow swordsman who has better mastery
over the sword than me is really refreshing..."
Rio simply shook his head in response to Selain's words.
"You are praising me too much, princess; certainly you aren't that bad yourself, and even I
couldn't detect you when you suddenly appeared..."
Selain simply shook her head, saying,
"That's just a simple trick, actually. I think you might figure out the ins and outs of it if you
see it a few more times... No, I think you have already started to figure it out, right?"
"The videos don't do you justice; you are more impressive in person, Rio Flash..."
Selain stretched out her hand and said,
"How about having a friendly spar later? I am very interested in seeing the 'Sword Intent' with my own eyes; just by looking at the videos, I can't grasp its true nature..."
"I used to feel that I was the strongest when it came to swordsmanship, but after seeing the
amazingly breathtaking 'Sword Intent' that you use, I can't consider myself the strongest sword user anymore..."
"Your 'Sword Intent' is just as charming as it is lethal...
Rio was genuinely surprised by Selain's word; this is the first time he has seen anyone comprehend his sword intent this much, except for QI Ming.
'This girl... She might have the talent to awaken sword intent in the future... But why was such
a talented character not mentioned in the original novel even once?'
Rio was very confused at why Selain's name was never mentioned in the novel when she's
clearly one of the most talented sword users in this world.
In the original novel, Rio would have never become as strong as now, and Qi Meng would have
died too.
In other words, Selain should have been the only person with the talent to awaken 'Sword
Intent' and yet she never appeared in the novel.
Which is very strange.
...
...
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
Hoh, it seems even Rio has some charm after all; like-minded people who are obsessed with
swordsmanship just like him can get interested in him, it seems.
Question of the day:
Who seems the most charming, in your opinion?
1. Link (Handsome, good at housework, strong and perfect husbando material)
2. Liam (Good at cooking and can do all the housework, it will seem like you getting pampered
like a kid.)
3. Rio (Ordinary, No emotions, no emotional support for you, but he can make the best tea in
the world...)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.