Chapter 1970: Trance

"Huff..." Rui's cold eyes narrowed, staring at the Mellow Dungeon in the distance. "It's a shame I wasn't able to come here before I inherited the Elder Tree's knowledge."

Rui wasn't lacking self-awareness. He knew that he was different from before. He felt as though someone had dialed down his emotions. He recalled the fascination, awe, and wonder he had experienced when he beheld the magic of the Garden of Salvation.

He was unable to experience a fraction of that emotion when looking at an equally exotic phenomenon.

The revelation that very few things could trigger the same kind of experience was not pleasant.

While, before, a series of things could have triggered positive emotions, it was as though someone had drastically increased the threshold for those same experiences to bring him the same amount of happiness. Only the ecstasy born from his Flowing Void Style and Adaptive Evolution had been able to cross that threshold consistently.

"I mean, we could have."

Kane's voice interjected, cutting through his own thoughts.

"No," Rui replied stoically. "We couldn't have."

"Was it worth it?" Kane's voice was sharp. "Was breaking your own mind worth it?"

Rui turned to Kane with a detached gaze.

A single remark escaped him.

"Yes."

Kane shook his head, heaving a sigh. "I figured. It's your best and worst trait, man. It might get you killed. Thankfully, you have me. Now, are we ready?"

"Soon."

Once Rui had gotten a good understanding of the Mellow Manifold, all the low-hanging fruit were gone. Now, it was time to subject himself to danger if he wished to learn more about the Mellow Dungeon.

The objectives of the operation into the Mellow Dungeon were simple.

To learn more about the challenges that barricaded the way to the center of the dungeon and get rid of as many as possible. Ideally, Rui hoped to learn the identity of the creatures at the Master-level zone of the Mellow Dungeon.

If he could catch a glimpse of them all, then he could instantly gain a deep understanding of exactly what kind of environment was most antithetical to them through the enlightenment of the Tree of Life.

He had yet to flesh out a specific plan, but he was absolutely certain that knowing the environments that were most antithetical to each of them would help him clear the dungeon and undo the manifold, freeing them.

"We don't need to hurry," Rui sharply remarked, turning to Kane. "We have thirty-six years."

"It thought it was seventy-two?"

"That is until my father succumbs," Rui darkly replied. "We need to get there before he does, and the travel time alone will be a lot. It's an irrelevant distinction, ultimately."

Rui did not intend to spend thirty-six years in this dungeon.

It was a consequence of his goal to be able to adaptively evolve to overcome any force that sought to defeat him. In order to grow, he needed to be exposed to different kinds of forces that sought to crush him.

More importantly, it required him to train and grow stronger by adaptively evolving to them as a result.

This had been the case for a lot of the progress that he had made over the years.

A lot of the techniques that he had created after becoming a Martial Squire had been a result of trying to overcome certain challenges with his Martial Art. This had been the case when he adaptively evolved to the challenges of the Shionel Dungeon by creating techniques specifically designed to offset it.

The same could be said for all the techniques that he had created during his exodus away from Kandria, hiding from Chairman Deacon. He created Greater Phantomind Void, Death's Sympathy, and similarly powerful techniques for the sake of killing Chairman Deacon.

Many of his greatest creations were a result of adaptively evolving to the challenges and forces aligned against him.

He would not be able to find much of that in a prison as small as the Mellow Manifold.

Another part of him, however, felt that it was a worthy place to train his foundations. It was a shame that he valued the diversity of adaptive evolution more.

"Done."

His voice was stoic as he buried their little backpacks in the sand. He didn't intend to carry all the instruments, artifacts, and tools that he had brought along with him to the Beast Domain. They would just get in the way.

The two men got up, facing the dungeon.

"Any time," Kane remarked.

"Let's go."

WHOOSH

The two shot off into the Mellow Dungeon at an incredible speed, heading deep into the dungeon.

Immediately they came across several Apprentice-level monsters as soon as they entered. Several harpies with faces that were more humanoid and feminine than any other monster Rui had ever seen stood in their path.

Much to Rui's surprise, simply flexing a powerful aura didn't instantly cause them to run away from fear. Not only did they face the sum totality of Rui's aura, but they didn't so much as flinch.

Yet, that wasn't all.

"They're in a trance..." Realization dawned on Rui as the harpies pounced on him.

He would be able to recognize the hazy, unfocused, and vacant eyes that the harpies anywhere he went.

POW POW!

Rui exploded their heads into mist with light jabs, a hint of intrigue entering his empty eyes. "...Was it the Divine Doctor?"

He had seen the Divine Doctor put Apprentice-level and Senior-level creatures into trances before training them to be his slaves in a Pavlovian fashion.

"...If this method was effective, he would have long escaped," Rui stoically remarked, shaking his head. "No, this...this is the work of someone else."

His eyes scoured the dungeon around him. "...I see."

"What do you see?"

"The dungeon controls them," Rui sternly concluded. "It's definitely not the Divine Doctor because he requires a continuous supply to maintain the trance. This must be the dungeon's doing. I see, if it controls the beasts and monsters in its depths then..."