Ashenrock Isle had received heavy modifications and infrastructure improvements. The whole island was around 60 km in both length and width. They planned to separate it into four different zones, centered around the major small towns already present on the island, and make roads to connect in the middle where the biggest city will be made.

Four different towns will have waygates to four countries: Eldoris, the Empire, Faerunia, and Malveria.

At first, Damian thought the situation with shadowborns was too delicate to include them in the trading hub. But the isle was sanctuary land, and he was not concerned by how it would be seen by others now. They were going to hate Sanctuary anyway; it was better to give the people of Malveria a chance.

Besides, he had some ideas for a peaceful integration of the two species. It was a unique opportunity for Sanctuary that had no gods actively ruling it.

If Sanctuary, Malveria, and Eldoris stood side by side, the others would hesitate before messing with any of them. It was for the future, a time when Damian or any powerful protectors of the three countries might not exist. If nothing else, this cooperation will at least lessen the fear and increase familiarity between the shadowborn and humans of each other.

It won't be easy, and it will become another thing Sanctuary is hated for. But someone had to start. If they found more of these new species, they couldn't just ignore them and go on living.

In the middle of the Ashenrock Isle, where the massive city was planned to be built, a giant building already existed. Damian had made it himself as the future headquarters of the Sanctum Research Board. It wasn't complete yet.

He had just shaped it similar to the Sanctum building, but that was just the exterior. Instead of a standing knight, the appearance was that of a mage's robe-wearing lady who had books in her left hand, and her right hand was pointing straight at the ocean. She was wearing glasses, and her expressions showed curiosity and wonder.

He had molded the appearance of Mindseer and Lucian for it, not that he ever said that to anyone, but those who had spent a long time with the two could easily recognize it. It was an inside joke.

Only one floor in the building was perfectly ready and put to use. The building was empty and needed a lot of modification still. They were still building the roads and city, so it was still a work in progress. But the board still gathered here, which was easier than using Sanctuary's waygates, which were always in the eyes of the citizens and sanctum officials.

The transcendents and high-profile members of the board were not ambushed here by nobles and officials. This place acted better as a safe place than the busy Sanctum building.

The one floor was massive and had all the things needed for the regular meetings.

Damian activated waygates connecting the Empire, Faerunia, and Edgeheaven in the teleport room and welcomed the Emperor, Moondancer, Landbreaker, Voidshaper, Vearon, and his new wife. From the Sanctum Damian, Sam, Vidalia, Ilvanya, Duke Halwen of Coldreach, Orren Halvik, Hellstorm, and the ex-queen of Faerunia arrived together.

The new member of the high research board, Orren Halvik, was a big name among mainland scholars. He was quite old as well. Near 85-90 years. Being a second ranker that wasn't too old, but his hair had still turned gray.

The things he was most famous for and had recived this high a place in the Sanctum research board included the following. He proved dark-element mana is entropy-seeking, not evil-aligned, overturning sun temple doctrine. He developed the Halvik Scale, which measures chaos and dark mana surrounding a dungeon to somewhat guess what type of monsters and environment there could be inside.

He even confirmed that chaos mana is necessary for dungeon stability. His work with dark and chaos elements led him to develop several mana circulation techniques and spells that remove preveously uncurable curses and diseases. He was known for curing several villages and high-ranking nobles and their families from these rare mana exposure diseases.

The man was hated by the Sun Temple but was highly respected in all countries. Eldoris and Faerunia both had offered him a royal title, which he refused to accept and asked for unrestricted archive access instead.

Halwen of Coldreach, on the other hand, was one of the nobles who joined the research center after the celebration week. Coldreach is in the Empire of today, which used to be Dawnstar once. The middle-aged man gave charge to his heir and shifted to Sanctuary. He was a second-ranker as well and was famously known for his book Stonejaw's Notes. It contained a detailed study of troll blood-used methods of regeneration.

In the week since Sam took over, the Faerunians had made a deal of their own. In exchange for the three: Hellstorm, the queen, and Alex never fighting any person from Faerunia, they can keep their position in the Research Board and get 30% of their family land back.

There was a clause in the research board that any foreign country member, other than Sanctuary, if they were a member of the Sanctum Research High Board, could live in the Sanctuary as an independent researcher. Of course, Sanctuary had a right to refuse this application if the individual was actively taking part in a conflict between Sanctuary and his or her home country. But since that was not the case, Sam had accepted the Faerunians after consulting with the high table.

The deal between the Faerunians also mentioned that if Hellstorm, ex-queen, and Alex set a single foot in Faerunia's borders, they must accept Vearon as their rightful king and obey all his commands.

Which meant as long as they remained in Sanctuary and were part of the research board, they were not obligated to fight from any side. Of course, that did not extend to Alex, who was part of neither.

The ex-queen of Faerunia was not a board member any longer; only Hellstorm was. But Hellstorm appointed his sister as his stand-in, so she was still considered a member. It was part of their deal to give one membership seat of Faerunia to Vearon. It was actually the princess Vesperine who was a published researcher and was accepted as a member of the research board, and Vearon was her stand-in.

The rule was to have stand-ins from inside the research center if possible. For those who were not part of the research center and were chosen for the position of member stand-in, they had to donate 500 gold per month to the research fund and were not allowed vote on anything. In addition, if 30% of the members present felt the stand-in was not good enough, they could kick them out at any moment.

Other than Vesperine and Vearon, no one was willing to pay such a massive amount every month. So all stand-ins were from inside the research center. Damian's stand-in was Celestine. Her husband once ordered to make a book on famous weapons, she had played quite a part in its completion, and was mentioned as co-author. That was enough for her to join the research center.

The others had all the high and respected research center members of their own countries or familiar people as their stand-ins. Usually, only stand-ins attended these meetings, and barely any of them showed up until something important was on the agenda.

Damian had called all of them today. He only mentioned showing a runic machine that could further the goals of the research center as the reason.

By now, people knew the things he and Sanctum made were some of the most surprising things ever. No one wanted to miss. Of course, just the possibility that other leaders were going to come was enough to get attention as well.

All took their position around the massive round table made of Blazur. Each seat had push buttons to activate the sanctum research receiver channels, the multiple-screen version.

The tension between two groups of Faerunians, Vidalia and Moondancer, and the heavy silence between the Emperor and Sam, Damian himself, was an amusing thing to note for the members. He got straight to the point,

"The Sanctum has planned for a massive exploration project which will be launched in 2 months or less. I propose that the Sanctum Research Center take part in this endeavor to boost the speed at which we gather information on dungeons and their related things."

"You want to use the center's manpower for your personal plans?"

Queen Vesperine shot back. He expected this attitude from her after she vowed to take vengeance against him for her father.

Damian shook his head calmly, "I will be handling the exploration project. I am informing the board that I will be joining the elite teams and diving into any new dungeons we find on the way."

"You will be sharing new dungeons with the board?" Voidshaper asked, and all members subtly eyed Damian.

They all knew he had found hundreds of dungeons in just one trip from the empire's coast to Malveria. If he actively goes looking for dungeons, he could exceed a thousand new ones in months. Having all that available to the board to use as they wished would mean unimaginable resources and power.

"No, same as the elite team rewards. Anyone who helps gets to keep 60% of their loot. Sanctuary offers a one-time clear opportunity. We aim to clear every dungeon we come across in the most efficient way possible." Damian clarified. "The new dungeons will be property of Sanctuary. But I need a large amount of manpower to map landmass if I come across any. The job is dangerous, so the reward for that will be high as well. The bigger the group, the greater a piece of the new findings can be rewarded."

That opened the eyes of every political leader present in the room. Damian ignored the red, blue, and golden mana threads on various heads. Clearing a dungeon was not a small feat. After becoming a transcendent, experience points become hard to earn, even with the blessings. Completing a dungeon is highly rewarded in experience point and if the dungeon was a high-level one, the points increase exponentially.

Which was why clearing one dungeon again and again was preferred for gaining levels. It was both fast and more rewarding overall. Entering new dungeons and facing different types of monsters gave greater experience points and dungeon relics, but accessing multiple dungeons effectively, considering the time in comparison, was nearly impossible.

But for third rankers, clearing high-level dungeons was more important than clearing a single dungeon again and again. At least, for the ones who wanted to level up.

What he offered was not just a share of the loot but an opportunity to gain more power. There were just three hundred-level dungeons on the mainland before Damian discovered the underwater dungeons. One in the control of Highswords, one in Faerunia, and the last one in Eldoris. If there was a secret one in Dawnstar of Empire, he didn't know. But dungeons were not something one could hide forever.

"If it's the research board's elite team, anyone can join, right?" Voidshaper asked.

Damian nodded.

"I will join the team with you," Vidalia said without any delay.

Damian smiled as their eyes met.

"I can leave anytime, right? It's not some mana contract?" Hellstorm asked.

"Sanctuary is asking for partners, not slaves. If you wish to earn wealth, power, or knowledge, join us. Simple as that. Even with a few people, I will do this; it will simply take longer. I don't want to do this for years, which is why I proposed this to the board. Hopefully, some of our elites will become transcendents in time, and I wouldn't need you all."

Damian chose his words carefully. Neither asking for help nor denying their needs, and dangling the benefits just the right amount before them to get them salivating.

"I will join," Hellstorm agreed.

"The strongest joining together to tackle the dungeons continuously, huh?" The Emperor murmured. "Sounds interesting, but I shall pass."

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