Aegon was taken aback for a moment after getting such intense reactions from them. He knew the Nightmare Desert was dangerous, so he had just joked, but who knew he would get this kind of reaction.

"Just what is there?" Aegon asked, still curious. "And before you scold me, I have no plans to court death."

[...sigh! It's the damn battlefield of a divine army.]

Hearing that, Aegon was dumbfounded as he didn't expect that answer at all.

[Obviously, the Gods didn't fight there. Their armies did. The Gods died and the battle ended. Their armies died alongside them, but their remnants are still there, fighting for eternity. They are not alive, only husks of the past, refusing to admit defeat.]

Aegon remained silent, still coming to terms with the fact that even after tens of thousands of years after their death, they still fought.

'No wonder it's called the Nightmare Desert. How can anyone even cross a place like that?'

[All kinds of bizarre phenomena that deny universal laws exist there. It was a harrowing battle that took countless lives. And not just any lives. The strongest warriors died there, and their will still lingers. Stepping there is equivalent to a death sentence.]

"I understand! I won't go there," Aegon said solemnly. "It sounds way too creepy anyway."

[It is. Back then, I barely managed to get out alive. This is also why I know that Essence Rivers exist there too.]

"I was talking about the one below the God's Hand. Is there anything wrong with it?" Aegon asked, trying not to let his mind wander toward the Divine War.

[Nothing we can't handle. During the time you used that strange technique, the giant God stirred, but nothing else happened, so he is the main problem. Why?]

"He's dead," Aegon said with certainty. "Anything else?"

[Not that I know of.]

"I was thinking of using it for filling mana batteries."

[So it's about that. For one, Amon won't agree to this. He has his reasons. Even if he did, I would recommend otherwise. Harnessing that liquid Essence isn't easy, and not just anyone can do it, so the cost involved is higher. Something you don't want.]

"I see. What if I just make a Mana Battery which can use liquid Essence?" Aegon asked, his expression thoughtful.

[Hmm. I didn't think of that. If you're successful and still manage to keep it cheap, then perhaps I can help you. A single drop of Essence will be enough too. We can also use those batteries for other purposes.]

"Alright, I'll work on it then," Aegon grinned, his mental gears spinning quickly as he formed the theories necessary to make it successful.

[I'll wait. Till then, you can use Thornspire.]

"Gotcha! Go back to sleep now."

[Hmph!]

Aegon stared at the communication stone and muttered, "Why is this old man so grumpy?"

"Perhaps the negotiations didn't go well," Liliana said. "As an Emperor, he does have a lot on his plate."

Aegon nodded in understanding and asked, "Did you ever visit the Nightmare Desert?"

"Never!" Liliana answered softly as she floated down the stairs. "I'm curious, but dying like that is stupidity. Forget entering it, even the aura of that battlefield alone can wipe out cities."

'Now I'm even more curious,' Aegon sighed as he followed her downward.

Of course, even if he wanted to know more about that dreadful desert, he valued his life much more. So he erased the Nightmare Desert from the list of locations he planned to visit.

As they descended the stairs in pitch-black darkness, Aegon said, "The Essence problem is solved, and so are the material requirements."

"How?" Her voice came from below. "I don't think the materials used in it are cheap."

"I have alternatives. They're very cheap and easy to handle too," Aegon said.

All of a sudden, he felt as if his leg had touched a water surface, which made him stop his descent. Confused, he looked down, but because of the darkness, he couldn't see anything.

As if noticing his reaction, Liliana spoke. "Continue. It's just the barrier."

Aegon nodded and dipped his leg into the water-like surface. The feeling of a thin liquid reached even his bones, which was quite a bizarre sensation, as if the water had entered through his pores to examine his insides.

Surprisingly, he didn't sense himself getting wet, so he continued even though the barrier made him feel strange.

Once he passed through the barrier, he noticed dim lighting below him. He descended the rest of the stairs and landed on rocky ground.

Beside him, Liliana stood calmly as she glanced at him and said, "The third problem is RuneMasters."

"Yup!" Aegon nodded in agreement. "It's a Rank 3 Rune Formation, and to have good production, I need hundreds of Rank 4 RuneMasters working on it. And that's just wishful thinking. Even if I manage to find them, the mana batteries won't be cheap anymore."

"So you came looking here for a solution," Liliana said. "Not a bad idea, actually. I've searched history several times whenever I felt stuck. It teaches much more than people realise."

"I have a question regarding history," Aegon asked, still looking at her. "Humans improve every day, let alone over the span of years. I can agree that wars and several other factors can hinder growth and even erase things, but I think the modern world has grown out of all those things. So how is history still so powerful and helpful?"

"You already have the answer, don't you?" Liliana smiled and asked.

"I take back my words. Sometimes it's not fun to talk with smart people," Aegon sighed. "I just want to know your thoughts about it."

"You can ask directly. Anything you wish, really," Liliana answered. "I see history as failure. And one can learn from failures. When I search through history for answers, I stumble upon fractured information from many failed people."

She stared ahead and added, "Failure is the path that never reached its destination. As such, it cannot give information about the destination, but it can tell you about the path taken, even if it led to failure."

"So history is just mistakes we can learn from?" Aegon asked.

"Yes," Liliana smiled and said. "People say failing is fine because it teaches us. But why should I fail myself? I can just look at others and learn from their failures."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.