Since he could sense something suspicious in the building Arthur was curious.

After walking for a few meters, Arthur came to a stop.

The expression on his face was frozen as he stared at what was in front of him.

In front of him was something that looked like a wriggling mess.

There were some grotesque and deformed human parts mixed into the churning liquid.

On the ground, for more than two meters, was something akin to a portal embedded into the floor.

The wriggling creatures, like worms, looked as if they would jump out of the portal at any moment.

Arthur glanced at it, feeling a dreadful pressure leaking out of it.

The dreadful pressure caused him to subconsciously fall into a daze, his thoughts thinning out.

Arthur gradually began approaching the wriggling mess.

He had to… offer himself as a sacrifice to the gods.

He was a worthless human after all.

Besides, he could gain unfathomable strength in doing so.

Just when Arthur reached the middle of the wriggling mess, it seemed to have encountered something horrifying.

It had encountered the heir of calamity.

The wriggling mass twisted violently and a screech that tore through the city resounded in everyone's ears.

Wherever they were, even at the academy, they could hear this screech.

The sound sent shivers down everyone's spine, and even those hidden experts couldn't help giving solemn looks.

Immediately, everyone started trying to pinpoint the source of the commotion.

Meanwhile, after the wriggling mass retreated, the portal seemed to compress into itself before vanishing.

Arthur regained himself from his daze and was terrified, realising what he had almost done.

He had almost sacrificed himself.

'What the fuck was that?' Arthur thought in disbelief.

Turning to the system, he received no reply.

Unable to reach a conclusion, Arthur glanced around, noting that the place had gone back to normal.

The grotesque and deformed humans, along with the black portal, were nowhere to be seen.

And for a brief moment, Arthur even had the illusion that he imagined everything.

But he knew the fear and every emotion he felt was real.

There was no way something like that could be faked.

'There truly is something dangerous going on in this city…' Arthur realised grimly.

He contemplated his next course of action and realised it was best to clear the 30 dungeons before returning.

'Besides, the mission says we should clear at least 30 dungeons. Clearing 100 might be an absurd amount but after clearing that many I might even become as strong as the instructors.'

Arthur felt that his line of thought was right.

With that, he turned to Nephis and said,

"Let's go and meet up with the others."

Arthur always kept Nephis around, knowing she could protect him from the shadows without anyone knowing.

She was basically like his trump card but even better.

Nodding, Nephis blended into Arthur's shadow.

After sparing the place one last glance, Arthur quickly left.

….

The streets were far from normal and Arthur noticed suspicious people roaming about.

Especially old men and men who looked to be in their forties conversing quietly.

Arthur understood it was the situation from before that had alerted them.

Keeping a low profile, he quickly reached the meet up location.

Upon stepping into view, he noticed Aella standing to the side and leaning on the wall.

While Jason paced about, mumbling incoherent curses at Arthur.

"Sorry, I'm late." Arthur apologised.

Aella turned to look at him then shrugged, "It's nothing. You're just a few minutes gone. Let's continue on our way."

'He doesn't seem to think that way.' Arthur thought, giving Jason a fleeting look.

Jason snorted then sneered, "As expected of someone from a low level life."

"Want to have a go?" Arthur raised a brow at him and stretched his limbs, ready for a fight at any time.

Recalling Arthur's summons, Jason snorted and shifted his attention back to Aella.

With that, the three of them left the city.

The check while they were leaving was even more intense because of the commotion Arthur had caused.

Still, it didn't take more than thirty minutes before they left.

"We'll hire three horses to accompany us on the way." Aella said the moment they exited the city.

Thankfully, there was a stead a few meters away from the gates.

With that, they approached the place and hired the required horses before leaving.

As they departed, Arthur finally asked, "Which place are we headed first?"

Aella took out a map from her pocket and quickly glanced through the marked locations before speaking.

"For now we are going toward Jaell State. About three dungeons have been recorded there. And there are cases of people missing along those areas, so we can find out what's going on as we explore the dungeons."

Arthur didn't know where exactly Jaell State was but assumed it was most likely close to the city.

Nodding, he had some more casual chats with Aella as they continued on their way.

They encountered a few bandits, but it was nothing too difficult for them to handle.

And they also encountered some rogue players who wanted to obtain their loot, however they weren't strong enough.

Arthur and Aella soon reached the location of Jaell State.

It was a large enough estate and could accommodate more than a thousand people.

At the entrance of the state Arthur noticed a few beggars there pleading while also looking malnourished.

He frowned slightly, wrinkling his brows.

Aella cast them a glance, her expression still as indifferent as always.

Meanwhile, Jason just glanced at them and showed a look of disgust at the weaklings.

Since they couldn't offer much help, the trio headed in the direction of the city lord.

Normally, while exploring a city and clearing the dungeon within those parts, they had to get permission from the city lord or it could be seen as some form of violation.

Arthur wasn't aware of this and it was during one of his discussion sessions with Aella that she informed him.

After the malnourished beggars, Arthur noticed a few merchants.

However, business wasn't looking good for them in the slightest.

'Could it be because of the dungeon creatures?' Arthur wondered internally.

Those selling meals were the only ones who seemed to have one or two customers.

Meanwhile, others had looks of daze on their faces.

Some of them stared curiously at the three strangers entering the city and occasionally the trio were approached by groups of beggars or merchants.

The beggars pleaded for something to eat, but noticing the malice in the eyes of others, Arthur knew that being a good samaritan would only bring danger.

Meanwhile, the merchants came offering whatever they were selling.

Still, because they were of no use to them, the trio didn't bother sparing more than a glance.

Silently, they continued through the streets as Arthur watched everything in quiet curiosity.

It seemed the presence of dungeons in Jaell State had really done harm to the area.

Within a few minutes they reached a mansion situated in the middle of the city.

It was the city lord's mansion.

And upon reaching it, they noticed more than ten guards stationed outside.

The guards were currently in an entanglement with a few men who were fighting to enter inside.

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