"Nah! I am just here for fun."

"Fun?" I was rather confused as I saw his approach,"you are not from this planet? Did you come here to raid or something?"

I saw that I couldn't kill him either in the future. This guy.. was as absurd as I was. Not only that, but he was rather cunning to be fair. It wasn't just his skill or abilities, but his overall capability in his skills was equally astonishing.

"Hehe. You saw through a bunch of my skills, huh? Ain't I such a great guy?'' He laughed sheepishly, as if he enjoyed my expression. He was kind of annoying.

"So? What are you going to do now?" I asked most curiously. If he is here for fun, even then what sort of fun did he come for?

"Why should I tell ya?" he asked cheekily, but I wasn't really bothered by his response. I looked around as I observed the way deep into this lair. I wondered how much more it would take to reach deeper.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!'' Though on the contrary, not finding me irritated, he was the one who got irritated instead. His expressions were rather funny, I smiled as I asked,"what?"

"Tch! You cunning bastard.. "

I ignored him again as I ventured deeper into the lair. I got a lot more on my hands than just him to deal with.

'I'll deal with him when I get stronger,' I stretched as I started using [Warp] again to keep jumping from one point to another. Because of my limited ability to see, I was using [Warp] carefully, covering only a limited distance at a time.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Where are you running? Don't leave me here!"

I heard that guy's voice as he kept running behind me with an insane speed. I guess I really underestimated the number of individuals that would match me. Hmmm.. does he have divinity as well?

I was a bit curious about him now.

"Forget about me. Why are you here?" he asked with a curious look on his face, his eyes trying to figure out what I am doing here.

I narrowed my eyes at him, as he was curiously looking at me. Is he an idiot or something?

"Shouldn't you be answering my questions first?" I questioned him before he spoke out,"but I really am here for fun. I don't exactly have a purpose right now other than getting stronger and enjoying the process."

Looking at him, I sighed. I honestly am not going to believe this..

'Even though I am here for the same purpose.. to get strong while doing quests,' I looked forward before I realized something. If he could read my thoughts, then why is he asking questions?

Was there any condition to fulfill before he could read my thoughts? I didn't know. Well, not my concern to be honest.. But still, it makes me curious.

As I moved towards the center, the path became much clearer. Unlike the previous dark area with no light whatsoever, the front area was lit up by strange blue glowing rocks that were paved into the shape of a bridge.

"OOOHH!!!!"

Unlike me, who was careful with them, the other guy, Aarick, jumped directly on them, breaking them in an instant.

"I didn't think I would find the Rocks of Tragedies here," he seemed quite happy with the findings. I looked at him a bit curious as I observed him a little. Then my eyes went back to the rocks as I began using [Inspect!].

Though before I could begin using my skill, Aarick began speaking,

"These are soul stones formed after the condensation. Not much as great as the original pure soul, but because they are made up of more than a thousand souls condensed into one, each of these stones is much better than 10 of the individual souls."

"Souls? Condensation?" I looked at him with a confused face. It was my first time hearing these things.

"Yeah. It's more of a power-up thingy which you take in your body to increase your power level. Quite resourceful for demonic cultivation, if you ask me," he spoke as he nodded to himself.I think you should take a look at

"Demonic.. cultivation?"

Like wuxia novels?

Is that what it was?

"Hmmm.. you really don't know anything about that? Are you someone from a different nebula or something?" he asked as he looked at me real close, while I reached beside him. His eyes observed me from top to bottom before speaking,

"This Nebula is known as the Trione Nebula. Here, people have inherently learnt to take in the energy present in nature within the body without any external help. This allows them to gain more power with each turn, while the more they absorb, the more powerful they are."

"And these soul stones allow one to get even more powerful?" I asked, and he nodded.

"There are various forms of stones. From natural ones, to the one that comes from divine beasts, and those from the souls of other beings. This one in particular is formed by souls of living beings that thrived on this planet. Though there is something odd about them," he spoke as he crouched while touching the stones.

"They are all.. relatively pure, to be honest," he added.

"Is that wrong?" I asked curiously. It was interesting to see the power gaining methods of other beings.

"Yeah. Normally, one is forced to turn into a material for others. And that force is derived from something called dark energy or demonic energy. Though these people.. don't even have a trace of it. It's as if they willingly gave their lives to turn into soul stones," he spoke as he gazed at the path deeper into the lair.

"Is that so? Hmmm.. I guess we will find the answers inside," I too looked inside before taking a peek at the stones with [Inspect]. All the information matched with what Aarick just spoke.

And without speaking any more words, we both ventured deeper, side by side, carefully into the lair. I didn't use [Warp] this time, and neither did Aarick run this time. We could both feel the tension in the air as we carefully walked into the layer.

After traveling for about an hour..

"You see that?" Aarick asked as he made a slight smirk, while I smiled too.

historical

"So, this is why you were cautious?" I asked as I looked at him and he nodded before speaking,

"It's not something you see every day, do you?"

In front of us was a giant dragon, though it was more in a soul form than in a real form. His eyes were dull, his body was translucent green. I could see bits of souls evaporating from the side of his head. If I were to make a guess, he was losing power continuously.

But more to it, the souls from the surrounding area were flowing inside him, increasing his lost life span. Overall, he was still losing his lifespan, but the process got slower, giving him more time before his death.

"I guess not," I answered Aarick as I used [Inspect!]

[Soul Dragon of Deception!

Titles: Guardian of the Fallen Dragon

Description: ???

Status: Near-Death Condensation

Stats: ???

Skill: ???]