12 { Searching for a new Dungeon to train in}

While catalina continued with her training by herself Dan spent the whole day preparing for his search of a new dungeon

He knew it might take a long time to find one of these dungeons because of the difference in the geography from now to after the apocalyptic earthquake.

'Man it might take quite a while to find the dungeons and the only clue about them that i have is the appearance of the vicinity of their entrances'

'The entrance of the dungeon in the forest is at the roots of a big ass tree standing a couple of hundreds of meters tall '

'As for the dungeon located in the outskirts of the mountains, it is located at the peak of one of the flat mountain peaks.'

Standing on the roof, Dan was pondering and adjusting his plans, while staring at the scenery of the mini forest that was next to the city on the right side of the mountain on the left side of dan peripheral vision.

'The best option is to hunt in the forest because i don't think i can survive a fall in the mountains and it would take too long to go up and down every singe mountain, since a helicopter service will be a bad idea for obvious reasons'

'to find the dungeon located in the forest would require a drone approach , it would be faster and very helpful using drones to fly around the area, getting a couple of them would be safe just in case some break'

'The first thing to look for, or more precisely the only clue i have is that the dungeons entrance was attached to a gigantic sized tree , which i think is impossible for such a tree to exist a t the moment or else it would be obvious and since the whole forest has the maximum of a twelve meter long tree , if i'm not miscalculating from what i am seeing in front of me'

'The other factor to include is that when the apocalyptic earthquake happened the plants also went through a huge change , as if something made them fatter stronger and bigger, imbuing them with sustenance and vitality which should have resulted in the now unknown dungeon door tree to be overgrown quite a lot '

At that time in the future the dungeon door tree was the largest one in the forest and located quite deep, close to the outskirts of the inner area which does not exist now since the forest is so small compared to after the apocalyptic earthquake and geographical change so it would be quite hard for dan to find without geographical landmarks that he could recognize

For Dan to find the tree, he will need to search far and wide around the forest and find the species of trees that has the potential to grow the tallest is one of his best options now because the dungeon entrance might be under one of them.

'Hopefully the tree is already taller by a few heads or more than the rest of the trees in its vicinity'

Dan's plan was 2 parts . First search all the trees that are taller than their neighbors if the result shows nothing.

The second part is to look for species of trees that have the potential to outgrow the rest.

While dan was finalizing the plan in his mind, he noticed from the corner of his eye his sister coming out of the house which means she is ready for another round of training

Halting his thought process and leaving the planing in the back of his mind, dan jumps down from the roof that is five meters above ground dan approaches her

"hey cat , from now on you will rest for five hours before sleep"

He announced

Catalina had a surprised look on her face before asking

"Why?"

" the body cannot be pushed too much or else it will crumble from the inside out instead of growing stronger, especially since i don't have any healing methods or potent medicine to heal any hidden injuries , and the resting time will be time given to the body to readjust allowing for better healing"

" the reason i pushed so hard for the beginning is to build your determinations and resolve through observing your fast progress, which made you more determined to see more progress allowing a different view and perspective, but now that you have that perspective you should slow down a bit, at least until u can acquire items or abilities that can help with healing the damage that too much stress on the body might bring"

"And beside what's the point of reaching higher than you already have if you don't take a small break to appreciate the view"

After catalina heard that reasoning and without further questioning she started skipping and jogging on her feet back to the house with a bright smile on her face.

At the entrance of the house she stopped and looked back with a smile and asked

"Are you coming to chill and smoke or what?"

Looking at his sister dan thought aloud

"Sure might as well take a break as well , as from tomorrow ill be very busy in the forest and who knows when i'll be able to chill and relax next"

The rest of the evening was spent quite relaxedly the the sibling duo

The next day, Dan woke up later than usual. Looking outside from his rooms window he noticed catalina already on the racing track training

After showering and eating a filling breakfast dan did a final check on his equipment and proceed with exploring the forest

First step was to locate the tall trees in the area which didn't require for him to personally have to travel anywhere

All dan did that day was fly the drones atop the forest canopy and mark the tall trees that stood out of the rest on his map and GPS

Although he could fly the drones around the trees there was a chance that it might get damaged so he did not approach the trees to close

On his second day dan followed the same patterns , but this time he was marking the trees that had the potential to overgrow the rest around them even if they were shorter at the moment

And finally after spending two more days in the forest searching all the marked locations on his map Dan ended up finding the entrance of the dungeon when he was heading to the location of another marked tree only to end up finding the dungeon's entrance halfway to his next targeted location.

The dungeon's entrance wasn't even marked among any of the markings on his maps.

The entrance was located besides a small sapling, the location is between two small hills forming a small ravine between them with some overgrown trees having branches stretching out all over the place covering the dungeons entrance and the ravens, no wonder dan wasn't able to locate it with his drones

If it wasn't because of the straight line he took to his next marked location to check Dan might have missed it.

After paying attention to the positioning of the two small hills on the left and right sides of the dungeons gate in the middle, Dan started to compare the geographical appearance of the location at this time with the appearance of the one from his future.

The difference between them was that the sapling was a big ass tree and on the left and right sides of the dungeons entrance there were no hills but there were two small mountain peaks with a two kilometre distance between the dungeon gate and them. A stark construct between the raven and the mountains.

This just shows what a big difference the apocalyptic earthquake will bring in the future.

'So strange to see the gate of the dungeon without a humongous tree standing over it like a guardian'

'Now that i know the location , lets head back home to prepare my equipment, oh right i already have that ready, oh well it's six pm anyways, too late to check it out, a small break and a movie sounds good before a long grind.'

'and here i estimated a couple of weeks before finding the dungeon gates location'

With a smile on his face Dan headed back home filled with excitement.

The next morning, Catalina woke up as usual and started her training, as for her brother he waited till the sun started rising before he left for his new dungeon exploration.

His home was only twenty minutes away by car , much more closer than the goblins dungeon

Approaching his sister while she was in the middle of running he asks

" Morning sis, i'm heading out for the new dungeon, do you need anything?"

"Well i'm pretty sure you took care of the basic need around the house and grinded enough low stage monster cores for today's training so no , not really i guess, oh yeah how about you bring a nice souvenir?"

"haha , OK , if i find something worthwhile, I will"

By the time Catalina was done with the running course dan had already driven halfway to the new dungeons gate

When he arrived at the dungeon he was able to park the off-road jeep a few meters next to the small hill, he took out some camping equipment and equipped himself with his gear before walking the rest of the way which wasn't that far.

Arriving next to the dungeon dan sets up a small campfire and finds a location between two shrubberies to hide the rest of the back up equipment and cooking utensils with some branches

When everything was set he continues towards the dungeon gate that's magnificent with intricate weird symbols and lines interacting in a weird but beautiful way and if closer attention is paid you could see all kinds of different creatures and plants that you might think are impossible to exist, carved in the giant frame of the gate that leads to the next dungeon filled with treasures.

To acquire more information than uses his the information gathering skill he was awarded by the Chaotic System

'Scan'

Dan thought to himself while look at the dungeons entrance

[Emerald Essence Canopy ] (High-Stage)

[Dungeon (world fragment) ]

A small pocket world covered with a forest the color of Emerald that spans the size of a continent with a couple of mountain ranges, the forest and mountains are hosts to many species of lifeforms and treasures to be found and explored.

As soon as dan laid his eyes on the description that the [Chaotic System] provided him , he had confusion on his face, showing more than ever now, still more unanswered questions appearing without anyone to give answers kept swirling and bothering his mind after his expectations were not met yet again

Dan sighed and closed his eyes while he took a deep calming breath and putting the questions in the back of his mind

'there is no point in pondering over the differences and reasons why the goblin dungeon is a low-stage dungeon instead of a mid-stage like how i remember and why the Emerald Essence Canopy isn't a mid-stage dungeon like i expected but is a high stage dungeon like how i remember, besides the difference in appearance on the geographical area next to it, but i am sure that since i am the first to step in here , than the changes that should have already taken place have not yet so there are more treasures for me to find, unlike how it was in the future'

Walking forwards dan stepped into the gate disappearing from the forest

In front of his view Dan could see trees as far as the eyes could see.

Trees so tall that they appeared as if reaching for the clouds when looking up from the ground.

'If i remember correctly the shortest tree here is about 150 meters and the longest is about 400 meters, even the shortest is bigger than any tree in the world, what a marvel the spiritual energy brings to the environment and lifeforms that evolve while bating and breathing it'

Looking behind him the entrance stood tall and sturdy as for the surroundings area there were trees , tall grass, unknown plants, bushes and vines that slightly resemble some of the plants from dans world but different and sturdier all around him

Thankfully [Superior Senses] is a skill that allows him to be much more attentive to his surroundings and he could sense any lifeforms in his close vicinity , unless they have a stronger concealment ability

With determination and excitement in his heart dan proceeds further into the forest

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