Chapter 58

Serenity Canyon was one of the many zones in the northwestern region of the Grandsky Realm, far from the territories of the Sin, Elemental, and Conceptual nations. About as large as the Innate Dimension, it took the shape of a bowl, with its borders housing pockets of lakes from top to bottom. Water fell from the higher lakes to those below, creating a beautiful network of waterfalls and shrouding the plant life in a haze of mist. A dense jungle claimed the bottom of Serenity Canyon, its reach extending everywhere. The cries and roars of various creatures rang out constantly.

On the eastern edge of Serenity Canyon, situated between two lakes, hovered a massive blue portal surrounded by floating rocks engraved with undecipherable lines. It was the gateway leading to the Innate Dimension, previously inactive.

At this moment, humans, elves, and dwarves streamed through the portal. Arriving in the Grandsky Realm for the first time, they looked around in amazement.

“Hey, don’t block the portal!” A soldier standing nearby scolded the newcomers, finding it amusing how everyone reacted the same.

“Oh, sorry,” An elderly dwarf laughed in embarrassment and urged his companions forward. Not long after, Ska’dur and Luca stepped through the portal. They glanced around, comparing what they saw with the image of the Grandsky Realm they had built in their mind. Ska’dur breathed in through his nose and found the air fresh and invigorating.

“Ma’am, please move out of the way!” The soldier stationed at the side called out respectfully.

Luca blinked, then understood and chuckled to herself. Moving forward, Ska’dur noticed a flurry of activity. All around him were carpenters setting up the framework of numerous structures. To his left was a group of array technicians pointing here and there as they argued, while to his right was a bunch of high-ranking officers consulting each other on how to construct the camp.

Ahead, a line of people worked hard on chopping back the jungle to create more space. However, the durability of these trees was much higher than those in the Innate Dimension. What usually took a swing or two now took hundreds.

“Look there,” Luca pointed to the side with her chin.

Ska’dur followed her gaze and saw people unloading crates full of processed materials like ingots, leather, cloth, and gems. Nearby, there were flashes of light as a select few individuals synthesized the unloaded items. Ska’dur immediately understood what was going on and commented, “Looks like you’ve planned things well.”

Luca’s eyes held anticipation as she said, “We should have a few sets of Ancient grade equipment ready by the day’s end. Depending on how Zeidrick performs, we might even see Divine grade.”

“Zeidrick?” Ska’dur was confused for a moment. “Oh, his son. I forgot he took his old man’s name. Isn’t he a little young to be able to craft Divine grade gear?”

Luca smiled, “You underestimate him. His crafting skill came from the Grandsky Realm, so he wasn’t bottlenecked by the Innate Dimension’s rules. I’ve heard his skill level’s almost 700.”

Ska’dur struggled to believe it. “No way, each level past 500 takes forever. How could he be nearing 700?”

Luca gave Ska’dur a strange look, wondering how he would know, but still said, “Zeidrick consumed a lot of resources to reach where he is now.”

“Oh,” Ska’dur coughed.

At that moment, the air rippled as a dome formed over the camp. It shimmered briefly before turning invisible. Ska’dur recognized it as an illusion array, hiding whatever it covered from prying eyes. It seemed the Innate Dimension had thought of everything.

Having joined Yara’s camp a little late, Ska’dur was out of the loop on many things. He glanced at Luca and asked, “You called this place Serenity Canyon. How safe are we?”

Luca shrugged, “Pretty safe. Serenity Canyon is one of the Grandsky Realm’s 1,000 zones and is the size of our Innate Dimension. The other three dimensions are far to the southeast. They aren’t a concern.”

Ska’dur caught onto the hidden meaning in her words. “And what is?”

“Monsters,” Luca furrowed her brows. “Rifts in the Grandsky Realm have no barriers, allowing the monsters it spawns to roam freely. Some are just as intelligent as us, and they’ve formed factions of their own. Serenity Canyon most likely has a Monster Lord, and avoiding its attention is our top priority until we can face it.”

“Huh.” Ska’dur groaned. “How will we increase our strength if we need to restrict our activities?”

“That’s the hard part,” Luca scratched her head in frustration. “Hopefully, we’ll have the location of its den soon enough. Let’s pray it's on the other side of the canyon.”

****

Transparent figures flashed through the treetops, jumping from one branch to the next in complete silence. The group of five kept a short distance from each other as they traveled deeper into Serenity Canyon.

The leader of this team was Gloria, a short female elf wearing green leather armor. After making another jump, she abruptly stopped on the next branch and raised a fist. Her four team members paused and kept their eyes peeled for any movement.

Meanwhile, Gloria pressed a palm against the large trunk next to her. Her innate gift activated as her senses extended into the tree, down into the ground, and through its roots. Her awareness spread from one root network to the next, and soon she saw everything within a three-mile radius.

A certain commotion caught her attention – a fight between two groups of monsters. One side was a party of Ironskin Apes wearing armor, while the other was a gathering of Earth Satyrs. Strangely, the Ironskin Apes used a combat formation as they fought.

As the fight went on, Gloria noticed the Ironskin Apes only crippled the Earth Satyrs instead of killing them, leaving her puzzled. The Earth Satyrs struggled with all their might, but the Ironskin Apes had both the advantage in equipment and teamwork. The battle was over in a few minutes, with the Earth Satyrs laying defeated on the ground.

An Ironskin Ape holding a spiked club over their shoulder walked forward with a grunt. “Newborn, do you submit to the rule of Monster Lord Cangu?”

The Earth Satyrs’ expressions varied, with a few showing looks of defiance and unwillingness. Suddenly, one of the Earth Satyrs made a run for it. The leading Ironskin Ape snorted and kicked the ground. In the next moment, an earth spike impaled the fleeing Earth Satyr from below. The life faded from its eyes as it dissipated into motes of light.

Seeing how easy it was for the Ironskin Ape to kill their companion, the Earth Satyrs called out one after another, “I submit!”

“Me too!”

The Ironskin Ape with the spiked club nodded with a pleased smile. “You made the right choice, new blood. Follow me.”

While the Earth Satyrs ignored their wounds and struggled to their feet, the Ironskin Apes talked amongst themselves. “Hah, not a bad batch. We should get at least 500 merit points.”

“I hope so. I’ve almost got enough points to purchase a new skill.”

The Ironskin Apes were in a good mood as they led the Earth Satyrs to their base.

Meanwhile, a few miles away, Gloria opened her eyes with a weird expression. Was this how monsters recruited one another? A quick beatdown and voila, new employees! Why did it seem so simple?

“Hey, find anything?” Gloria’s companions asked when they saw her expression.

Gloria withdrew her palm from the tree trunk and explained what she saw, causing one of her teammates to click their tongue upon hearing the situation. “Huh, we’re about two hours away from the gateway and we already encountered the Monster Lord’s minions. I hope their base isn’t nearby.”

“Only one way to find out,” Gloria said with a determined look.