Chapter 209: Learning a little bit of the Bigger Picture

Joshua took out a drink from his inventory knowing full well that the coming discussion would be a long one. If Thoren, Ysildea, and Garlin had come to just congratulate him then they wouldn't have come all at the same time like this. "I figured you weren't here just to congratulate the 'kid' and all." Joshua said with a small smile. "Well hit me with it. Whatever it's going to be it has to be something important for all of you to come at the same time."

"Before we jump straight to that I'd be a bad grandmother if I didn't pass on Marlow's message." Garlin said before taking a long drink from her gourd and letting out a satisfied sigh. "He watched your match to, well at least the last few ones. He wanted me to tell you if he ever sees you trying to beat someone with only your fist again while tossing aside your scale blade then he'll come here just to beat your ass."

"Oh come on. I've been training in martial arts for most of my life and I've only been truly using a scale blade for a couple of years at this point." Joshua replied.

"True, and he knows that. It's the only reason he's letting it slide, but you do need to get better at using a scale blade. It will work extremely well with your abilities going forward and you'll see why soon enough." Garlin said before turning to look at the other two. "Whelp that's all I had to point out. You can go on with the more important grandiose stuff now."

"Very well then." Ysildea said. She took a sip from her cup of tea that Joshua hadn't even notice her bring out and then looked towards Joshua once more. "To preface this you should know that we won't be able to tell you everything. There are many topics we'll have to dance around so as to avoid breaking the rules of the system, but we'll make sure you and your group know as much as possible."

"Now first off like we said earlier you humans as a whole are ahead of schedule in large part to your group's progress." Thoren said grabbing Joshua's attention. "The reason being that there are triggers that let the system know when a new civilization is prepared to take the next step in the evolution process after they have been brought into the system."

"Triggers? Then I suppose my group must have pushed past a point that set off one of the triggers." Joshua said getting a small nod from the three of them.

"It's not just your group per say, but the step your group took before everyone else." Ysildea responded. "The triggers for the hub city tournaments to start up were two fold. The first dealt with having a certain number of explorers that surpassed the level of eighty. It should come as no surprise that your previous expedition where several people reached that point was one of the reason this condition was met. The second condition was for a specific amount of large towns being conquered."

"It's obvious that your group conquering the first large town encouraged other groups not only in your hub city but others as well to attempt the same." Garlin explained. "Since these two conditions were fulfilled the trigger was set and the first hub city tournament was on the way."

"Makes sense. It did seem kind of random that it would get announced during the middle of our expedition, but several of us reached level eighty then and I could see that pushing things over the edge with those conditions." Joshua said starting to understand where they were leading him to thinking. The hub city tournament was a big event that several of the contestants weren't even qualified for in some regards because of the fact that Joshua and other groups that were far and away ahead of the rest of the explorers had got things rolling to soon. "If that's the case then there must be other things that could be triggered if we're not careful, right?"

"Exactly kid." Thoren said as he took another quick drink before being a little bit more serious now that they had gotten Joshua to understand how things worked to the simplest degree. "That's why things have been moving along so fast and one of the next major triggers is something all of you are not quite ready for in our opinion."

Joshua frowned at this, but he knew that Thoren understood what he was talking about. If these three didn't think that humans were prepared for whatever was to come then it was best to heed there advice. "If that's the case then are we just supposed to walk on eggshells and hope we don't trigger it?" Joshua asked concerned that some of the alliance's future plans might actually be problematic if that were the case.

"We might not be able to tell you fully what the next big step is, but we can warn you on the conditions that will cause it to occur." Ysildea said quickly to bring Joshua away from the thought process of their information being pointless. "This time around there are three triggers that will cause the next event to occur. Two of which you can try to hold off on as long as possible."

"The first one is something that will happen at its own pace no matter what you do. When a certain number of explorers reach level ninety one of the conditions will be met. Since you have no control over when that happens it's not something that you will need to worry about." Thoren said. "It's a condition that will be met no matter what pace your own group goes at, so feel free to stay ahead of everyone else in that regard for as long as you want. It won't change a thing."

"Alright that condition seems simple enough, but why level ninety? You would think that level hundred where second tier jobs would come into the picture would make more sense if this event is as big of a deal as you guys are making it out to be." Joshua asked. He didn't quite understand why level ninety was the marker to be weary of. After all he had just reached past level ninety and so had Dmitry and probably others as well from different hub cities.

"Level ninety is the marker because the event is a reoccurring one that you aren't expected to win your first time around. Although I'd think you'd want to leave a good impression and last as long as possible. That's all I can tell you about it without crossing the line." Garlin said with a shrug. "Maybe you'll be able to figure out a few things from what I said." Joshua thought on it but decided to come back to it later and focus on what was at hand.

"The next condition to be met is one that you and your group are already headed towards which is one of the main reasons were bringing this up in the first place Joshua." Ysildea said with a slight frown. "The second condition involves clearing a ninety plus level dungeon. At the moment your group is headed towards one that is just a tier beneath that, but will most likely lead you to one in the end."

"You mean the dungeon in the plains region. From what I could tell the boss level monsters in that area should be level ninety at max, wouldn't that make it a level ninety dungeon?"

"No, it would still be considered a level eighty dungeon since all of the beast inside of it outside of the boss are in the eighties level wise. The boss of a dungeon is always a tick up from the rest of the beast." Garlin explained. "A dungeon where all of its creatures are beyond level ninety is considered at least a level ninety dungeon."

"That means the dungeon were currently searching for wouldn't meet the requirements, but is likely linked to another one that will." Joshua thought out loud. "Alright I'll make sure we avoid clearing such a dungeon for a while, but by the time we are ready for it then most of the group will be level ninety anyways."

"True, which is why the last condition is the one we want you to hold off on the most." Thoren interjected. "We don't expect you to stop your dungeon explorations any time soon because even if you did it wouldn't stop some other group from clearing one. The first two conditions are inevitable whether you do it or some other group does. The last one is the riskiest condition and the one we expect to take the longest for you all too clear."

"Well don't leave me in suspense." Joshua said while sitting up straight and looking at the three of them.

"The last condition is for a city scale territory to be conquered." Ysildea said causing Joshua's eyes to widen in surprise. Taking over a large town was one thing, but taking down one of those cities where those godly abominations still ruled in their purple mist that blanketed the deaths of millions in the U.S alone let alone the world. Trying to clear out one of those haze demon dens would be a nightmare, but also something that would eventually have to be done.

"I can see where your mind is going, but were not talking about the largest cities possible where beast that can stand against your world protectors reside. Any city will do and they will all be a challenge since the boss beast of a city at a minimum has to be level one hundred." Thoren explained. "Many people in the early stages of the evolution process rush this point and end up leading several of their kind to an early death."

"That's the one condition we suggest you hold off on for as long as possible, other than that keep doing what you've been doing." Garlin said with a grin before getting up. "It's about time we head back. I've got to make sure no one's gotten out of line just because I'm taking a break."

"You two can go I'll just stay here for a bit." Thoren started to say while drinking, but a portal opened up behind him and the very chair he was sitting in suddenly tossed him through it.

"I'm sure his clansmen will be happy to have him back to do some work for a change." Ysildea said with a smile before opening a portal of her own. "Please do heed our warnings Joshua, other than that stick to your chosen path." After those few words she walked through.

Garlin just shook her head at the over the top actions of Ysildea before opening up a portal of her own. Before she stepped through she stopped for a moment and turned back to look at Joshua. "Oh before I forget. Make sure to check out the new market shop opening up. That universe currency you gained from the tournament will be valuable going forward, so I suggest you save up." With that she was gone and Joshua was left alone with his thoughts.