The Artificial Zecian Portals

It was a round table located by the center of the tavern, barely a meter in diameter, and it could seat four people. This was where Albrecht and his companions opted to share a meal with each other instead of staying in the room.

The enclosed space of the inn room made it more awkward for the ladies and Albrecht sensed it in an instant. That's why he changed his mind and decided to dine on the first floor where the tavern was. Margaret Hatchet found the idea very amenable since she didn't have to go up the stairs to serve them food.

Four of them sat in all four corners of the table, barely speaking a word while they ate. Sheila awkwardly glanced at the other two ladies. She wanted to get to know them and ask them about Albrecht but she couldn't bring herself to speak up first.

Yukina Medusa wasn't the sociable type either. She was more comfortable eating her meal in peace instead of conversing with someone else. As for Yulie, well, she had no idea how to start the conversation either, so she remained quiet.

The quietness continued until Margaret came to the table. But even then, there were only small conversations here and there when she joined them. After a couple of minutes, they finished their meal, rested a little bit by the inn, and headed out.

Margaret was surprised that they were immediately heading out after two hours of stay. Initially, she assumed that they'd be staying the day but as it turned out, their schedule was more hectic than usual. "You really are going? You can stay until dinner." Margaret pouted as she said her farewells to the group.

"We'll be back, hopefully before first light tomorrow," Albrecht called out. Even though his statement was akin to raising a flag, he couldn't help but say it.

"Please be safe. Don't overextend yourselves. You're going into an Outerlayer, right?" Margaret anxiously asked. Even though her best friend always returned whenever she dives into an Outerlayer, she couldn't help but feel worried.

After all, she'd known plenty of people who said they were going to return, only to die inside a dungeon. It was a commonplace occurrence in the Rilegarthe Kingdom and that was the last thing she wanted to happen to her best friend.

"Don't worry, we have Albrecht with us. He's never failed a quest before." Yulie grinned as she elbowed Albrecht to the side.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Margaret asked out of genuine curiosity. After all, she noticed that Albrecht was actually a Bronze-Rank Adventurer. "Is he really that reliable?" She whispered to Yulie.

Honestly, Albrecht was good-looking, and even though he was just a Bronze Rank, Margaret greatly respected him. She was never blessed with talent as an adventurer so someone like Albrecht was already an unobtainable being for her. Then again, she knew just how weak Brone-Rank Adventurers were compared to Silver Rank or Gold Rank.

That was why she was concerned that Yulie was relying on someone like him despite her being a Gold-Rank Adventurer. She just couldn't imagine Albrecht as someone stronger than Yulie.

"Yeah, he's plenty strong," Yulie whispered back, leaning in towards Margaret before whispering something to her. "He may not look it but he was an ex-member of the Heroes of Relics." She continued. It's not like Albrecht hid that identity of his. Also, it would be up to Margaret whether she believed it or not.

"What?! You're joking, you're really messing with me, huh," Margaret chuckled as she rubbed a fist on Yulie's noggin. "Go on out there, and always steer clear of danger, all right? Take care of yourself." She softly reminded her best friend before lightly pushing her forward.

"Ey! Can we get two mugs of beer over here?" An adventurer by the tavern called out of nowhere, causing Margaret to swivel her head.

"Coming!" She answered before turning back at Albrecht and his group. "That's my cue, I'll wait for all of you, all right? Be safe."

With a final wave, Margaret saw everyone out. Without further ado, the party headed right outside the Rilegarthe Kingdom where the two guards saluted Albrecht. From there, the First Outerlayer could be seen, filled with a couple of dungeons.

After the first outerlayers were conquered, people started getting more comfortable. It didn't take long before they started settling in on the First Outerlayer. Some shops were already put up, selling materials straight from the dungeons as well as weapons and items that could be useful in dungeon raids.

There was news about the Second Outerlayers and the other Outerlayers undergoing a transformation so humans can once again live on it, but as of right now, there were only shops and inns existing by the First Outerlayer. The development would be much slower than expected since most adventurers were preoccupied with the preparation of trying to conquer the Seventh Outerlayer.

With the development of the First Outerlaayer came the existence of Artificial Zecian Portals. It was still in the early beta stage but so far there were no discrepancies with it. Sometimes, the teleportation was inaccurate, but so far, the

Artificial Zecian Portals worked properly, and more and more adventurers were starting to use them.

Based on the information from the System, Albrecht knew that these Artificial Zecian Portals would be the future since other dimensions frequently used them without any problems. Also, this would make it easier for Albrecht to jump to one Outerlayer instead of jumping into interconnected Zecian Portals that would lead to where he wanted to go.

There was a short queue in front of the Artificial Zecian Portal and a majority of them were adventurers who were going on a quest. It wasn't even a week since these Artificial Zecian Portals were put up but they were already popular with the masses.

"To the Second Outerlayer."

"That would be a Silver Coin, sir."

"To the Fourth Outerlayer."

"A Silver Coin, sir, thank you so much."

When it was Albrecht's turn, he noticed that the person manning the Artificial Zecian Portal was someone from the Rilegarthe Guild. He immediately recognized him.

"Ah, it's Albrecht-san! Where are you headed?" He asked in a light tone before telling him that it would be Four Silver Coins since there were four of them.

"To the Sixth Outerlayer," Albrecht responded, much to the guy's surprise.