The Dungeon Of Seals, The Nine Cubes, And An Unexpected Encounter With The First Man

Albrecht finally arrived in the heart of the dungeon where a huge area was located. From what he could recall, this area had nine cubes, and each cube had to be collected to unseal the dungeon boss 

Then again, every cube needed to be unlocked manually. And since this is a dungeon of seals, every cube was actually pretty hard to collect. 

Nevertheless, Albrecht had absolute confidence that he'd be able to breeze through it, thanks to the System and the knowledge from the other Albrechts. All he needed to do was locate the nine cubes, and then it's a smooth ride from there. 

However, that wasn't the end of it. Every cube was located in a hidden place, and every cube had its own guardian. This was the only thing that Albrecht found a little difficult. In order to unlock the seal where the cube lies, he had to defeat these so-called guardians first. 

Based on the stories of the other Albrechts, it took them months— some instances took years even— just so they could clear the dungeon. But Albrecht had been preparing for this long before he met Hyrula the Second Champion.

His confidence wasn't baseless at all, but he doubted that he could clear it in a couple of days. 

"Found it." Albrecht let out as he located the very first cube. Now, all he had to do was walk in the vicinity and the guardian would awaken. 

"Not so fast, Albrecht." A familiar voice spoke behind him, causing him to flinch. 

The moment he swiveled his head, he was surprised to see one of the key conquerors when it came to clearing the Seventh Outerlayer. It was none other than Adam who covered for all of them when they were already beyond their limits. 

"Adam?" Albrecht asked. It didn't even occur to him that he had already stepped foot in the vicinity of the guardian. 

The so-called guardians which were assigned to look after the cubes were actually gargoyles— monstrosities made of stone that were near-invincible due to their high defense and durability, not to mention their insane power throughput thanks to their aptitude for controlling their Zecian Aura. 

In a heartbeat, the newly awakened gargoyle came at Albrecht, disappearing and reappearing right in front of him as it delivered a powerful attack. 

Its melee attacks were infused with Zecian Aura, and the moment it started delivering one blow after the other, all that Albrecht could do was parry them. 

[Skill 'Chronos Reversion' activated]

[Skill 'Saddim's Touch' activated]

['Ghostblade Daggers' equipped]

Albrecht didn't waste any time hurling the gargantuan gargoyle out of the way using his skill 'Saddim's Touch'. However, he still had a hard time keeping his distance since the gargoyle was actually pretty nimble despite its sheer size. 

In haste, he made use of his 'Chronos Reversion' skill and equipped the Ghostblade Daggers. Quite frankly, Albrecht had no idea why he equipped the Ghostblade Daggers but it felt right at that time— that's why he went ahead and obeyed his instincts. 

"Sigh~ you just had to aggro after my warning," Adam muttered to himself before rushing forward, slipping past Albrecht, and then twisting his entire body mid-air before delivering a powerful kick. 

BAM!

The kick landed neatly on the gargoyle's head, sending it flying to the other side of the area. Albrecht's mouth hung wide open when he saw the entire thing unfold. He couldn't believe that Adam just kicked the gargoyle without using any skill. He didn't even tap into his Zecian Aura. 

"Why did you—" Albrecht trailed off as Adam jerked a thumb towards the area's exit. 

"Let's get out of here before you taunt it again." Adam grabbed him by the hand and pulled him away from there. Without much of a warning, Adam started sprinting, causing a blur of scenery to pass by as they got out of there.

For a brief moment, Albrecht felt the tug and the extreme rush of air streamlining through his body before Adam finally stopped. Before he knew it, they were outside, and Albrecht felt like he just reached the fastest speed he could ever accomplish in his lifetime. 

"Why did we get out? Aren't we supposed to defeat it in order to get ahold of the cube?" Albrecht complained since he was fairly certain that he had everything under control. Then again, he didn't want to complain too much in front of Adam since he was clearly stronger than him. 

"Yeah, and if you were looking back to your counterparts, you'd have known that half the time you couldn't even clear this dungeon alone." Adam let out another sigh. "Not everything is as it should be Albrecht. Sometimes, the future passed down to you is limited, and the System could only show so much." 

"It seems like you know what to do." Albrecht didn't want to come off as sarcastic. However, as someone who had relied on himself for quite a time now. 

Nevertheless, Adam was right on the money. Although Albrecht didn't know the answer to why he couldn't free Hyrula half the time based on the other Albrecht, he still didn't know the answer to it.

The answer just boils down to the fact that he shouldn't be alone when clearing it. But what's wrong with trying it out before getting someone to help?

"You have to consider the timing, Albrecht. When this dungeon was cleared, do you remember what date it was? Do you remember any notable adventurer in that time frame? How were they able to clear it but you can't?" Adam began. 

"One major flaw about the System is its ability to record everything that's happened around you. This meant that on the other side of the same coin, you have no idea what's going on with other events since you're only focused on your own history and future." 

"And trust me, Albrecht, when I say that this major flaw would eventually catch up to you. That's why no dimension had ever conquered Ground Zero." Adam lengthily explained before jerking his thumb back a second time. "We need to go." 

"Go where?" Albrecht asked. 

"We need to go meet someone." Adam continued. He didn't explain anything any further. Instead, he just turned around and led the way.