Chapter 21: The Transverse Canyon

"Young Master, it's just as you said." Kent exclaimed.

"There's a Dimensional Rift on the other side of the Transverse Canyon!"

"But as soon as I approached it, I felt an immense repulsive force. It must be as you described, only accessible to those below the expert level."

"I never expected such intelligence to be hidden among the estates left by Lady Mother." Kent added.

His tone tinged with surprise and delight.

He was well aware of the value of a Dimensional Rift and knew that his young master could gain considerable benefits from it!

Sila sat upright in the meditation chamber, his eyes flickering slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work, Grandpa Kent." he said, in a good mood.

In "Journey of Radiance." many map scenes were mere images, so to avoid a wasted trip, he had first sent Kent to investigate the exact location of the game's "newbie dungeon."

Everything seemed to be going smoothly now.

Sila nodded slightly and said, "Grandpa Kent, let's get moving as soon as possible."

He couldn't wait any longer. Over the past few days, Sila had almost depleted his supply of cobalt silver and auric crystals, and he could no longer enjoy the additional training bonuses in the meditation chamber.

He had already broken through to Elite Rank 3 and had even helped many students around him who were using the chamber to enhance their abilities, with Vivian reaching Elite Rank 2.

However, to continue training at such a rapid pace, he would need to spend money.

But right now, Sila was broke!

Buying more cobalt silver and auric crystals might just bankrupt him.

He was eager to visit the Dimensional Rift.

Not only did it contain various rare resources, but there was also something extremely important to him—magical essence inherited from ancient times.

In "Journey of Radiance." this was equivalent to an experience potion that allowed the male and female protagonists to level up quickly. In reality, it could rapidly boost Sila's level, at least to the minimum standard for the Professional Explorer Certification Exam—High Elite, or a strength of Elite Rank 6 and above.

With this qualification, Sila could complete the certification, and according to Leviathan family rules, completing it before the age of twenty would earn him a reward of at least three million gold coins!

As for being broke and not finding a way to make money through business acumen and foresight, well...

Sila didn't have the leisure for such distractions.

In Gandarniel, there was only one surefire way to make money quickly—from the Leviathan family, they were incredibly wealthy.

After a brief discussion with Kent, Sila immediately set into action.

This time, he was heading to the Transverse Canyon, taking only Vivian with him and having Kent serve as their escort.

Elina also wanted to come, but Sila politely declined, citing her current insufficient strength as the reason.

The main reason was that the training at Desire Pavilion was too "professional." and Sila didn't dare to touch Elina, as bringing her along might lead to unintended consequences. Plus, it could interfere with Sila's plans, like Plan 1—

At this moment, Sila glanced at Vivian sitting next to him, forced to squeeze onto his lap due to the cramped space in the airship. Vivian was still wearing her somewhat conservative long dress, but she was pressed so closely against Sila.

The slight tremors from her body with each breath, the waves of fragrance emanating from her hair, all continuously provided Sila with a pleasant sensation.

Whenever Sila moved slightly, he inevitably made contact with Vivian, feeling her uneasy squirming.

Although he had been with many women, as one of the female protagonists in "Journey of Radiance." Vivian's beauty was still far superior to that of the carefully selected maids in the Leviathan family.

This time, Sila was thoroughly enjoying himself!

The main reason he was able to enjoy such "benefits" was that Sila had brought along the small airship provided by the Leviathan family.

This airship was capable of rapidly shuttling from Victoria Magic Academy to the Transverse Canyon, where the Dimensional Rift was located.

However, due to the use of rare ethereal crystals during its manufacture to ensure speed, increasing its size would necessarily consume more crystals.

The airship that Sila had obtained through his status as an heir was quite cramped.

Kent was seated in the front cockpit, and theoretically, only one person could fit in the passenger cabin behind. To bring Vivian along, they had to squeeze together.

Sila thoroughly enjoyed the warmth and touch of the doll-like maiden.

During the flight, Sila and Vivian looked out the window with vastly different expressions.

Vivian merely gazed at everything calmly.

Sila, on the other hand, furrowed his brow as he observed the somewhat dilapidated and messy cityscapes surrounding them, as well as the residents with hungry faces scattered all over the streets.

As a transcended individual, he had come from a world of abundance in his previous life, and the sight of countless displaced people made him feel uneasy.

Sila knew that, in a sense, the Leviathan family had contributed to their suffering.

This family conglomerate, which spanned the entire continent and was incredibly wealthy, had earned its fortune by making profits through any means necessary, including acquiring land and lending money at usurious rates during times of famine.

"Forget it, I'll just take care of myself first." Sila finally shook his head and chuckled bitterly.

...

After about half a day of flying, Sila stepped off the airship with Vivian, who was feeling dizzy, flushed, and unable to stand steadily. After being held and embraced so intimately by Sila with such intensity, the maiden's body had responded significantly to each touch, and now she felt her underwear sticking to her due to her sweat.

Sila, being the gentleman he was, didn't fly directly into the bottom of the Transverse Canyon. Instead, he took Vivian to a tavern in a small town at the edge of the canyon.

He reserved three rooms, giving Vivian the opportunity to wash up and change her clothes.

Sila himself took a seat in the corner of the tavern, ordered a specialty roast meat and mead set, and waited quietly.

A dozen minutes later, Sila watched as a burly adventurer with a scar across his face approached him—

It was Kent in disguise.

Kent spoke in a gibberish-like code, which was a secret language of the Leviathan family.

Sila's eyes lit up.

Indeed, Livia had arrived.

Despite her excellent tracking and anti-tracking abilities, she was no match for Kent, who had spent half his life dealing with assassination incidents for Sila and his mother countless times.

"'The fish' has bitten the bait." 

Sila said with a hint of coldness and anticipation in his eyes.

Livia had to be dealt with, but more importantly, he needed to find out why she had come to Victoria Magic Academy. Sila had always been puzzled by one thing: as the first minor boss in "Journey of Radiance." he would die no matter what in the game.

Yet even the patriarch of the Leviathan family, one of the final major bosses and Sila's uncle, had a chance of survival in several different storylines.

Why did he have to die?

In his previous life, this might have been a setup by the developers to "persecute" Sila Leviathan as a marketing gimmick. But in reality, if Sila truly followed the rules of "Journey of Radiance" and was destined to die no matter what, then there must be a force behind it pushing things along... Livia was Sila's chance to grab the "tail" of this force.

After a brief conversation with Kent, Sila put on an arrogant playboy act and casually tossed a gold coin, hitting Kent in the face.

Kent, holding the coin, chuckled embarrassedly and turned to leave, resembling a hoodlum who had seen a wealthy playboy coming to beg for money.

At this moment, Vivian slowly descended the stairs from the second floor of the tavern.

She had changed her attire, replacing her usual dress, which gave her a somewhat fragile beauty, with adventurer-appropriate clothing.

Even after changing her attire, her stunning beauty still caused a wave of gasps to ripple through the tavern.

For a moment, the burly adventurers turned their gazes towards her.

The female protagonists in "Journey of Radiance" possessed overwhelming beauty.

In Victoria Magic Academy, a place filled with aristocrats, it was one thing.

But in this remote and impoverished town, Vivian looked like a goddess of beauty descending upon earth.

Sila furrowed his brow slightly. When he had brought Vivian into the tavern earlier, he had draped a cloak over her.

Vivian herself, however, didn't possess such vigilance.

It could only be said that the doll-like maiden was indeed still naive in the ways of the world and unaware of the "destructive power" her beauty could wield.

Indeed.

Sila saw a man with two tusks protruding from his mouth and a somewhat bloody aura, resembling an orc, slam his hand down on the table in the corner of the tavern and stand up. "Hey, little lady, where are you from?" he said.

"This place is too dangerous. Come over here to your big brother..."