The Tales of Draconic Warlock

Where am I?

This is not the cave that I was a second before. Wait for a second, after I injected some energy into one of the markings, a lot of energy gushed out of the other markings...it looks like it transported me to someplace outside of that cave.

The question is, IS this a Secret Realm? A Dungeon? or just a random place on Ragos?

Anything could be possible. There is a high chance for it to be a secret realm or a dungeon.

There is evidence for that but my instincts are saying so. They are also saying that this was the reason behind the disappearance of the merchants and their party.

If that is the case, then they would have contacted someone but they didn't. If it was a place in Ragos, then they would have but if they weren't technically in Ragos, then there would be no contact.

Though the dungeons and the secret realms are present in Ragos, scholars believe that was not the case. They believe that only the portals exist in Ragos, while the region we refer to as the dungeon and secret realm are somewhere in a different space.

The reason why they say that is because of the sizes of these places. If they were truly on Ragos, digging near this should have opened to the insides but they did. They do become unstable and the portal collapses but never opens to a new way in.

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If they were truly stuck here as I feel, then it's going to be a problem. There was no way that I could search for them inside.

If they still stayed at the entrance or nearby then it wouldn't be a problem. If they had ventured deep into this dungeon/secret realm, then there is no way that I could search for them in a short time.

It would take months if not years if I wanted to search every nook and corner of this place, which I don't have. I am not going to waste so much time on such things. I have other things to do.

Moreover, staying here means that I wouldn't have any connection with the outside world. As he was away from the academy and his parents were busy, he would send them a message regularly. Previously, he had to call every night, but with too much work on their shoulders, speaking regularly became a premium.

I can't make them think that I am in danger and that's what they would think if I go off communication for a long time. It would be like adding stress, an unnecessary burden on their already burdened shoulders.

I already told them that I would be out of the city's boundaries on a mission and the signal would probably be out of reach. They shouldn't be worried if I can't communicate for a long time.

Even though I said that I would give it a maximum of ten days. If I find nothing, I will leave this place. Even if the mission fails, it matters not to me. I would miss a few points. With a complete secret realm under my control, there would be no lack of meat.

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It has been a week since I entered this place and I couldn't find anything. I have a feeling that they did enter this place but why can't I find anything...wait, I see something.

I ran to the place where I could see something partially buried. I dug it up to see what it is.

It was a flag and not any flag. I recognize it. This is the flag of the Merchant company that those two cousins of the count own. It was described perfectly in the file that the Mayor gave me.

I was right. The presence of this flag means that they entered this place and are probably dead.

It has been so long. Their bodies may have been eaten and buried in whatever place that they ran to.

If my suspicion that this place was a dungeon or a secret realm was true, then there was no way that even a piece of their bodies could be recovered. The parts that can be eaten would have been eaten by the monsters that killed them.

The inedible parts would have been consumed by the dungeon/secret realm.

It was a known and proven fact.

If a person dies in a dungeon or a secret realm, within minutes the body would disappear. The land would absorb everything that was present there, even the spilled blood from the battle.

These places even heal faster than the world. Unless the damage was caused by a high ranker, there damage wouldn't be permanent.

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Now that I found a clue about the missing party, what should I do?

I am not going to stay here anymore. What I wanted answer to was another question.

Should I give this information or not?

I mean, this is a secret realm or a dungeon, which I am not sure but I am reclining to it being a secret realm. There are differences between them, and I see them but I can't say with a one hundred percent guarantee.

Whether it is a dungeon or a secret realm, it's worth a lot. If I just give the information to the Mayor, then he would be the one who would benefit from this. Though I was being paid a thousand points by the academy for completing the mission, it was too low and that was to find out what happened to the merchants.

I can keep it for myself. I can get a lot of resources but I don't live here. So it would be a hassle to come here, and someone may find out about this sooner or later and it would be occupied by the ruling noble.

So it's best to sell this information directly to the Count. It would be like a 1+1 thing.

I can tell him about his cousins and at the same time about this place. I would earn a lot easily. It won't be a loss for me.

Now let's get out of this place and find the Count.