Chapter 767: Route

Eisen looked at the Siren Prince's items, quite happy with the outcome. He quickly created a gateway in front of him that led him over to the Siren Prince's boss room, where the monster in question was happily swimming around in the water. The Siren 'Prince' was really just a regular siren that had been physically enhanced through special training. On top of that, it went through some acting practice, of course led by Evalia, so that he could act the part of a prince toward the players. There wasn't a real siren kingdom here in the dungeon, of course, it was nothing but the setting of these five ocean-themed floors. Otherwise, the Siren Prince acted nearly dog-like, blissfully swimming around the water at any chance that he got.

The old man, holding the items in his hands, snapped his finger to call the boss monster down, and within just a single moment, the Siren Prince jumped out of the water and soon stood right next to Eisen, "Hold out your hands," Eisen said in a clear tone, quickly placing the pearl bracelets around the siren's thick wrists. He also quickly knelt down to put the anklets on him, before increasing his size to place the necklace onto the monster. And then, after pushing the trident into the siren's hand, Eisen took a few steps back to look at the whole picture. Before he knew it, Sigurd appeared next to them in a cloud of smoke, happily looking at the Siren in front of it.

"Oh, wow!" It exclaimed excitedly, "It didn't take long at all, but it makes a huge difference!" Sigurd pointed out, quickly stepping around the Siren Prince, before clappings its hands together, "In that case, let's make it official." 

Without another word having to be spoken, a message appeared in front of Eisen's face.

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[The settings for the Boss Monster {Siren Prince} have been updated]

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"Alright, perfect. If anyone can reach this place the next time we're setting up, I wonder what people are going to think about this," Eisen said with a slightly curious expression on his face, and Sigurd crossed its arms smugly, "They're going to love it, of course. I mean, what else?"

The old man briefly placed his hand onto the Dungeon Core Guardian's head and ruffled through its metallic hair, before turning back around. With a wave of his hand, a door appeared in front of him that opened up without even a full second needing to pass, "We'll head back out soon, so maybe we can see what's going to happen when we reach some other towns along the way. I'll make sure to have everything you asked me for prepared by then." 

"Got it, I'll make sure that everything else is ready, too!" Sigurd replied quickly, before quickly turning around toward the Siren Prince again, explaining to him how to use all these items.

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"Are you sure that we shouldn't take a bit of a longer break?" Kiron asked with a concerned expression, but the old man in front of him immediately shook his head, "No, I think it would be better if we just left now. We still have a long trip ahead of us, so we shouldn't waste time just because I'm not in the best mood at this very moment."

"But still, it shouldn't-"

"Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of time for me to brood during the trip. Everything's going to be fine." Eisen said, trying to reassure his grandson, who let out a slight sigh of relief. He had been worried for Eisen this whole time, but seeing that his mood had improved a bit over the short time that he had spent in recluse helped calm him down as well, "I see... In that case, I will inform the others to prepare for departure."

"Thank you." The old man replied quickly, watching the crystal half-dragon turn around and head over toward the temporary camp created by the soldiers. For now, the old man took a seat at a nearby table, taking a deep breath. Even though they had chosen a quite random spot to do so, the scenery in front of him was still quite beautiful. Maybe that was just because this was the scenery of where he grew up in this world, and where he had spent decades, if not centuries, living his life.

As he just sat there, he felt a thud on his shoulders, together with the sleeves of a yellow hoodie hanging down onto his chest. He turned his head and looked at Melissa, the young Empress Bee, looking at him with that stoic expression of hers, "Are you better now?" She asked, and Eisen slowly nodded his head, "A little. Thanks for giving me some spaces, you three." He replied, watching as Caria and Sal sat down at the table as well.

"Of course~! Although, it was kinda lonely..." Caria pointed out, "But it was fine, we had fun anyway. Isn't that right, brother dearest~?" She said, looking at Sal with a slight grin on her face. Sal's snow-white cheeks quickly flu

shed to a bright red, as he flicked his wrist. Threads of mana shot out from his fingers, and Caria's mouth was quickly pulled shut, "Just stop it already..."

"What's going on?" Eisen asked with a raised brow, and Sal shook his head, "Nothing, it's fine... just ignore them..."

"We caught Sal dancing, and he was saying some weird things the whole time." Melissa explained quickly, before Sal's face shot toward her, "You traitor..."

While his attention was diverted, Caria ripped the mana threads keeping her mouth shut and continued laughing, "Yeah, he was trying to act all cool and noble, like we were told we should when meeting arist... ar- erm..."

"Aristocrats?" Eisen suggested, and Caria pointed at him with a quick nod, "Yeah, that's exactly it! He was acting like that!"

The old man smiled slightly as he looked at Sal, "There's no reason to be embarrassed by that. You're all still trying to figure out who you want to be in the future. If Sal feels comfortable speaking and behaving like that, I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

"...Yeah, but he sounds stupid anyway." Caria blurted out immediately, forcing a slight chuckle out of Eisen's mouth. In a clear attempt to change the topic, Sal loudly asked, "So, where are we going next?"

"That's a good question, I was about to ask Eisen that as well," came from the side, as Sky and Bree approached the table together. They were both holding onto a few scrolls of parchment, which were soon dropped onto the table. Sal quickly grabbed one of them and rolled it out on the table in front of Eisen, "If we're leaving soon, then we should figure that out." 

Eisen quickly grabbed Melissa, who was still hanging onto his shoulders behind him, and moved her over onto one of the chairs next to him, before looking down at the map in front of him. Once he got a chance to get a closer look, Sky started, "The Grandour is going to call on the other Clan Chiefs to have a meeting, but before then, you said we should try to at least meet with all of them individually, right?" 

"Right. It should take a while for the preparations for an 'impromptu' meeting to be finished. We should be able to get to at least a good few of them, even if not all." Eisen pointed out, so Sky quickly pointed at the map, "Alright, in that case, I do suggest a specific route. The meetings are held here, in the capital city with the king." He said, pointing at the smallest of the eleven territories on the map, even if it was still quite sizable.

"We should head to the Stone Clan first, and then to the Wood Clan. They're the closest to us right now, and the towns with the clan chiefs are relatively close to each other too. Then, over here to the coast to meet with the Water Clan, and then move here toward the Mountain and Hill Clans. Their territories are pretty intermingled, so while they're technically two, they share a city on the border where the two chiefs can be found most of the time." Sky quickly explained, drawing the best routes on the different maps that he was unrolling on the table bit by bit. However, Caria quickly looked at the maps and pressed her finger onto one of them, "Why are we skipping this place?" She asked, pointing at the second smallest territory, which Sky seemed to have ignored while explaining the route until now, "Because it would be dumb to go there so early." Sky replied, pushing Caria's hand away, revealing that she somehow left a grease spot on the parchment.

"But why? We're around there anyway?" She asked, and before Sky could snap back, Eisen chose to explain it instead, "That's the territory of the Cloud Giants' Clan. I'm guessing Sky made this choice because their methods of transportation are the fastest, so they'll have to leave the latest amongst all the other Chiefs. We can go from one end of the country to the other within a few days if we try to, so we can take our time visiting them. But the others will have to leave earlier if they want to get to the capital in time." The old man explained, and Sky smugly nodded his head, happy that Eisen was able to understand, "Exactly, that's-"

"But I think we should actually visit them first, right before all others." He said, and Sky looked at Eisen a bit confused, "Huh? But why would we...?"

The old man turned his head and looked into the distance. They were on a quite tall mountain and it was a relatively clear day. In the distance, a quite large cloud could be seen, one so huge that it stuck out amongst the others. Eisen quickly pointed at it, "There, that's why."

"Huh?" Sky let out, raising a brow, "What, do you think that that huge cloud is a sign we should go to them first?" 

Eisen scoffed, and quickly shook his head, "No, just take a closer look. Or rather, look at what'

s around it."

"...?" Confused, Sky squinted his eyes, "I don't get it?"

With a slight sigh, the old man reached down and grabbed a handful of grass from the ground below him. Carefully, he let go of it, and watched as the grass blew into the direction of the cloud. And that was when Sky noticed. He jumped up and looked at the ocean of trees in front of him, seeing that they were all swaying in the same direction. However, the cloud was moving against the wind.

"The territory is for the cloud giants' people, the 'common' ones living under them. As for the pureblooded, wise cloud giants themselves? They're up there. And it seems like they heard I'm here."