The night they chose to meet, the inner circle of the city was alive with people's movements. Mostly mortals with few cultivator on the road.
Red lanterns hung along the streets, casting a warm glow over the steady stream of people moving below.
Compared to before, everything here had become noticeably more expensive, properties, food, even the simplest services had risen in price.
For mortals, it was a burden.
For cultivators, it barely registered. I mean, why would they care?
Inside one of the restaurants, the atmosphere was lively.
Conversations blended together into a low hum, the clinking of cups and plates adding a joyous rhythm.
On the second floor, at the farthest table near the window, two figures sat facing each other.
Hero leaned slightly back in his chair, one arm resting casually against the table, while Lucien sat upright, posture straight, his presence always carrying this subtle calmness whenever he goes.
Between them, a simple spread of food and tea had been placed, untouched for the most part.
Not really in the mood to start it off before the conversation began.
The window beside them framed the city at night, lights stretching into the distance, movement constant, yet strangely orderly.
Hero tapped his fingers lightly against the table before speaking, his gaze settling on Lucien.
"So… tonight's meeting," he began, a faint smile forming, "are you trying to get to know me better?"
"Perhaps interested in me, my life, my story?"
Lucien didn't react much.
He lifted his cup, taking a small sip before placing it back down with care. The soft thud echoing back as the procession cup was placed onto the clay oval holder.
"I'm not interested in such superfluous things," he replied plainly. "There's no benefit in it."
"And no, I am not here to explore you."
Hero's smile twitched slightly, more amused than offended.
"Straight to the point, huh…"
He shifted forward a little, resting his elbow on the table.
"Then this is just information exchange?"
Lucien nodded once.
"Correct. Specifically about the dungeon… and the card."
Hero let out a soft breath, glancing briefly out the window before turning back.
"So, where do I even begin…"
He rubbed the side of his head lightly, as if organizing his thoughts, "Should I begin first?"
"The stage is yours" Lucien beckoned.
"For the dungeon," Hero continued, "I think we both know roughly the same things for now. There isn't much deeper to explore yet."
"It's the same terrain, monster, and even layout. I am even suspecting that the dungeon is somehow connected to the deep valley in the great wilderness since the shadow worms are there too."
He paused for a moment, then his expression changing slightly.
"But I do have something about the card."
Lucien's gaze shifted, focusing more intently.
"The card?"
"Yeah."
Hero reached into his robe and brought it out, holding it loosely between his fingers before sliding it across the table.
"Take a look."
Lucien didn't immediately pick it up.
His eyes scanned it first, observing the surface, the faint presence it carried, before his fingers finally moved to take it.
"My card's called the Anguished Jester," Hero added, leaning back again. "Got it from some old man sitting by the side of the street."
"Most would call it fate, but I would prefer to call it luck and self choice. "
Lucien's brows lowered slightly.
"By the side of the street?"
Hero gave a small shrug, the corner of his lips lifting.
"Yeah. Sounds absurd, right?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"What about yours?"
Lucien turned the card once in his hand before placing it back down on the table.
"I found mine in the great wilderness," he said calmly. Then he added after a short pause, "By chance."
He didn't elaborate further.
Hero noticed, but didn't press. He wasn't here to dig into Lucien's past, at least not directly.
For now, leaving things at surface level was enough.
He nodded lightly, as if accepting it without question.
"Fair enough."
Then his expression shifted again, becoming a bit more serious.
"There's something else," he added, lowering his voice slightly despite the distance from others. "This card… once dragged me into a strange state."
Lucien's eyes narrowed slightly.
"A strange state?"
Hero nodded.
"Yeah."
He leaned forward a little, resting both arms on the table now, his tone lower.
"It felt like another world. Different environment, different life… I had memories there, grew up there, cultivated like normal, same system, same structure."
Lucien remained silent, listening.
"Everything felt real," Hero continued. "Up until the end."
His fingers tapped once against the table unconsciously.
"A group of monsters appeared… and things went downhill from there."
He didn't rush through it.
Instead, he explained the sequence carefully, from the beginning of that life to the collapse of it, keeping his tone controlled despite the weight behind those memories.
When he finished, a brief silence settled between them.
Lucien leaned back slightly, his gaze lowering for a moment as if processing everything.
"…That doesn't sound like an illusion."
Hero didn't respond immediately.
Lucien lifted his eyes again.
"If anything… it sounds real."
Card related after all.
A short pause followed.
"Perhaps it's a warning," he added, voice even. "Of what could or will happen in the future."
Hero inhaled sharply.
A faint hiss escaped him before he could stop it.
The thought.
He had considered it before.
But hearing it spoken out loud made it feel heavier than expected.
For a brief moment, his expression tightened, his fingers curling slightly against the table.
Then, almost immediately, he forced himself to relax.
"Yeah…"
He leaned back again, letting out a small breath as he waved it off.
"Let's not go too deep into that."
His tone shifted, lighter now, deliberately moving away from the topic.
"Gets a bit… uncomfortable if you think about it too much."
The conversation paused there, but neither of them looked away.
Both knew.
That wasn't something so easily dismissed. And at their level discussing such a huge scale matter, the two felt a bit overwhelmed.
Lucien remained quiet for a moment after hearing Hero's account.
The surprise didn't show much on his face, but it was there, in the slight pause, in the way his fingers rested still against the edge of the table instead of moving as before.
There was clearly more to this card than what appeared on the surface.
His thoughts shifted briefly.
Ilya, she definitely knew more.
And then.
The one behind her.
He had never gone to meet that so-called senior. Not out of fear, but out of choice.
Personal choice.
There was no need before, and he didn't like stepping into unknown variables without reason.
Now?
A trace of curiosity surfaced.
But even so, he had no intention of going there.
Not yet.
There were things more immediate than that.
Strength came first.
Everything else could wait.
"Another thing I forgot to mention," Hero added.
He lifted one hand casually, fingers flicking slightly as a book appeared on the table between them.
It wasn't anything flashy.
The cover was worn, its surface a faded brown that had clearly seen years of handling.
The edges were rough, corners slightly bent, and faint cracks ran along the spine as if it had been opened countless times before.
There were no grand inscriptions on the front, only a few almost-erased characters pressed faintly into the surface, barely readable under the dim light.
Old.
Weird looking.
And definitely ordinary.
A subtle trace of age lingered around it, not in the sense of time, but in presence. Like something that had simply existed for a very long time...
Note: Liam created this book with his craftsmanship. He dip it in water to make the paper crease.
Lucien's gaze dropped onto it immediately.
"And this is the book you got from the library?" he asked, his tone carrying a hint of interest, 'But this is not the fortunate I was sensing, it came from him... Yes, the card.'
Still, there was a slight pause in his expression.
He had already formed his own conclusions about the dungeon and it's structure mechanism.
Compared to that, a book like this… might not hold much value anymore.
Hero nodded.
"Yeah. It took me a while to find it" He lied, it was with the Old man's effort to deduce where it is that he got it in the first place.
He tapped the cover lightly with his finger.
"And surprisingly, most of what I told you earlier didn't even come from this."
Lucien's brows lowered slightly.
"It vaguely mentions the dungeon and the card," he said after a brief thought. "At best."
Hero gave a short nod.
"Pretty much."
He leaned forward slightly, resting his forearms on the table as he spoke.
"It talks about something called 'guardians'… from way back in ancient history."
His tone carried a faint trace of thoughtfulness.
"But that's about it. No real details. Just surface-level mentions."
He flipped the book open briefly, revealing pages filled with dense text, lines packed tightly together with little spacing, the wording archaic and layered with meaning that wasn't immediately clear.
"Most of it is just moral guidelines, historical shifts, that kind of stuff," he continued. "Changes in eras, how things evolved… nothing too different from other records."
He closed it again with a soft sound.