Chapter 375
Chapter 375
Chapter 375
When Zeke was wondering about the dragon's energy he felt in the middle of the jungle, a message appeared before his eyes.
―Hidden Quest―
[Follow the dragon's energy and find the hidden mystery in the jungle.] [Quest Mission Reward: Hidden Random Box]
'Hidden Quest?'
Until now, all the quests he received were either main quests or achievement quests.
Since this was his first time receiving a hidden quest, Zeke suspected something important must be hidden here.
'The gate is closed and I dealt with the high-ranking demon, so the remaining monsters should be manageable within the Dorta Republic.'
After contemplating, Zeke decided to investigate what the hidden quest was about before returning to the Central Continent.
He headed beyond the jungle where he felt the energy.
After pushing through the jungle forest, surprisingly, there was a large stone covered in moss and vines inside.
Zeke approached the stone and tore off the moss and vines.
Unlike being abandoned for a long time, the surface of the stone was quite smooth.
'I can feel dragon magic here. This must be some ancient ruins.'
The guardian tower in the Barbarians' village and Agamemnon's castle were all ancient ruins created with dragon magic.
Although Hades said he sent him by mistake, Zeke thought it was no coincidence that he discovered ancient ruins with dragon energy here, where he arrived by Hades' magic.
He infused mana into the stone.
WOOOONG!
As Zeke expected, unfamiliar characters appeared on the surface of the stone that accepted his mana.
At the same time, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Advanced Administrator System attempts to connect to 'Dense Silent Forest'.]
['Dense Silent Forest' recognizes the Advanced Administrator.]
[Confirms title: One Blessed by the Great Dragon.]
[Confirms title: Successor of the Sword Saint.]
[Confirms title: Blessed by the Fairy.]
[Granting access code.]
[Releasing the seal of 'Dense Silent Forest'.]
TSTSTSTS!
When he received the access code to the domain, the stone moved aside and a completely different landscape appeared before his eyes.
'Huh?'
A well-maintained path appeared with obelisks similar to the large stone standing on both sides.
As Zeke was observing the changed environment, he saw a giant Komodo dragon running fiercely along the path.
When Zeke raised his head to look at the lizard, surprisingly, someone was riding on top of it.
'A Naga?'
A Naga warrior, a snake humanoid and a mysterious race due to their small population, rode the Komodo dragon and ran up to Zeke.
SAAAH!
When the Naga pulled the reins, the Komodo dragon raised its front legs and stopped right in front of Zeke.
The Naga who was riding the lizard landed in front of Zeke with agile movements.
The Naga warrior standing before Zeke wore traditional clothing with elaborate patterns and armor made of hard wood over it while holding a shield.
A machete was on their waist, and they held a long spear in their hand.
The Naga warrior looked at Zeke and soon bowed their waist, speaking with a polite attitude.
"I am in the presence of a great being."
Zeke realized that the Naga warrior mistook him for a dragon.
He looked at the Naga warrior and said.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not a dragon."
The Naga was startled and looked at Zeke, then soon nodded.
"O-Of course you would say that. You must be in jest... I apologize. My thinking was shallow."
Zeke thought the Naga warrior seemed to have misunderstood something, but explaining would complicate things, so he decided to let them keep their misconception.
He looked at the Naga warrior and asked.
"Is this the village of the Naga tribe?"
At those words, the Naga warrior straightened their back, pushed out their chest, and nodded with a proud expression.
"Yes, it is, oh great… uh, I mean, honored one."
Seeing the Naga struggling with how to address him, Zeke told them his name.
"Please call me Zeke."
The Naga who learned Zeke's name smiled brightly.
"Yes, Sir Zeke! My name is Kuesi. I am the greatest warrior of the Silent Forest tribe."
Kuesi proudly held out his elaborate shield forward.
Zeke nodded and showed an admiring expression looking at Kuesi.
"Nice to meet you, Kuesi."
Kuesi smiled and told Zeke to get on the Komodo dragon to guide him to his village.
Although Komodo dragons are famous for being fierce, in front of Zeke who possessed the authority of Dragon Domination, the title of Divine Beast's Grace, and the skill of Empathy, it was like a gentle puppy.
Kuesi became convinced that Zeke was indeed a great being as he watched him handle the Komodo dragon with ease.
Zeke got on the Komodo dragon with Kuesi and headed into the Naga village.
The path through the dense forest was well-maintained and stretched quite long.
'If the entrance path is this extensive, the village must be quite large.'
While riding the Komodo dragon, a huge obelisk appeared at the end of the path.
And when Zeke saw the gradually revealing view of the village, his mouth fell open.
'What is this?'
What spread before his eyes wasn't a small village but a place the size of a medium city in Midland.
It was surprising that such a huge city existed in the middle of the southern jungle.
'Is this the mystery hidden in the jungle that the quest mentioned?'
However, the quest mission success message hadn't appeared yet.
The mystery the system mentioned seemed to exist inside the city.
Just as he was calmly observing the city again, Kuesi stopped the lizard in front of the city entrance.
"Thank you for your work."
Naga warriors wearing similar attire to Kuesi came out and checked the identification tag on the lizard's neck.
Zeke noticed that the shields carried by the warriors were smaller and less elaborate than Kuesi's.
'Perhaps stronger warriors can have bigger and more elaborate shields.'
While Zeke was thinking about the culture here, the inspection ended, and Kuesi took him inside the city.
Upon entering the city, it was a completely different world.
Massive trees that had lived for tens of thousands of years had been modified into high-rise buildings scattered throughout, and on the roads, Komodo dragons moved in an orderly fashion, following signals.
Nagas, rarely seen in the central continent, could be seen everywhere here.
It was a complete city of only Nagas.
Zeke, while still mounted on the lizard, looked at the city and said to Kuesi.
"This is truly amazing. I had no idea such a city existed."
Kuesi nodded at those words.
"Our tribe chose complete isolation from the outside world for the survival of the Naga race. The Sage of the Silent Forest created this sanctuary for us."
Kuesi took Zeke to the largest tree located in the center of the city.
The massive tree behind the obelisk looked like the World Tree from mythology, but upon closer inspection, it was being used as a building.
It seemed they had made a kind of tower using the enormous tree.
"Sir Zeke, please come this way."
Kuesi took Zeke inside.
The interior was, contrary to Zeke's expectations, decorated in a modern style.
Looking at just the building's interior design, one could mistake it for being in a modern building in Midland.
Seeing Zeke's surprise, Kuesi smiled and said.
"Although we're isolated from the outside, we maintain indirect exchanges. We send selected individuals to the central continent to learn advanced knowledge and use it for the benefit of the entire village."
The Naga race was famous for being intelligent and wise.
'Indeed, this is only possible because they're Nagas. Other races would have found it difficult to develop to this extent.'
Zeke nodded and followed Kuesi deeper into the building.
That's when Zeke saw an even more surprising sight.
'A portal?'
He witnessed the unbelievable situation of using a portal instead of an elevator to move upward.
Kuesi stood with Zeke on the magic circle and stated the floor they wanted to go to.
WOONG!
As the magic circle activated, they instantly moved to the top floor.
'Huh.'
Zeke, who swallowed a hollow laugh at the surprising situation, looked around where he had arrived. It seemed he had moved to the top floor.
From the top floor, you could look down at the city's panorama through the knot-holes, but calling them knot-holes was an understatement since the tree itself was so large that they were like huge windows several meters in size.
While he was observing the outside view through the window, Kuesi spoke to Zeke.
"This way, please. The Sage wishes to meet you, Sir Zeke."
Zeke was startled by Kuesi's words.
"The Sage? Could you mean the Sage of the Silent Forest?"
Kuesi nodded in response to Zeke's question.
If Kuesi's words were true, it meant he would be meeting another dragon who was still alive besides Hades.
While he was internally flustered by the unexpected situation, Kuesi calmly led Zeke to where the Sage was staying.
Following his guidance into a room, Zeke's eyes widened. The overwhelming number of books was beyond counting.
Books densely filled the walls on all sides.
Zeke's jaw dropped at the enormous collection of books.
'Did they read all of these?'
As he had this idle thought, Kuesi bowed his head toward one direction.
"Sage, I have brought the guest."
When he turned his head in the direction Kuesi was facing, there was a desk in one corner of the bookshelf.
In front of that desk, an elderly person with green hair and glasses was reading a thick book.
'Is this the Sage of the Silent Forest?'
Contrary to Zeke's expectations, the Sage appeared as an elf rather than a naga.
The Sage only closed the thick book and set it aside after finishing the section they were reading.
When the Sage raised their head, their expression was sterner and more rigid than expected.
Even though both were sages, they gave off a different impression from the Hermit of Stories who seemed to have many gaps.
The Sage spoke to Kuesi.
"Well done, Kuesi. Now return to your duties."
Kuesi bowed his head at the Sage's words and politely excused themselves before leaving.
Zeke became slightly tense at the Sage's stern expression.
The Sage adjusted their glasses and spoke while looking at Zeke.
"The Dragon's blessing, the Sword Saint's successor, and the Fairy's blessing as well. What exactly are you?"
Surprisingly, the Sage knew exactly about Zeke's administrator access history.
Zeke tried to relax and asked the Sage.
"So you can use the Kabbalah System."
To those words, the Sage replied while looking at Zeke.
"You even know the name Kabbalah System... you become more intriguing by the moment."
When the Sage extended their hand, a system window appeared before them.
The system window overlapped with Zeke, and various information began to appear continuously.
After reading through the information, the Sage spoke to Zeke after a moment.
"Are you here to find Chronos's seal?"
Zeke was surprised by the Sage's words.
"Is it here? Chronos's seal?"
At those words, the Sage thought for a moment before slowly speaking.
"So you mean you are indeed looking for Chronos's seal, but you didn't know it was here?"
Zeke nodded at the Sage's words.
"Yes, until a few hours ago, I was dealing with demons in the Dorta Republic when something happened, and I accidentally space-moved here."
The Sage asked with a puzzled expression after hearing Zeke's words.
"You say you fell here by chance. Was it really chance?"
Zeke pondered the Sage's words before slowly answering.
"I'm not sure about that myself. It happened when Lord Hades, the Hermit of the Black River, was blocking the demons' space magic. Because of that, I think it might not have been mere coincidence."
The Sage's eyes widened in surprise at Zeke's words.
"Hades! Are you saying that child of the Black clan has broken Blanca's shackles and come out?"
Zeke nodded and answered the Sage's words.
"Yes, it's been quite a while since the seal was broken. Though he didn't break it himself, I was the one who helped."
"You broke that seal? How in the world?"
The Sage showed interest in an unexpected area.
Zeke proceeded to explain in detail the process of breaking Hades's seal.
The Sage raised his hand and stopped Zeke's explanation.
"Wait a moment."
He took out paper and pen and began organizing the content Zeke was explaining.
And they continued taking notes while asking for more details about parts they were curious about.
After completing this series of processes, the Sage showed an impressed expression.
"I didn't know there was such a method. Zeke, was it? That's remarkable improvisation."
The Sage's expression had softened considerably compared to when he first saw Zeke.
Just as Zeke was internally relieved and nodding his head in gratitude, the Sage began moving while remaining seated.
'The chair moves?'
The Sage approached Zeke while sitting in a wheeled chair that moved by itself.
He looked up at Zeke and spoke.
"Follow me. I have something to show you."