Chapter 99: A vast world
"My name is Callan," The humanoid horse introduced himself.
"Reylin," A human who had approached him replied with his real name.
Above his head, a nickname from the system floated. It displayed a different name, but Callan had already learned about the world's change.
His meeting with the necromancer was relatively abundant in information.
To share it with Reylin and Emilia, the horse decided to seize one of the houses. His new friend helped him with cleaning the undead.
"T-There's water!" Emilia stuttered as her heart pounded with excitement.
She promptly entered the bathroom and left the two men alone.
Reylin just shook his head, but he inwardly understood his partner.
Callan nodded and took a seat as if he wasn't a ghost.
"Do you have any idea where the races disappeared to? I don't think the ascended erased everyone from this world," Reylin began the conversation.
He asked the most important question as he needed various flames.
From the beginning, Reylin knew that he would be able to meet various people here.
However, he and Emilia weren't aware of the dungeon's system before coming here.
It was just phase 1 yet they could get abilities from other ghosts. All were limited to one ghost, and they couldn't choose either.
It was what Reylin casually blamed, but the meeting with the horse should answer a few questions.
Callan narrowed his eyes, "The Ascended? Could you tell me about them?"
That question brought a broad smile from Reylin, "Sure."
He explained what he knew about them. Of course, Emilia would be a much better person to ask. Alas, she was joyfully bathing, and her satisfaction seeped out from time to time. No one other than Reylin could enter the bathroom and ask.
But that wasn't necessary.
Reylin said, "I believe they are humans who produced their own mana. They have churches and believers after them, and their tales are spread across continents. One of them is that they erased the different races. Who knows what exactly happened?"
Callan didn't show anything on his face.
It was hard to read his expression, though. A human such as Reylin had never seen a talking horse, nor could he read his eyes as easily as humans... The same went for all humans from the current age.
Callan smiled faintly, however.
"Humans... are the weakest," The horse chuckled, "I have enough belief to say that those ascended didn't erase other races, but they just fabricated all those rumors to hide their weakness.
A weakness that stopped them from reaching the second layer of our world." Callan laughed out loud like a horse!
"Oh... The world is already vast, and yet you tell me there are more layers to it?" Reylin chuckled as well.
He wasn't fond of the first ascended he met, so it was a pleasure to listen about their weaknesses and the past.
Callan saw it, and he didn't coat his words, "That was an unreachable part of the world for us. It was said that our ancestors came from it, though. After we confirmed the second layer, we found another one, and we began theorizing again.
Where did our ancestors come from? Each race felt some connection here, but what about humans? Well, that's your answer. No one felt anything! Haha! That paradise was reserved for us."
"Is it really paradise? I guess it's a world with more dangers than here," Reylin asked while laying his head on his hand.
Callan agreed with him, "Indeed. More dangers, more rewards! That's the way of the jungle!"
Reylin wasn't unfamiliar with those words, so he just smiled at the horse. Their talk was quite messy because both lacked information about the world.
But it allowed Reylin to form a new theory, "Your race has ancestry in different layers, so there was no need for you to form your own mana. But for humans, it was different. Ascended failed to go to the other layers, and they began changing the first layer where we currently are."
Callan was on Reylin's side, "I wonder how the second layer is? Has my race survived here, or they have already failed? So many questions..."
"Do you think the ascended would be able to kill your race should they want to return?" Reylin promptly asked, "If they got their own mana for the first layer, then they must be invincible here. It's not like they are at a loss."
"That's a good question... I honestly can see it go both ways... I am also interested in the dark matter you've talked about... A sudden loss of teleportation is more than you think... What if the ascended did it to seize the dark matter? That is the mana that can help them evolve should they control it," Callan pondered.
Reylin looked back to the past, where he saw Milkyona in the prison-like room.
He chuckled, "I think whoever behind the dark matter did it."
"Is that so..." Callan saw that Reylin probably knew something, and he didn't probe further.
At last, Reylin summarized, "So to meet your race and get their flames, I must go to the second layer. It's impossible as there's literally no information about and I am sure it's higher-level land.
It forces me to go for a different route. Callan, I will make you stronger, so you survive this dungeon. Then, I will find a player who meets the ghost from your race and then get your flames through that player.
How does it sound?" Reylin asked in quite a lofty tone.
If he set his eyes on that goal, even if it meant spending a lot of time, he would do it and leverage others!
Callan saw his confidence and nodded, "You are a human that can become our friend. Perhaps you would even become our in-law, haha!"
"Oh, I think my taste is in pure humans," Reylin chuckled.
"Haha! My ghost form is after my natural appearance. Other races can freely change their forms and either become a pure beast or 100% human form. They also can become half-human, all to your tastes," Callan explained.
"That's quite convenient," Reylin nodded.
Callan's expression then shifted to a serious one, "Necromancer has the same plan as you."