[Ding!]
[You are the first player to successfully cleared a secret dungeon and it's secret area. You have receive a reward.]
[Reward: Sand cat Ancestor.]
Nil finally breath fresh air in hours.
Not the kind that was mixed with dust, but a pure Oxygen because he actually exited inside a forest.
However, it was not the fact that he entered the dungeon in a desert-like environment and exit in a forest that bewilder him, but the fact that the system did not give him any reward at all.
Yes, it said [Reward: Sand cat Ancestor.] But who doesn't know already that with or without the system saying it is a reward the Sand cat Ancestor is his already.
"What a moron you are Genes."
He caught the underlying meaning behind that reward.
Genes is trying to tell him to cooperate or face whatever punishment was pushed at him.
Technically, the AI Arya is supposed to be asking Nil questions and Nil is supposed to be divulging everything about himself to the AI. But Nil is not following that.
Instead, he directly shut the AI up as soon as he got it, not even letting it to finish introducing itself.
"What can I say." Nil contemplate.
"Yeah I've got it.
The battle line is drawn between us, Genes." Nil said, not even bothering to think about it as a threat.
"That's seems cliche enough, right?" He ask the cat Ancestor.
"I'm sorry my lord, but I do not know what you are talking about. Do you mind enlightening me?" The cat Ancestor said.
"Forget it, do you know where the nearest kingdom is?"
"Yes, my lord. I use to visit the neighbouring kingdoms once in a—"
"Lead the way, then." Nil cut it off before he complete his sentence. "Try to speak less, I don't like people that speaks too much."
Nil said walking behind the cat Ancestor.
"Understood."
"About time I start calling you by your name, should I just call you Karlac or you have any other name that I should call you?"
"Karlac is fine, however if you wish to call by any other name, please do. Master."
"Why are you being so submissive, it is not like I torture the hell outta you to be submissive or something. Try to maintain some pride as the Progenitor of the sand cats."
Karlac pause, look at Nil for a couple of seconds with a strange expression before he moved on.
'You might not have torture me directly, but what the contract have done to me is enough as it is.' He thought.
"Interesting."
Nil have not make the question compulsory, so the cat Ancestor could wave it over and not answer it.
If Nil have made it compulsory and the cat Ancestor did not answer it, the pain that would have assault him would have been unbearable even for him.
"So, do you have a girlfriend?" Nil suddenly ask with a perfect smile adorning his face.
And as he had expected, the question earned him a more strange look from Karlac.
'What are you, my mom? That you'll like you know my relationship life.' Karlac thought.
Still he did not bother answering the question, his focus shifting to the road ahead.
"Is there any girl— err, sorry. I meant to say is there any cat you fancy?" Nil ask this time making the question compulsory just for the sake of fun.
'Ah, what an annoying person I am forced to serve.' Karlac thought preparing the answer he'll give Nil.
And throughout their journey, something became apparent to Karlac.
His master who hate talkative, who detest them even, has an unstable lips.
----------
—approximately 50 minutes later, Nil POV.—
Karlac could be seen trailing behind Nil with a heavily slumped shoulder, tired not from the walk but from the questions.
Right in front of them is a humongous gate, much more humongous than the kingdom Nil left before.
The gate is pristine white in colour, radiating mana like the entirety of the gate itself is grafted from pure mana.
It's height easily three times the height of the Kingdom Nil was transported to by Genes, and its width easily twice as wide as it.
"Why are the crafter of these gates fond of making them wide and very tall?" Nil ask rhetorically.
The wideness could be explained as, it was crafted that way so that collosal beast companions could be able to enter, whereas Nil did not see any point why they will make it unnecessarily tall.
"Or is it a fortress?" Nil mused as he headed to the walkway.
However now he did not go to the commoner walkway, but rather to the VIP walkway.
"Your ID." One of the guard at the gate ask Nil as he reach the gate where he will pass to enter the VIP walkway.
"Here." He handed his ID to the guard.
"You'll have to sign this, sir." The guard brought out some paper from thin air.
"What are they about?"
"They are just some papers which states that you take responsibility for all the actions of your beast companion might make during your stay in the Kingdom."
"Done." Nil handled the book back as he have already finish reading everything on the two papers before the man finish speaking.
Noting that there is no hidden stuff planted in the paper, he signed it not with a pen but with his mana signature.
"Welcome to Aurbloom kingdom." The guard said respectfully as he open the gate for Nil to enter.
Genes have upgraded his ID card from that of a commoner to a VIP a while ago which is one of the benefits of setting many records.
Nil did not even waste any seconds after entering.
Dragging Karlac with him, he head to a certain direction.
"Got you."
Looking at a certain direction he could see a man drinking a cup of drink, which will pass as beer in their Kingdom, though the drink is saturated with mana.
"Mr Sheng, I need to talk to you about something." Nil said to the man.
He did not take Karlac inside the bar with him as he won't be allowed entry.
"Get away, hic. Or buy me, hic, drink." The man said to Nil.
"But Mr Sheng, this matter has to do with crazy beast." Nil whisper to his ear showing him a core in his hand.
"You say?" The man face instantly clear up as he heard that word 'crazy beast'
'Yeah, that's the reaction I want.' Nil laugh in his mind as he is about to receive a quest..
A quest that will bring him to one of his end goal.