Chapter 169: Moving Forward
Muherr's unit was well-prepared, but upon entering the specific room designated
by the scouts, Ronin found nothing immediately useful.
The chamber was spartan and neglected. There were signs of ancient habitation,
but while they looked centuries old, they lacked the monolithic, millennia-old
decay of the Skyscraper City below.
The aesthetic matched the rest of the necropolis sector.
It feels like a group of Kurtas stumbled into this ruin long ago and settled
here for a generation, Ronin mused.
Aside from this one room, no other chambers in the sector showed signs of
Kurta-style domesticity or possessed those iconic garments.
If Ronin's hypothesis was correct—that these were just relics left by a lost,
accidental branch of the clan—then his investigation here was already reaching
its end.
He felt a pang of disappointment.
"Maybe there's more deeper in," Vanessa suggested, sensing his mood.
She had been stiff and awkward when they first met, but after surviving the B1
"fire-mopping" mission together, she had relaxed. They were now operating with a
comfortable level of professional trust.
"We can only hope," Ronin said.
He had time. He wasn't in a rush to leave the Ajen Continent yet. Even if this
specific lead was a dead end, the ruins were interesting enough to warrant a few
more days of exploration. He didn't really expect to solve the mystery of his
clan's origins on the first day.
"You two can head back to the surface. The Captain probably needs more hands
with the containment effort," Vanessa said, addressing the two guards.
Away from Ronin, she was authoritative and sharp. The guards nodded, said
nothing, and departed immediately.
Muherr was giving Ronin a "VIP pass" by letting him have one of his best scouts
as a personal guide. Ronin noted the favor.
"So, what's the plan?" Vanessa asked.
Ronin had two options: push deeper on his own, or wait for the Royal Army to
resume their slow, methodical excavation.
Vanessa clearly favored the first.
She had seen Ronin's ability to reshape terrain during the descent. If he used
that power to "mine" through the debris, they could reach the unmapped sectors
weeks ahead of the army.
Ronin didn't disappoint her.
If he waited for the army, anything they found would be processed, cataloged,
and taxed before he could even see it. Taking the initiative was the only way to
secure the best loot.
But he had one professional concern.
"If I push down on my own, will Muherr have an issue with it?" Ronin asked.
If he found something high-value, it was going into Owl's storage cloth. And
once something entered Ronin's pocket, getting it back out would be like pulling
teeth from a living dragon.
"He won't care. As long as I'm with you to document the find," Vanessa said
confidently.
Ronin nodded. Vanessa was Muherr's eyes. If she was sanctioned to follow him, he
didn't need to be polite.
The two left the chamber and headed deeper into the necropolis.
Ronin had previously wondered if Vanessa would die in these ruins, but after
seeing her agility and the relatively low threat level of the city-beasts, he
began to doubt his earlier grim prediction.
Maybe I was wrong. Or maybe she just quits the team later.
It was normal. Not everyone who worked for Muherr would follow Beyond Netero to
the Dark Continent years later. Some had smaller dreams.
They moved at a brisk pace, but the deeper they went, the more "crowded" the
tunnels became.
The news of the breach had spread. Every freelancer in the city was now trying
to be the "first to the prize" in the unmapped sectors.
Ronin and Vanessa were eventually blocked by a massive, structural collapse that
had buried the main hallway and the adjacent rooms. A group of independent
hunters was already there, hacking at the stone with picks and shovels.
It was clear they were trying to punch through into the "virgin" territory
ahead. The first team through would have a monopoly on the initial loot.
The men blocking the path were "polite" in that special mercenary way. They
claimed they were "securing the excavation" for safety, but the subtext was:
We're digging, you're waiting. Get in line.
Ronin had a way to bypass them without raising an eyebrow—using Earth Style to
dive underground and pop up on the other side of the wall.
But that would leave Vanessa behind.
And helping everyone clear the tunnel wasn't part of his job description. He
liked the idea of the blockade; it kept the rabble out of his way.
"I can bypass this and get us inside. But what about you?" Ronin whispered to
Vanessa.
Vanessa shook her head. "I can't. Even if I traverse through the shadows of the
rubble, there's no clear spatial path to the interior from here."
"What if you enter my shadow?" Ronin suggested.
"I need light for that. Without a strong light source to cast a shadow large
enough for my body to occupy, I can't shift into you," Vanessa explained,
revealing her Hatsu's limitation.
Keeping a massive shadow cast in a dark, narrow subterranean tunnel was a tall
order.
Ronin also wasn't sure if his Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu would work. If the
foundation was solid rock rather than soil, he'd just smash his head against the
floor.
"I'll try a solo dive first," Ronin decided. "If it's too dense, we'll have to
find another way through."
Vanessa nodded.
Ronin formed a seal. Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.
He vanished into the floor. A second later, he burst back out of the ground,
looking annoyed.
"No go," he said, shaking his head.
Vanessa looked at the hole he'd made. Below the thin layer of debris was a
solid, seamless slab of ancient obsidian bedrock.
"Follow me," Ronin said. He wasn't one for patience.
If he couldn't go under, he'd go through.
And he didn't care who was in the way.
As the pair marched toward the blockade, ignoring the "guards" shouting at them
to halt, the other hunters laughed. Some looked ready to enjoy the spectacle of
these newcomers being taught a lesson in "Ruins Etiquette."
Ronin ignored their mockery. His eyes were already spinning in his sockets. He
was looking for the weakest point in the structural supports.
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