Chapter 597 - Hidden

"What? How?" Ryan asked. "That isn't possible, unless…"

"The creatures I am feeling are hidden underground," Femradiel said. "They aren't powerful, in fact, their presences are quite weak."

Underground… until now, all the things that Ryan experienced were quite fantasy-like, but now he imagined an underground facility created by the mad scientist that made the chimeras. That was more like a sci-fi setting. In any case, based on what Femradiel said, some test subjects were probably being held in those fake islands.

"What are we going to do?" Femradiel asked. "Our goal here is to find the dungeon master, but maybe we can find some clues in there."

"Let's check it," Ryan said. "Unless the dungeon master has some technology under his control that grants him the chance to monitor such an island at a distance, he shouldn't be able to monitor it with magic. While a floating island still is a place, I would bet that some skills wouldn't help in confirming its location."

In the end, when they landed on the island, they soon confirmed what Femradiel said earlier. It was barely noticeable, but someone with eyes as good as Ryan would have it noticed. There were some lines on the surface of the fake island, lines that showed them what seemed to be a hidden door.

"Do you feel any presence right below us?" Ryan asked.

"No," Femradiel replied.

After hearing that, Ryan kicked the ground, and then it cracked. He kicked again, and this time a hole opened in the ground. While Ryan held back a little bit, he still was quite surprised at the resilience of the ground. He imagined it would be weaker; it was light enough to float. In any case, the hole revealed what seemed to be an underground prison. However, instead of cages, Ryan saw several beds with several types of monsters sleeping in there. They were probably sleeping because a tube of a certain machine was connected to the veins in their right arms… they had been sedated.

"Well, at least they didn't disappoint me," Ryan said. "Still, I was hoping to see things a little bit more… dreadful."

Ryan has dozens of monsters in that underground… warehouse. That was probably what that place truly was, a place where the dungeon master of that world kept their test subjects. That being said, Ryan didn't find many common creatures in the beds. Most of them were creatures that belonged to tier three dungeons.

"Weak body parts will only provide weak skills and statuses," Femradiel said. "So, since our foes are insane and greedy, they won't waste their time playing with weak monsters."

Ryan and Femradiel found Minotaurs, ice foxes, and even some grey treants, but they didn't find the creatures that gave angel wings to the humans or the demonic horns. Those creatures in that warehouse were completely fine. At least for the time being.

In the end, Ryan finished them off with a single arrow in their hearts. Monsters they may be, but even they deserved some sort of relief from that situation. Death was probably the ultimate thing that they wanted after their freedom had been stolen, just like the ability to stay awake.

You obtained 120 coins.

You obtained 110 coins.

You obtained 150 coins.

…

While Ryan received some coins for that, he didn't feel anything due to it. Instead of celebrating for ending the purpose of that warehouse, he began to look around in search of some clues. However, they only found some machines whose sole purpose was to keep the monsters barely alive. Moreover, they were using electricity to work, so there was no chance of Femradiel finding any traces of mana of the dungeon master.

"I am starting to get tired of this," Ryan said.

"Well, if we keep looking for the dungeon master and bumping into places like this, we are bound to find them," Femradiel said. "As long as a week destroying it."

Ryan teleported back to outside, and then alongside Femradiel, they used Ice Breath to freeze the whole island. After turning the whole place into an iceberg, Ryan noticed that the electronic devices stopped working. That should make the dungeon master feel a little bit of Ryan's annoyance.

After Femradiel discovered that there were some monsters locked inside those islands, finding others became relatively easy. They found several islands in just a few hours, and they froze them after investigating the interior. However, they didn't notice any changes in that world… the dungeon master still was ignoring them. However, things changed when they found a pretty big island. Not only was the place massive in terms of wideness, but it was also pretty tall for some reason. The dungeon master created some hills on that island… and neither Ryan nor Femradiel could understand why, so they just approached the place to check the interior.

"Stop," Ryan and Femradiel suddenly heard an angry male voice. "If you stop now, I will forgive you for your offenses." 

Ryan and Femradiel looked in all directions, but they didn't find or feel anything. The dungeon master was looking at them, but he certainly wasn't using Clairvoyance. His timing was just too good for him to be using the dungeon master's system to locate them. In any case, that place was important for the dungeon master, so the way to lure him out of his basement had been discovered.

Ryan teleported to the island and, without wasting any time, proceeded to kick the ground. Still, much to his surprise, that island was sturdier than the others… It looked like the chimeras' master decided to pay more attention to whatever was caged in there. Still, a sturdy floor wasn't something that would stop Ryan. After he summoned several Magic Bows, he proceeded to attack the place.

"I said... stop!" The dungeon master's roar echoed through the area, but that didn't stop Ryan.

Ryan only felt more motivated to attack, and then when the first cracks began to appear, the whole island began to tremble. It looked like he finally made the dungeon master play his hand…