65 A New Adventure Starts

After their son, Ryan's birth, Clay stayed in body double mode and made his real body rest and absorb the Sun's energies. He wanted to expedite Ryan's growth and were always scolded by Giselle because he was too excited in trying to train his son.

Although Giselle and Clay still had not developed that deep a sense of relationship with each other, their marriage still brought about for both, joy and fulfillment that they knew they'd have not gotten if they hadn't met. Giselle's heart would sometimes warm at the thought that Clay fulfilled his promise to make her queen and help her people in secret even when she was out of sight. The word of a man like Clay weighed heavily on them, Giselle reasoned. However, sometimes there're feelings that make her heart flutter when she thinks of it.

Clay on the other hand was deeply attracted to Giselle's curvaceous body and pretty face, however, love was still not in that equation. He admired her and gave her an heir, but his heart was still in denial of the feelings that are already brewing inside him. Besides, he had too much on his mind to even think about something as fleeting as love. He saw too many people broken because of the feeling they had called love. Love destroyed families and even grand companies, organizations and worlds. Although some of those references comes from his \"knowledge, it still cannot be denied that love had too much hand in the state of the world both previous and present. So, love was the last thing in Clay's mind right now. Although, with his son, Ryan's addition to the equation, it seems that Clay's irresponsible way of thinking about love and family is slowly being transformed.

***

Giselle had gone to Acadria to manage the kingdom there, and Clay was left in their residence. Clay gathered his retainers by summoning them and they are sitting across Clay waiting for him to tell them what's up.

\"That Dungeon that we discovered, how goes the investigation?\"

\"Sire, the dungeon had become a place that adventurers frequent since a year ago. We developed the road for them and made it safe enough to travel there in groups in a party if they wished to explore the place. Adventurers have been thriving in our territory since its conception and the Adventurers Guild had been established to be the most influential institute next to the city hall. They commission many jobs for citizens that were attracted to adventure. Unlike our family members that have been restricted from making known their strength, the rest of the immigrants has freedom to choose whatever profession they choose to. Many warriors have appeared, and the dungeon situation had stabilized.\"

\"That's good. I want you to try to conquer the dungeon by 6 months as your training. If you can accomplish this, then we would move on to the next phase of our training.\" Clay commanded them.

\"Sire, won't conquering the dungeon be too easy for us currently?\" Mor asked, feeling confident of his strength since they continue to investigate the dungeon day and night noon-stop to determine its danger factors towards the city.

\"I just found out that there is a larger energy signature inside the dungeon. I think it only appeared today. You will receive reports from those you sent to the dungeon later anyway, so discuss among yourselves how to conquer it. It'd be best if you moved faster, but perfection takes time as they say. So, take time to plan and prepare. This adventure you're about to have seems to be quite a challenge, just right for the current you.\"

\"As you command!\" Caltec expressed powerfully. The rest also nodded to his intent, stood up and left the room without saying anything else to Clay. To which, Clay smiled gleefully. That smile had a hint of playfulness in it and of someone having fun.

***

At his residence, Clay had set up a transfer array to travel directly to Apollo's Lair. He had hidden it carefully so that no one accidentally activates it and directly combust as they emerge from the transfer magic circle. And to further raise the security, only his energy signature is accepted by the transfer array.

Right after telling his retainers about the quest they had to undergo, Clay used the array to go to Apollo's Lair after leaving a letter on the bed telling Giselle that he will be gone for at most a week.

In Apollo's Lair, Clay saw his body sitting comfortably at the throne he made for himself. After admiring himself a little he went to a room different from the experiment room he uses to conduct varied experiments in. He went to the opposite room across it and closed the door behind him as he went it. Before he had fully come inside, silhouette of monsters could be observed right before the door closed.

***

In the dungeon that recently opened, having only a year in its belt being, it was relatively still popular for adventurers to come in and out of. The monsters after its initial growing period in addition to the Porkers and Slimes were Goblins, their leaders the Hobgoblins, and then another scary monster that appeared out of nowhere, a Homunculus that is often rumored to be evolved from Slimes.

Porkers are boars that charge using their incredibly hardened snouts and kill with their tusks. They average the size of a minivan, standing at a meter. Slimes are typically creatures who prey on other monster corpses or substances that are released by other creatures such as their feces, blood or even sweat. Ultimately, slimes are what keeps a dungeon or their environment clean.

Goblins are monsters that stand at the height of an elementary student. Their faces resemble a human but only if they were doused with acid to the face. They had body odor so foul that other creatures usually kill them and leave their bodies to the Slimes which digest them without complaints. Basically, Goblins are never a choice of food for the hunters, only those desperate enough to eat their flesh and suffer their smell would do so.

Above the Goblins were the Hobgoblins who rule over them. They evolve from the rest to take leadership over a tribe of other Goblins. This ensures the survival of each Goblin tribe that exists in the wilds. Although Goblins are typically not welcomed in the Forest of Despair as they are too weak, Hobgoblins are also not welcomed. They may be stronger than typical Goblins, but their characteristic fetid smell and unappetizing flesh make them the number one eradication target by other predators inside the Forest of Despair.

However, with Claiomh Solais being a newly established Kingdom inside the Forest of Despair, having a dungeon show up in their territory is rather convenient for the adventurers who love exploring regions for treasures and just for adrenaline rush. So, the Goblins inside, although unwanted by bigger predators, could not be touched because people from Claiomh Solais guards the entrance and exit of the dungeon. Isaac had made sure to defend this spot to maintain business opportunities.

The overall threat of the Forest of Despair had already gone down to a level where fully armed groups of people can enter if they stick to the highways which Clay made. As those roads were made with Clay's magic, and his magic energy signature still lingers in them, it prevents intelligent monsters from coming close to it, especially the capital itself. The capital thus, serves as the beacon for Clay to say to the monsters lurking in the forest to \"stay away and there will be peace, invade, and there will be war.\"

Currently, the four of them had arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. The dungeon's monsters had no way of training them further, but Clay insisted that there was a monster that recently appeared that would pose a challenge to the four of them together, so they went without asking any more questions. They did not know then that what awaited them was a bitter struggle for their lives. The monster that waited for them at the end of the road, was something they would have nightmares about for decades.