Chapter 228 - 228. Hate
The Excavating worms had been moved from their previous lair and planted in that barren environment.
Then, their numbers had been periodically reduced to prevent them from escaping from the dungeon, forcing them to resort to cannibalism or to eat terrain.
The blood of the beasts from two thousand years ago might have been lost, diluted during that huge amount of time, but the will that it carried remained.
It was enough for one beast to start to hate, tainting its body with a firm but weak emotion, for a chain reaction to be generated.
That beast died but its blood was shared among the beast that ate it, awakening a similar will on them.
The same happened to those beasts that continued to spread that contaminated blood.
Then, the cleaning operation would arrive, reducing their numbers and concentrating once again that emotion in fewer specimens, while being slightly increased in might.
Like that, years passed and that cycle repeated itself.
An entire pack that shared the same emotion continued to thrive and be destroyed, increasing the power held by its will.
Until, one day, the miracle happened.
A peculiar rank 4 creature was born, carrying an unusual concentration of contaminated blood.
That blood had the accumulated hatred of tens of thousands beasts, it became so powerful that the normal body of the magical beast could not contain it, leading to the awakening and developing of its sea of consciousness.
Because of that, it was called bloodline inheritance.
'At least, I know for a fact that the Royals aren't aware of this.'
Noah thought, standing mid-air with his eyes fixed on the deepest part of the lair.
As for why he was convinced of that, it was because the sea of consciousness of a magical beast that obtained a bloodline inheritance was considered among the best nutrients for the mental sphere of a cultivator.
A beast's mental sphere was still inferior to a human's one, which allowed a cultivator to freely absorb it!
'Is this considered good or bad luck?'
Noah couldn't help but have second thoughts.
On one hand, a beast with a bloodline inheritance was an extremely rare event, impossible to predict.
A pack of magical beasts had to be contained for thousands of years, hoping that one of their specimens would give birth to a strong will and pass it down.
Also, there were no available methods to test if such will was created, which ultimately led the cultivators to abandon every experiment on that field.
It was completely random after all, it was impossible to create an environment that had a high chance of success in giving birth to such a beast.
If one added the amount of time needed too, it was easy to consider any experiment in that field not worth the effort.
On the other hand, such a beast was smart.
It could learn from the environment, it could plan ambushes, it could define the layout of its lair to better suit its needs.
Also, it could use its pack to perform complex formations, overall it was a powerful foe.
'This mission has suddenly become far more dangerous than I expected.'
Noah was conflicted.
'If I let go of this chance, I will surely lose the bloodline inheritance, I don't believe that the Royals will miss it once they see the layout of the lair.'
The sea of consciousness of the creature would give a huge boost to his mental sphere and also increase his understanding of the magical beasts.
'Yet, I wasn't sure that I could kill it before I discovered its quality, now my chances have reduced even more.'
Minutes passed, with Noah calmly considering his possibilities.
'Fuck it, the Excavating worm has one of the lowest battle capabilities among the magical beasts and my spells are suited to fight large numbers of enemies. I have tons of potions and a "Breath" blessing, I'm more than prepared for this fight. Even if I can't defeat it and the pack tries to cut my escape route, I can just use the Demonic sword to create a way for me.'
Once he decided, he slowly descended toward the nearest cave, rousing the worms in the tunnels that gathered in front of him.
'Let's see if your will is stronger than mine.'
Meanwhile, in the upper layers of the dungeon.
Daniel and his group were warily inspecting their surroundings.
The tremors that made one of the lower floors crumble had surprised them and it had momentarily stopped their descent.
"Milo, what do you think?"
Daniel broke the silence.
Milo raised his gaze and shook his head.
"Something was destroyed in the lower layers but I can't deduce anything else. The "Breath" in the terrain hinders even the investigative technique of the scouts of the Elbas family. What should we do?"
Daniel looked at the ground below him for a while before nodding to the others with him.
"It's either the lone cultivator fighting or the beasts creating a mess. Either way, we should proceed downward to find the Excavating worms."
The other four nodded and waited for him to point to a direction.
Daniel had a large and detailed map in his hands, it was the complete blueprint of the Bare Dungeon.
After a quick inspection, he pointed toward one of the passages.
"This passage leads to the lower layers faster, even if on that one the concentration of "Breath" is higher. With our strength, fighting a few hundred rank 3 magical beasts is not a problem so we should descend quickly."
The cultivators didn't have any objection and went directly for the passage pointed by their leader.
Milo was in the front, he had specific techniques to investigate the environment, he could even surpass the perception of a rank 2 mage when he used them.
The group moved fast, they easily crossed a few empty rooms, getting closer and closer to the lair.
Then, they were met with the same scene that Noah had encountered.
It was a room with more than a hundred holes in the walls, with a constant crawling noise coming from them.