Chapter 156: Dungeon

Lukas carefully received the letter from Aurora’s hands after she had finished reading it.

The paper was still slightly warm, as if it carried a little of his mother’s concern, transferred through the touch of her fingers.

He felt the rough texture of the parchment beneath his fingertips, noticing the folds that repeated readings had left across its surface.

He took a deep breath before beginning to read. His eyes moved across the first lines, immediately recognizing Asmon’s handwriting.

The handwriting remained impeccable, firm, and orderly, exactly as he remembered it. Every letter was drawn with precision, every word carefully placed upon the line.

Every line conveyed reassurance, as if his older brother had written everything with the sole purpose of preventing his family from worrying.

The words had been chosen carefully, the euphemisms skillfully placed, and the troubling details gently omitted.

"Dear Father, Mother, Judite, and Lukas,

I hope you are all doing well. Before anything else, I want to reassure you. I am in perfect health and have not suffered any injuries. I know the news that has probably already reached the countryside of the kingdom may frighten you, but I ask you to remain calm."

Lukas continued reading, his breathing slow and steady as he absorbed every word.

He soon found the explanation for the conflict. The reason that had turned a long-standing tension into an open war, mobilizing armies and drafting young men like his brother.

"The reason for this mobilization was the discovery of an ancient dungeon located exactly in the border region between Rhyne and Portkar."

He frowned slightly. The word immediately stirred his memory, bringing back the images from the books he had studied in Castle Hark’s library.

"Dungeon..."

During his days in Castle Hark’s library, he had read numerous books about them. The subject had fascinated him from the very beginning, awakening his curiosity about the secrets hidden beneath the earth.

Dungeons were not natural caves. Unlike geological formations that slowly took shape over millennia, dungeons were intentional constructions, created by intelligent hands for specific purposes.

Much less were they simply abandoned fortresses. They were not merely castles or cities forgotten by time. They were complex structures, designed with an architecture that defied modern understanding.

They were ancient constructions left behind by the ancient races that had ruled Hyndor before the Great Liberation. Every dungeon was a testament to the power and sophistication of those civilizations that had existed before humanity.

No one knew exactly who had built all of them. Some belonged to the ancient elves, with their elegant architecture and subtle magic. Others belonged to the dwarves, with their massive constructions and intricate mechanisms.

Still others appeared to have been raised by civilizations completely unknown, whose names had vanished from history, leaving only ruins as evidence of their existence.

For thousands of years, they had remained hidden beneath mountains, deserts, forests, or even at the bottom of the oceans. Time and nature had covered them, buried them, concealed them from the eyes of the world.

Sometimes they were discovered by accident. A farmer digging a well, a miner following an ore vein, a traveler searching for shelter, anyone could unknowingly open the door to a lost world.

A mountain would collapse, revealing an entrance that had been hidden for millennia. An earthquake would open an underground passage, connecting the surface world to forgotten corridors. Or ancient magical formations would simply weaken after centuries, allowing what had once been invisible to become visible.

And then, a new dungeon would reveal itself to the world.

The problem was that nearly all of them were extremely dangerous. The ancient races had not built those structures to be visited. There were protections, defenses, and mechanisms that tolerated no intruders.

Magical traps, triggered by the simple touch of an unwary foot, capable of reducing a man to ashes in an instant. Creatures that had remained imprisoned for millennia, sustained by the mana permeating the walls, evolved into forms no human had ever seen.

Ancient constructs still guarding forgotten corridors, war machines that continued functioning even after their creators had vanished. Curses that clung to the soul, transforming explorers into something no longer human.

Poisons that killed in seconds, or worse, killed slowly over days or weeks. Labyrinths capable of driving explorers mad, where time and space no longer obeyed the rules of the outside world.

Very few people ever managed to reach the end of a dungeon. Most died on the first floors, victims of traps or creatures. Others became lost within the endless corridors, wandering until they died of hunger or thirst.

But those who succeeded...

They often discovered riches capable of changing the fate of an entire kingdom. Enchanted weapons capable of defeating armies. Extinct ores that could no longer be found anywhere in the known world.

Ancient books containing knowledge that had been lost. Cultivation techniques that allowed one to draw mana from sources modern humans had forgotten. Lost spells capable of performing miracles beyond the reach of contemporary magic.

Magical artifacts that modern humanity was no longer capable of producing, items of power that transformed their wielders into living legends.

Lukas finally understood.

"So that’s why..."

It was not difficult to imagine why two kingdoms would go to war. The value of an unexplored dungeon was beyond calculation. Power, wealth, knowledge, any of it could be hidden within its walls.

Neither kingdom would willingly give up such an opportunity. Especially when Rhyne and Portkar had already lived in constant conflict for nearly two hundred years. The discovery of the dungeon had merely served as the spark that ignited a powder keg already waiting to explode.

He continued reading, his eyes moving down the following lines.

"I have received an official summons to join Duke Marvin’s army."

Lukas immediately recognized the name. Marvin. He was one of the three great dukes of the Kingdom of Rhyne, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom after the king himself. His family ruled one of the regions closest to the border with Portkar, which explained his direct involvement in the conflict.

"I was selected because of my grades at the Royal Academy and the results I achieved during my training over the past three years."

A faint smile appeared on Lukas’s face.

It was exactly like Asmon.

Ever since he was young, he had always been extremely dedicated to his studies and training, always striving to be the best at everything he did. It was no surprise that he had stood out.