Absolute Beast Dominion

A/N: Bonus Chapter for the Supergift—Castle, gifted by ’Joe_Bennett_3409’

Thank you!

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Chapter 608: Inside The Secret Realm - 2

After eavesdropping on Patric’s party’s discussion, he learned that they were planning to enter the secret realm just a few hours later.

Even Shreya reluctantly agreed to be part of the team and use a low-level healing potion directly on her damaged arm so that it would become functional.

There were two ways to use a healing potion: one was by drinking it, which spread its effects throughout the body equally, and the second was by splashing the liquid directly onto the injured area, localising its effects. The latter provided a stronger healing effect in the targeted area.

In other words, Shreya was planning to make her hand functional so she could participate in the missions and earn money quickly to afford more healing potions for her damaged body before the injuries became permanent scars.

Leo didn’t rush to join them; he simply observed their situation.

Damn, it’s like I am using them as test subjects... I should probably prepare some compensation for what they are going through because of our mission. Leo never liked being indebted to someone, and if he didn’t compensate Patric and his team appropriately, then he would end up becoming exactly that.

After that, Leo and Lily used the spare time to get their gear maintained at a local establishment while Shyra kept an eye on Patric’s party, watching their every movement.

Hmm, maybe the demons are clever enough to delay the drug’s effects until it triggers inside the realm... or maybe it’s some sort of magical ailment that only activates inside the secret realm? he contemplated. In this magic world, anything was possible.

It might even be the case that there wasn’t any drug at all, just some special type of marking magic that would reveal their location to certain people through scent or some other means, allowing the victims to be trapped at the perfect place.

Fuck! Pretending is surely hard... Leo internally cursed as he inspected new armour in a blacksmith’s shop.

Any adventurer would buy a new piece of gear after earning a good haul, and Leo, playing the role, needed to do the same. For that, he carefully browsed through trash items as though he were selecting hidden treasures.

And he needed to keep up the act because those people in the shadows were still following him from a distance.

He had also noticed similar people trailing Patric’s group; in other words, these demons were still being careful not to reveal their hand in case someone like Leo and Lily had come to investigate.

How did the Academy even manage to figure out that this city is demon-infested if they are this careful? Leo wondered, because even if people were demons around him, he or Lily didn’t feel anything particularly amiss.

So, he would need to climb higher in the academy hierarchy, but he wouldn’t get such answers unless he reached the position of Assistant Professor.

And he would have surely become one if not for the time-period clause and the allegiance contract. It was simple: to qualify for the Assistant Professor Exam, one needed to have completed the 20-year session at the Academy, and the allegiance contract bound them to the Academy for several decades while also requiring them to undertake the tasks assigned by the Academy.

And Leo would simply never agree to such terms, so he set the matter aside.

He timed things perfectly to get a ticket to enter the secret realm just 15 minutes after Patric’s group.

"50 silvers for a ticket?! Are you kidding me?" Leo cursed.

The cashier simply shrugged, clearly used to such reactions.

"Take it or leave it. We are not forcing you. It’s your fault for coming here uninformed," the person behind the counter replied.

Leo sighed and simply bought two tickets. These tickets allowed a person to stay inside the realm indefinitely but required another ticket to re-enter each time.

In other words, if people didn’t hunt or gather resources worth more than 50 silvers in one trip, they would be at a loss.

And like everyone else, Leo also bought a map for 5 silvers to make navigating easier.

He sat on a bench alongside Lily as they both carefully thought of a route.

But it was only Lily who was actually thinking about it; Leo was already focusing through Shyra’s senses to watch Patric’s group.

Leo noticed that even here, there was a queue system through which people entered. There was always a 5-minute delay before another group or individual was allowed to proceed into the underground passage.

Leo joined the queue with three more people standing between Patric’s party and himself.

As he got closer and finally saw the underground passage, he quietly unsummoned Shyra.

The path was a long, dimly lit tunnel, with guards stationed at regular intervals. Even if Shyra’s stealth was nearly perfect, in such a confined place, someone was bound to notice the shift in shadows in such close range, especially a 2.5-meter-tall beast half-melded in the shadows in a 4-meter-tall and 3-meter-wide passage

So he decided to let Shyra catch up to Patric and resume her observation once they were inside the secret realm.

Thankfully, the realm didn’t teleport people randomly.

And though the city kept the secret realm’s restrictions a secret, it allowed any type of individual who entered to interact with the beings inside, so Shyra could easily catch up to Patric even if he travelled some distance during the 15-minute gap.

Though her sense of smell was an entire level weaker than Nyxa’s, it was still more than sufficient for this occasion.

Leo also sensed that the people who had been trailing both him and Patric’s group had quietly withdrawn.

Now, only time will tell whether our act has been successful in fooling these demons.

It was finally Leo’s turn to walk through the long tunnel.

Damn, the materials used in these tunnel bricks are blocking my senses to a great degree... But as a 5-star individual, those materials were still inferior to him.

In other words, with the combination of [Spiritual Sense] and [Geo-Resonance Sense], he could easily tell what lay beneath and around these tunnels.

And his guess was right. This tunnel was laden with multiple secret passages whose secret doors could be opened and closed through trigger mechanisms operated by the stationed guards.

And now he finally understood why there was a 5-minute delay before another individual or group was allowed to enter after the previous one had gone in.