Ryan began to walk down the dark stone corridors of the dungeon, with Alicia advancing faithfully by his side.

Helen and Mirian stayed a bit further back, lugging the heavy wyvern along with them. The voices of both heroines echoed off the walls as they argued.

Mirian was forcing Helen to lead the beast back on foot for the entire journey, arguing that it was her brilliant idea to take him outside in the first place.

’The space inside the village became so immense after the ownership ritual, that even the wyvern can roam freely around the place, fly at great heights, and not get bored.’

Ryan thought, watching out of the corner of his eye as Helen pulled on the reins with a pout while Mirian scolded her.

’Although, of course, he can’t fly here inside the dungeon. The corridors and the monsters would be trouble for him.’

Because the system rules of the S-rank dungeon only allowed three adventurers to complete it and obtain benefits, currently the place would not give experience to anyone.

However, that didn’t change the fact that the local monsters would continue to respawn and attack anyone who ventured into their territory.

The only exception to that rule was Ryan, Helen, and Mirian; being the absolute conquerors of the structure, the monsters ignored them completely.

Of course, that applied unless they were the ones to strike the first blow. But for the rest of their companions, like Alicia, the danger remained very real.

"Your Majesty." Alicia pronounced suddenly, halting her steps upon seeing a horde of dungeon monsters approaching with low growls from the darkness of the corridor.

"Please let me take care of this." she said with a confident smile.

Alicia brought her right hand close to her own face. Her nails grew rapidly, transforming into razor-sharp claws.

Even though she tried to keep it hidden beneath her refined assistant posture, Ryan noticed how the wolf girl’s fangs suddenly grew larger and more lethal, revealing her true nature as a beastwoman.

"Alright, go." Ryan ordered simply.

Alicia’s silhouette moved in a perfect zigzag. Her speed was astonishing as she launched herself directly against a group of eight intermediate-level dungeon monsters.

’With just her claws, huh. She’s not doing bad at all.’ Ryan analyzed, observing how Alicia shattered the creatures’ defenses with precise and savage movements, clearing the corridor in a matter of seconds without receiving a single scratch.

And so they continued their ascent without any major complications, with Alicia leading the way, until they reached the fiftieth floor.

After crossing the threshold of the middle zone, Ryan asked Alicia to stay by his side and signaled for Mirian to go ahead to take care of clearing the rest of the path.

Arguing that he wanted to discuss important matters with his assistant.

While they walked, Ryan began to explain the current situation to her. He detailed how he had left Karol and Beatrice in charge back in the city of Kalistia, and recounted the unexpected and fruitful meeting he had with a merchant guild leader named Edwin.

"I also discovered something interesting thanks to that merchant." Ryan continued, keeping his voice at a low pitch.

"I learned of the existence of a heroine named Luciela. Apparently, she is a wielder of chimera weapons."

Ryan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and asked if she knew of her existence.

Alicia nodded immediately, without showing any surprise at the name.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Luciela is a very famous heroine in the nations, and extremely strong. But I did not know she used weapons of that type."

"I understand." Ryan said, processing the confirmation. If the maids of the village knew about those heroes, it meant that their reputation was public knowledge.

"And I suppose there are many people and heroes just as important as her."

Ryan stopped for a moment and looked Alicia straight in the eyes.

"I want you to prepare updated maps for me of all the nations on the continent. And along with the maps, I need a detailed report on all the prominent heroes of those nations, especially those of S-rank or higher. Also include absolutely anything you can mark as important and that I should know. Trade routes, valuable resources, church bases... everything."

Alicia was listening expectantly, nodding her head at every word Ryan said as they resumed their march.

Her wolf ears twitched as they caught every instruction, memorizing the enormous logistical workload that her king had just assigned to her.

Finally, after a long uninterrupted descent, they crossed the glowing portal on the hundredth floor and arrived at the vast refuge of the village.

The artificial climate of the place welcomed them with a pleasant breeze.

"I will take charge of preparing all that information starting from this precise moment, Your Majesty."

Alicia told Ryan with an impeccable bow, and she withdrew immediately to begin her work.

A few minutes later, Helen entered through the portal dragging the wyvern, still complaining about the annoying situation she herself had provoked.

When the massive beast was inside the safe territory, Ryan approached and gently stroked the scales on its neck.

The wyvern let out a low purr and, finding itself free from the reins, took flight immediately, moving away from the houses of the village toward the expansive open field and the artificial sky.

Satisfied with the order of things, Ryan went straight to the workshop that now functioned as a relic smithy and alchemy laboratory.

Upon crossing the wooden door, the intense heat of the forge and the smell of boiling potions filled his senses.

Runa and Mika stopped their activities immediately and greeted Ryan with evident enthusiasm.

"Welcome back!" they both said at almost the same time.

"How is the process for the long-distance communication relic going?" Ryan asked, getting straight to the point.

The dwarf Runa scratched the back of her neck with a soot-stained finger, while Mika arranged some test tubes on the wooden table.

"We have a prototype on paper." Runa explained, pointing at some scrolls covered in runic diagrams.

"But since neither of us has ever touched or dismantled a real communication relic in our entire lives, we don’t really know how we can stabilize the core to create one from scratch. We are missing a base."

At that moment, Ryan smiled with complete confidence.

He reached into his spatial inventory and pulled out the glowing stone engraved with runes that he had taken from the guard booth in the city of Kalistia.

He placed it right on the workbench, directly in front of the astonished eyes of the blacksmith and the alchemist.

"And do you think that, having this one as a model, you will be able to do it then?" Ryan asked, thoroughly enjoying the expression of surprise on both girls’ faces.