Skill Extraction: Exploring Dungeons-Chapter 518 - 470: Exit

The sky is a clear azure blue.

White clouds float in the sky.

A warm, unobstructed golden sun hangs on the horizon, emitting warm and gentle golden light over the prairie below.

The vast prairie is covered with lush green plants, and from time to time you can see half-height shepherds.

Herds of cattle, sheep, and horses.

In a part of the prairie.

A simple town is situated here, and it can be seen that this town has not been built for long, with many of the buildings not yet bearing the marks of time.

Some places still retain a brand-new appearance.

But even such a town is now completely deserted inside.

Regardless of whether it’s stores, inns, or other facilities, the staff are no longer there.

Only empty houses and some furniture that was difficult to take away are left inside.

The remaining people in the entire town, apart from the nomads on the outskirts, are just some regular residents willing to stay in town.

As time progresses, in decades or a hundred years, this place will once again become a new town.

This is also the only trace that most dungeons in the wild can leave, and an enduring contribution.

Of course, not all personnel related to the dungeon have evacuated.

You can still see the Mist Council flag raised at the dungeon’s entrance, indicating that a small team of council staff remain here, not following the main group away.

The reason they are still here is that the dungeon has not completely disappeared yet.

According to their calculations, this dungeon should have disappeared long ago, but it has been slowly being devoured.

Such situations are rare, but they found the reason—there must be an Explorer team that has become the final remnants.

Logically, when a dungeon faces desperate situations, these Explorers should have exited by now.

Those who venture into this dungeon should have the means to come out.

If they haven’t come out, it’s either because they truly couldn’t and need to bravely persevere, or they genuinely have the strength to attempt clearing it.

But it has been too long, the dungeon has been in this slowly devoured state for too long.

It has already been over a month.

This indicates that the Explorers inside are still persisting.

Many of the council members remaining around here are not the original members, but dungeon researchers who came from all over the world.

Half a month ago, many received news and gradually arrived, conducting research on this state of the dungeon.

This kind of prolonged persistence is not without precedent, but it’s extremely rare, not encountered once in two to three hundred years.

Originally there might have been some magazine reporters waiting nearby, waiting for those possible to clear the dungeon.

If they successfully survive and clear it, it would be explosive news.

However, all of this was stopped by the lord of this region.

Because these researchers roughly calculated which Explorer Squad might still be inside the dungeon.

If their calculation is correct, it should be the well-known Fog Squad.

Unexpectedly, one of them, the centaur girl, is actually the daughter of the chosen king.

A leisure villa can be seen built not far from the dungeon.

Both the height and width of the area are significantly larger than those for human habitation, indicating that the primary users are half-breeds.

And living inside is obvious, it is indeed Kreya’s mother, Fortuna.

At this moment, Fortuna is sitting not far from the dungeon entrance where a leisure shelter has already been set up. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

She is holding a cup of red tea, quietly staring at the entrance ahead.

"Sigh, why hasn’t Kreya come out yet?"

Fortuna asked puzzledly.

And she wasn’t just muttering to herself, beside her, a half-beast maid replied, "Perhaps the young lady wants to take on a challenge."

"This is too foolish, Kreya is not someone who acts irrationally. When a dungeon is on the brink of collapse, she should have withdrawn. That way, there won’t be much to gain. It’s been so long already, who knows how the monsters inside have been reinforced."

After saying this, Fortuna put the teacup beside her, her face full of worry.

"Could something have happened to her? Otherwise, why hasn’t she come out yet? The difficulty should have already exceeded what she can handle."

The maid by her side, hearing these words, also did not know how to offer comfort.

Because this is everyone’s doubt.

Explorers are indeed a profession very much inclined toward profit.

Now the dungeon’s difficulty far exceeds the rewards that can be obtained, and the labor and danger versus the reward are hugely disproportionate.

Every second spent inside means a significant loss and places oneself in a dangerous situation.

Logically, regardless of one’s strength, one should withdraw.

There’s no point in lingering inside any longer.

Not to mention that such a state has maintained for over a month now, and this dungeon involves large-scale battles with an exaggerated number of enemies.

It’s originally a dungeon where individual strength is not emphasized.

And now the enemies have been comprehensively reinforced for over a month, reaching an outrageous level.

Everyone’s mind now leans toward the idea that the Fog Squad, for some reason, is trapped inside the dungeon.

This is also why Fortuna has been here for nearly half a month now.

She is extremely worried about her daughter, and if her position allowed, her father would have already come here to keep watch.

"Disappeared, the dungeon is disappearing!"

In the distance, the Mist Council staff studying at the dungeon entrance shouted loudly.

This shout drew the attention of everyone left.

Including Fortuna, of course.

She got up and quickly pushed through the crowd blocking her way, reaching the frontmost position.

In fury, she directly grabbed a human researcher nearby and asked, "What do you mean by what you just said, is no one going to come out?"

The researcher could understand the anger of the centaur lady before him and immediately explained, "No, no, no, it’s not the situation you’re thinking of. It indicates that the people inside might be coming out, but it’s also possible they’ve just died. It’s not a definitive conclusion."

Upon hearing this, Fortuna let him go, then frowned and stared at the dungeon entrance.

Her other hand took hold of her maid beside her.

The maid, a half-beast, could clearly feel the trembling in the arm of the high-ranking centaur lady before her.

Now, any comfort would seem futile, so she placed her other hand on top of hers, holding it tightly.

She hoped this would slightly soothe the worried mother in front of her.

A beam of light emanated from the entrance.

"They’re out, the squad actually succeeded!"

"Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable."

"Quick, quick, quick, record the parameters now, this is a rare occurrence for hundreds of years."

As the light brightened, it signified Kane and his team had successfully emerged from the dungeon.

The researchers around were both ecstatic and frantic.

And the maid could feel the intense emotion of the one she served.

Fortuna finally wore a smile that had been absent for half a month.

Kreya exited the dungeon, barely taking in the surroundings before finding herself embraced.

Just having been in fierce battle, Kreya instinctively wanted to counterattack, but the aura in the embrace instantly stopped her actions.

"Mom?"

The voice held uncertainty.

Kreya looked at her mother in front, feeling the tight embrace.

Though unsure of the current situation, Kreya let her weapon vanish, then slowly wrapped her arms around her mother.

Beside them, Kane and his team then saw the surrounding scene.

A large group of staff in council uniforms were frantically checking and recording something, and some were examining Kane and his team with curious gazes.

As if they were looking at extraordinary rare creatures, judging by their eyes, seemingly wanting to bring them to a dissecting table.

Though unaware of the current situation or why Kreya’s mother was here, Kane and his team only wished to rest properly.

They were almost entirely depleted of magic power, and their physical strength only permitted walking.

Fortuna adjusted her emotions, then released the embrace.

Her hands held her daughter as she carefully inspected, observing all the dents and gaps in her daughter’s armor, realizing her daughter’s magic power and physical strength were nearly exhausted.

But at least she saw no life-threatening wounds, only some minor superficial scratches, which eased her mind.

She asked nothing, instead directly saying, "You must be thoroughly exhausted now, come rest quickly."

With that, she led Kreya and Kane through the crowd to a nearby small villa.

Kane looked at the villa with some puzzlement, was there a villa here before?

"Inside are rooms suited for each of you, go in and rest."

Heeding Fortuna’s words, Kane and his team wasted no time entering the villa, finding their respective rooms and went right in.

Fortuna stayed below, watching her daughter enter her room and rest, finally sitting down beside her, her face full of smiles and relief.

"Thankfully, she’s alright."

Knowing her daughter was safe now, Fortuna said to the maid beside her.

"Wait here for them to wake up, I’m leaving now."

With that, she walked out of the villa.

The urgency for her departure was due to her vigil over the past half-month here.

Numerous piled-up matters awaited her attention, and now, having ensured her daughter was fine, she needed to quickly return.

Meanwhile, the Mist Council staff outside continued recording something around.

Without stopping their mutual discussions, murmuring among themselves.

However, their conversations didn’t last long; after completing the necessary checks with various equipment, having acquired the desired information, they started packing up their tools, ready to leave.

Though amazed by Kane and his team’s success in conquering the daring dungeon, it was just surprise, nothing more.

Having obtained the desired data and understanding through equipment and parameters, they ceased disturbing Kane and his team.

By nightfall, in the entire town, only Kane and his team remained connected to the once-existent dungeon.

The rest were just ordinary villagers and nomads.