"So that's it, an illusion barrier, huh? Hmm, I think I can give it a try."
Nolan nodded, his eyes turning golden as he continued to examine the crack in the mountain wall.
His "Eye of Judgment" had the ability to see through illusions, but he hadn't encountered such a situation before, so he hadn't demonstrated it much.
Now was the perfect opportunity.
Sure enough, in his sight, the crack in the mountain wall slowly faded, dissipating like morning mist meeting sunlight.
In its place was a starry rift.
"Secret realm!"
Nolan exclaimed in surprise.
"A Secret realm... Hmm, it seems these Abyss Mages have hidden their base inside a domain. No wonder the patrol knights rarely encounter Abyss Order bases."
Jean mused thoughtfully.
"Is that so? Should we go in?" Nolan asked.
Entering a domain knowingly occupied by enemies was a risky move, as no one knew what lay inside.
Jean hesitated for a moment. Her wind elemental mark was well hidden, likely beyond detection by the Ice Abyss Mage's strength.
Since they wouldn't be detected, the likelihood of an ambush was low.
Moreover, as the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, she had confidence in her abilities. She should be able to handle an Abyss Order base.
"Honorary Knight, can you get us inside without breaking this illusion magic?" Jean asked, facing Nolan directly with her fair face and slightly parted lips.
This illusion concealing the Hidden Secret Realm Teleportation Portal wasn't just visual. If they couldn't see through the illusion, everything they encountered would only appear as the crack in the mountain wall before them, preventing entry into the Secret Realm Teleportation Gate.
"Yes, please give me your hand. There shouldn't be any problem," Nolan replied confidently.
Since Nolan wasn't affected by the illusion here, he could easily enter the Secret Realm Teleportation Gate's teleportation gate. Bringing someone along should be straightforward.
"Alright." Jean nodded, taking Nolan's outstretched right hand.
Nolan held the delicate hand of Acting Grand Master Jean, feeling its soft warmth. Together, they approached the teleportation gate within the crack in the mountain wall.
The space shifted, and the two of them simply appeared inside the secret realm as if they had pushed open a door in an ordinary manner.
The place looked like a cave, but the path ahead was unusually smooth, as if it had been artificially maintained.
They waited a few seconds, but there was no ambush in sight.
It seemed the Ice Abyss Mage indeed hadn't noticed the two of them secretly following it into the secret realm.
Now they could continue following Acting Grand Master Jean to find that Ice Abyss Mage. Its location was likely the Abyss Order's base within this secret realm.
"Um, Honorary Knight," Jean, with her golden single ponytail tied up, hesitated and called out to the young adventurer in front of her.
Nolan turned back, thinking Jean might have some instructions, and asked, "Ah, what is it?"
"Oh, um, could you please let go of my hand for now? Holding hands like this feels a bit strange," Jean lightly coughed, gently tugging twice to see if the Honorary Knight would release her hand, but since he didn't, she had to speak up.
Jean, who enjoyed reading romance novels, unexpectedly found herself thinking of scenes where the main characters held hands.
Well, perhaps the Honorary Knight would make a good romantic interest, but she had to prioritize her responsibilities.
These personal feelings had to be set aside for now.
Thinking inexplicably, Jean briefly felt the sensation of holding hands, which was almost a strange experience.
[Jean Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 200 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv. 6 (90/600)]
"Ah, sorry," Nolan apologized, feeling a bit embarrassed upon hearing Jean's comment and the notification from the character panel, slowly releasing her hand.
Mainly because Acting Grand Master Jean's hand was indeed very soft, and the warm temperature transferred through their palms gave him a feeling akin to being enveloped by a "hand warmer" in winter, making him reluctant to let go.
Of course, there was also the reason he had been observing the interior environment since they entered the secret realm.
"Well, let's continue forward," Jean adjusted the strands of golden hair on the side of her face, her expression unchanged as if she didn't pay too much attention to the matter.
The two walked ahead along the smooth path. By Nolan's side, Jean's white high-heeled boots made a slightly muffled sound as they stepped on the ground.
He suddenly realized that he was perhaps a tiny bit shorter than Jean, by about two or three centimeters.
However, he didn't pay much attention to height differences; as long as it didn't make him feel conspicuously short, it was fine.
They passed through a long corridor resembling a cave and arrived at a pool where several water slimes, both large and small, were present.
They ranged approximately between level 35 to 40.
"Let me handle this, Acting Grand Master Jean. You can take a break," Nolan said enthusiastically.
With his current strength, slimes of this level posed no threat to him anymore, just a source of Adventure EXP.
"Alright, Honorary Knight, I'll leave it to you," Jean nodded, crossing her arms.
Nolan took out his Adventurer's Hunter's Bow, infused arrows with fire elements from his Delusion, and shot them, using Vaporize reactions effectively to clear out the slimes quickly.
[Defeated Powerful Enemies *6, Obtained 2231 Adventure EXP.]
With the slimes cleared, Nolan and Jean continued towards the location marked by the wind element, keeping an eye out for any enemies that might appear at any moment.
Perhaps this secret realm had been occupied by the Abyss Order for a long time, as Nolan didn't see a single treasure chest. They were likely already taken by them.
Soon, Nolan and Jean arrived at a fork in the path. Without much consideration, they continued directly towards the direction marked by the wind element.
Not long after, Nolan and Jean encountered obstacles again.
This time, it was a group of Hilichurls of various sizes, mostly around level 30, much weaker than Nolan.
"I'll handle this," Nolan smiled and said.
It seemed like Acting Grand Master Jean didn't need to intervene at all. If this secret realm was of this level, given some time, he could clear it "solo."
[Defeated Powerful Enemies *11, Obtained 3679 Adventure EXP.]
After attaching the fire element to his arrow six times when he defeated the Slime earlier, the fire element reserve in his Delusion was already half gone.
So this time, he used the water element arrows made from water elemental ore together with the arrows attached to the wind element alternately, creating Swirl reactions to deal with the enemies.
Nolan didn't waste time collecting drops from the monsters.
After all, the most important thing was to find and eliminate the Ice Abyss Mage in this secret realm, to prevent them from escaping due to delay in time.
Of course, he planned to collect them on the way back; these items were worth a lot of Mora.
(End of Chapter)
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