Danmachi - Infinite Mana System! - Chapter 171 - Altena 10.

[Chapter Size: 2100 Words.]
Third Person POV
Altena.

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...

"I would like to ask for your opinion on this," she murmured, looking at the map of the continent.

Lucius... He didn't hesitate before responding.
"We must destroy the dungeon once and for all. If we truly want to rid the continent of this threat," he said.

The goddess looked at him without any surprise, but she seemed a little cautious.
"But we must acknowledge that it won't be so easy to do this without the necessary precautions," Athena commented thoughtfully.

"It seems like you're hiding something, doesn't it?" Lucius asked, observing her attentively.

She sighed before responding,
"I believe it's more complicated than it seems. Unfortunately, I can't tell you much about it."

"Why not? What is it that you can't say? Is it about something inside the dungeon?" he insisted.
"This makes me wonder: there have never been records identifying the origin or the real purpose of the dungeon. Is there something about it that is forbidden to talk about?"

She responded then, with a serious tone,
"You are certainly a very intelligent person... but talking about it is prohibited." That was all she said.

Lucius raised an eyebrow; it seemed that something quite strange was happening there, and it had to do with the gods in some way.
"And can someone tell me about it?" he asked, but Athena shook her head.

"Neither I nor any other god can say anything about it," she affirmed firmly.

"But still, do you think that dungeon cannot be destroyed? Answer me," he insisted, looking at her with an expression that demanded the truth.

Athena hesitated for a moment, appearing tense before responding,
"That is why I said what I did earlier... there is nothing the mortal world can produce that can truly destroy it. Not even we, the gods, can do it with our authority, and even with the arcane power that is forbidden to use in the mortal world..." she explained.

Lucius raised an eyebrow, surprised.
"What? Not even you, gods?" He seemed even more intrigued.
"What is it about the dungeon that makes it so special? Moreover, what are the gods hiding about this world?"

Athena remained silent for a moment, as if searching for the right words.
"It may seem like we don't have answers for this... Not here. After all, I can't force the other gods to reveal what they know either."

"Then, are we just going to stand by while the world is destroyed?" Lucius retorted, irritated.
"Maybe not now, but what will happen in 50,000 years? 100,000 years? Will there even be a continent left to protect?"

Athena pondered for an instant before saying,
"I will speak with the other gods. We need to talk to all the residents of this world."

"I see. Well, we don't need to deal with this now, but I would like to ask another question," he said.

"What would that be?" she asked, starting to turn off the crystal, which gradually returned to normal.

"I need to know about a specific organization. The Neteru Netjer Isfet," he said, his tone serious.

Athena, who had been putting the crystal away, stopped abruptly upon hearing that. She turned immediately to him.

"That group of gods..." she murmured, seeming apprehensive.

"Yes. We're tracking them and got some information in the desert, but we don't have much. Actually, almost nothing. Riveria and I had a lead, but in the end, we found nothing..." he said.

Athena observed him seriously before responding,
"Truly, no one knows for sure about them. I believe they have always been extremely careful. I would be very cautious with them. They act mysteriously, and... we don't really know what their goals are. I have warned some gods about this, but I couldn't find any information with them. Moreover, we can't do anything to them if we don't have proof against them..."

"And if we get proof against them?" Lucius suggested. "Can we expel them from this world?"

"Perhaps... I fear it won't be that simple," she commented.

"Let me tell you something, then. Their objectives are to use the Arcane without being expelled from the world," Lucius said with a serious tone.

"If that happens... it would be disastrous," she murmured.

"Disastrous? It would cause a war between gods and arcane forces that would lead the entire world to destruction. Am I wrong?" Lucius said, his tone severe.

Lucius watched as she pressed her lips together before nodding.
"You are absolutely right. The gods themselves have their reasons for being here, for amusement, but we cannot use this due to the destruction it would cause. Even refraining from interfering in the quest to eliminate the black dragon, we hope a hero will emerge..." she spoke, her gaze falling on Lucius.

"Do you think I'm that hero?" Lucius wanted to laugh at the way she looked at him.

"There has never been a mortal like you..." she commented.

"And I may not be the hero you seek... after all, I've never desired that. I'm more of a... revolutionary," Lucius shrugged.

"Revolutionary? What do you mean by that?" she asked, interest evident in her voice.

"Something you'll learn in the future, and you'll certainly find it intriguing..." he said with a mischievous smile.

"Tell me!" she demanded, her curiosity quickly overtaking her stoic demeanor.

"I'm not going to tell you..." he simply shrugged again.

"Tell me!" she repeated, looking at him with eyes that were almost turning red.

"We won't talk about this anymore. Let's leave it for the future," Lucius said, disappearing from her sight as he headed for the entrance. He knew how insistent she could be, remembering how she'd spent a week studying house elves and their unique magic with great interest.

"Lucius Drakenar, this is unfair!" She stomped her foot like a child, a behavior that appeared occasionally.

"Anyway... I'd like you to inform me about that organization. They've been funding Evilus for over a decade in Orario. I need to dismantle their schemes before they can achieve their goals," he said in a serious tone, while Athena looked at him gravely, agreeing with his words.

"I will stay here for another week. After that, we're leaving. We need to head north as well. I'd also like to know about any movements from the elven king... or should I say, my father-in-law," Lucius remarked, as Athena merely nodded, agreeing with his requests.

"I don’t think this will be trivial, judging by what I’ve already begun to hear. Either way, you owe me some information," she said in the end, and Lucius agreed.

Lucius then left the room, leaving the goddess alone, as he moved toward other rooms in the tower where he would meet members of Athena's familia to discuss the creation of magical artifacts.

"Lucius! Sir, you're here!" exclaimed a Level 4 woman, appearing to be in her 30s, upon seeing him enter the area.

"I just came to see how things are going... perhaps to say a few more things, like helping you..." he replied, while she simply smiled, already used to his presence.

Lucius spent the rest of the afternoon assisting her and learning to produce new magical items. Afterward, he left the main tower and, by late afternoon, as he flew over the skies of Altena, he observed the city beginning to glow with its lights.

When he arrived at the magic academy, he went to the library, where he found Riveria reading in a quiet, closed room. This room muffled the surrounding noise as she studied. In one corner of the library, various magical elves he'd stationed there in recent weeks continued copying books. Lucius knew Athena would likely disapprove of his use of her library if she knew he was copying her tomes this way, but in the end, she saw no problem with it.

It was an efficient way to preserve knowledge, though for many, it might seem like a kind of theft.

Lucius looked at the elves with interest, thinking about how useful it would be to have all these books in his future magical tower, which he planned to build in Orario. It would be a valuable resource for magic scholars and artifact creators he intended to establish in the city as well.

He ignored the elves in the library and went directly to Riveria. As he approached, she murmured, having noticed the door opening even before he appeared:
"Finally, you're here." Riveria lifted her eyes from the book and gave a faint smile.

Lucius sat down across from her, and she commented,
"Same routine as always, you know. Training, studying... nothing too new."

"Anyway, let's go. I'm done here," she said, closing the book and placing it back on the shelf beside her.

"Alright. Today we’re going to do something different and visit the headmistress," Lucius replied. Before she could react, he used his magic and disappeared with her, reappearing in one of the university corridors.

Some students ran down the hallway, looking surprised at the sudden appearance of Lucius and Riveria. Many admired him as the most powerful adventurer in the world after Athena's announcement, a true idol for the city's residents, especially the students. However, before anyone could approach them, Lucius disappeared again, this time appearing in front of the headmistress's office.

There stood a young woman who had first approached him when he left the library to teach a class after stealing a professor’s uniform. She quickly became startled by his presence.

"Mr. Lucius! What a surprise to see you here!" she said, clearly nervous.

"Don't worry too much about it, miss. We're just here to speak with the headmistress," Lucius replied cautiously.

The young woman hurried to escort them to the headmistress, entering the office ahead of them and emerging a minute later.

"She’s available. You may go in. She’s expecting you," the girl said as Lucius and Riveria entered the room.

"Well, I’m a bit surprised by your presence here, Mr. Drakenar. What is your request? I imagine you must want something to come all the way to my office..." said the headmistress, staring at Lucius.

"This is a request from the goddess Athena. I want access to the forbidden section of the library," Lucius replied. He knew the secret section was restricted to nearly everyone; not even professors or students could enter without special authorization. Only high-ranking members of Athena’s familia or the academy could gain access.

"The goddess Athena gave you permission for this?" The headmistress didn’t hide her astonishment. "How did you manage to secure something like that?" She seemed incredulous at the access granted by the goddess herself.

"Well, I had to negotiate directly with her. I spoke about my house elves, and in exchange, I offered knowledge. Knowledge for knowledge. I thought it was fair," Lucius replied calmly.

The headmistress glared at him with indignation.
"I can’t believe that goddess Athena sought only information about house elves and ignored the workings of your unique magical ability! It seems like you took advantage of her curiosity," she commented, even more suspicious, but Lucius only smiled.

"Alright, come with me," said the headmistress, dropping the argument. She quickly stood, leaving the room and notifying her assistant that she would be away for some time.

Lucius and Riveria followed the headmistress through the academy's corridors until they reached the library. They walked past numerous shelves and descended a set of stairs that led to a door protected by several layers of magical barriers.

Seeing the protections, Lucius knew it would be easy for him to enter here, but he refrained out of respect. After all, he already had an agreement with Athena.

"You may not copy any books from here. Understood?" the headmistress said in a serious tone, stopping in front of the door.

"Don’t worry. I’ll only read," Lucius replied with a slight smile, shrugging.

He entered the area, a grand hall filled with rare books and ancient scrolls. Determined, he planned to spend the night here instead of continuing his studies on magical artifacts, as this was Altena’s most secret knowledge. Even though he had only a week to study, he was confident he could read all 400+ books there. He knew the content was unique and invaluable.

Athena had granted access because she trusted that, even if Lucius wanted to obtain the knowledge by other means, she wouldn’t be able to stop him. He could have entered secretly or even broken through the protections by force, but he had promised never to use that knowledge against Altena.

Wasting no time, Lucius delved into the books, absorbing as much as he could. Riveria, who also had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, took advantage of the opportunity to study alongside him. The two remained in the hall, immersed in the magical and intellectual treasures surrounding them.