Allen deviated largely from his path after discovering large ruins.
Inside, he found the ruins only housed a large gate.
There was no gatekeeper or watchers nearby, so he simply went inside.
(Somehow I feel like the air feels different inside here. Maybe it's just the shade.)
When he set foot inside, a cold chill went down his back, and he looked at his companions.
"So what, it's just a gate and nothing else? Or is that the Gate of Judgement?"
Rosalina asked when she saw the gate.
(Maybe I should've asked around a bit in the city first.)
Allen started to wonder if dragonkin culture venerated gates.
He had headed to meet the Dragon King as fast as he could, without asking much in the city.
In games, he would always talk to every NPC in cities to gather hints before going to dungeons.
The gate stood in the center, with no wall around it. Going behind it showed nothing.
Allen returned to the front and stared at it, seeing a picture drawn on the doors.
"It seems completely normal. A dragon though…what type of dragon was this again…"
The perspective was so abstract that Allen could not identify the dragon.
It was drawn to appear like the dragon was coming out of the gate.
"It won't open."
While Allen looked, Luck tried pushing on the doors, but they would not budge.
But considering its size, maybe he just lacked strength.
(Why do I feel like I'm supposed to come here after starting a quest?)
There was little he could try in there. Changing all his cards to Dragon summons and opening the gate by sheer force did not feel right either.
Allen felt a sense of deja vu. This seemed to be part of some event, but the story had not progressed that far yet.
"Spirit King Fabre, do you happen to know what this is?"
Fabre knew the Dragon King, so maybe she knew something.
'...I wouldn't really know. It'd be faster to ask the Dragon King directly.'
She seemed to avoid the question.
In the end, Allen decided not to take drastic measures and just left that place.
As Allen turned around, the painted dragon's eyes looked at Fabre and glowed.
They searched for the closest inn, and after two days reached the next wall.
So far they found two more old ruins similar to the first one.
Past the open gate they saw an enormous temple. It was hundreds of meters large like the ruins, standing at the end of the peninsula's spiral. The Dragon King had to be inside there.
"What business do you have here? This is the Dragon King's temple!"
The gatekeepers there looked far better equipped than those at the border.
While it was open, they would not let Allen's group pass.
"I'm sorry, the Dark Elf King's son wanted to have an audience with the Dragon King. Could you let us through?"
Allen quickly acted as Luck's representative and spoke to the gatekeeper.
He had asked around on his way there to confirm that the Gate of Judgement was in the temple.
Going there had been the correct choice after all.
The two gatekeepers turned to look at the young dark elf in the group.
"Ah, I've been told you were visiting. I'm assuming you are the Spirit King Fabre and the young Lucktod?"
Dragonkin seemed to be extremely influenced by authoritative figures and quickly changed their tone.
"Yes, I'd like to meet the Dragon King! Can I go through!!"
There was no stiffness to Luck's energetic acting.
"I see, could you wait a little? I'll go ask for permission to let you enter the premises and meet the Dragon King."
(Wait, they don't have magic communications devices? It's been three days since we arrived.)
Allen thought everyone would know about the dark elf prince and the Spirit King by now.
But the gatekeeper still had to go ask for permission.
"Of course."
There was no need to force the matter if they just had to wait.
Luck and the Spirit King were there, so they would likely get what they wanted.
"Feel free to rest in the inn a few streets from here. I'll send a messenger when I'm back."
"Alright, thank you very much."
(I guess there's a process to enter the temple.)
Allen had never been interested in religion in his past life.
He decided to obey their instructions and went to the indicated inn.
Three days passed with no response.
Allen and Luck would just eat every meal at the inn, and Rosalina sang at night.
Rosalina stood on a platform in the corner of the room to practice her singing.
She had not maxed out her Level or Skill Levels, unlike Ignomas.
She had just undergone a Talent Change the month prior, which helped her reach Level 60 in a short time, but she still had to raise her Skill Levels.
Rosalina said she would only sing if people could watch, so Allen told her to sign during dinner service.
The audience did not know any of that, and simply enjoyed her performance.
Even if they were different races, Rosalina's beauty was still noticeable there.
Clap clap clap
Once the singing was over, the dragonkin stood up and clapped loudly.
Then a lot of food was brought to Allen and Luck's table again, without them having to order it.
They were not looking for monetary gains, but the dragonkin still wanted to repay them for the performance.
There was more than they could eat, so Allen put the extra plates in his Inventory so Kiel's team could also get a taste of dragonkin food, all the way inside the S Rank Dungeon's last floor.
Kurena and Dogora would always devour everything.
They always practiced against the Stone D summon, while Shea hunted Iron Golems.
Shea's Level cap was no longer 60, so hunting Iron Golems was better.
She and Merle hunted 300 Iron Golems a day, obtaining 300'000'000'000 Experience points.
"We've been in the village for 5 days, they're really making us wait."
Rosalina had kept count of their days there.
She sat down at the table, looking anxious.
"I see."
(Does it really take that long to obtain permission from the Dragon King?)
They were really close to the temple, just a few hours away.
It was strange that it took so long, and Allen could not think of more things to do now.
The dragonkin were aware of the enormous ruins, and were proud of them.
They said they were built in ancient times and were sacred grounds that kept monsters away.
Periodically the Dragon King would send priests to check on them.
"The food is tasty, so I don't mind staying here for longer!"
They ate a lot of meat there, so Luck liked the food.
And he did not have to study under his tutor while he traveled with Allen.
He basically felt like he was on vacation.
"Luck, not again."
"Oh, thanks, eheheh."
(He's acting just like Makris now. I guess this is why Luck acted so excited when I decided the teams.)
Rosaline wiped the sauce dripping off Luck's face just like she always did.
That was the main reason why Luck did not want to leave that inn.
'Good grief.'
Fabre was on the table eating, and sighed watching that.
Sophie's team had gathered almost everything they needed since the time the teams split.
Only the Dragon Eye Rocks were eluding them, as they almost never were sold.
That meant there was no reason to be two teams and they regrouped.
The day after they regrouped a messenger arrived and brought them to the temple.
They were brought inside the enormous building.
'Grrrr!!'
"..."
"Oh, there's a lot of dragons here."
There were many large dragons that turned to look at Allen's group.
"Are they kept here?"
(Maybe like pets?)
There were beasts, which were different from monsters.
Some resembled dogs and cats too, and nobles often kept them as pets.
"No, they're the guardians of the temple."
The messenger did not seem to take kindly to that question.
They walked on and reached the Dragon King, who was on a slightly raised platform.
He was rather old, and his head did not fit on the platform and remained on the floor.
'...So you're the ones who wanted to see me.'
"Yes, I'm Allen. Thank you for taking the time to meet us."
Allen bowed, being the leader of the group.
'I see, so you're the Allen who conquered the S Rank Dungeon and is fighting the Demon King.'
He knew who Allen was instantly.
"Yes."
(He knows a lot even though he isn't in the alliance, maybe learning all that is what took so long?)
While Allen thought of that, the Dragon King looked at Luck.
'And you're Arbus' son.'
"Huh? Ah, yes. I am!"
(Hm? Is that all he had to say to me?)
'I see the day has come for an elf and a dark elf to travel together. I've really lived long.'
According to the Spirit King, the Dragon King was also 8000 years old.
"..."
Sophie seemed bothered that Allen barely got to talk before it was Luck's turn.
But she kept those thoughts to herself to not ruin this opportunity.
'Anyway, we're actually looking to cross the Gate of Judgement you see.'
Fabre started talking in Allen's place. Her voice was casual, as they knew each other.
(So that's the gate.)
There was a large gate behind the Dragon King. Allen assumed that gate was the Gate of Judgement that led to the Divine Realm..
'Fabre, I'm sure you realize that gate was built for dragons?'
(Hm? I never heard of that.)
'Oh right, I think you actually mentioned that before.'
'That gate is so a dragon recognized by the Gods can cross to the Divine Realm. Everything has been prepared with that in mind.'
"Prepared?"
(I think this might trigger a quest.)
Allen's mind was getting excited. He could sense a quest coming his way.
'Explain it to them.'
The Dragon King ordered the messenger. He already knew what Allen's objective there was.
"Yessir! Please check the carving drawn on the door here."
The messenger began to explain.
There was a dragon drawn on the gate's doors.
The dragon's eyes, claws, and fangs were hollow.
One had to go through 3 Gates of Trials before crossing the Gate of Judgement.
Proof of completing each came as the dragon's eyes, claws, or fangs.
Once someone gathered them, they could fill the hollow spots on the Gate of Judgement.
"I see."
(Somehow I hoped it would open without effort, but at least it's not a fetching quest. Hm? Though actually…)
Allen's brain was corroded beyond repair with games, so he understood the dragonkin's explanation in his own way. And he sighed in relief that it was not a fetch quest where he had to run from one random location to another.
"Wait, Allen, were those ruins with gates the Gates of Trials then?"
"I'd say so, Rosalina."
Rosalina whispered into Allen's ear. They had seen three ruins on their way there.
The gates in those ruins had not budged no matter what they tried.
"I believe we encountered them on our way here, but we could do nothing with them."
Allen asked the dragonkin.
"Yes, the gates choose who can enter them. The challenger needs to have dragon blood."
"So that's a requirement?"
"Yes, only those qualified can challenge it."
Being at least part dragon was a necessary requirement to open the Gates of Trials.
'There's no dragon able to open them in the village though.'
The Dragon King had delegated the explaining role, but he joined the conversation now.
"So opening them isn't so easy?"
(Hm? Why did he grant us this audience then?)
The Dragon King had prepared the answers Allen wanted, so he knew why Allen was there.
Not to mention that there was no need to go into such details if they were not qualified.
There was silence for a while.
'I believe there's a White Dragon with you. He might be able to open the gates.'
(Oh?)
"So Haku might be qualified to open them?"
'It's just an idea.'
"Could you tell us a bit more…"
'...Well, I guess you can always just give it a try and see if they open.'
The Dragon King closed his eyes after saying that. He did not seem willing to say more.
"The audience is over, please leave the hall."
The dragonkin serving the Spirit King started to leave.
Allen's group looked at him, and he decided to leave too.
"So what are we going to do next, Allen?"
"Hm? Well, he said Haku might be qualified, so we just have to bring him to the gates."
(This might be a soft flag to trigger a quest. At least I have something to try now.)
While he had not fully activated a quest yet, at least he had an idea of how to start it.
He had no idea if it would work, but at least it was worth trying.
The group left and went to pick up Haku from Heavy User Island.
