In the blink of an eye, Vicente and Rory counted up all their gains from exploring the place apparently forgotten by magicians.
There were a total of 50,000 gold coins, 30 magic stones, 20 potions, and 31 pills for Dark Path magicians, about 80% of which were classified as 3rd-grade and the rest as 4th-grade.
That in itself was much better than what Vicente had gotten at the order's secret outpost in Kenyth Empire.
But it was obvious that this would be the case. After all, this place had not been found by any Dark Path magician before they entered it. Thus, all the support items from this outpost were available to them.
In addition to these resources, there were 15 3rd-grade armor, 3 4th-grade armor, 25 weapons of different types, all of them 3rd-grade, and only 2 4th-grade swords.
Some artifacts compatible with beasts were also found, such as a riding cell, claw extender, chest armor, and a suit to wear over wings.
There were various medicinal plants and herbs around, all in their defensive states, as they had been collected by members of the order in the distant past and kept locked up in this place.
They no longer had their pentagrams on them, which is a common feature on the dead body of a special plant.
However, resources like this were highly durable until they lost their bodies' special effects, so they could all still be used as ingredients for magical products.
In addition to these items and magical cultivation resources, there were also spell techniques, ways of producing things using abilities based on negative elements, and materials with information about this organization and its rivals.
Vicente and Rory collected everything, completely cleaning the place in less than 40 minutes after they arrived.
...
"Impressive! I didn't expect us to get so many things!" Rory said as Vicente stood next to him, looking at a map on one of the walls of the last level of this area.
"This is just the beginning, my friend. There are other places like this that we'll be exploring in the future!" Vicente said, finishing locating their next target.
"Oh? Where do we have to go this time? And more importantly, how many places like this can we visit in the future?" Rory smiled in anticipation.
"The next place is in Chutha Dynasty. And there are at least seven more outposts similar to this one around the continent."
Rory's eyes lit up at Vicente's words.
Vicente looked at his friend and warned. "But don't get your hopes up. Some of these outposts have probably already been visited before us. It's quite likely that, at some point, we'll come across a place like this that's totally clean."
If they had found such a place and taken everything there, they had to consider that others might have already done this in other areas of the continent!
"As long as we find a single one of those places with as many resources as this place had, it'll be enough to make any trip we have to make worthwhile," Rory commented excitedly.
Vicente nodded in agreement before making his way back to the upper levels until they reached the area where this place's Awakening Altar stood.
As they were passing by, Rory couldn't help but ask. "When will we be able to use a place like this? It would be great if we could awaken Nina's powers in a place like this."
Unfortunately, that won't happen in time for us to do that with Nina. I need to become a Paragon to activate an Awakening Altar." Vicente sighed as he said this.
"Is that right? I didn't think it would take that much to activate a place like this." Rory said in a disappointed tone.
"Don't think about it too much. We're close to achieving our goals and being able to use a place like this."
Rory didn't say anything. He just looked at the place in a special way, feeling how far they had come in such a short time.
After a minute of silence, he opened his mouth to ask Vicente. "When are we going to the capital?"
"I will concentrate on producing the robotic armor in the next few hours to fulfill what I told you earlier," Vicente said as he walked towards the training area on the second basement level of this place. "You should use this time to account for what you need to acquire and bring here from the capital."
Rory nodded to his friend before going to do what he should: assess the structure of the place and see what his men would need to live and work there.
He had to account for not structural items but basic materials, such as items to store food, food itself, and places to rest and relax.
The place had all the basic structures working perfectly and in good condition. But one would need to bring in beds, communication items, surveillance, training items, etc.
In less than an hour, Rory would count up everything he had to buy to make this place habitable again.
That was also a rather negative environment, so for Light Path magicians to cultivate there, they would need magical tools to increase the density of positive elements in the area.
So, by the time Vicente finished producing the robotic armor at the end of that day, Rory would be ready for them to set off toward the capital.
...
After leaving the order's secret altar under the watchful eye of a 4th-grade robotic armor, Vicente and Rory would only take two days to reach the vicinity of the capital.
The site of that altar was not far from Grandis, so by the end of the second afternoon after their departure, they would have reached the grandiose city where the royal family lived.
Arriving there, Vicente gave Rory the coins he had obtained from the altar they had just explored, authorizing him to buy everything he needed to transform the outpost.
The two then parted ways as they entered the city, with the red-haired young man going shopping and the black-haired young man heading towards the royal palace.
The king had summoned him, so Vicente intended to deal with this immediately!
Soon, he would feel that people were watching him until, near the city center, royal guards approached him, recognizing him.
"Vicente Fuller, welcome to Grandis." A Sky Sovereign said to Vicente as he stopped in front of the young man. Next to this guard were three other Sky Sovereigns, men trusted by the king.
"His Majesty is expecting me, right? Please take me to him. I want to see what this is all about." Vicente said as he greeted the men.
They did what they were supposed to, and soon, Vicente entered the royal palace of Seidel Kingdom!
