Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 2093: A Token of Friendship!

While that thought was still running through his head, Max felt someone approaching him.

"You must be Max Voidwalker."

Max turned around.

A young man from the Spirit Race had stopped a few paces away. He gave Max a quick once-over before going on. "The one who caused all that fuss in Bloodstone City."

Max studied him for a second. "That depends on what you heard, I suppose."

The Spirit Race man smiled faintly. "I heard plenty."

He didn’t waste time on small talk after that. Instead, he reached into his storage space and pulled out a ring.

It was an unusual piece. The material was a translucent green that looked almost like crystal, and tiny silver patterns shifted across its surface whenever the light caught it. A faint spiritual aura drifted out of it, though Max could tell right away that it wasn’t any kind of offensive treasure.

The Spirit Race man held it out. "This is for you."

Max didn’t reach for it immediately. "From who?"

"Lady Shreya."

That name got his attention.

Shreya was the Spirit Race genius ranked fifth in Bloodstone City. Max had seen her after his fight with Greyjin, and he still remembered the way she had looked at him. There had been no hostility in it, and it hadn’t exactly been admiration either. It was more like someone trying to puzzle out something they didn’t understand.

Max finally took the ring, and the instant it touched his palm, a faint spiritual ripple passed through it.

"What is it?"

"A token of friendship from Lady Shreya."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"If you ever come across members of the Spirit Race while you’re carrying that ring, just show it to them," the man said.

"And then?"

"They’ll help you."

Max looked down at the ring again. "Help me how, exactly?"

The Spirit Race man shrugged. "However much they reasonably can."

His tone turned a little more serious. "Information, shelter, assistance, access to certain Spirit Race locations, or help if you end up in trouble. Anyone who recognizes Lady Shreya’s token will understand what it means."

Max’s expression turned odd, because that was hardly a small favor.

He and Shreya had barely interacted at all. In fact, he couldn’t remember ever having a real conversation with her.

"Why?"

The Spirit Race man blinked.

Max looked him straight in the eye. "Why would Shreya give me something like this?"

The man shrugged again. "I have no idea."

Max frowned. "You’re handing me a token that basically tells the whole Spirit Race to help me, and you don’t know why?"

"That’s right."

He didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed about it either. "Lady Shreya told me to give it to you if I ran into you inside the Ten Shadows Trial."

Max looked down at the ring, and his confusion only grew. "So what does she want?"

The Spirit Race genius hesitated for a moment before answering. "She wants to speak with you."

Max glanced back up. "When?"

"Once you’re finished with the Ten Shadows Trial." He pointed at the ring. "The meeting place is already stored inside it."

Max probed the ring with his perception. He could sense something hidden within the crystal, but whatever had been placed there stayed locked away.

"I can’t see anything."

"You’re not meant to." The Spirit Race man nodded toward the monolith around them. "The location only shows itself once you’ve left the Ten Shadows Trial site entirely."

Max narrowed his eyes, since that was clearly deliberate. It kept anyone inside the trial grounds from prying the location out of him, or maybe Shreya simply didn’t want him to know where they would meet until he was actually free to go there.

Max opened his mouth again. "So why does she want to meet me?"

The Spirit Race man immediately held up a hand. "I don’t know."

Max paused. "What does she want to discuss?"

"I don’t know that either."

"Is she still in Bloodstone City?"

The Spirit Race man sighed. "I already told you." He gave Max an almost helpless look. "I don’t have answers to any of your questions."

Max just stared at him.

"Lady Shreya gave me the ring and told me what to say, and that’s the whole of it," the man continued, pointing at the ring in Max’s hand. "If you want answers, save them for her."

Before Max could get another question out, he stepped back. "My job here is done."

Then, as though he feared Max might hold him there and keep pressing, he quickly added, "Good luck with the rest of the Ten Shadows Trial."

He turned away at once and vanished into the crowd within moments.

Max stayed where he stood, watching him go, and then his eyes drifted back to the translucent green ring sitting in his palm.

"A token of friendship?"

His brows drew together, since that explanation only made things more confusing.

He had hardly spoken a word to Shreya, yet she had handed him something valuable enough that members of the Spirit Race were apparently expected to help him the moment they saw it. On top of all that, she wanted to meet him privately once he left the Ten Shadows Trial.

Max turned the ring between his fingers.

’What does she actually want from me?’

He looked at the translucent green ring a while longer before finally putting it away.

For the moment, there was no reason to refuse it. If Shreya really did mean it as nothing more than a token of friendship, then rejecting it on the spot would accomplish nothing, especially since she wasn’t even here. All the same, Max wasn’t entirely comfortable accepting something this valuable when he had done nothing for her in return.

’If we meet later, I can simply hand it back.’

With that settled, he put the matter out of his mind, because the Ten Shadows Trial mattered more right now.

Max stayed near the entrance of the Second Shadow Trial and waited for the others, and he didn’t have to wait long.

A few minutes later, a spatial ripple appeared in front of the massive door.

Ervin came out first. His expression was serious, but there was no disappointment in his eyes, and Max could tell at once that he had passed.

Rosaline appeared shortly afterward, and then Rakan followed.

All three of them had cleared the Second Shadow Trial.

Max smiled faintly. "I figured as much."

Rakan looked at him. "You already cleared it?"

Max nodded.

Rosaline let out a light sigh. "You really are quick."