Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 507: Unexpected Meeting In The Whispering Valley

An hour before sunrise, Alex, Lumi, and Dim Dim left their hotel room and headed to the South Gate of the city.

Lex was already waiting for them with a carriage.

"I will say this now, but traveling to the Whispering Valley at this time of the year is quite dangerous," the coachman said, concerned. "The mist in that area becomes so thick that it’s nearly impossible to see anything.

"Also, it is the mating season of several monster species that live there. They will become more aggressive at this time, so people usually avoid this route during this time of the year."

"I understand," Alex replied. "Please take us to the drop-off point. We will take it from there."

The path to the Whispering Valley was about three miles away from the main road that travelers all over Solara used to reach the capital city.

No carriage would take anyone there. The coachman would drop them along the main road and they would have to hike the rest of the way.

However, at this time, the fog was so thick that there was nearly zero visibility.

In the end, Lex had to pay the coachman extra gold coins just to convince him to even go all the way to the drop-off point. They couldn’t exactly haggle with the coachman because he was already the only one willing to accept their commission.

As the carriage finally started moving, Alex, Lumi, Lex, and Dim Dim had nothing else to do but rest until they reached their destination.

According to the coachman, it would take them at least three hours.

Lumi sighed. "It’s quite unfortunate that we can’t use Princess Xenia’s airship. Maybe we should have taken Vaan. His chariot is surely faster than this carriage."

"You’re right, but I have asked him to look after Charles and Renard while we are away," Alex replied. "Although the tournament is over, there might still be some idiots who want to cause trouble for them."

"You’re thinking too much," Lex commented. "Professor Rowan is there to oversee the First Years, so they will be as safe as they can be."

Dim Dim nodded. "Dim!"

"Then can you tell me more about the Whispering Valley?" Lumi asked. "I haven’t heard of it before."

To be honest, Alex really didn’t know much about it as well. He only knew two things for certain. One, it was located in the southwest of Avalon. Two, it was named after the sound that it produced.

The winds passing through the valley made a sound similar to murmuring or whistling.

Locals had started calling it Whispering Valley a long time ago. To this day, its name hadn’t changed.

Fortunately, Lex seemed to know a little bit about Whispering Valley.

"In the past, Whispering Valley wasn’t really a valley but a wide open plain," Lex stated. "But a great battle between two Rank 9 changed the topography of the land, creating a valley."

"Do you know the names of those Rank 9 Powerhouses, Sir Lex?" Lumi asked.

"No. This happened well before I was even born, but I’m guessing that if anyone survived that battle, they are probably still alive today."

When a human managed to reach Rank 8, their lifespan increased by at least three hundred years.

According to rumors, reaching Rank 9 would further increase their lifespan to a thousand years. For those lucky and powerful enough to become a Paragon, they could expect to live for five to ten thousand years.

Of course, long-lived races like the elves could easily reach that number. If any of them reached those high ranks, they could probably live for tens of thousands of years.

Lex then made a gesture with his hands, creating a soundproof environment so that they could discuss some important matters.

"Well then, what are we expecting to find in the Whispering Valley?" Lex inquired. "The map you showed me came from a treasure chest, so its authenticity is guaranteed. But what exactly is there?"

"I have no idea, Sir Lex," Alex admitted. "This is why this trip to Solara was a good opportunity to check it out."

"I just hope that we won’t be experiencing something similar to what happened in the Heracle Mountain," Lumi commented.

"Hey, don’t raise a flag." Alex complained.

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim also raised its little hand, telling Lumi not to jinx their adventure.

"Fine." Lumi sighed.

Of course, the main reason why she didn’t like the trial was because she had been trapped in a body that was not her own.

She had been forced to watch as Latifa and Alex suffered against the Barbarian King without being able to do anything about it.

Lumi hated the feeling of helplessness that she had felt back then. If possible, she didn’t want to experience it a second time.

Nearly three hours later, the mist in the surroundings started to thicken, forcing the coachman to stop his carriage.

"I’m sorry, but this is as far as I can go," the coachman said. "Forcing my way through this fog will be very dangerous. I don’t want to be involved in any accidents because I have a family waiting for me back home."

"Thank you, Sir," Alex replied. "We can hike from here. Dim Dim will make sure that we won’t get lost even in this mist."

"Ahem!" Dim Dim raised its body proudly, as if telling everyone that they could count on it.

After bidding goodbye to the coachman, Alex, Lumi, and Lex waded into the thick mist.

The young man had taken out his Mimic Lantern so that even if the visibility was low, the others could still follow him.

Lex didn’t have this problem because he could perfectly sense Alex’s aura and follow him.

Lumi had also secretly left a mark on Alex’s body, allowing her to know his location even with her eyes closed.

Of course, she didn’t let him know about this beforehand because she didn’t want him to think of her as some kind of stalker.

Since Dim Dim was the one navigating their path, they managed to find the trail that led to the Whispering Valley easily.

Aside from the constant howling of Dire Wolves and the roars of other beasts, their trip was pretty uneventful.

No monsters dared to attack them during their journey, partly due to Lex’s presence.

The old man didn’t hold back his aura, allowing the monsters to detect how strong he was.

Because of this, none dared to come close because they knew that the old man was someone they had no chance of defeating.

Soon enough, they entered the entrance of the valley. However, they didn’t expect to find two familiar faces, who were also surprised to see them there.

"Fran?" Alex looked at the adorable dwarf in surprise.

"Hey, I’m here too, you know?" Finn protested with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Good morning, everyone," Fran said with a smile. "What are you all doing here?"

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim replied before Alex could give his answer.

"Treasure hunting?" Fran glanced at her brother, who narrowed his eyes after hearing the little bun’s reply.

"So, you’re here to find those ruins as well huh?" Finn commented. "How did you know that there are treasures in this place?"

Alex pondered for a bit before telling the two dwarves about the map that he had gained from a treasure chest.

The young man even showed it to them, which made Finn mutter something in dwarven that was too soft for Alex to catch.

"I see." Fran nodded. "No wonder we can’t find that place. We were searching in the wrong spot."

The adorable dwarf then looked at Alex and made a proposal.

"How about we all go to the ruins together?" Fran asked. "As for the treasures, we will divide it equally with each other. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me." Alex nodded.

Dim Dim agreed readily. "Dim!"

Since Fran was a close friend to both Alex and Dim Dim, the deal was struck right away.

Finn looked hesitant but went along with forming a team with Alex, Lumi, Dim Dim, and the old man whom he had seen in the academy from time to time.

He and his sister had explored many ruins together.

They had this kind of sixth sense that allowed them to know if a dwarven ruin was nearby or not.

Unfortunately, the fog was quite mysterious, preventing them from pinpointing the exact location where that feeling was coming from.

If not for the map that Alex had shown them, the two dwarves might have gone in circles while trying to locate the entrance of the dwarven ruin, which they believed held secrets that hadn’t been discovered for a very long time.