Chapter 451 Thief
Dilan ended up returning to the Sanctum, where he was greeted by his Slaves. None of his 100+ Slaves had died and their strength had increased tremendously, which was a good sign.
He knew that he had to increase his stats more than others to make sure that he could advance in the ranks, but it was also obvious that others had to overcome a bigger hurdle to defeat Monsters that were at a higher level. Elite Monsters or those with several blood enhancements were extremely powerful and it was no wonder that they were capable of defeating Dilan's Ascenders…under normal circumstances.
Dilan didn't have that problem and it looked like some of his Slaves didn't encounter that problem often either. The Slaves had an extremely good synergy, which made it easy for them to fight together and defeat stronger opponents.
That teamwork was also the reason why Dilan didn't really bother paying much attention to his Slaves. He knew that they would be fine even without him, freeing him to look after other things.
When he entered the inner area of the sanctum, Dilan found the Vampire Lord, Lord Galliard, waiting for him.
He walked slowly to the Vampire as if he was leisurely strolling through a park. Lord Galliard noticed this and he felt offended to be kept waiting but he didn't dare to say anything when he sensed the high density of Mana that radiated from Dilan.
Even without the use of an ability, Dilan's mana reached close to 500 Units. The pieces of equipment he was wearing were responsible for half of this and Dilan knew that he wouldn't be able to increase his stats much more with the use of equipment.
In fact, it was already surprising that he could wear three accessories that increased his Mana by 80 Units each. From other human Ascenders, Dilan knew that their stats could only be increased up to a certain percentage, but that was a little bit weird and inconsistent.
Most Ascenders seemed to have a different limit on how much their stats could be improved with the use of equipment, which was quite interesting and also very confusing.
After some research, they found out that an Ascender's occupation determined how much their stats could be increased with the use of treasures. Dilan didn't know how much his stats could be increased because he was in possession of the only Divine Occupation on Milarn.
Nobody else had the same predicament as Dilan, and that made things a little bit more difficult for him. He had to figure out many things by himself, but that was fine with him because he had many advantages others didn't have.
Amongst all of the people who surrounded him, his stats could be improved the most, which was more than enough of a gain to be satisfied with himself.
"First tell me the locations of the Monster Nests you found before I reconsider listening to you," Dilan declared the moment Lord Galliard tried to open his mouth.
The Vampire Lord frowned deeply but upon seeing the crimson glint in Dilan's eyes he shut his mouth immediately.
'Something seems to have changed…' Lord Galliard thought and he could hardly control himself as he involuntarily lowered his head.
"T…that is fine with me…" Lord Galliard said, subconsciously submitting to Dilan. The young human Ascender grinned at the sight of the Vampire Lord but he didn't say anything else to continue humiliating Lord Galliard. That was not necessary.
"The Black Lagunes have given birth to various temporary Gates that brought forth Snakes, Frogs, Fishes and various other monsters that laid eggs, increasing their population to the tens of thousands. As long as you don't waste too much time, it will be possible to kill them before other monsters, humans or mutated animals start hunting them to readjust the ecosystem's situation," The Vampire Lord revealed one of the facts he had learned about before looking at Dilan.
However, Dilan didn't seem to be impressed. He seemed uninterested with the information he had received, which was enough for Lord Galliard to start frowning.
"There are also the Kambutcha Reverine Ravines. A Goblin settlement was built there not too long ago. The settlement is made up of Blue, Red, Silver, and even Black Goblins. All of them are quite weak but they breed like ants and they can evolve very fast. They have hundreds of Tier-2 Warrior Hobgoblins and who knows how many other powerful Warriors in their settlement must have appeared by now.
And then there is the Forest of Kelvasci. It is home to all kinds of deadly and powerful insects. Burning down the forest will definitely be enough to increase your stats to the Peak of Tier-2!" The Vampire Lord revealed a lot of information that he had intended to keep a secret but he had been forced to share to appease the human in front of him.
It was simply too important for him to make sure that Dilan would receive the information he was told to relay to him. Lord Galliard was not sure what would happen to him if he was not even able to tell Dilan what he was supposed to get to know.
He didn't want to imagine it, which was why he forced himself to share more than he wanted.
"All these places seem quite suitable for someone strong enough to sweep through and make big gains. Looks like I have to thank you," Dilan said nonchalantly, which was enough for Lord Galliard to feel like crying once again.
Dilan didn't mind the Vampire Lord's annoyance and he welcomed it regardless.
"Does that mean you will listen to me?" Lord Galliard asked hopefully while trying to not appear like an expectant puppy and Dilan nodded his head.
"Go for it!" He uttered and his eyes lit up. Dilan didn't expect to hear anything pleasant from the Vampire Lord, but he hoped that it wouldn't be something annoying at the very least.
Unfortunately, it was not that easy. Things were a lot more frustrating than expected.
"The Vampire King wants to meet you!" Lord Galliard announced in a prideful voice, his eyes closed and his arms spread out widely.
Victoria let out a squeal and she quickly placed her hands on her mouth while Kathrine and Yvonne exchanged perplexed glances.
The sister duo had been quiet since they'd arrived but they were just as confused as Dilan.
"Why should I?" Dilan asked with a gesture that showed his obvious disinterest.
Lord Galliard looked at Dilan like an idiot but that was not something Dilan could be bothered about. Considering everything he heard about the adventurer teams that had then given birth to the Witch Queen, the First Alpha King, and the Vampire King, he didn't really feel like meeting them.
They were not as special as they thought they were, and Dilan had definitely more important things to do than running behind someone, who stole other's powers a few thousand years ago.
The powers might be theirs now and they might have become a lot stronger than before but that didn't really mean anything to Dilan.
"He can just come to me if he wants to meet me," Dilan added with a shrug, causing both Victoria and Lord Galliard to stare blankly at them.
"You…want the King to come over to us…are you insane?" Lord Galliard went ballistic as he finally lost his composure. Many Ascenders looked over at him, but the Vampire Lord couldn't care less about that right now. He was too baffled…
"He is a Thief, not a King…so yeah, ask him to come and see me!"