[CH598+ Continued] Dungeon Diver: Stealing A Monster's Power

Chapter 713

With Ether powering our footsteps, Ava and I make great time rushing through the two empty zones that make up the first portion of the middle ring.

Each plot ranges from 5 to 25 kilometers wide, and the neutral pathways between zones are a few hundred meters thick at most.

Within the two zones we cut through, many exiled lords with [0]s on their palms show up in my senses as they continue to work, mining out pits of stones just like back in the Hollow District.

From my new rush of memories, I can calculate these plot prices and know many of the workers here have exile contracts that need thousands of Ether to be fulfilled over similarly long thousand plus year contracts.

Many of the workers in these mines come from 3rd Class worlds, just like Ava. She should certainly be placed in a contract like this but was stationed out in the Hollow District for some reason.

As we pass by, many don't even look our way; we're using up lots of Ether to speed through, and those who do look at us quickly lower their gazes to avoid offending a Lord like myself with over 100 worlds.

When we get to the next neutral checkpoint in my senses, we follow the curving pathways around a zone that my past memories tell me is always occupied by a strong 2nd Class Orc Lord.

It is far stronger than the Goblin King I just fought, and the pathway we're on is basically a straight shot to the next empty plot in my mind's eye.

Ava keeps up with me, as still keeping my barrier closed doesn't allow me to use my divine energy or mana to push myself faster.

On top of that, she's now benefiting from the 500% all-stat buffs that linking a 3rd Class world to one's avatar grants.

In the Goblin King's memories, I can see that 5th Class Worlds granted a 50% buff, 4th granted a 100% buff, and the single 2nd Class World it held granted a 2500% buff to all stats.

There are stacking limits depending on the Avatar granted to the Lord. Basic Avatars can only grant 25 planet buffs per Lord, and the High Grade Avatar the Goblin King had allowed up to 100 planet buffs.

No memories of what 1st Class worlds grant in stat buffs or the limits of a Premium Avatar come to mind, but it makes my mind spin with many questions as we continue our travels.

I keep quiet, processing all these thoughts, and my mind eventually calms down quite a bit. One thing doesn't add up, and I decide to turn to Ava and ask.

"I couldn't help but notice... most of the 3rd Class Lords we've passed don't have true cores. How did you manage to awaken yours?"

Words from Ember and the Lich King come to mind, as before I awakened mine, they all said a similar thing: that if I were to compress my core before reaching a green core, it would bring me far more power later on.

From what I've seen down here, the only two beings I've seen achieve a True Core are Ava and the Goblin King. It took hundreds of years and the cumulative resources of an entire 2nd Class World for it to achieve this.

Ava replies as I continue to theorize in my head.

"Long story short, an ancient Goblin King descended from the upper realm to die on my world in peace, most likely millions of years ago. They left their inheritance deep beneath the crust of our world. My unique skill happened to point me in the direction of its tomb, with enough Divine Energy for me to almost saturate my True Core in less than 30 years. The next strongest hobgoblin on my planet was lucky to awaken their red core in 300 years with the natural divine energy in our Star Sector."

She grins and turns to me with an eyebrow raised.

"What about you? A third-class human with a True Core? There must be something special about your world... there's no reason a demon would waste one of those ascension artifacts on it otherwise."