Gaming Sword Magician

Chapter 248: Going out the safe zone

"It's a deal then. Here you go," Shadow said as he brought out his student ID card and handed it over to him.

Since the royal credit points worked everywhere in the kingdom of water, he didn't need to use platinum bars.

Of course, the rest of the members knew that Shadow is the son of Duke Williams, and it was quite likely that he would be extremely rich. That's why they weren't surprised to see that he used one thousand royal credit points to purchase the map.

"Pleasure doing business with you, please come again!" Old Berry said, "If you want to sell it back then I'll purchase it for a 10% cheaper price."

"Yeah, sure," Shadow replied as they walked away from the shop.

"Man, that was costly. I think that old man must have ripped us off. Besides, what is the use of buying a map? There is no way to dodge encounters with magical beasts and dungeon creatures. Monsters would be present pretty much everywhere in this mountain region as it's a dungeon outbreak, after all," Peter said as the group headed out of the shopping district of the safe zone.

"What you said might be true, but I bought it for an entirely different reason. There might be a shift in the location of monsters because of the dungeon outbreak, however, the terrain hasn't changed. We can take the shortest route to the dungeon by using this map." Shadow said as he unfolded the map.

Whittaker and the others gathered around Shadow as they also scanned the map for guidance. The map was mapped in red and green. The red area signified that it's inhabited by magical beasts. A picture of a beast also highlighted each red area. The darker the shade the most powerful the magical beasts residing in that area will be. Whereas area shaded in green signified that the magical beasts present in that area aren't aggressive. They will not attack unless they are attacked first.

"We will need to pass by four green and three red areas before we can reach our desired destination. Naturally, the areas shaded in green might be bustling in dungeon creatures, so don't let your guard down. Anyway, these are the most powerful beasts inhabiting the three red areas that we will be passing through to reach the dungeon," Shadow said as he pointed at the picture of the beasts on the map.

"There is a high chance that we'll fight them. I can obtain information about these beasts and learn their strength and weakness," Peter said as he was the type of guy that liked to be well prepared for dangerous situations. "However, it will cost a lot. I would like it if we all contributed."

Although he also belonged to a royal family just like Shadow and was well off, he was the type that liked if everyone contributed to the best of their abilities.

"Well, it will be useful if we can gain some knowledge about the beasts that we are about to face," Shadow said as Yato rubbed the back of his head.

"I am penniless," Yato stated with a bashful laugh.

Before coming here, he has utilized all of his royal credit points to purchase resources that helped him increases strength. Currently, he was penniless.

Ruth decided that he'll pay for Yato. However, before he could express his thoughts someone else was faster in performing the good deed.

"Though I lack royal credit points, I do have a lot of platinum bars. I will foot the bill for everyone," Whittaker said causing a smile to blossomed on everyone's face. "Do you want it right now?"

"All right," Peter replied before he immediately purchased information about various magical beasts by using his credits.

He used a device to purchase information online. Only credits of different types can be used in online payments made through the virtual world. It was similar to how cryptocurrency worked.

Meanwhile, Platinum and other types of bars can be used in transactions and stuff. Though they don't have much value on the virtual network.

"Here you go," Whittaker said before he handed over a reasonable amount of platinum bars to Peter.

The group then read the information about the three most powerful types of beasts residing in the three red areas.

[Armored Grizzly Bear]

[Golden Stinger]

[Chameleon-like snake]

These beasts were equally powerful and their strength ranged from 3-stars to 7-stars.

"However, the most dangerous among them is the grizzly bear beasts. It has sharp fangs that can easily tear apart a person. Furthermore, most of this beast's body is covered in a hard metal-like substance." Peter said as they reached near the huge walls of irons, which enclosed the entire safe zone. They were created for the sole purpose of defending against beasts' stampede. Various types of weapons were placed on top of the walls as soldiers stood near the weapons or strolled near the base.

"It can also use metal magic techniques," Yato added.

"But it has a weakness." Shadow said, "We just need to attack at its vulnerable spots. The places which are not covered in metal."

"First, let's get out of here," Whittaker said.

Then, they walked towards the exit of the safe zone.

A few minutes later, the group finally reached the exit where they came across a series of automatic platform gates set across a line stretching from one end to another, stopping unauthorized entry and exit.

From the platform gates, a lot of students were stepping out of the safe zone, since they wanted to hunt magical beasts for exam points before the sun falls. Most of the students planned to return before the sun falls as it was dangerous to hunt magical beast at night.

"Just swipe your student ID card on the scanner attached to the automatic platform gate. Then you'll be able to step out of the energy barrier." Shadow said.

A few moments later, they all stepped outside the safe zone. With all things set in place, the group sprinted ahead, heading deeper into the mountain range dotted with trees and a high possibility of encountering beasts.