---Perrerian, Northeast of Gula---
Floating above a massive hole in the ground, they faced a spire, towering above the clouds. it was not just high, but also thick, comparable to the trunk of a sapling at a Tree Station. They could see the shadows of clouds passing by being cast on the walls of the tower.
It looked less like a building someone created and more like a menhir that someone carved a living space and windows into. The front they came up to was decorated by a giant bearded face resembling an angry wind god with his mouth ripped wide open.
Said mouth was their entrance to the floating megalith. The flying vessel they had boarded at the capital entered the giant mouth, entering the massive hangar for vehicles, almost like a sky harbor or loading bay.
This place was apparently the college of Magic of the Perrican Empire, and the place where the Titans and dungeon busters were first invented and developed. After Monique's rant, the issue with the nobles and clergy ended surprisingly quickly.
Even Jane admitted that the Chosen of Athena and Jonah had probably been right. Although there may have been some opposition, it seemed that they had blown it out of proportion to look better. However, they had no doubt they would have been treated much worse if they had not shown their strength.
At this point in time, Monique was able to confirm her suspicion. The reason there was no Adventurer Guild in this place, which helped manage dungeons without overwhelming losses, was the existence of an established and very hostile church.
After their detention was lifted, they had spent some time at the imperial palace. Jane got to have her talks with the emperor and his ministers. Monique used the time to read up a little on the empire, as she had been curious about the lack of a guild.
She had to look for a while since what she was looking for was actually just a footnote at the beginning of their Dungeon Crisis. When dungeons first appeared in this world, it actually did not take long for a faction like the adventurer guild to appear.
However, they were treated like a cult. Something less known among players was that the executive people of the adventurer guild were not simply working there, but usually gained a blessing of the dungeon god, which allowed them to create the respawn point for players.
Without the system, receiving experience in a dungeon also meant receiving power from the dungeon god. As the blessed and members were touched by a foreign god, they were treated as heretics, and the seedlings for an adventurer guild were stomped out by the zealots without even knowing what they were doing.
The dungeon god was not a very nice god. Well, he enabled beasts and conquerors to invade other dimensions through his dungeons, for entertainment purposes. How nice could he be? After his initial goodwill was thrown away, that route was closed forever.
No Adventurer Guild meant that dungeons were horrifying death traps that only ate up life. The only reason this world had not yet become a battlefield for the factions and beasts invading from breaking dungeons was this place, the college of magic.
Although nobody admitted to the whole spiel between the church and the nobles, it still seemed like an apology that the emperor offered them to inspect the titan production to get an idea of their level of magic technology.
"This place was built by the genius Abras Tumblegate, the first and last 10th circle mage, who founded the college of Magic 200 years ago. He also created the fundamental technology for the titans during his lifetime," Emissary Alton explained. Somehow, the man had become their local guide and contact for anything.
She had not known what to expect. The description of it as a floating magic tower didn't really come close to the sight in front of her. Monique considered reevaluating the power level of this world.
Something like this, probably only Al'Zalsar could have done on Urth...Considering Seth also created Python, who became a mountain-sized god, and the Guardian Tree, maybe the blacksmith also counted...
Until now, even knights who had mastered aura, a way to use mana in martial combat, were only comparable to lv. 50 players. The titan technology raised that estimate to roughly Lv. 70-80. The titans she had seen so far could probably be taken down by a normal party of players on that level. A Lv. 80 player with epic equipment could probably solo them. With some difficulty.
Monique had yet to see a dungeon buster in action, but based on what she heard about them and considering that the empire had yet to fall to the demons, they were probably comparable to that lv.80 player she mentioned. Maybe their output also depended on the guy operating it, however...
This tower was on a completely different level, and being able to create it even more so. This was comparable to a legendary feat, something she had at no point expected to see in this world, after seeing the average level.
Maybe mages were different? The expedition had yet to see any mages of this world in person. Mich less their capability in combat. Based on how people talked about them, they also rarely took part in battles, concentrating on developing titans.
The chosen had heard that circles were the way they measured the power of a mage. If a 10th circle mage was comparable to someone close to becoming a legend, or even was a legend, then mages couldn't be weak, even if they rarely fought.
"The first and last?" Jane asked the emissary, waking Monique from her mulling.
"Yes, unfortunately. There was nobody who even managed to reach the 7th circle after him. The current headmaster is one of the handful of true geniuses to reach the 6th Circle, " Alton explained to her.
Monique's estimation plummeted back to where it was before. The founder was obviously a fluke, a rare outlier. If the 10th circle was comparable to someone close to the end of the path, then the 6th circle was barely above what could be expected from a dungeon buster.
So, apart from such once in a millennium geniuses and maybe juiced up chosen of their only god, the world's max level stayed around lv.80 while the average for combat units stayed around lv.50. For a moment Monique considered to ask Seth for a battalion of golems and conquer this place, if they did anything stupid again int he future. Of course, she didn't consider it seriously, but it was a fun thought to soothe her irritation.
...
---Perrerian, Gula---
Enjoying the sun, there were two figures seated in the imperial gardens, surrounded by well-kept rosebushes, blooming in bright red. They shared a conversation over a cup of sweet tea.
"Where are the foreigners now?" Bishop Puffin asked the other with a benign smile and took a sip of his tea.
"The emperor invited them to visit the college and observe the titan production. It should appease them after the previous incident," the other answered calmly. Seated across the bishop was the prime minister of Perrican.
"What about the demon?" the bishop asked after swallowing his tea.
"The creature is currently at the imperial dungeon for interrogation, as promised to ambassadors of Minas Mar," he stated firmly.
"We will share the result with the church at an appropriate time," he added, when the bishop kept staring at him without saying anything.
"You know that isn't what we want. I want that demon," the clergy man insisted.
"Well, then you will have to wait until the ambassadors leave and hope they leave it in our custody. Then we might be willing to hand it over," the prime minister said and shrugged his shoulders. His stance was clear. The little scheme had failed, and the imperials would act like it never existed in the first place.
"But what if they don't leave it in your custody?" Puffin asked with a muted but sharp tone. The minister sighed.
"If you want it that badly, buy it. Stop throwing your authority around and try to make a proper deal. I'm sure if you offer the right thing, those foreigners will be willing to sell," he said and took his last sip of tea.
"That's all I have to say to you. Please don't waste my time with this topic again," he added, stood up, and left.
Now alone in the garden, the bishop bit his lip, thinking of the minister's last words. He finished his tea and left soon after.