Terrence couldn’t hold his excitement down. With that incredible possibility unfolding right before his eyes, did it mean that he was genuinely the first person ever to discover the existence of another world?

He shook his head quickly, trying to stay grounded. He couldn’t possibly be the first one. For sure, there had to be someone else who had stumbled onto another world through the dimensional rifts inside dungeons before.

However, there had never been a single piece of news or rumor about it circulating among the public.

Well, it made sense—as if anyone would willingly give up or leak such a massive secret. There could be entirely new, undiscovered forms of high-value resources in another world that those who knew simply didn’t want the rest of the planet to discover.

Yet, even if Terrence desperately wanted to explore the area and study what kind of unique resources could exist in another world—yes, he truly believed that this was a full-fledged, independent world and not just some small dimension—he knew he had to leave relatively soon after receiving that stern warning from his System.

’Could it be that the System already knew about this place all along... It’s actively hindering me from exploring further, but I can’t afford to disobey its warnings. The restriction must be set for my own survival and safety.’

Terrence let out a deep sigh as he looked forward, gazing down at the peaceful settlement below. Up close, it looked far more like a modest, primitive village than a sprawling city or major fortress settlement.

"Where on earth did my Shadow Hound go?" Terrence asked himself out loud, turning his head to look behind him before shifting his gaze back to the hovering Sky Dragon. "Did you see him somewhere?"

The Sky Dragon shook its small head side to side, but its bright eyes turned back toward the direction of the village below.

"Did you manage to sense his mana signature down there?"

The Sky Dragon gave a clear, confident nod. Knowing that, Terrence firmed his decision to hike down and visit the mysterious settlement.

He hadn’t felt any mental distress signals indicating his listed beast was in danger, which meant the hound should be completely fine.

’Why would that hound even act on its own like that? I didn’t give it any commands to run ahead and scout an unknown world,’ Terrence thought to himself, his eyes scanning the terrain to analyze a safe, efficient path down the steep slope.

With young trees sprouting everywhere and loose boulders dotting the incline, he decided to carefully pick a route that was relatively quick yet secure. He could technically take a wide detour and follow an easier, flatter path around the mountain instead of scaling down this steep slope, but time was strictly working against him.

’I definitely don’t want to risk losing the System,’ Terrence noted, putting deliberate physical effort into every single step down the precarious slope.

A full half-hour passed before his boots finally touched down on a flat, even clearing. He found himself surrounded by thick, lush foliage, his chest heaving as he breathed in and out to catch his wind.

Finally stabilizing his ragged breathing, he raised his head and gazed up at the hovering Sky Dragon.

"Go scout the immediate perimeter for us," he instructed softly.

Thinking that hidden dangers could be lurking around every corner—whether from unknown wild beasts or entirely new types of hostile creatures he had never encountered before—he chose not to blindly push forward, opting instead to wait patiently for his Sky Dragon’s safe return.

After spotting a sturdy fallen log nearby, Terrence sat down to catch his rest, revisiting his running thoughts and current tactical situation.

’If I actually manage to find valuable local resources here apart from standard beast cores, what exactly should I do with them?’

A faint smirk spread across Terrence’s face. ’I could hand them over to Stan Visor. A researcher like him could easily use unknown materials to conduct groundbreaking studies and maybe even achieve a major breakthrough in his understanding of dimensional sciences.’

He scoffed softly, shaking his head at his own premature excitement. ’Well, I can’t literally plan everything out far ahead without even knowing what this specific world has to offer us first.’

A moment later, the Sky Dragon glided back down through the canopy, letting out a cheerful chirp of structural assurance.

Taking that signal as the green light, Terrence trekked through the dense foliage, carefully following the direction he remembered leading toward the village.

The gripping wild grass and overgrown bushes made moving forward somewhat difficult, while the crowded tree trunks and thorny plants seemed almost hostile to his intrusion.

It was a physically demanding trek, much like any other off-road dungeon exploration he had undertaken before, but the air here was remarkably pristine and crisp—a stark, refreshing contrast to the suffocating, heavy density of toxic mana he usually had to endure every second back on Earth.

Taking advantage of the quiet travel time to bond with his Sky Dragon while navigating the uncleared path, Terrence took the opportunity to strike up a casual conversation with the floating beast.

"Hey, buddy... I’m already calling the Shadow Hound ’Buddy’ when I speak to him, so I was thinking maybe I should give you a proper nickname too. What do you think about that?"

The Sky Dragon happily agreed with a high-pitched, enthusiastic chirp, flying closer to gently rub its smooth head against Terrence’s shoulder while its short, scaled tail wagged back and forth frantically.

"Hmm... you still look like a little kid right now. Is this your final form? I mean, after you eventually evolve into the next rank or undergo a mutation, will you still look like this?" Terrence asked curiosity, using his arm to brush a cluster of tall lemongrass out of his face.

The Sky Dragon shook its head firmly. It then raised its snout proud, crossing its tiny front arms with a proud tail wag as it hovered gracefully alongside Terrence.

"I see... so you’re going to grow into something truly majestic. In that case, I need to give you a proud, fitting name. Wait, do flying beasts even have distinct biological sexes like common beasts do? Because you’re completely unique, you know. Humans don’t even know flying beasts exist, so the standard rules might not apply to you at all."

The Sky Dragon tilted its head to the side, neatly dodging a low-hanging tree branch a second later, looking completely lost as if silently asking what Terrence was even rambling about.

Terrence let out a light, amused sigh.

"Alright, fine... gender-neutral it is. How about I name you Avery? How does that sound?"

The Sky Dragon immediately did a joyful loop-de-loop mid-air, nodding its head vigorously while its tail wagged even faster than before. Its large, bright eyes sparkled with pure delight, silently communicating that the name was absolutely perfect.

Terrence smiled with genuine relief. "I take it you really like it, huh?"

While he continued chatting and asking various questions about Avery’s capabilities, the two of them were so absorbed in their conversation that they barely noticed they had finally reached a wide, open clearing directly outside the settlement’s perimeter.

"I really need to figure out a proper name for the Shadow Hound next..." Terrence muttered under his breath, his eyes taking in the sight before them.

Greeting them was a tall defensive wall constructed entirely from thick, interwoven wooden logs encircling the entire village. Positioned at the very top of these log walls were sharp, carved wooden spikes—a primitive yet effective structural defense mechanism that Terrence quietly observed and noted.

However, there was no main gate in sight from their current angle.

After taking a quick walk around the perimeter of the outer wall, they finally located the primary entrance structure—but what met their eyes on the other side was something neither of them could have ever anticipated.

This was supposed to be an entirely new, inhabited world, yet there wasn’t a single trace of human, alien, or intelligent life anywhere inside the quiet village—except for the Shadow Hound, sitting calmly in the middle of the empty dirt road.

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