Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100 Chapter 1538 Guide's Garage!
Previously on Dimensional Keeper: All My Skills Are at Level 100...
Lucia nodded faintly. "Thank you as always, Rose."
A soft chuckle escaped Rose, amusement lighting up her features. "Hold off on the thanks," she warned. "I'm not handing this out for nothing. Friend or not, you'll pay up."
Lucia dismissed it with a casual wave and a grin. "Sure, sure, we'll handle the payment soon."
Then she pivoted, guiding Max and Isabella to the cluster waiting beyond Rose.
Five people made up the group. Two young women lingered a bit separated, their faces serene yet watchful, while three young men eyed things with a blend of interest and detachment.
No one from their side moved to greet Lucia's party, and she showed no sign of breaking the ice. Silence hung between them, respecting the silent code of these meetups.
Travelers banded together here.
Yet trust remained absent.
Max positioned himself next to Lucia, sweeping his gaze over the area one last time before questioning, "What's this spot exactly?"
Lucia replied steadily, her eyes gliding over the scene like someone who'd witnessed it endless times. "No formal name exists for it," she explained. "Folks just dub it the Guide's Garage."
Max's eyebrows lifted a touch as he paid attention.
"Guides get hired right here," Lucia went on. "Experts like Rose who know Orion inside out—they trade that expertise for coin."
She halted for a second, then tacked on, "Nothing's gratis, naturally."
Max dipped his head gradually, grasping the picture.
"A guide proves vital for newcomers to Orion like ourselves," Lucia stated. "You can't wander this world sight unseen. Perils lurk in every shadow—visible and invisible alike. Lacking the right intel, even mighty cultivators perish cluelessly."
Her voice turned graver as she pressed on. "Rose and her kind have traversed this planet for years, even decades. They've conquered its threats, charted its lands, amassed irreplaceable wisdom beyond raw power."
Next, her eyes met Max's squarely. "That's why serious explorers hit up a guide first upon arriving. It's the securest path forward."
After a short silence, she wrapped up firmly. "Stray blindly on Orion, and death might claim you before you sense it."
Max absorbed Lucia's words with a slow nod, his insight into Orion sharpening bit by bit. Far more treacherous than he'd pictured, this wasn't merely a clash of might—it was a realm where savvy, survival know-how, and gut ruled life or death.
But as his mind steadied, a distant shout rang out.
"Lucia… is that you?!"
Surprise laced the call, laced with some veiled undercurrent.
Max, Isabella, and Lucia whipped toward the noise.
A band of cultivators advanced, fronted by a standout youth. His aura cut like a blade, stance exuding assurance, eyes hinting at haughty entitlement that brooked no oversight. Drawing near, his stare fixed on Lucia.
Lucia's face shifted in an instant.
Her steady poise cracked wide open.
Shadows crossed her features, eyes flashing with buried pain. Long-sealed recollections surged, yanking her into unwanted history. Tension gripped her frame, breath hitching faintly.
The youth caught every tell.
A mocking grin crept over his lips.
"Lucia," he drawled, tone thick with scorn, "Never thought I'd spot you back here post that fiasco."
Lightly phrased, yet the barb sliced true.
His eyes flicked to Max and Isabella, appraising them top to bottom till a smug curl touched his mouth. "What's this setup?" he pressed on. "One hovering at Rebirth Realm peak, the other scraping Law Awakening Realm's first stage." A derisive snicker followed. "Lucia, dragging them to doom again?"
Every syllable hit like a hammer.
A shiver ran through Lucia.
Despair welled openly in her gaze, the youth's mere nearness chaining her to inescapable torment.
Max's look soured.
'Who's this punk?' he mused, eyes narrowing at the exchange.
He saw plain as day: Lucia suffered not bodily, but in spirit. Their shared history ran deep and dark. This wasn't idle jabs—the youth prodded a raw scar on purpose.
Max despised it.
Thoroughly.
Max advanced without pause, edging ahead of Lucia to form a firm barrier against the youth.
His stare rose to meet the youth's head-on.
Their eyes clashed briefly.
Max broke the quiet.
"Can you leave?"
Flat and emotionless, his words rang like plain fact, not plea.
The youth faltered, thrown by the delivery more than the phrase. No waver, no dread, no cushion—just utter dismissal of status or clout.
Before reply came, Max added,
"You smell bad," he stated deadpan, utterly earnest in his distaste. "That stench off you bugs me. So, mind leaving?"
The remark struck hard.
Silence blanketed the scene momentarily.
The youth's followers stiffened in disbelief, minds reeling from the audacity. Isabella, familiar with Max's nerve, still blinked in surprise at his raw forthrightness here.
The youth went rigid.
Initially, shock froze his features, brain lagging behind the insult. Unthinkable—addressed so crudely, publicly.
Gradually, rage clouded his visage.
That subtle superiority warped into icy venom. His glare bored into Max, malice surging like stoked embers.
"What did you just say?" he growled, voice taut with leashed wrath ready to erupt.
Max stayed unmoved, face blank to the brewing storm. He merely regarded the youth calmly and restated evenly,
"I said you smell bad. It's irritating. Got nothing vital? Then scram."
Tension thickened the air, squeezing the space taut.
Fury shattered the youth's control.
Never on Orion had anyone dared that tone. Not ever. Least of all publicly. Max's breezy disdain, zero deference, total nonchalance wounded worse than outright challenge.