Chapter 641: The 18 Routes.

Draven slowly spread the brown beast hide across the stone table, using both hands to smooth out its rough surface before pointing toward the markings drawn across it.

There were eighteen different routes marked across the hide, each leading into a separate section of the underground trenches.

What caught Thoren’s attention, however, was the system of stars drawn beside several routes.

Some had one star, others had two, while a few were marked with three. The markings were simple, but their meaning was immediately clear once Draven began explaining them.

One star represented the safest routes they had discovered, although that did not mean those places were completely free of danger.

Two stars indicated routes where the threats were considerably greater, requiring stronger awakeners and careful preparation before anyone attempted to explore them.

As for the three-star routes, those were places where even experienced scavenger parties had to proceed with extreme caution because a single mistake could result in the loss of several lives.

However, the most disturbing markings were the routes without any stars.

Unlike the other passages, those routes had no reliable classification, and their lack of stars did not mean they were safe enough to explore without concern.

Quite the opposite.

They were the unknown.

Draven placed his finger beside one of the unmarked routes, his expression growing solemn.

"These are the routes we avoid whenever possible. We don’t know how dangerous they truly are, and we don’t have enough information to determine what might be waiting deeper inside them."

His finger moved slowly across the hide, passing several one-star routes before stopping beside another unmarked passage.

"Don’t assume that the one-star routes are completely safe either. We have lost people in places that were considered relatively safe, and some of those losses happened because the terrain changed or because we encountered beasts that weren’t supposed to be there. T

he stars only represent our current understanding of the danger. They aren’t guarantees that you will return alive."

Thoren listened to Draven’s grave explanation without interrupting, his gaze moving from one route to another as he carefully memorized the markings.

He had already understood that the third floor was dangerous, but seeing the information gathered by an experienced scavenger party gave him a clearer idea.

"Has no one ever survived those routes?" Thoren couldn’t help asking, lifting his gaze from the map toward Draven.

The question immediately changed the atmosphere inside the chamber.

Draven’s hand stopped moving, and his eyes widened slightly as he stared at Thoren, seemingly unsure whether he had understood the question correctly.

Rynna, who had been sitting beside him, also froze with her fingers resting against the edge of her cup.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke, and the silence that followed was enough to make their reaction unmistakable.

Draven slowly lowered his hand onto the table.

"Wait a moment," he said, his voice becoming noticeably heavier. "Are you saying that you came here through one of those routes?"

Thoren nodded calmly.

"I entered the cave system through the trenches. I followed the passages until I eventually found the way into Scarwind Camp."

For a moment, Draven simply stared at him.

Rynna’s expression changed as well, her earlier composure giving way to genuine disbelief.

She looked down at the map, then back at Thoren, as though trying to determine whether there was some misunderstanding about the route he had taken.

However, Thoren’s calm expression gave them no reason to believe he was joking.

"You entered through an unmarked route?" Rynna asked, her voice carrying a trace of disbelief.

"Yes."

"And you came here alone?"

"Yes."

The two exchanged a look.

Draven leaned back slightly in his chair, drawing a slow breath as he tried to process the information.

He had encountered many awakeners since arriving on the third floor, including reckless newcomers who believed their strength was enough to kill their way through and find the exit.

Only for them to disappear and never be found again.

Yet,here he was. Done the impossible.

Taking a deep breath, Rynna finally decided to explain.

"It isn’t that nobody has ever survived those routes. The problem is that we can’t accurately determine how dangerous they are."

Her gaze returned to the hide, and she pointed toward several unmarked passages.

"Many people have entered those trenches and never returned. No bodies, no bones, and no blood. It was as though those people had simply disappeared into the darkness."

Her fingers slowly curled against the edge of the table.

"We don’t know whether they were killed by beasts, trapped somewhere they couldn’t escape, or swallowed by something we don’t even understand.

The deeper we venture into those unmarked regions, the less reliable our knowledge becomes. Sometimes, we can’t even determine whether the passage ahead is a tunnel, a pit, or the entrance to a much larger cavern."

Rynna paused briefly before continuing.

"As for those who managed to survive, many were traumatized by what they encountered and never fully recovered.

Some refused to enter the trenches again, while others became so frightened that they could barely bring themselves to leave the camp."

She glanced at Thoren, her expression becoming even more serious.

"Even those who survived were fortunate because they never ventured too deep into the unmarked trenches. They managed to turn back before encountering whatever was waiting farther inside."

The chamber gradually fell silent as Rynna’s explanation settled over the three of them.

Thoren lowered his gaze toward the map once more, examining the unmarked routes with a different understanding.

The absence of stars was no longer a simple indication that the pathfinders had failed to complete their investigation.

It represented the limits of their knowledge.

"So, the only explorable routes are the ones marked with stars, right?" Thoren asked, raising his head.

Both Draven and Rynna nodded.

"That is the case," Draven replied. "At least, those are the routes we can assess with some degree of confidence. Even then, you shouldn’t assume that every marked passage has been completely explored.

Some sections remain unknown, and we have encountered situations where a route became more dangerous than its original classification suggested."

He tapped the hide lightly with one finger.

"The pathfinders are still working to understand the surrounding cave system, but the third floor is enormous. There are too many passages, too many dangerous creatures, and too many places where a simple mistake can leave an entire party stranded."

Thoren nodded slightly, accepting the explanation.

"If I may ask, how far have you explored?"

Draven did not seem to mind sharing that information. Since he had decided to show Thoren the map, he had already begun to regard him as a potential ally rather than an ordinary awakener.

Besides, Thoren had demonstrated his sincerity by offering something valuable before asking for information that their party had risked their lives to obtain.

"We’ve explored five of the one-star routes, reaching depths of more than thirty kilometers."

"Thirty kilometers?"

A slight frown appeared on Thoren’s face before his expression quickly returned to normal.

He had expected the cave system to be enormous, but hearing that a single route could extend for more than thirty kilometers was still surprising.

The distance alone made the scale of their exploration difficult to comprehend, especially considering that the passages were not necessarily straight or easy to traverse.

And that was only what Draven’s party had managed to explore along the safest routes.

Thoren briefly considered the implications.

If the one-star passages already extended that far, then the more dangerous routes might lead into regions that were much harder to investigate.

The unmarked trenches, in particular, could stretch far beyond the areas anyone in Scarwind Camp had managed to reach.

He raised his eyes toward Draven.

"Then what about the two-star and three-star routes?"

"For the two-star routes, we’ve explored three of them, but only to depths of about five kilometers," Rynna explained calmly, keeping her eyes on Thoren’s face as she watched his reaction.

"As for the three-star routes, we haven’t started exploring them yet."

Thoren’s expression remained composed, but he understood her implication.

Despite their strength and experience, Draven’s party had only managed to explore a limited portion of the safer routes.

Across the table, Draven and Rynna exchanged a brief glance before turning their attention back to Thoren.

They had answered his questions, explained the limitations of their knowledge, and revealed information that they would not casually share with an ordinary newcomer.

Now, they wanted to know what he intended to do with it.