by Road Warrior
Sungchul slowly extended his finger to cast Glare. The Cave Elf was instinctively wary of Sungchul’s finger movements and raised his shield.
CHIIIII.
Glare’s beam of light struck directly at the surface of the shield, but that wasn’t all.
“Kiiii?” It went on to pierce the shield and the breastplate, searing the Cave Elf’s flesh. It didn’t pierce him all the way through, but it was enough to leave the Cave Elf in poor spirits.
A faint smile rose on Sungchul’s lips.
It looks like the offensive punch went up because of the environmental mana here.
The Cave Elf boss lunged forward with his claws made of beaks after taking the hit. Just as the claws reached him, Sungchul stepped to the side to evade then kicked at the elf’s foot. The Cave Elf fell straight to the floor in a mess, and Sungchul aimed at the back of his neck where his helmet and breastplate met with Glare.
“Kiii…!!”
The Cave Elf shook a single time violently before falling limp. Sungchul repeated the feel of that recent bit of combat in his head as he walked forward. Two more bouts occurred following that. Sungchul brought down every mob of Cave Elves with only his Glare and finally arrived at a large room.
The room was grand enough to be the audience chamber. The decoration and ornaments that once adorned this room had long since rotted off or been stolen. However, the throne made of obsidian and the large avian sculptures around it still possessed the imposing aura of the mighty Nahak race that once dominated the Other World.
“It looks like this is the audience chamber of the Nahaks. Wow, it is quite different… to human sensibilities anyways.” Bertelgia looked around her surroundings as she spoke with great interest. Sungchul also checked his surroundings as he walked into the chamber. He didn’t see any relic that stood out particularly.
Sungchul took a look at the throne. The fact that it had space made specifically to accommodate wings was particularly memorable. It was a shame that all of the gems and ornaments had been stolen from the throne. Sungchul discovered a dust covered sack left beneath the throne. When he opened the sack, the jewels and gold shone brilliantly beneath a layer of dust. It looked as though someone had ripped out everything valuable attached to the audience chamber and gathered it into the sack. But that someone didn’t manage to escape to the outside…
“…”
Sungchul dusted off the sack before placing it into his Soul Storage.
“Uuu… this isn’t right,” Bertelgia protested, but Sungchul didn’t bat an eye. After tucking away the jewels, he discovered two skeletons behind the throne. A single spear made of bone pierced through the corpses who lay embraced, like two lovers. Sungchul took the pendant from around one of the skeleton’s necks. There was a picture of a man and a woman during their happiest moment within the cheap trinket made of brass and silver. Sungchul put down the pendant and pulled out the spear which had impaled the couple and threw it aside.
He then left the audience chamber to soon discover the stairs heading down to the third floor basement. On the third floor basement, there was an obsidian door similar to the one on the second floor. The sculpture attached to it lit up as he stood before the door and displayed a message.
[Display the symbol of the Nahak.]
Sungchul brought out the symbol of the Nahak that he had pocketed earlier. It was an object possessing magic made of obsidian. Sungchul placed it into the gap in the altar.
When he did, a gentle green light flowed out from the symbol and the obsidian door that had obstructed him began to open. The stale air that had been trapped behind the door blew toward Sungchul’s face.
“Woah. The mana concentration is even thicker here.”
Sungchul was thinking the same thing. The deeper one went into the Underground Kingdom of the avian race, the denser the concentration of mana was in the air. Sungchul tore down a wall to confirm his suspicions. Innumerable skeletons poured out of the third floor wall like the walls of the second floor.
“How many thousands of people were stuffed into this dungeon?” Bertelgia spoke with a slight shudder.
"It's not in the scale of thousands. It seems more accurate to count them in the tens of thousands," said Sungchul, but he even thought the figure might be in the hundreds of thousands.
The layout of the third floor was comparatively plain. There was a line-shaped corridor beyond the door, and several hundred doors alongside it. There didn’t seem to be any need to break down the walls. Sungchul simply followed the corridor.
The atmosphere of the two floors differed as well. The concentration of mana was one thing, but not a single Cave Elf lingered here. He soon discovered the reason. There was something massive wandering the corridor. It was an obsidian golem with the skull of a bird.
When the golem discovered Sungchul, it fired off a long-range magic attack. Five balls of fire flew toward Sungchul in a spiral formation.
“Hiii!” Bertelgia immediately shrunk down and dug into Sungchul’s pocket. After Bertelgia had been secured, Sungchul pulled out Fal Garaz as usual. However, he changed his mind slightly as he held the hammer.
This golem. How about I try to take care of it with only Glare?
Golems had strong resistance to magic. It wasn’t something he would normally dare to do, but the situation wasn’t a normal one. Wasn’t this place overflowing with mana? Sungchul’s Magic Power surpassed a beginner’s and nearly reached into the realm of mid-grade mages’, but he might be able to harness a greater power than normal while he was in this underground dungeon-
BOOOM!!
-Like the ferocious explosion from the fireball launched by the golem just now.
Sungchul hastily put away Fal Garaz, and ran toward the obsidian golem. It looked massive from a distance, but up close he could fully appreciate its height that reached at least eight meters. It was a size that mages would have categorized as a war golem.
“Enemy of Nahak. Exterminate.”
The obsidian golem let out a metallic sound as he extended his hand made of stone. There was a magic crystal embedded in the center of his palm. A complex magical formation bloomed from the crystal. Sungchul’s eyes reflexively read off the pattern of the magical formation.
Frost magic.
He immediately evaded to the side. A white frost enveloped the space where Sungchul had once stood and froze everything in place. He circled around toward the back of the golem. The arm that had fired off the frost tried to follow Sungchul’s movements, but its speed was lacking.
Sungchul stopped at the edge of the frost’s range and aimed the beams of light toward the weak points of the golem, such as the connection between the arm and the shoulder.
Glare fired off with greater brilliance and thickness than usual. Its power was several times higher than before. However, the beam of light only managed to heat up the golem’s joint and failed to pierce it.
If only I had more power.
Meteor was not something he could repeatedly use, and the benefits of Glare were the short incantation and ability to fire in rapid succession. Sungchul continued to cast Glare at the joint in succession until the golem’s right arm separated from its torso.
BOOM!
The golem, who lost its arm, began to swing its remaining arm in in a frenzy and tried to engage in close quarter combat while spewing blue flames of hellfire from its mouth.
Sungchul kept resisting with Glare, but he could feel his mana running out and so he retreated. This space, however, was filled to the brim with mana and he recovered what he had lost quickly. Sungchul readied himself to try against the golem once again after recovering his mana from behind a pillar; this process was repeated three times. After a long battle that lasted forty minutes, Sungchul managed to defeat the golem with solely his magic.
“Enemy of Nahak… Extermin…”
The core of the fallen golem, who had lost his limbs, lost its light. Sungchul opened his status window as he appreciated the rapid recovery
of his mana in front of the shattered golem.
[Status]
Strength 999+ Dexterity 853
Vitality 801 Magic Power 191(+52)
Intuition 173 Magic Resist 621
Resilience 502 Charisma 18
Luck 8
His Magic Power had risen by more than 50 by simply being in this space. Not only that, his Magic Power had grown significantly. He was definitely within the mid-180s during the last time he had checked, but he was now at 191. At this rate, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to hope to surpass the hallmark of a mid-grade mage which was a Magic Power of 200.
This is better growth than I expected. I knew that the concentration of mana would help mana recovery and strengthen spells, but does it also supplement growth?
Sungchul suddenly felt an urge to use other spells. He felt that it might allow for greater growth by using up more mana with more powerful spells against even more formidable enemies, but the only other offensive spell he knew from Cosmomancy was Meteor, and that required an Intuition higher than 210.
Bertelgia who was watching him from the rear spoke up. “It might be good to start by taking a break at this point.” She continued saying, “Your mana might recover quickly, but your body is still using it. Just because the tank fills up more quickly doesn’t mean your body got stronger.”
“I agree.” Sungchul decided to stop the exploration here for today. He still had two days left. Since he had cleared down to the third floor in a day, he should be able to go much deeper and perhaps even discover the Nahak’s crown. Sungchul left behind the remains of the golem without regrets and left the dungeon.
FWICK!
He slapped Cassandra the demonic weapon along the floor as a warning as he left. After leaving the dungeon post-haste, Sungchul found a rocky mountain upon which he could keep an eye on the dungeon and took a bit of rest. A good rest was a crucial part of any training regimen. However, it wasn’t long before a deep ringing sound could be heard in the air. Sungchul looked up toward the sky. An airship was heading his direction from the south. It was Willie Gilford’s airship.
What? He returned this quick? That doesn’t make sense.
The airship descended at a location near the dungeon. A rope web flew down from the deck following which several dozen people disembarked from the ship and landed onto the surface. However, Sungchul’s eyes grew wide when he saw who they were.
What? Aren’t they… the Suicide Unit?
It was unmistakable. The worn-out clothes with the prisoner number stitched on with ragged cloth. They were most definitely the Suicide Unit.
How did those guys get on board that boat?
Sungchul soon discovered the reason. There was a familiar face next to Willie Gilford. It was the leader of the Suicide Unit, the rock-headed Genghis Aaron. He was standing next to the Seventh Champion of the Continent with a modest posture.
Willie looked back toward Aaron with a smile. “If I had known you were here, I would have requested help a lot sooner.”
“No! If I knew the Duke was near here, I would have come to meet you at all cost!”
When Sungchul saw this exchange, he was reminded of something he had briefly forgotten. Ah, that guy used to be a Sword Master of the Ancient Kingdom too.
Their goals weren’t clear yet, but it was obvious that the two Sword Masters were conspiring something. A small explosion sounded from the entrance. A few members of the Suicide Unit had activated the explosive trap that had been set by the devils as they descended using the pulley-operated lift.
“Uwaaaa!!” Five members of the Suicide Unit fell in free fall with the lift toward the bottom.
“My my. We've already lost precious soldiers at the beginning.” Willie clicked his tongue as he spoke, but Aaron looked magnanimous. His eyes sparkled as he spoke energetically. “There are still plenty left!”
***
The situation had quickly grown dire, but Sungchul did not hurry. In fact, he even went so far as to retrieve a seldom-used sleeping bag to have a more comfortable rest. Once a day passed, Sungchul headed not toward the dungeon but to the Suicide Unit's encampment. He asked Prisoner Number 0, Arkaard, about the current situation, and to his surprise, Arkaard wasn’t aware that a detachment of the Suicide Unit had been redirected to the underground dungeon. All he knew was that the hard-headed Aaron had spun his rusted gears to concoct another foolhardy plan that was assuredly suicidal.
“He led a group of new recruits on a supposed assault on a demon fortress. What did he say? He’ll cut down the required number of missions by three on success? He uttered some bullshit that convinced about eighty of those newbies to board the airship.”
Firstly, the destination was wrong. Those that remained believed that Aaron had led the soldiers to the demon fortress, not the underground dungeon. Secondly, the number of soldiers was also different. Arkaard had said eighty men, but Sungchul had only seen about fifty in total. It was unclear what exactly happened to the thirty or so people, but Sungchul had a good idea what could have happened to them.
It seems that he compelled the members of the Suicide Unit into the dungeon through violence and coaxing.
Sungchul headed toward the Underground Kingdom once again. There was a small number of soldiers and an airship defending the entrance. Willie and Aaron were nowhere to be seen, and there was no barrier in place as well. It was most likely because the mages that had been maintaining a barrier had met their end within the dungeon. Sungchul walked calmly over toward the entrance of the dungeon. The soldiers of the Ancient Kingdom raised their spears and shouted, “Who goes there?”
At their question, Sungchul pointed toward the ragged cloth number attached to his torso before he spoke. “I’m a member of the Suicide Unit.”
“Suicide Unit? They all went in with the Duke. What kind of horseshit are you spouting?”
The two soldiers approached Sungchul and waved their spears threateningly. Sungchul replied without hesitation, “I was a scout sent out by Mr. Genghis. I have something to report to him personally, so I followed him here.”
The soldiers became less wary when Aaron’s name was mentioned. Their spears shifted toward the sky, but one of the soldiers remained dubious and asked, “Are you really a scout?”
Sungchul nodded. The soldiers huddled together for a brief moment before they decided to let him through. They assumed, by his desire to enter the monster-infested dungeon, that Sungchul had no idea what lay within, and, even if he was up to something sinister, Willie Gilford the Seventh Champion of the Continent whose name was recognized throughout the lands was inside the dungeon anyway. He was not someone any ordinary Suicide Unit member could oppose. For all of these reasons, the soldiers simply opened the way for Sungchul.
“Thank you,” said Sungchul. His voice was half laced with genuine gratitude.
If they had attempted communications with an empath or some other method, he would have had to kill them all.
Sungchul took the lift attached to the pulley to enter the dungeon. The scenery had vastly changed since the last time he went in. There were torches installed periodically along the path with a thick rope affixed to rocks to mark the way. There were also food and weapons strewn about the floor. Although it had been a small group, the area certainly looked like an army had passed by.
The rope led directly to the second floor. Once he reached the second floor, Sungchul witnessed familiar sights.
“Ugh… could I have some w-water…”
“Save me! Please!”
“Aaack! My leg! My leg!”
Injured soldiers who had been shoved to the side were screaming out in pain. Two priests were tending to them, but it looked woefully lacking. Sungchul moved past the second floor entrance that had been turned into an infirmary and continued following the rope. He observed traces of fierce battles and a mountain of Cave Elf corpses along the way. It seemed while Sungchul was sleeping without a worry in the world on the surface, the suicide unit members and the Ancient
Kingdom’s Sword Masters had battled through the night against the forgotten race which dominated the dungeon and had emerged victorious.
The rope continued down toward the third floor where Willie and Genghis could be seen from the entrance. They didn’t look very amicable.
“This is exactly why I can never trust you!” Willie’s thunderous scorn echoed throughout the dungeon. Sungchul stopped his steps to observe the situation. Mikhael and Mimi stood before Willie with their heads down looking uncomfortable. Willie was reprimanding Mikhael.
“Just how much disappointment am I supposed to endure from an idiot like you?”
Mikhael stood silently with his head down.
“Due to your incompetence, I lost the majority of the Exploratory Unit in a single day. Those mages took significant investment to gather.”
“I have nothing to say in my defense,” replied Mikhael.
Sparks of Willie’s anger soon spread over to Mimi as well.
“Mimi Azrael. I have been told that last year you were in charge of an important mission for a scouting unit of the Human Empire, so I invested a large sum of money to hire you. The mages you led were likewise hired for large sums of money to assist you, but what did I get for it? Is this the limit of what you can do?”
Mimi did not stay quiet like Mikhael. She immediately raised her head to defend herself. “I did not open the second-floor door. That man… no, your son was the cause. I do not understand why I must be blamed alongside him.”
“Aren’t you the squad leader? What is a leader? Isn’t it a position of responsibility?”
When she heard those words, Mimi’s face twisted as though it would swell up and explode. Willie must have known it. Mimi had no real authority in this team. Despite this obvious truth, he had chosen to reprimand her all the same. Mimi could not endure it much longer. She pulled out a symbol from her possession and placed it in front of Willie’s feet. It was an extravagant symbol made of gold that represented her as an ally of the Ancient Kingdom.
“Ok. I’ll bear the responsibility for this and remove myself.”