Chapter 8: Realization
Twenty years ago, Lorelei guild along with eight others, assisted in the overthrowing of the royal family of the Kingdom of Taiga. With thousands of warriors fully cladded for battle, they marched through the Wellshore Lake—a large lake that separated the northern from the western part of the Kingdom of Taiga. Filled with nothing but experienced members, they decimated the royal armies that stood their way.
Everywhere the coalition of guilds went through, blood immediately followed. It was one of the most hellish moments in the entire history of the kingdom. Soldiers and normal citizens alike were mercilessly slaughtered. The coalition did not discern between man and woman—young or old. They killed everyone without restraint. Historians described it in history books by an ominous name—Wellshore massacre.
After the grueling two years of unending war between the coalition and the royal army, the royal army eventually won. The leader of the coalition and at the same time guild master of the Lorelei Guild was beheaded in public. The citizens of the Kingdom of Taiga rejoiced. Everyone had longed for the moment the war would end—the execution of the guild master served as the mark.
The remaining hundreds of veteran warriors were left imprisoned. Unfortunately, the kingdom’s prison could not contain such vicious beasts. It was the royal family’s biggest mistake that time—not executing the rebels. In just a week after their imprisonment, the remnants of the coalition escaped, fleeing to the kingdom’s enemy, the Kingdom of Kalus.
The king of the Kingdom of Kalus that time gave solace to the wounded rebels. After consenting to have a [Pact of Loyalty] to the royal family, they were allowed to reform their former guilds. The coalition then split into three guilds instead of the former nine. It split into Lorelei Guild, Arachtia Guild, and Kortus Guild. The three guilds had quickly joined the ranks of the strongest guild in the entire kingdom.
The three guilds that had entered a [Pact of Loyalty] to the kingdom and the royal family was what made the Kingdom of Kalus grow in strength. Although Kalus was a kingdom that was around half the size of Taiga, it was regarded as one of the strongest.
-Excerpt: The History of Tui Continet: pages 378-399, Mundro et al.
****
[DAMN IT!!]
Chase roared. He was sent back to his dark abode. The Kingdom of Kalus had more than a hundred guilds. And for all of the guilds in the kingdom, he had the misfortune to encounter one of the five largest—Lorelei Guild. It was as if Fate was mocking him.
[Hey Fate! What the hell is this? Of all the guilds to come to this secluded place!! URRGHH!!]
Chase was frightened and at the same time frustrated. He had battled with the Lorelei guild before when he was still human. They were a guild that was strong enough to fight on par with his guild—Helveina.
[This sucks. I can’t even touch their leader.]
He was killed before touching even just the garb of the leader of the group. Even with the element of surprise and his previous battle experience as a human into account, he failed. The thought filled him with unexplainable frustration.
[I’m way more than that. I’m way more than that!]
Chase glanced towards his dungeon body. [Lurkers] kept moving around in their respective territories. It was like watching the inside of an ant hill. Every [Lurkers] was filled with motions—the inside of his dungeon was filled with life.
[Silver Cerberus]
Yes my God?
[I will borrow your body for a while]
Of course. As you wish.
Chase took over the [Boss]’ body. The sensation of having three heads took him by surprise. The feeling of seeing almost 360 degrees, it was a peculiar feeling. Somehow, strength was overflowing within him. It was waiting to be unleashed.
[A humanoid form is more comfortable.]
[tr]
The skill [Morph] has been activated! Your body will now be transformed into a humanoid form. A decrease of 10% in health has been activated as penalty. The skill [Multiply] has been disabled.
Chase’s body slowly shrank as he felt his two heads merge with the one at the middle. The same phenomenon occurred with his three tails. After the skill [Morph] had finally taken effect, his former size of 4 meters have turned into a 1.5 meters humanoid creature.
With a body that resembled that of a human, the top of his head was filled with silver fur. His trunk was furless, completely exposing its nakedness to the dark abyss. He would have been mistaken as a human if not for the pointed ears and the furry tail at his back. Chase flexed his fingers as he scrutinized his naked body.
“I missed this feeling.” Chase spoke. He was not surprised of his speech. Somehow, he knew that he could speak once he morphed into a humanoid creature. He walked around the core room and entered a winding pathway.
“If I remember correctly, the nearest town from the Kingdom of Kalus is around two weeks from here? And that is by cart. If reinforcements come…that’s the amount it would take.”
Chase came into an intersection. One on his left was the path towards rooms 25 and 26. On his right was towards room 24. He chose the latter. After a few more minutes, he came into another intersection. Taking a turn towards his right, he came towards another twin path and chose again the one on his right. He was now on the room where [Repear Wolves] were located.
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“You. Come.” He pointed towards one of the wolves that vigilantly awaited its orders. The mutt did as was told and dashed towards his side.
~SLICE
Without a word, he decapitated the head of the [Reaper Wolf]. In what seemed to be a flick of a finger, the head came rolling down the dungeon’s floor. Its blood gushed out as it tried to yelp its last moment. The other [Wolves] took as step back in fear but maintained their stand. They all knew that the master of the dungeon was within the body of the [Silver Cerberus].
“Surprisingly easy.” Chase raised his hands and flexed his fingers. The hand that severed the head of the [Lurker] was drenched in speckles of blood. “As I thought. This body is strong.”
Chase walked towards the cowering [Wolves] and spoke. His voice was deep and hoarse. “Ten of you—go and explore the area. See if you could find auromicum ores. I’ve instilled within your minds what it looks like. Don’t go too far away from the dungeon. Try to be discreet with your movements. If you’re spotted by a human, run towards Rei Mountain.”
Chase pointed towards the winding path beyond the dungeon room. Tilting his head, his eyes glimmered with a hint of excitement. “Go.”
The [Wolves] immediately scampered away. Dashing through the abyss-like path, only the diminishing sound of multiple footsteps was heard as their figures disappeared along with the abyss.
“Auromicum ore huh? I’m sure I heard those words come out of their mouths.” Chase walked towards the exit of the room he was in. The winding path that screamed of the word dark greeted his enter. “Fate—you’re so mischievous. You made such notorious humans come to this secluded place just to tell me that auromicum ores can be found in the area Heh~ hilarious!”
Chase banged his fist towards the silver-black wall and declared. “Challenge accepted!”
****
It had been five hours since the [Wolves] were deployed. Taking into consideration their master’s specific orders, they discretely searched for auromicum. It was a rare gemstone that was capable of storing vast amounts of mana.
Due to its rarity, kingdoms usually contested with each other in acquiring the gem. After all, a marble sized auromicum was capable of storing mana on par with that of a B rank warrior. There were some instances wherein large auromicums the size of a fist were excavated. Such size was multiple times that of a marble, so does the mana stored within. In times of war wherein mana was of great necessity, mana stones of the highest quality were heralded greatly.
[Where is it? Auromicums are usually found near mana-rich areas.]
Chase desperately tried to storm his mind of any memories he had of Rei Mountain. Unfortunately, he had been at the said place only once, and that was when he had just been enlisted as a knight.
[Where can I find it? Where? Where? Where?!]
[tr]
A [Reaper Wolf] has died!
A [Reaper Wolf] has died!
A [Reaper Wolf] has died!
[Shit! Those members of the Lorelei guild is still near here? I need to find the auromicum before they do!]
Chase knew that finding the so called highest grade mana stone may save him from his current predicament. Since mana could be transformed into miasma, mana rich auromicum ores would definitely be an excellent source of miasma. At that fact, he had no doubt.
[It usually takes a lot of time to find those rare gemstones. With the time limit I have…this is impossible. Still…Rei Mountain is a secluded but a relatively safe area. Heck, the boss is not even a true monster—it’s a bear.]
Chase kept walking towards the dungeon’s exit. It had been almost an hour since he was walking while immersed in his thoughts. The current layout of the dungeon was, after all, vast.
[Auromicums are usually found in monster infested areas…there is no such place in Rei Mountain. But…this is the Lorelei guild we’re talking about here…surely, they have a reliable source when they said that auromicums had sprouted in Rei Mountain.]
Chase was now in the room 1 of [Marcus Dungeon]. Glancing towards the winding path that was intersected by two paths, a sudden realization dawned to him.
[..I see…the reason such rare gemstones suddenly sprouted in the area…as far as I know, there is only one event in Rei Mountain that could have brought up such an anomaly.]
Chase scraped the silver-black wall of his dungeon. Smiling wryly while glancing at the dark abyss, he spoke.
[A dungeon has appeared.]
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Author's note: Shorter chapter than usual. I might upload another one later. Next week, i would be having a 5-6 days off. So...probably several double chapters?