"Preposterous!"

The three merchants shouted at the same time.

"Is it?"

Namgoong Ari asked, her hands in an akimbo.

"You are offering a price too low!"

"I got robbed by bandits on the way! I need compensation for that.

"We have to make a living. If you set the price like that, how are we going to earn a profit!?"

The merchants directed their anger towards the newly arrived competitor. However, there was another person who had more hatred than these merchants combined.

"Profit? The people of this town are suffering and all you can think of is profit?"

The rage suppressed by the spectacled man finally burst.

"Leave."

"But your people-

"Do I need to call the warriors to take you away?"

"If you do not accede to our-

"Warriors, throw them to the streets."

The warriors behind him grabbed each of the merchant's arms. They flailed and thrashed but the strength of their blubbery arms were no match to the warriors, who I estimated to be at least second rate warriors.

"You will regret this."

The merchant who tried to sell the core dusted his clothes and left with his wagons. As for the spectacled man, he paid no heed to the threat. All his attention was focused on the woman in front of him.

“Thank you for offering a fair price. I am Pom Ujin, the Treasurer of this humble town. To whom do I owe my gratitude?”

“I am Namgoong Ari, merchant leader of the Sasang Merchant Group.”

“Is it alright if I inspect the goods for a moment?”

“No problem. Warrior Sheon, please assist us.”

I took out all crates as per ordered. With those out, only half of our deliverables remained. Surely, the horses would be happy if they knew about this. I opened the crates one by one, while Pom Uji nodded his head each time he finished inspecting a crate.

“Miss Ari, the C-Class core isn’t here.”

“Of course, it’s with me. Such a valuable material should be kept close.”

She took out a small box from her pocket and opened it. Inside was a green gem. Despite the lack of technology to research each and every aspect of the object called cores,one discovered fact about them is that they could temporarily close dungeons to prevent monsters from coming out.

“Thank you.”

But before Pom Ujin could take it from her hand, she placed it back into her pocket.

“What is the meaning of this?”

“I believe this is enough compensation for the danger we faced. On our way here, we almost lost our lives to bandits.”

“Bandits? But that doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

Pom Ujin tilted his head, confused.

“If you say so, then I’ll give it to you.” Namgoong Ari handed back the box. However, she accidentally dropped it. “I’m sorry it slipped.”

“It’s alright Miss Ari. I’ll pick it up.”

“Just to let you know, the large man is dead.”

Hearing this, Pom Ujin who had picked up the box froze.

"Dead?"

‘Chang Seon died? No. It’s not possible. He's a first rate warrior. He could at least run away by himself.’

As he stood back up, the woman flashed him an enthusiastically innocent smile, one that seemed to know everything. At that moment, he knew that their scheme had been caught.

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“Just kidding. They’re alive but Mister Ujin, I think you have some explaining to do.”

***

The longer I look at the short-haired woman, the more I remember Squad Leader’s words that women are the scariest beings in the world. While she calmly sipped from a cup of tea, Pom Ujin's gaze remained on the floor.

“It’s because our town is really poor.”

“So you had no choice but to resort to thievery?”

“Indeed. I was surprised to hear them killed since we all agreed to just badly beat up those who resist. You really didn’t kill them did you?”

“If they tried to kill us, then I would.”

‘Miss, I think we’re the ones who were about to get killed.’ I thought.

But to her bluff, Pom Ujin gulped as his gaze turned towards me, then to Suwon and lastly to Kangdae.

‘The master among them should be him. Those red eyes... he has probably killed hundreds of people.’

“As for our compensation, I won’t ask for much. We only need a safe place to stay. I’ll also give you the promised C-Class core without asking for more.”

“Really?”

“A promise is a promise.”

Namgoong Ari threw the box with the F-Class core to Pom Ujin.

“Thank you. You’re not like other merchants. With this, we can keep the dungeon closed for another day until Hunters arrive.”

“Another thing, have you seen a woman that looks like me.”

“I... I haven't seen any.”

“I see.”

Namgoong Ari stood up and opened the door.

“We’ll tour the town for now while you prepare our rooms.”

***

It's my first one to see a dungeon so in the free time that we were given, I had to satisfy my curiosity. I came to the site, alone. Kangdae went into cultivation mode while the mother and son duo toured by themselves.

Dungeons. How they appear, when they appear, and why they appear, no one knew. There are only five things that are confirmed.

1. Color. The strength of the monsters inside are determined by the color of the portal. Violet corresponds to F-Rank monsters while orange corresponds to A-Rank monsters. If the color of the portal is red, you should forget about living. Even for most Divine Masters, it'd be unknown if they could face against the monsters inside.

2. Type. There are three types of dungeons. The first is an extermination type. Once all monsters inside are killed, the dungeon will close. The second is a mission type. A voice tells the entrants what to do. If done, the dungeon will close. The third is a time-limited type. The dungeon disappears after a certain time. However, what the type of dungeon is still couldn't be identified from the outside.

3. Drop. Once a dungeon is closed, a core corresponding to the difficulty of the dungeon is dropped. Sometimes, there are treasures that can be acquired inside but not much is known about them except for the fact that they are highly coveted.

4. Spawn. If not closed, an uncertain number of monsters will continue to come out at random intervals.

5. Indestructible. Neither martial art nor any awakened skill can destroy them.

These facts are all according to the books I've read in the past. In the two years that I've been gone from society, I don't know if there any other facts added. Although I'm pretty sure that Hunters (short for Treasure Hunters) and other affiliations know more but choose to not disclose them.

Just then, twelve people riding on horses passed by the dungeon. On each of their black uniform was a familiar insignia of a dragon. I, too, had the same insignia of a dragon embroidered on my uniform. Needless to say, they were warriors from the Celestial Dragon City. Not just any level of warrior but Peak Warriors, a level above first rate warriors.

'Why is she here?'

Among them was my ex-girlfriend, Dahyun. Her horse trotted beside her husband, Wang Jihu.

"Huh?"

Dahyun glanced over to where I stood. Our eyes met.

"Dear, is there something?" Wang Jihu asked.

"I think I saw someone familiar."

"Do you want to greet him?"

"No, it's just someone that looks like him. That friend of mine already died."

Dead. From the moment that she heard that I could never move for the rest of my life, she treated me like a dead person. Because of this, she never got wind of the news of my recovery. Perhaps, she never really cared if I recovered or not.

"I should go back."

***

Swish.

I sidestepped an incoming spear. Its edge brushed against my uniform, tearing it in the process.

Clang.

This time, I parried with my blade. Keruruk had become a better fighter than in the past. We were sparring. I was training my reflexes while also training the goblin. If you're curious whether goblins also need to train, they do. Keruruk didn't even know how to fight when I first summoned him.

Then with a vertical slash coming from below, the goblin's spear flew into the air.

"Keruruk, you need to train more."

Kerke keruk.

"Don't make excuses. Sure, I'm bigger than you and my arms are longer. But do size really matter?"

Kekerr keke rukerk.

"You're wrong. It's not the size but the performance."

"Pfft. Hahaha, are you really trying to lecture that goblin?"

Namgoong Ari held her stomach, laughing. I didn't even realize that someone was watching.

"Miss Ari, how long have you been there?"

"Not that long. From my perspective, I think the one who needs to learn more is you. Not that goblin."

"It's true that I'm lacking in some ways but what do you mean?"

"Let's spar." Namgoong Ari walked over to my spear that was lying on a patch of grass and picked it up. "I'll borrow this for a while."

"Spar?"

"You heard me right. Now, raise your blade."

"Miss Ari, please put the spear down. You might get-"i\

Clang.

I had to stop talking. With a spear about to stab my stomach, I had to block first.

"Wait, stop, it's dangerous."

But she didn't listen. She pulled the spear back and thrust for a second time, then a third and more. Each strike was faster and stronger than the last.

"What are you doing Warrior Sheon? Block it if you don't want to die."

'Aish, she's crazy.'

The flurry of stab continued until,

"This is what I'm talking about."

The spear that only aimed for my stomach, was now a centimeter away from my forehead.

"What blade art do you practice?"

"T-the Art of Great Weaponship."

"Not even a specific blade art? Is the Celestial Dragon Alliance so cheap that they don't provide the simplest manuals?"

"They do but I think the Art of Great Weaponship is the best."

"Are you crazy? That's a shitty martial art. I can't believe Suwon wanted you to be his master. I can't really teach you the martial arts that I know but I'll ask Pom Ujin if he can give you some free martial art manuals."

I didn't understand two things. Why was she helping me and how the hell is she also a martial artist?